The Coin Bureau Podcast: Crypto Without the Hype

It feels like Season One of FTX: Trouble in Paradise has drawn to a close. SBF narrowly avoided jail thanks to a last-minute $250 million bond and is now chilling at home with his parents. Season Two will see him fighting for his freedom in court as his former friends, colleagues and lovers queue up to spill the beans. Everyone just wants to get the lightest sentence possible.

SBF’s next court appearance is scheduled for the 3rd of January, so it won’t be long before Season Two is up and running. In the meantime however, it feels like a good opportunity to pause and try to make sense of what has happened in the last few weeks. How on earth was it possible for this disaster to happen? When did everything start going wrong? And, how did a bunch of maths geeks who clearly weren’t very good traders manage to mislead the whole industry for so long?

To answer these questions and many others, I got together with Ram Ahluwalia, the co-founder and CEO of Lumida - an investment advisory firm that focuses on digital assets. Ram has worked in finance for most of his career and has a level of knowledge and experience that few can match. He recently published some intriguing threads on Twitter that delved into the FTX/Alameda debacle and, having read them, I knew I had to talk with him in depth. 

In our discussion we drilled down into Ram’s thoughts on the disaster and why he believes it was a long time coming - longer perhaps than many people believe. He also talked through some of the mysteries of high finance that seem to have helped thwart SBF and his cronies and explained how those who were able to play the game better were able to profit at FTX and Alameda’s expense. 

This was a fascinating conversation to have and I’m grateful to Ram for taking the time to talk to me. A few developments - including the arrest and extradition of SBF - have taken place since we talked, but what we discuss here is still hugely relevant to the situation and how things may play out in the coming months.

Follow Ram on Twitter: @ramahluwahlia  

It’s time to check in again with our friends at the Federal Reserve, whose every move is being scrutinised by investors everywhere for signs of what might be on their minds. Are they going to keep raising interest rates as aggressively as they have been in previous months? Will they slow the pace, or maybe even ease off the rate rises completely? The decisions made inside Fed HQ have huge ramifications for the US economy and beyond.

We recently got a glimpse inside the Fed’s thinking with the release of the minutes of its latest meeting, which was held just before Jerome and co decided to hike rates by yet another 75 basis points last month. So, have a listen to our analysis of the minutes and what they might mean for the crypto market and beyond. It may have been hard to focus on much besides the FTX disaster in recent weeks, but the rest of the world doesn’t stand still when crypto has one of its periodic meltdowns. 

Next up, you’ll hear about some of the catalysts that could yet drive the bear market down to new lows. Many are speculating that we may be at or near the bottom by now and it certainly feels like that sometimes. Problem is, there are still a number of factors that need to be considered and hurdles to be overcome before the path to higher prices is revealed. 

From retail investors finally throwing in the towel, to miners giving up the ghost and energy prices going through the roof, there’s still lots to watch out for. With luck, the bottom is already in and 2023 will be a year of growing gains, but then again, luck seems to have been in pretty short supply of late. 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

It’s back to FTX this week sadly, as the exchange’s collapse continues to dominate the crypto headlines. 

Today, you’ll hear about the company’s recent bankruptcy filing, which revealed just how terribly it and its sister company Alameda Research were being run behind the scenes, by people who were unfit to be running anything bigger than a lemonade stand. 

The filing makes for some pretty extraordinary reading and reveals just how much work needs to be done to try and clear up the mess that Sam Bankman-Fried and his idiotic colleagues left in their wake. This clearing up will take a long time and that means it will take an even longer time for anyone to get their money back - assuming enough money can be found, that is. Have a listen to get the lowdown.

Another consequence of the FTX fiasco is that other crypto exchanges are rushing to provide proof of reserves or PoR. This is designed to reassure their users that they do indeed have enough crypto on hand to honour any and all withdrawals, should they be required to. After FTX, people want to know they’re using an exchange which is solvent and can prove itself to be so, hence why the second part of today’s episode is also well worth your time. This is a look at what proof of reserves actually means and to what extent the top exchanges out there are providing it. There’s also the question to consider of whether the time for decentralised exchanges may be nigh.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

FTX is still making the headlines and the contagion continues to spread. Companies and projects across the industry are reeling and much of the talk is about which could be the next domino to fall. Welcome to crypto winter.

One project that many are concerned about is Solana, which was heavily backed by FTX and Alameda Research. SOL’s price has tumbled in the wake of FTX’s collapse as a result of this exposure, and the road ahead looks rocky. In the first part of today’s episode, you’ll hear a bit of background about Solana, as well as some significant developments it has undergone in recent months. You’ll also hear the details of its relationship with FTX and Alameda, as well as how the projects in its ecosystem are also under threat. Can Solana survive, or is the sun about to set on one of crypto’s biggest projects?

Next up, something a little different. There’s enough bad news floating around the cryptoverse at the moment, so let’s take a look at a fascinating geopolitical issue instead. 

Africa is poised to become an economic powerhouse in the coming decades, thanks in large part to its high birth rate and abundance of natural resources. As populations across much of the rest of the world decline and grow steadily older, African nations are set to reap the benefits of having younger and more productive workforces. They’ll need them to get all those metals and minerals out of the ground.

Other nations are slowly waking up to this fact, but Western ones are lagging behind. China however is well aware of Africa’s potential and has invested heavily across the continent in recent years. As a result, Chinese power and influence have increased, making it arguably the pre-eminent foreign power across much of Africa.

But, as countries like Sri Lanka have found to their cost, Chinese money doesn’t necessarily come cheap. Defaulting on debts owed to the world’s second-largest economy can be ruinous and China hasn’t been shy of appropriating collateral in such situations. As African nations look to develop further in order to harness their future potential, is China the best business partner to have? Have a listen to our deep dive on this issue and see what you think.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Semir Mutapcic

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown

Crypto has been rocked over the last few days by the biggest disaster ever to hit the industry. While it has experienced its fair share of crises over its short history, the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research is the gravest challenge crypto has faced thus far and the true extent of the damage may not become apparent for some time.

In today’s episode, Mike and Guy sit down to talk through what happened and what may come next. Many of the details are still unclear and new information is coming to light every day, so much of what’s discussed here will be focused on the background to this whole debacle. 

You’ll hear about the origins of Alameda Research and FTX, as well as the story of the man who founded them both and is ultimately responsible for their collapse. You’ll also hear about how concerns about Alameda started to bubble up at the beginning of November and how both it and the world’s second-largest crypto exchange were essentially brought down by a single tweet.

We’ll update you with more information on this extraordinary, tragic story next week. New twists and turns occur daily, while rumour, speculation, vitriol and despair swirl around the crypto community. Make no mistake, this is crypto history unfolding before our eyes. 

We hope you enjoy the show.

Executive Producer for iHeartMedia: Noel Brown

Editor: Sam Moult

Theme music composed by: Noel Brown