The Blockchain New Zealand Podcast

E29 - Brandon Bucher on Samourai, Privacy, & Lightning

Brandon Bucher is an engineer and the co-founder of LightningPay.nz. Brandon and I talk about the recent indictments against the Samourai founders whose wallet was operating a bitcoin mixing service. They are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business which echo with the privacy battles in the 90s over encryption. We get into lightning network adoption, privacy, and the future outlook of your UTXO.
Timestamps:
00:00 Samourai indictment08:22 moving the goal posts16:26 privacy as choice21:37 privacy long game26:11 cypherpunks and the battle  32:26 lightning network 38:04 public info on lightning41:09 adoption in lighting49:12 UTXO scarcity54:25 LightningPay.nz1:02:25 rapid fire1:05:24 fin
Some notes from the show:
Samourai indictment 
coin-join/whirlpool 
Bitcoin fog 
Tornado Cash founder sentenced to prison  
Coin Centre post by Peter Van Valkenburgh 
unannounced lightning channels 
Lighting charts 
River Reports 
eCash 
Lightning Pay 
Contact Brandon:
X
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 842607. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E28 - Ian Woolford on Digital Cash in New Zealand

Ian Woolford has made a career working at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and presently he's the director of money and cash which is overseeing the CBDC or Digital Cash program. The RBNZ is partway through a series of consultations to get public feedback and opinion on a Reserve Bank issued digital currency. 
In this conversation Ian makes it very clear that the Reserve Bank wants cash to remain as close to regular cash as possible meaning that anonymity is preserved, and activity is not tracked. Ian also highlights that innovation in banking by banks has been woeful and they hope to encourage non-bank players to innovate here to provide more options for Kiwis.
Timestamps:
00:00 intro03:05 rural access to cash & services08:24 balancing physical and digital cash10:56 is this a CBDC?12:21 blockchain?15:14 benefits of digital cash19:36 innovation in cash 24:54 privacy28:40 banking access for startups30:22 rapidfire33:02 fin
Some notes from the show:
rural cash trial program 
cyclone Gabrielle cash shortage 
ESAS settlement 
Northern Rock's trouble 
Nigeria's CBDC failure 
Sweden's e-krona 
Ecuador's Dinero Electronico  
RBNZ privacy support paper 
RBNZ Digital Cash Feedback 
Contact Ian:
LinkedIn
RBNZ
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 842510. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E27 - Brooke Howard-Smith on AI & Web3 in the Creator Economy

Brooke Howard-Smith is the founder of Otterfish that is at the heart of the creator economy and influencer marketing. He's also a cofounder of Non-Fungible Labs which is now a part of Futureverse. Brooke and I broadly cover what's happening with AI and how its affecting everything digital and where Web3 fits in. We jump right in Brooke is talking about everyone leveraging what they love, being commercial and non commercial at the same time in the creator economy.
Timestamps:
00:00 intro 00:56 monetizing & creator economy05:15 web312:26 spotify, superapps, & AI18:15 instagram & influence marketing23:08 client AI tools in the creator economy 28:40 personal AI use 38:46 non fungible labs41:55 fluf launch & futureverse46:22 gemini's mis-launch51:58 rapidfire1:02:31 fin
Some notes from the show:
Gino the Ghost on music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb2NG6NWyhjisymBWg8aSXQ 
Kurzweil's singularity https://www.singularity.com/ 
Otterfish https://otterfish.com/ 
Brian Armstrong AI use https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1779946210226577913 
Futureverse https://www.futureverse.com/ 
unstoppable art machine https://www.instagram.com/unstoppableartmachine/?hl=en 
fluf launch https://nfts.wtf/what-the-fluf-3d-bunnies-break-the-blockchain/ 
Gemini's mis-launch https://www.wired.com/story/google-gemini-woke-ai-image-generation/ 
Asian shopping https://youtu.be/p3RhRB3YJks?si=M-y5cZab34sQ3Q5G 
Ready Player One announcement https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/ready-player-one-metaverse-warner-bros-discovery-1235862190/ 
Golden https://heresgolden.com/ 
Contact Brooke:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 839555. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E26 - Leo Clark on Filmmaking, Nouns, & Decentralised Social Media

Leo Clark is a documentary filmmaker that is presently working with the Nouns DAO community. His latest film, NON-FUNGIBLE AOTEAROA, is debuting at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival in Palm Springs with the tagline: See how NFTs and Nouns DAO are transforming people’s lives in New Zealand.
In this conversation Leo and I talk about the Nouns project and what the community is doing with NFTs and funding artists, we get into Farcaster and decentralised social media and touch on CC-zero (CC0) licensing and how it aligns with web3.
Timestamps:
00:00 intro & doco12:13 NFT art14:46 Nouns20:58 community funding26:06 Farcaster31:46 Warpcast35:50 incentives39:59 mint everything42:41 nouns cafe46:42 CC0 no copyright50:43 rapid-fire52:13 fin
Some notes from the show:
The Doco 
The Festival
Nouns 
Prophouse 
Nouns names a new species of frog 
Farcaster 
Warpcast 
Frames 
CC0 No Copyright
Contact Leo:
X/Twitter
Warpcast
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 834418. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E25 - Sam Kamani on Talent, Capital, and Markets in Web3

Sam Kamani has lots of experience in tech, from being a founder to a VC, an advisor, and an author. We talk about 3 important aspects to entrepreneurship: talent, ability to raise capital, and access to market. In the back third we get into trends in Web 3 including decentralised physical infrastructure (DePIn) and ETFs.
Timestamps:
00:00 intro01:12 realestate/density/Dubai 05:22 web3 in Dubai09:29 capital & market access15:57 New Zealand's rating17:18 Sam's background22:47 Kiwi access to capital27:28 no-code tools31:52 the 30 day startup 37:22 post covid 37:40 trends in web3 - stablecoins46:52 DePIn50:13 ETFs56:45 rapid fire1:00:20 fin
Some notes from the show:
Norway's Oil Fund 
autowhale 
Cookbook.dev 
Remix IDE 
The 30 Day Startup 
PayPal stablecoin 
Chris Rothfuss in Wyoming 
Contact Sam:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 832462. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E23 - Will Remor on Stablecoins

Will Remor is a former quantitative risk analysist from traditional banking that got into stablecoins via the maker DAI project. He's consulted on a number of finance, stablecoin, and defi protocols, including New Zealand's newest stablecoin the NZDD, and has been involved with asset tokenization (or RWAs) from the early days. In this conversation Will takes us through some of the key differences between USDC, Tether, and DAI. We talk about some of the prominent depegging events affecting USDC when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and who remembers 20% yield in Anchor and the Terra-Luna death spiral.
Timestamps:
00:00 intro01:15 background in finance03:19 open banking06:00 2017-era crypto  11:49 what's a stablecoin?16:55 circle19:07 tether 21:50 DAI & maker27:30 NZDD35:36 mechanics39:49 stay pegged44:11 USDC depegs53:23 UST Terra/Luna58:46 tokenizing real world assets1:14:10 opening markets1:17:20 rapid fire1:26:20 finSome notes from the show:
tZero
ETHLend history
Paul Salisbury from Everlasting
Janine Grainger from EasyCrypto
Stables by marketcap 
Circle winds down consortium 
USDC SVB depeg 
TrueUSD arbitrage 
Contact Will:
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 828304. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E24 - Aditya Das on ETFs, Scaling, and Macro Trends

Aditya Das is a crypto analyst and writer with a background in applied economics working with Brave New Coin and the Techemy Group analysing macro trends in the crypto and wider markets. In this conversation Aditya and I cover the Bitcoin ETF and it acting as a gateway for an Ethereum ETF, broader Ethereum scaling solutions such as proto danksharding and layer 2 mechanisms. We touch on the halving, US elections, and the tokenisation of real world assets including stablecoins.
----------------Timestamps:
00:00 intro01:07 background & Silk Road06:40 applied economics09:03 Bitcoin ETF16:16 GBTC outflows19:41 Ethereum ETF24:31 scaling Ethereum33:33 halving40:37 US election44:20 new projects 47:41 stabull.finance51:51 tokenised realworld assets56:00 rapidfire59:03 fin----------------Some notes from the show:
Brave New Coin https://bravenewcoin.com/
American Kingpin by Nick Bolton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin
Ross Ulbricht https://freeross.org/
Aaron Schwartz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
Bitcoin ETF tracker https://www.tradingview.com/markets/etfs/funds-bitcoin/
Grayscale GBTC https://decrypt.co/resources/gbtc-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-grayscale-bitcoin-trust
XRP not a security https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-says-sec-lawsuit-vs-ripple-labs-can-proceed-trial-some-claims-2023-07-13/
ETH ETF tracker https://blockworks.co/ethereum-etf
BTC-ETH correlation https://www.blockchaincenter.net/en/crypto-correlation-tool/
Danksharding https://cointelegraph.com/explained/danksharding-and-proto-danksharding-explained
halving countdown https://www.nicehash.com/countdown/btc-halving-2024-05-10-12-00
Powell on 60 Minutes https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-fed-chair-jerome-powell-60-minutes-interview-economy/
Ramblocks https://www.ramblocks.com/
Stabull Stablecoin AMM https://stabull.finance/
Contact Aditya:
X/Twitter 
LinkedIn 
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 829267. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E22 - Darcy Ungaro on Bitcoin in the Modern Portfolio

Darcy Ungaro is the host of the Everyday Investor podcast, and he advises clients in a range of financial matters from mortgages all the way to Bitcoin. In this conversation Darcy and I broadly cover financial advice in the age of digital assets such as the Bitcoin ETF and strategies to modernize that dusty portfolio. 
----------------Timestamps:
00:00 intro01:00 finite supply & property07:37 trad-fi advice13:08 responsibility for other's money15:38 not financial advice20:26 60/40 portfolio 27:00 update your models30:00 zombie apocalypse 32:15 bitcoin curious35:46 crypto portfolio43:18 bitcoin ETF50:52 diversification  54:32 property 59:29 rapid fire1:05:50 fin----------------Some notes from the show:
Bitcoin ETF news
BITO
Fred Kruger
record NZ immigration
Peter Schiff on The Everyday Investor
Contact Darcy:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 828315. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E21 - Janine Grainger on Growth, & Launching a Wallet and Stablecoin

Janine Grainger is the cofounder and CEO of Easy Crypto which is coming up on their 6th anniversary and very well known in New Zealand. In this conversation we talk about growing a crypto company, competition in the New Zealand market, building a wallet and some of the security issues that come with it, and deploying an NZ dollar stablecoin on the main chains. 
----------------Timestamps:
00:00 intro01:17 hi-tech awards  05:35 WTF is crypto documentary08:20 long term goals 11:46 competition in the NZ market15:00 exchange vs swaps  18:43 building a wallet22:50 seed phrases & security30:07 NZDD stablecoin42:00 rapidfire45:25 fin----------------Some notes from the show:
NZ Hi-Tech awards 
WTF is Crypto 
MPC for crypto wallets 
account abstraction 
social recovery 
DFX exploit (affected NZDS) 
AUDD 
Contact Janine:
LinkedIn
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 817074. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.

E20 - Simon Collins on Orange Pilling New Zealand Parliament

Simon Collins is the founder of Stackr.co.nz, a Bitcoin mining company that uses sustainable and renewable energy sources. Simon is also the lead on the fundraising campaign to Orange Pill New Zealand parliament, and that is what we're talking about today. As we lead up to an election here in New Zealand we're listening to a lot of promises from the parties, many of them economic, but none of them are talking of potential alternative financial paths. The plan is simple: raise money to buy copies of The Bitcoin Standard to send to all 120 MPs in New Zealand's next, 54th parliament.
----------------Timestamps:
02:06 orange pilling09:44 Plato's cave15:45 sound money as a threat to Bitcoin  19:23 convincing politicians 23:00 remittances30:50 breaking the spending addiction38:02 Sov & MoE40:04 inflation/deflation58:28 The Bitcoin Standard 56:00 rapidfire58:31 fin----------------Some notes from the show:
NZ Parliament Fundraiser 
The Bitcoin Standard 
Plato's cave 
Cantillon effect 
Why the Yuppie Elite Dismiss Bitcoin  
Javier Milei to Abolish Argentinian Central Bank 
The Price of Tomorrow 
A Progressive's Case For Bitcoin 
Simon on The Everday Investor 
Contact Simon:
X/Twitter: 
LinkedIn: 
Find Jeff:
X/Twitter
LinkedIn 
The BCNZ Pod:
Website https://podcast.blockchain.org.nz/
YouTube 
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify 
iHeartRadio 
Sponsor:
The Blockchain New Zealand podcast is brought to you by EasyCrypto
Media & Sponsorship Enquires:
team@blockchain.org.nz 
Recorded at blockheight 807695. The BCNZ podcast was founded in 2022 by Jeff Nijsse and Bryan Ventura.