Unchained - 100th Episode: Past Guests and Listeners Take Over the Show - Ep.100

Episode Date: January 1, 2019

To celebrate the 100th episode of Unchained, I talk a little about what this podcast means to me and thank everyone who's helped me with it. Then I let past guests and listeners take it away with thei...r comments and predictions for 2019. Thank you to everyone who sent in submissions -- and to the listeners and sources who've helped me along the way! Thank you to our sponsors! TokenSoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links: My TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Ew7PW4LCo Facebook working on a stablecoin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-21/facebook-is-said-to-develop-stablecoin-for-whatsapp-transfers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:03 Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin. Considering using digital securities as a way to grow in 2019, Tokensoft's trusted platform provides the security and compliance tools to leverage blockchain technology and enter new markets with confidence. Visit us at Tokensoft.io or on Twitter at Tokensoft Inc. Do you have an idea for a blockchain app but are worried about the time and cost it will take to develop? The folks at Azure have you covered. The new Azure blockchain dev kit is a free download that gives you the tools needed to get your first app running in less than 30 minutes. Learn more at AKA.m.m.m.m.m. Or by following them on Twitter at MSFT blockchain. Within months, cryptocurrency anti-money laundering regulations go global.
Starting point is 00:00:58 Are you ready? Avoid stiff penalties or blacklisting by deploying effective anti-money laundering tools for exchanges and crypto businesses, the same tools used by regulators. Cypher Trace is securing the crypto economy. This is the 100th episode of Unchained. I can't believe it. This started out as a side project back in 2016 when almost no one cared about crypto. The show came out only every other week, and Forbes stopped supporting it after the first two. 12 episodes. And when I tried to find a sponsor for it, I had a hard time. And finally, finally, on ramp, which I think had done a few websites for blockchain startups and realized that there was this whole new industry they could tap, they agreed to sponsor and they became the exclusive sponsor for 2017. I will be forever grateful to them for keeping the show
Starting point is 00:01:49 alive at a time when no one cared about it. I've enjoyed doing the podcast for a whole host of reasons, but the biggest one is that it has enabled me to pursue my lifelong dream of writing a book. Once Unchained became successful enough that I could leave Forbes, I had time to write a book proposal, which I sold earlier this year. I'm now working on that book, and I'm immensely enjoying myself. In recent years, people have started coming up to me to talk about my podcast rather than my articles, but I still think of myself as a writer, first and foremost. And so I will always be grateful to this podcast for making my dream of writing a book possible. Reaching this milestone with a podcast and having it be so successful are also meaningful to me
Starting point is 00:02:31 because I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career. I started things off pretty well at prestigious publications, but I quit all of those jobs pretty quickly. I had done well in school, so it's not like I have a problem with authority per se, but I really don't like doing anything where I'm bored or where I don't find it to be a challenge or don't find it interesting. And especially when you're younger, you often have to do non-intellectually stimulating crap work. So that was a problem for me. On top of that, if you listen to my TEDx talk, I mentioned this there a little bit. But I grew up in a household with no rules.
Starting point is 00:03:10 My parents are very chill people and they never imposed any rules on me or my sister. So I think another reason I don't like for working other people is that I am not used to people telling me what to do. So when you combine crap work with the fact that when you're more junior, you also get told what to do. I really did not handle all that well. So I quit and I started freelancing at a pretty young age. And while that went okay in some respects, it went really poorly from a financial perspective. And though, as I mentioned, my parents are pretty relaxed people. they definitely drew the line at me getting into debt.
Starting point is 00:03:47 So after that mostly failed period of freelancing for a little while, I worked outside of journalism and I was doing grant writing. But I realized pretty quickly that that was also not a good fit for me and I wanted to go back to journalism. So I went back to journalism school and then I graduated in 2008. And that was a time when the journalism industry was laying off one in every five employees. So suffice it to say, I did not get a job in journalism coming out of journalism school, and instead I ended up in grant writing again. And the main thing I remember about this time is basically just this crazy feeling of desperation.
Starting point is 00:04:28 On my first day at that job, I saw for the first time in months the first good journalism job at a credible publication. And I remember I was sitting in this cubicle at this, you know, first, first, first, day on my job at this brand new grant writing position and I just put my head in my hands looking at that job posting. And I think I applied anyway, but I didn't get any response. And looking back, I just remember thinking so hard and so desperately that if I were given a chance to get back in a journalism again, I knew that I would do well, but I had no idea how or if I would ever get such an opportunity. So finally, three years out of grad school, I did get a journalism job again. but a couple years into that job, I felt my talents weren't being appreciated and I wanted to try
Starting point is 00:05:16 freelancing again. And that was six years ago. So six years ago, I was in that job and I was months away from trying to freelance again for a second time. But this time, I was so anxious about telling my parents that I was convinced that I would tell my mom I was quitting my job and she would have a heart attack and die. And I literally would start sobbing talking about it with my sister and brother-in-law. I did end up quitting. My mom was okay. And when I started freelancing again, I picked up Forbes as one of my regular gigs. And amazingly, the first story I ever wrote for them became the most popular article for
Starting point is 00:05:52 the day on the Forbes site. And so when I started freelancing, I had decided to leave New York and moved to rural Italy for the first six months of freelancing, partly to save on costs, but also partly because I just spent six years right in the heart of downtown Manhattan. and I just needed a break. So I actually wrote that first Forbes article on the plane, and then I hit publish while I was at the Frankfurt Airport on a layover. And then when I arrived in Rome that night,
Starting point is 00:06:22 I saw the article was number one on the most popular charts of Forbes. My mom was like, you'll never top that one. But amazingly, I actually had even more popular posts within a few months, and soon I was actually doing pretty well on the Forbes platform, and the editors were giving me more duties. And it was all working out super well because I was still my own boss and I didn't have to take orders from them and I could kind of do whatever I wanted. But at the same time, I could get guidance from them and also write for the magazine.
Starting point is 00:06:51 And I kind of had colleagues, but I was also independent. So all those things were working out super well. And I ended up spending more than four years freelancing for Forbes. And it was during that time that I started the podcast. And actually, since we launched it while I worked, was still a freelancer, I actually owned the podcast from the start. The original contract is the one that gave me the copyright, which has turned out to quite possibly be the luckiest stroke of my career. Eventually, in the summer of 2017, I did go full-time with Forbes. Of course, when I told my mom,
Starting point is 00:07:25 the very first thing she said to me was, don't quit. And yeah, so seven months later, I actually did quit. That conversation did not go well for about one minute, but then everything was okay after that. And the reason was that because at that point, I had realized that the podcast had become popular enough that it just made more sense for me to do that full-time rather than stay working full-time at Forbes. And crazily enough, that all happened less than a year ago, which I can barely believe because my life has changed so much since then.
Starting point is 00:08:00 I no longer feel like I have to work all the time. I can work at a more leisurely pace. And more importantly, I, of course, still have the weekly deadlines with my podcast, but my writing deadline for my book is much farther out so I can give a lot of time and care into that reporting and writing, which frankly feels like a luxury. When I look back at how far I've come and when I think back to my darkest moments in my career, when I was so desperate to get back into journalism. But it took years or the time when I was almost fired from a grant writing job,
Starting point is 00:08:32 which I did not go into detail in before, or the time when I had this other job where I thought maybe they might fire me. I just wish I could go back and just tell myself that everything would work out and be okay. But since time travel doesn't exist, I'm telling you, the listeners of Unchained, to let you know what this means, what this show means to me personally and why I'm really grateful to all of you for listening. It means a lot to me because for a long time, I really was uncertain about whether or not I'd ever make it as a journalist. And yet at the same time, I really knew because I had tried other careers that I did not want to do anything else. So thank you to all of you for listening and for finding value in these interviews, and I hope
Starting point is 00:09:13 someday you will also enjoy reading my book. Before I let you guys and past guests take over the show, I want to thank all my past and current staff, my sound engineer Chris Curran at Fractual Recording, Elaine Zelby and Raylene Golipoli, who have managed sponsorships for me, Korn, Fife, and Rahul Singh already, who have helped me with research and editorial duties. Jenny Josephson, who has helped me with all sorts of podcasty types of questions, and Daniel Ness, who has helped me with my websites. I also want to thank every single sponsor of the unchained and unconfirmed podcasts. OnR, appreciate, start engine, quant stamp, bitwise, consensus, shape, shift, token agency, element group, blockchain warehouse, clarity PR, transform group, DACC,
Starting point is 00:09:53 alt lending, block demon, abra, we trust, cipher, trace, Microsoft, and tokensoft. And most of all, I want to thank the guests and listeners. The guests for gracing the show with their insights and, for the most part, answering tough questions with honesty and sincerity, and to the listeners for making unchained a success. Now, I will let you guys take over the show. Hilariously, the recordings you submitted did not get off to a good start. This was the very first one I received. I like your videos. I'm not sure what's funnier. The fact that he started it with a cough or the fact that I don't do videos. This second recording definitely wins most creative. Ben from Los Angeles, I am, a devout
Starting point is 00:10:41 fan of the great Laura Shin. Amid the hype of Wall Street shills and the fudding officials of Capitol Hill, you've kept your listeners abundantly thrilled, paddling through toxic masculine ego sludge. You help educate us all to be our own judge. Of all the characters and clowns, whose pissing contests make the charts go up and down, you're sober and unwavering commitment to the tech provides a calm and meditative effect. It's like a yoga class for my ears, hearing you describe the sprockets in gears, decoding the elaborate mysteries of the crypto space, enlightening us to every legitimate use case, never too timid to stick it to the man, always open-minded to the crypto-anarchist revolution, critiques rooted in deep financial wisdom, embodying the truth
Starting point is 00:11:26 and fairness of the divine feminine. I'm code illiterate and only a wannabe geek, but your pie are still the highlights of my week. Hashtag not investment advice, but I tell friends and acquaintances alike. If you want the best scoop on what's what and who's who, invest your time getting schooled. With unconfirmed and unchained, I promise you won't be fooled. As for what I expect in 2019, I'll bet a lot of bad actors will be forced to come clean. Weak hands and bleak scams will be shaken out. In bankruptcy courts, many a startup CEO will put.
Starting point is 00:12:02 out. Side chains, state channels and lightning networks will flow. Security tokens, in-game assets, and virtual worlds will grow. Heroic dark web warriors will dissolve digital borders. Privacy coins will protect journalists and dissonance from the tyranny of corporate fascist iron fists. Retail investors will once again stampede, frenzied by the fear of missing out and greed. Institutional money will buy bigger slices of the pie. A new 1% will bribe regulators to to comply. Maximilist will bet on which chains might fall. Traders will get wrecked in short squeezes and margin calls.
Starting point is 00:12:41 Matharchist uprisings will bring corrupt nation states to their knees. Rioting protesters will post QR code selfies. If you ask me what really matters most is honoring what may be our dear beloved Satoshi's ghost. I'll keep fighting to make her proud by sending peer-to-peer transactions through the uncensurable cloud using electronic cache that will always be trustworthy and sound. I absolutely love this submission. If anyone knows Vikram Seth's writing, I immediately thought of how he wrote the Golden Gate, the Golden Gate in verse. And I think it takes a special
Starting point is 00:13:19 talent to do that. So thank you, Ben. This next recording is one of my favorites, similar to how my interview with this guest for the podcast is quite possibly my favorite. Hi, this is a This is CZ from Binance. I want to say congratulations to the 100th episode of Unchand. It's one of the toughest interviews I've ever been to. I have no idea how the other 100 people made through it. But congratulations. It's one of the most interesting podcasts.
Starting point is 00:13:49 2018 was equally tough, but I think the builders have been building in 2018. For 2019, I think we will see a lot of real products and real applications coming onto the market. Before I fully turn the reins over to you all, I'll end this bit with my predictions for 2019. I'm feeling right now like a lot of ideas I've heard from my smartest sources about where this space would go, could be upended. One area in which the conventional wisdom might be turned on its head, at least temporarily, could be decentralization. I'm starting to wonder if we will see centralized companies and projects do well now in this early wave of crypto adoption. And then it remains to be seen whether or not decentralized projects really will. went out in the end or whether the centralized projects will just dominate. And these aren't predictions
Starting point is 00:14:37 necessarily, but I am also keeping my eye on stable coins and gaming projects. Stable coins simply because a digital version of a dollar is something people can easily grasp. And I feel like that's an important way to achieve actual utility, particularly in payments. And I think a lot of people could also end up just using a stable coin without even knowing anything about blockchains or caring about crypto or anything like that. And I did notice right before recording this that I did see Bloomberg reported that Facebook is working on such a thing for use in WhatsApp. So who knows, stablecoins could end up being one of the first so-called killer apps. I'm also keeping my eye on gaming because as I've said before on previous podcasts, the gaming community is one that already understands virtual goods and
Starting point is 00:15:29 digital economies. So I think that that. industry is ripe for crypto. But I am fully prepared to be completely surprised in every way by how the crypto space develops this year. The only prediction I can make confidently is that developments in crypto will not be boring. With that, I'll hand it over to you all with your submissions. I have mixed in recordings from past guests alongside the listener recordings. I enjoyed listening to all of your thoughts, so thanks again for sending them in. Without further ado, I'll now let you take over the show. Hey, this is Joey from Pantera Capital and Auger.
Starting point is 00:16:05 I think it's really cool that you decided to let people just kind of take over unconfirmed for this podcast episode. And in 2019, I'm looking forward to the launch of Me Too of Auger, which has support for Dai, which still is at a dollar, which is pretty cool to see it successful stable coin on Ethereum. Despite the fact that ether's down roughly 90%. since the time they launched. So it's hugely commendable.
Starting point is 00:16:35 And also looking forward to some scalability stuff starts to launch at the beginning of next year, looking at things like Arbitrum, Thunder, also some of the kind of plasma stuff, like what glan plasma is doing. And it also blocks throughout kind of on the networking layer. There's not very many people focused on that, but I think it's super important
Starting point is 00:16:55 so we can actually hit some high throughput. And guess what else? The only other thing in 2019, that I'm excited for is both Backed and Wire launching. So Back is a great, you know, institutional platform for people to get onboarded into crypto. And then if you look at Wire, they're making it so you can buy, die straight from your bank account for, you know, 10 to 20 basis points and onboard on the DAPs, almost like Stripe, but for decentralized apps. So that'll lower the onboarding friction for everybody by, you know, over TEDx. So I'm super excited for all those things in 2019.
Starting point is 00:17:31 It's going to be a great year of actually building and, more importantly, shipping cool tech. Hi, Laura. This is Carl Byers. I'm a partner at F Prime Capital Partners. I was an early and often crypto enthusiast, and I love your show. I would say that one thing your show has led me to realize is the importance of understanding better privacy. I used to be cavalier and unconcerned. And when you go down the crypto rabbit hole, I think it now has the effect of making you think harder about the technology and the data and the companies you're interacting with and generating.
Starting point is 00:18:13 And in a funny way, I think it then turns us all into cyphurunks or cyberpunks, as the case may be. and so I think your conversations and your focus has actually changed the way I think about data, which is really important given the era we are just now entering. So thank you for that. My prediction would be that point solutions that people don't even know are related to crypto will be the first viral products, and it will link more to this area of privacy around payments, and messaging than currency.
Starting point is 00:18:57 Have a great day. Hi, this is Jill Carlson. Very excited to be participating in this 100th episode. My crypto prediction for 2019 is that this might be the year that we finally start to see some correlations with other asset classes. We've already seen it coming into the close of 2018, as stock prices have taken a hit and crypto is followed. And I think that we might start to see these inflows.
Starting point is 00:19:22 and outflows continue in the same vein. But time will tell. No price predictions for me here. All right. Thank you. Hi, Laura. My name is Mina at Claudios. I'm from the New York City area. And I've been listening to the show with great interest for a while now. And as an attorney, I really geek out when you delve into the complex regulatory and legal questions with your guests. My prediction for 2019 is that regulated stablecoins will continue to grow, not just in market cap, but I think in actual use. In my mind, stablecoins offer the fast, borderless payments that Bitcoin invented, but without the volatility and uncertainty of Bitcoin. I think there's a real opportunity to disrupt traditional money transmitters, especially those that charge high fees to send money across borders. and because the regulated stablecoins are demonstrably backed by actual US dollars,
Starting point is 00:20:20 I think people will have an easier time in adapting this technology, especially if the wallets become easier to use. Bitcoin will continue to hold its position, I think, as a sound money alternative, but stablecoins will be a gateway into full acceptance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Looking forward to 2019. Thanks. Hey, Laura, it's Galia Ben-Artsi, co-founder of BankCorps Protocol.
Starting point is 00:20:49 I hope that 2019 is the year that we stop looking at cryptocurrencies like assets and prices, and we start looking at money as real utility for people. There's got to be more ways to organize as a society than just governments and banks issuing currency as debt and renting it to people. There are other ways that we can collaborate, that we can coexist that really reflect our values and our potential and our purpose on this planet. Yeah, I hope that we can build an economy that looks less like a casino and more like a house. That's my hope for 2019, and my prediction is that user-generated currencies will start to pave the way. Hey Laura, this is William from Memphis, Tennessee. First, happy 100th episode.
Starting point is 00:21:45 I discovered cryptocurrency and your podcast while in law school. My initial thoughts on cryptocurrency were that it was a digital money that was used for illegal and illicit activities. Your unchained episode on the Silk Road prosecutions of the DEA and Secret Service agent that featured Catherine Hahn showed me that not only was crypto not primarily used for illegal. activities was actually a bad choice for use in illegal activities. My 2019 prediction is that Bitcoin will move more toward being a species of something such as inequity or bonds and be farther away from being perceived as money. I expect to see more leverage trading in the future with more institutional players coming in in 2019.
Starting point is 00:22:34 And with a more debt-enhanced crypto market, I believe cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin may become interest rate sensitive. Thank you for providing such a great podcast. And again, happy 100th episode. Hi, Laura. My name is Katya. I'm a partner at a private crypto investment firm, B2B Capital, based in the U.S., California. First of all, congratulations with 100 podcasts.
Starting point is 00:22:59 It's amazing. I cannot believe that I've listened to that many podcasts because I've listened to pretty much every episode of Unchained since I started working in crypto. And I love your work because, first of all, it's like objective professional journalism, which is really lacking in this industry, as we all know. And also, it's entertaining and fun because you know how technical it can get pretty quickly if you dive into crypto.
Starting point is 00:23:25 So it's very cool that you keep it fun and human and very informative. So, yeah, congratulations. And talking about my predictions for 2019, well, first of all, it's hard to make. predictions and I don't like that really because it's like you cannot get it right. You're either wrong or lucky in that space. But if I have to talk about 2019, I would say it's probably going to be a slow building year and kind of boring. And what I mean by that is that I think that technology is entered in the face where the market is not probably going to be impressed with the technological claims, with the new consensus algorithms that's going to provide new transactions per second
Starting point is 00:24:05 and et cetera, all theoretical, all. all in white papers. Actually, now I think it's going to be time for building and to prove the technology. So all the like those unicorn projects, like DFINITY, like Cosmas, like Palcadot, and Ethereum rolling out of proof of stake and all their scaling initiatives. They're all going to be rolled out in 2019 and they're going to be battle tested, maybe attacked. So we're going to see this technology being rolled out, testing, and seeing if it's actually
Starting point is 00:24:36 going to work. and if it's actually going to deliver to the use cases that it promised so that it will path the way for 2020 for the real world use cases. So I think like for the outsiders, for the non-crypto people, 2019, it's probably going to be boring. We're probably not going to see like here about sensational multibillion dollar fundraisers or crazy market bubbles again. But for the insiders, I think it's going to be exciting times
Starting point is 00:25:03 where we're actually going to see all this technology being played. in the real world. And it's also the same for Bitcoin. I'm very excited about Lightning Network, too. So we're going to see all the things we're talking about. We're going to see them actually being used, being tested, and being implemented. So I'm excited about 2019. I hope you are too. And I'm very curious to hear what your listeners have to say about this. Cheers. Bye. Hey, Laura, Spencer Brogart from Blockchain Capital here. Congratulations on the 100th episode. It's a phenomenal milestone. Most of my contribution won't be too surprising to you or your listeners as I've been pretty consistent over the past few years. But when I reflect on
Starting point is 00:25:43 the past year and think about what's in store for the next few years, a couple of things seem pretty obvious to me. There's both the negative and the positive. So let's start with the negative of what's in store for 2019. I guess the first thing would be that the so-called 3.0 smart contract platforms are going to launch in 2019, and I think they're essentially going to face plan. The supply of DAP developers is extremely limited, especially relative to what's going to become an even more oversaturated market of smart contract platforms. I mean, there's already dozens of these platforms, and dozens more of them are going to launch to lackluster demand in 2019.
Starting point is 00:26:23 And ultimately, I think there's neither the developer nor the user appetite to support this plethora of platforms, and so almost all of them will fail to do. generate organic traction. Okay, now to the positive side of things. The first is that Bitcoin is king and likely to remain so. Bitcoin is digital financial infrastructure for a digital age, and it's unlocking the multi-trillion dollar opportunity of programmable money. And if we zoom out and we take a look at the macro level of what's going on here, I think it will become increasingly clear over the next decade that the Bitcoin network is a supra sovereign institution for digital property rights.
Starting point is 00:27:01 It is a rules-based self-arbitrating court. In fact, it's likely the fairest, most transparent, and most predictable court in the world. And in general, I guess, if I think about listeners considering how best to allocate time and capital within the industry, I think time and capital spent on trying to recreate web apps on top of a blockchain, like Uber but decentralized or Spotify but on the blockchain, that that time and capital will be poorly spent. In contrast, I think the highest return on time and capital spent within the industry will be on the development of crypto-native financial applications built atop public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. I think that's the massive opportunity that we have to look forward to.
Starting point is 00:27:47 I'll go ahead and leave it at that. But Laura, thanks again and congratulations on the 100th episode. Hello, my name is Preston Bowers, and I'm from Dayton, Ohio. I've been listening to Unchanged since you were last on the Daily Tech News show, and I've learned quite a bit, not just about crypto, but also about what makes a good interview. You have on guests with varying degrees of experience being interviewed, and that really showed me how an interview can shape my opinion of a company. I have not become an expert in crypto in the past year, but I appreciate Unchained for all that it has taught me, and I want to share an observation I made the other. other day. An article gathered opinions about what we are in for in 2019, and there was a pattern. People talking about crypto as a technology had positive things to say, while those who referred
Starting point is 00:28:39 to the value of crypto used negative language. These two groups didn't seem to be opposing each other, but they don't want the same thing out of cryptocurrency. With that in mind, my prediction for 2019 are that a large majority of finance and traders, will continue to be wrong about the price. While their focus on that, hopefully we can get some innovative technology and improvements that will actually solve some of the problems we're facing today.
Starting point is 00:29:09 Hello, Unchained. Congratulations on reaching the important milestone of 100 episodes. I'm Ron Christensen, co-founder and CEO of the Mega Foundation. And I'm very excited that we actually also have our own anniversary coming up here at Maker, which is on December 18th, the beta version of the Dye Stablecoin will have existed for exactly one year on the live Ethereum mainland. And I also really look forward to the launch of the full version of the system of the Diceablecoin coming in 2019.
Starting point is 00:29:42 But so my prediction for the year of 2019 is that the general trend in the crypto space will start tipping towards products and services that focus on the intersection between traditional finance, and the traditional legal system, bridging that together with the blockchain space. So I think products and solutions like security tokens will be the stuff that drives the space forward much in the same way that the ICO did in the past couple of years. Hey, Laura, it's Taylor Monaghan here from My Crypto. It's been almost a year since I was on your show, and a lot has changed since then. Besides the price, or because of the price, it's been much, much calmer. and it's given us the opportunity to build for the future instead of putting out fires left and right.
Starting point is 00:30:30 I think that 2019 will be much of the same. The builders will be headstone building. The people on Twitter will be creating crazy crypto drama, and Bitcoin will probably die a few more times. But most importantly, I think people will start delivering products that start to make the blockchain both usable and useful. I know that's what we're working hard on every single day, and I'm so excited to see how the space continues to transform and to evolve. We all have the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the world around us,
Starting point is 00:31:02 and I'm so inspired by what people are building and what has yet to come. So, with that, I hope you have a fantastic holiday and an even better 2019. Didier Borel from Geneva, Switzerland. What was my favorite moment in your previous podcast? Well, it was when Laurishin was moderating a panel at Singularity University, and Bill Barheight gave her the best advertisement anybody could ask for. He said this was the best podcast on the space and was disappointed. He hadn't been invited yet to speak.
Starting point is 00:31:30 What a great way to ask for an invitation. I have learned a lot in the various podcasts. I listen to them mostly when I commute. I appreciate that Laura Helfton as guests who have major positions in the major firms in the space, and so I learn a lot directly from the people at the top. My predictions are 2019. Well, let's be optimistic and say 2019 is the year of the second. killer app after Bitcoin.
Starting point is 00:31:54 To have a killer app, we need something that is new. I mean, by that that doesn't shake the tree of an established market, some sort of service or asset that is purely digital and doesn't have a problem of the real world enforcements. Loyalty points or gaming are obvious targets, but it could be something else. Also, in terms of prices, to me, it really looks like we've seen capitulation. We've seen the end of the Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV war. see consensus and steam it massively laying off.
Starting point is 00:32:24 It looks like the bottom is here. Happy 2019. This is Benny here from Cryptokitties. Hi, everyone, from the unchanged and unconfirmed community. We've been a big fan of Laura Shin's podcast since day one. We've been listening to it religiously to get the latest updates on what's happening in the crypto market or in the blockchain space. Always a big fan when Laura asked difficult questions to the projects. It's one of those moments that we always share around the company and to our network as well.
Starting point is 00:32:59 For us, CryptoKitties or Dapper Labs, we're looking to expand the team in 2019. We're really taking on the approach of consumer adoption via NFTs, and Cryptokitties will be expanding into different areas, and of course a lot more gameplay is to come. We are working on a couple of new games and some new technology that is set to launch in March. We'll speak probably more about it in February, so we're really excited to introduce these to the community.
Starting point is 00:33:32 And for 2019, I think that there will be a ton of new projects, both coming in from the gaming companies, from messaging technology companies in Asia, taking a stance on non-fundable tokens or blockchain games. So we're really excited to be part of this wave and to kickstart it. And we hope that a lot more content creators, a lot more artists, a lot more people see the value of using the blockchain for creativity and for fun, ultimately. Thanks so much, and I hope you guys have a happy new year and a happy holiday.
Starting point is 00:34:07 Cheers. This is Milton Demaris, and I'm really excited to be celebrating the 100th episode on Change. First of all, thanks to Laura Shen, such an amazing podcast. I've really enjoyed listening to it, and you ask some of the hardest-hitting questions that I've heard. So thank you for all that you do. As we go into 2019 after the wild roller coaster ride that has been 2018 in crypto, I'm really excited to see 2019 and what it brings. For me, it's really about why we're doing this. Why are we all working on this? Why are we all spending time on this? And for me, in the world we live in now, as I look at the news, as I talk to friends, as I see
Starting point is 00:34:53 how people are feeling, for me, that why has never been clear. I believe people deserve choice. Choice of platform, choice of money, choice of store value, choice to have privacy, choice of where and how to engage, and choice of ideology. People deserve to have have choice. And to me, Bitcoin represents choice. I hope 2019 for industry comes with a changing culture for an industry, really one where we can educate and bring more people into the ecosystem and help them understand why they do have choice and to help them actually make that choice. Thanks, Laura. Hey, Laura. This is Chris Walker here, or Token Ranger, from Sunny San Francisco. I really like listening to your show and hearing your friendly, but pointed
Starting point is 00:35:41 questions that make the people talking to you squirm a little bit. And I also like getting real-time updates from founders like Nandav Hollander with Dharma, just to see what people are working on as they're discovering it. Something I think really is going to come out in 2019 is real on-chain debt or credit. And I think that because we have two things now that make it possible. One, stable coins that let us shift value backward or forward in time. And two, we've got some precedent for putting assets like equities on the blockchain. So I think together those are going to mean 2019 shapes up to be an exciting year. And either way, hopefully, the bear market ends.
Starting point is 00:36:23 So keep up to good work and thanks. Hi, Laura. It's Angela Walsh calling. I am excited to get to comment once again. So I see 2019 being a big year for cryptocurrencies and blockchain generally. I think that ethical issues are really going to come to the fore. I think they will for lots of different parties in the space. For academics, regulators, lawyers, coders, minors,
Starting point is 00:36:51 we'll be asking questions like, who should actually hold cryptocurrencies? Should academics be able to hold them while they're doing research? Is disclosure enough to mitigate any conflicts that come from that? Relatedly, I think we're going to see a focus on accountability and continued figuring out when coders potentially should be liable for harms that are caused by their actions or inactions, and maybe even minors. So I'm thinking accountability is going to be a big issue in 2019. In the larger sense, I think we're going to see continued research and push to understand,
Starting point is 00:37:33 and maybe even the introduction of a central bank digital currency from perhaps not one of the big central banks, but maybe a more minor one. And finally, I think businesses will probably continue to tamp down their expectations regarding private blockchains.
Starting point is 00:37:55 And I'm hoping that governments will as well. I'm hoping that governments will actually catch up to the business world in the hype cycle and take a more measured view of what blockchain can achieve for the world. Thanks very much. Happy holidays. Hi, my name is Kyle Samani. I'm a co-founder and managing partner at Multi-coin Capital.
Starting point is 00:38:15 I've had the chance to get to know Laura over the last year and change, and it's been amazing to watch her journey from Forbes and now spinning off and starting unchained and unconfirmed. Those two are some of my favorite podcast in crypto. It's been an honor to be a guest a couple of times on the show, and I'm very excited to see what Laura's going to do in 2019. Speaking of 2019, I probably would predict that we are going to start to see some pockets of meaningful activity and usage of different blockchains, things like ticketing and decentralized finance and gaming and a few other niches and verticals are going to take off in a meaningful way. And so when people say, what is crypto use for? I think we're going to have some good answers.
Starting point is 00:38:53 Thanks so much and super excited for 2019. Hi, Laura. This is Wences Kasares, CEO of Sappo. I really, really enjoy your show and I'm very grateful for the service that you provide to the entire Bitcoin community by having the show. I can't believe
Starting point is 00:39:11 it's been already 100 episodes. I don't have any interesting prediction for 2009. I think it will remain probably as part of this Bitcoin winter in which we work off the excess of
Starting point is 00:39:29 2017 until we wait for the next rally. Keep up the great work. Thank you very much for what you do. Within months, cryptocurrency anti-money laundering regulations go global. Are you ready? Avoid stiff penalties or blacklisting by deploying effective anti-money laundering tools for exchanges and crypto businesses,
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Starting point is 00:40:28 Learn how effective anti-money laundering tools have. help keep your crypto business safe and trusted. Learn more at ciphertrace.com slash unchained. CypherTrace is securing the crypto economy. Getting your blockchain app off the whiteboard and into production can be a big undertaking. From connecting user interfaces to integrating disparate systems and data, blockchain app development can be time intensive and costly. Well, the folks at Azure have you covered. With a few simple clicks, the Azure blockchain workbench can create a a blockchain network for you, pre-integrated with the cloud services needed to build your app. And with their new development kit, users can extend their app to ingest messages from bots,
Starting point is 00:41:12 edge devices, databases, and more. It's free to download and gives you the tools you need to get your first app running in less than 30 minutes. To learn more about the dev kit and how to get started, visit aka.m.m.m.chained. Or follow them on Twitter at MSFT, Block chain. Issuing a digital security on the blockchain can be a significant undertaking, particularly to ensure compliance requirements are met. Tokensoft's trusted platform provides security in a world of uncertainty by working with top legal and financial experts so that your digital assets are secure. Tokensoft leads the market in providing technological tools to support tax, banking, and securities regulations for issuers of digital assets. We are honored to have supported leading companies in
Starting point is 00:42:01 2018. To learn more about issuing digital securities successfully, visit tokensoft.io or follow them on Twitter at Tokensoft Inc. Hey, Laura. Congratulations on your 100th episode. My name is David. I'm from Lagos, Nigeria, and I'm one of the founders of DLT Cafe, which can be described as a social ecosystem for blockchain ecosystems. Our mission is to drive mass adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies across Africa by simplifying the whole process and creating real. use cases. It's a really exciting project and we'll love to share more details with you and hopefully pick your brain sometime. I usually listen to Unchained when I'm stuck in Lagos traffic, which is, if you don't know, is the absolute worst traffic in the world. It's so slow yet so aggressive and so annoying. My favorite episode, hmm, that's a hard one. Every episode is filled with loads of nuggets of useful knowledge and insights. However, the Fluffy Pony episode was really interesting
Starting point is 00:43:00 as well as really funny. My 2009 prediction is for the bare market to continue around the 3,500 mark until the end of the second quarter. By Q4, I expect the price to be around the $10,000 to $12,000 mark as the big institutions get involved and the market matures a little. As a builder, I'm more concerned about the social economic potential of blockchain and would love to hear more episodes centered around Africa as well as how we go from 40 million users to global mass adoption. Overall, keep up the great work and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a fabulous new year. Bye. Hi, Laura.
Starting point is 00:43:37 Congratulations on 100 episodes. My name is Alia. I live in London, where I work at Enigma Securities. We're a cryptocurrency OTC brokerage firm. Thank you so much for the great show. I like to listen when I'm on my way to work in the morning. You help me do my job better by staying on top of the latest debates in the space. In 2019, I think we will see Crypto.
Starting point is 00:44:00 start to gradually recover from current levels, as more and more institutional asset managers start to allocate some of their resources towards crypto. While I do think some of the headlines out there saying that there's going to be a sudden rush of institutional money because of backed or fidelity are in exaggeration, I do think that those solutions will start to boost adoption and will have a gradual increase that has a steady effect over time. Many asset managers see crypto as yet another way to diversify in an increasingly volatile and difficult market. While I'm doubtful that we'll get one, any ETF approval by the SEC would be icing on the cake. I also think we're going to see increasing consolidation in the space with respect to tokens
Starting point is 00:44:46 and liquidity providers. This has been a tough year, and now I'm just excited to see what next year brings. If you want to find out more about my company, you can find us at enigma-securities.io, That's E-N-I-G-A-S securities.io. Thank you so much, and congratulations, Laura. Hi, this is Andy Bramberg from Coinlist. I'm always excited when the chain comes out. We're in such a young industry, and that means that brilliant new ideas are constantly being generated,
Starting point is 00:45:14 but there just isn't enough discussion about them. Laura has managed to keep up a constant cadence of dialogue and debate about these topics, so I can always stay up to date with the latest. So for that, we owe her a big thank you. For a 2019 prediction, I think that everyone is going to calm down a lot. Crypto goes through a cyclical high pattern, and I'm expecting 2019 to be characterized by the smart participants in the space going heads out of building will the bad participants flounder and likely fail. We'll see increasing professionalization of the industry as well as better
Starting point is 00:45:40 consumer engagement, but it'll happen in a calm and reasonable environment. That said, as of anything in crypto, it's impossible to truly know what the feature holds. Thanks again, Laura. Hello, my name is Mark Fanatos and I'm a partner at Blockview Capital. We are a crypto asset investment firm based in Chicago. I want to say congrats to Laura on a hundred episodes spanning over two and a half years. That's quite an accomplishment, and I can still remember when Unchained was the only crypto podcast that I was subscribed to. My favorite episode of Unchained has to be the episode with Chris Berninski and Adam White from July 2016. I think that this episode has laid some of the groundwork for the institutionalization of this
Starting point is 00:46:13 asset class that we've seen transpire in the last two years. My prediction for 2018 is simple. Bitcoin and Crypto will receive a lot less mainstream attention, but that week will continue to see OnChane adoption metrics increase regardless of this. Thanks. Hello, this is Mayanda Walker from New York City. I love Unchained and recommended to all my crypto and wannabe crypto friends. My favorite show is by far, episode 58. Ripples XRP, why its chances of success are low. Simply so informative with hard-hitting facts.
Starting point is 00:46:49 Thank you, Laura, always. My crypto prediction for 2019. Maybe a bit obvious, but I believe 2019 will be the year of institutional investment in crypto. The recent news of Fidelity in Goldman Sachs confirmed that trend, and I'm hoping to see the birth of a regulated crypto ETF. Thanks very much, Laura Shen. Hey, Laura, this is Joe Waltman from Give Crypto, wishing you a very happy holiday and new year. My prediction revolves around crypto utility activity. I think it's going to happen in earnest in 2019, but it's not going to happen where most people think, i.e. North America or Western Europe. Stay tuned.
Starting point is 00:47:33 I'm Alison McCauley, and I'm the author of Unblocked, how blockchains will change your business, which is coming out in January. One of my favorite episodes is Episode 70. You were joined by Chris Dixon, and I love some of his words so much that I actually quoted him in the book from the show. He said, we need to grow the army. We need 10 million people, programmers and researchers, and entrepreneurs and product designers and creative people. I was reminded of this while reading Kevin Kelly's book, The Inevitable. Kevin Kelly is the founder of Wired, and he says all of us, every one of us will be endless newbies in the future, simply trying to keep up.
Starting point is 00:48:16 He talks about how we're morphing so fast and our ability to invent new things outpaces the rate that we can civilize them and how it takes us a decade to develop a social consensus on what these new technologies mean and what etiquette we need to tame it. And I think that's especially true of this space. And we need more people and different kinds of people thinking about how to do that well. I really do think that Unchained helps listeners tap into this world as it morphs. I wrote Unblocked because of the huge gap in what the crypto and blockchain community saw in our future and what people outside of the community understand.
Starting point is 00:48:57 for a decentralized future to become reality, more people need to get this vision. More people need to understand. And so my prediction for 2019 is that this is the turning point where we need to extend the community in order to effectively weather this winter that we're in. So keep telling stories of progress and keep being open about the challenges and bringing in more minds to help solve them. Whether these new minds are joining the Army or they're simply demanding a better digital future for them and for their children, we need to build this literacy. When I talk to people who are new to the space, which I do quite a bit, I tell people to start with your blockchain 101 episode in which Elaine Zelby turns the tables on you and interviews you.
Starting point is 00:49:49 I think it's a great place to start, but I encourage people to really work their way through all. of the episodes. Thanks, Laura. Hi, my name is Dylan. I currently help out with our university's cryptocurrency club at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and I'm a long-time listener of your show. I usually put on your podcast when busing to college every morning. As blockchain begins to reach a more mainstream audience, it becomes all that more important that journalists cover these projects and stories in an ethical and accessible manner. I became a dedicated to a dedicated to a more listener after two specific episodes, the gender and balance in crypto back in March and all things crypto economics in early April. So my prediction for 2019. A big story next year will be
Starting point is 00:50:36 about the development of more interoperable blockchains and moving towards a more decentralized internet or web 3.0. Congrats again on your 100th episode and make sure to stop by Ottawa the next time you're up in Canada. Hi, my name is Jim from Seattle. favorite parts of Unchained happen almost always about three quarters of the way through the episode when Laura switches from throwing softballs to asking the hard questions. It almost inevitably occurs and the guests who usually aren't press trained start to squirm and get uncomfortable and often the most interesting aspects of the show happen that. Ben. So keep up the journalism, Laura. And I don't have a prediction for crypto in 2019,
Starting point is 00:51:33 but I'm sure it will continue to be a great ride. Hey, Laura. Congratulations on your 100th episode. This is Connie at BitGiv. And it's been a pleasure talking with you over the years about our work at BitGiv. And most recently, the launch of our GiveTrack platform. And I'd love for your listeners to check it out at givtrak.org and see the four awesome NGOs we have on the platform fundraising in Bitcoin and using the Bitcoin network, leveraging all the awesome benefits of the technology. We have been really excited to demonstrate a real use case of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin blockchain. through work with nonprofits.
Starting point is 00:52:26 And we're very proud to have our new platform live and to have four or more. We have more coming soon NGOs and projects up on the site in time for the holiday season. And also for your listeners, you might be looking for not only a way to give back this season, but also a way to offset their gains or have a tax deduction. It's also that time of year. So we at BitGiv are wishing everyone
Starting point is 00:52:58 a very happy holiday season and a happy new year. And we'll see you all soon. Hi, Laura. This is Hugo Nodin CEO and co-founder at LGO Markets. I'm calling you from LGO Markets New York Office and the whole team and I wanted to thank you for these 100 podcasts. My favorite part of your show is learning behind the scenes. details about the different companies that you invite, such as Fidelity Staff, trading Bitcoins against Bagel in their own cafeteria. Our vision for 2019, we think that there will be a much needed cleanse in the market and rationalization of the understanding of what blockchain can bring to the financial services. Looking forward to 2019 and discussing with you. Thank you,
Starting point is 00:53:43 Laura. This is Jimmy Song, and I wanted to give a little bit of a shout out to Laura Shin. She's a fellow Korean American, and I appreciate what she's been able to do with getting crypto out there and sort of explaining things in a way that the common person can understand. So really appreciate you, Laura. As far as my prediction for 2019, I predict that Joe Lubin will still not have completed his bet with me and that he will continue to avoid any mention of the bet or deflect or say sorry excuses, even though he's promised to, he's the one that initiated the bet and so on. So that's my comment. Hopefully, you guys remember what that was all about.
Starting point is 00:54:28 All right. Hello, Laura. This is Mike McClone. I'm with Bloomberg Intelligence, and I'm the commodity and crypto strategist here. And I'm probably one of your biggest fans. I'd like to debate that with some of your other fans. I listen to every word, almost every word, that you every podcast. that you broadcast, and I very much like them, both unchanged and unconfirmed.
Starting point is 00:54:51 I especially like the most of the latest with Mike Novogratz, partly because I'm with Bloomberg, and we did launch an index with him, the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index. So I love your podcasts. I find them very helpful in forming our views, and we just launched our Crypto's Outlook for 2019, and the headline is Bitcoin and Crypto should see bounces along the road to a lower base. So we're looking for lower prices in the markets, more gleaning of some of the cryptos. 2000 tradable seems quite extreme. Kind of looking for a range, a maximum range in Bitcoin around 1,500,000, 6,500.
Starting point is 00:55:30 I think it's very unlikely to get above there. But I like to separate Bitcoin from the others. I really view Bitcoin as digital gold. And my introduction to the space really came from comparing Bitcoin to gold. and it has those qualities that most of the other cryptos don't have. But overall, we view the speculative X-asers that still need to be leaned out. Valatility is way too high, and most of our indicators show that prices should continue lower. But next year, we should see a decent base forming, but don't expect the kind of one or 10 X, 100 X as we've had in the past.
Starting point is 00:56:05 So thank you very much. I really appreciate everything you do, and thank you for helping us to contribute. Goodbye. Hi, Laura. My name is Paul Paul from New Jersey, and I love listening to your podcast on my commute to my internship almost every morning. And my 2019 CryptoSpace prediction would be that people will start focusing more on the blockchain technology itself rather than the actual cryptocurrency and the prices and whatnot. And I think this will definitely be a positive in the space. Thank you. Hi, I'm with a D.C.C. Project. In 2018, we saw the ICU immortal die. Ethereum play now, Daps and tokens go to zero, and you have seen
Starting point is 00:56:45 the 20 projects generate insanely created business models just to avoid regulation and a grazing grab for cash. Observing these failures reinforced our belief that the blockchain driven future isn't a quick fix. It's going to take decades, patience and longevity to build and during math adoption. It's not so dissimilar to the Internet, which was founded WordF in 1969, but didn't see mass adoption until decades later. even though many of the people who worked on the internet have saw the applications that we use today
Starting point is 00:57:13 took years for the technology to support government for consumers to adopt it the takeaway here is that only blockchain projects a strong governance system so built for the long realm and will survive as 2019 and beyond contrary to popular opinion 2019 is not going to be about exciting new ways to use blockchains it's going to be about which cryptocurrencies get the fundamentals right organize their collective intelligence and can endure the generations induced by ignorant prospecting.
Starting point is 00:57:40 Just like during the dot-com bubble, endurance matters, those who survived the dot-com crash, stood toll over those who run out of gas. It's going to be those projects that came to dominate the space. Thanks. Hey, Laura, this is Yaya Funnusi,
Starting point is 00:57:55 first-time caller, long-time listener, and previous guests. You're doing a great job. Love the show. Been listening since episode one. And my prediction for 2019 is cryptocurrencies will get an even bigger focus by the public because Iran is going to release its national cryptocurrency
Starting point is 00:58:15 and everyone's going to try to figure out what that means for sanctions. Hi, Laura. It's Ian Love here from Perth, Western Australia. I'm a huge fan of both your podcasts and listen to them as soon as they come out. I really like that your questions are really intelligent and pointed. You're not afraid to challenge people, but you do it in a way which is. is polite and a little bit self-depreciating and not threatening. So I really like the way you present your questions and content,
Starting point is 00:58:51 and I've learned a lot. Here in Australia, I run what I think is Australia's first crypto asset fund, and I'm always sharing your podcast out to my clients. I listen to them when I'm on my bike, when I'm in the garden, walking around the house, or whenever I've got a spare moment and it's always look forward to them. I think the other thing too is you are a great example
Starting point is 00:59:15 and I've shared this also with friends and colleagues of what new media is going to look like. You're pretty much independent and it seems to be working out for you economically and I think you're enjoying it. It sounds like you're enjoying what you're doing and I think that's what's going to happen with media across the board
Starting point is 00:59:35 that people are going to be deep subject matter experts in particular areas. And even within crypto, you could be a, or blockchain, you could be, there's many, many different areas of deep subject matter expertise just in blockchain as a general topic. And that's what's going to happen, I think, and you're really pioneering in that as well. So congratulations to you on that. In terms of 2019 predictions,
Starting point is 01:00:00 I will stay away from price, but I think institutional adoption, my prediction is that it's going to be a little bit slower than people are hoping. I think private blockchains are probably going to get a bit of a boost in 2019. And towards the end of 2019 and 2020, I think public blockchains will start to emerge a bit stronger and price will start to improve also towards the end of 2019, 2020. But during 2019 on the tech side, I think it's just going to be slow, steady, solid growth, is really what we want.
Starting point is 01:00:36 We're still, we've got to remind ourselves, and a number of your guests always do this. In fact, I think you always say this as well, we're really in the first few minutes of the first quarter of the game for the whole season. So it's still very early. Anyway, congratulations on all you've done so far. Looking forward to continuing to hear from you.
Starting point is 01:00:57 And have a great holiday season. All the best. Bye. Hey, Laura. This is Pratik from Pune, India. Congratulations on your 100th episode. I'm sure it has been a great journey for you as much as it has been for us listeners. I think I have recommended unchained and unconfirmed to everyone who has asked me about blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Starting point is 01:01:23 I don't know if you remember, we briefly met at the Ethereum Summit and consensus in New York City earlier this year. and you were great at both the events. I do not have one favorite episode because I've enjoyed listening to almost all of them, but I can definitely point out the interviews with Naval Revecant, Olaf Carson from Pauly Chain Capital, and CZ from Binance. It'd be great to have them again.
Starting point is 01:01:56 I believe crypto is here to stay, and in 2019, we will see amazing data, coming up in the range of three to five at least. In terms of learning, I don't know any other platform, blog, or a YouTube channel giving me so much knowledge that you haven't come past in this podcast. The kind of questions that you come up with are really enticing. So, keep doing what you're doing and wish you all the best. Hi, it's Kathleen and Brightman. I just want to say Congratulations to Laura on all 100 of her shows or episodes. I like all of them except for the one that I'm on because I hate the sound of my voice.
Starting point is 01:02:39 In 2019, I'd like to see, well, I think we're going to see a lot of innovation across the cryptocurrency space, specifically in new mechanisms for consensus, and for that I cannot be more excited. So happy New Year to everyone and keeps the episodes going more. Thanks. Laura, this is Alan Cohn, and on behalf of Jason Wynne, Weinstein and I, Steptoe and Johnson, the Blockchain Alliance, and the Steptoe Cyber Law podcast, we want to wish you a warm and great congratulations on your 100th episode. In terms of a cryptocurrency projection for 2019, we see this as the year of the regulator,
Starting point is 01:03:19 continued actions by regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere to clarify how their regulations do or don't apply to crypto assets and to blockchain technology more generally. Admittedly, that's going to be tough for some, but the industry will come out on the other side stronger than ever before. So again, on behalf of all of us here, congratulations Laura on your 100th episode. Hi, Laura, it's Josh from Origin Protocol here. We're big fans of your show here at Origin.
Starting point is 01:03:49 I want to say thanks for all you do to educate and entertain us each week. And congrats on your 100th show. what an amazing milestone. It's hard to choose a favorite moment from this year, but we've enjoyed hearing from so many of our friends, people in the industry like Chris Dixon, Joey Krug, and other founders we know personally, guys from Dharma and Danny from Trostokin and so many more.
Starting point is 01:04:15 Apologies in advance for a shameless plug, but my prediction for 2019 is really around what we're building at origin. After all, we say the best way to predict the future is to create it. So 2019 will be the year of it we start to see initial adoption of truly pure to pure marketplaces on the blockchain. These blockchain-powered marketplaces will have lower fees. There will be censorship resistant so they can't be shut down by overzealous regulators. And they're going to be available to the billions of people on this planet who can't use the existing centralized marketplaces for lack of a bank account or a credit card. At origin, we've been asking ourselves this question all year.
Starting point is 01:04:54 What if? What if we could replace multi-million dollar companies like Uber and Airbnb with open source protocols that aren't owned or controlled by anyone? What if we could create marketplaces that are governed by a set of fair and open and transparent rules instead of these corporate rulers? Now, we're not going to replace those companies in 2019, but I believe we're going to start seeing the first glimmers of what's possible. We're shooting to see 1,000 finalized transactions.
Starting point is 01:05:24 on the Origin Platform in just the first quarter of 2019. And I hope that many of your listeners will come and participate and buy and sell something using our marketplace app and experience the future for themselves. Happy holidays, Laura, and to all the listeners, and congrats again on achieving such a huge milestone. We'll see you in 2019. Hello, Lauren. My name is Edward Johnson, and I come from Toronto.
Starting point is 01:05:50 I really like the way you use charm, grit and precision to interview. your guests because you get down to those core issues. In a future episode, I'd like to actually hear an interview with the creators of SIA or Storge. You know those file hosting technologies. Thanks. What up? Unshane podcast. My name is Philip. I'm from Sweden, but I'm currently in a snowy and pretty cold Bucharest Romania. I'd like to give a thank you for all the good quality and all the good content of 2018. Thanks, Unchained. My favorite episode was the one with Binance.
Starting point is 01:06:31 When you interviewed him, it was really, really good. My predictions for 2019 for next year is that a really startup, kind of a new startup in the space called Create CryptoCocoin. That is, createcrypto-Co-I-N, will be really big. and I think everyone should go and get their own currency because the guys behind create crypto coin is amazing so thank you Laura for an amazing year and I'm looking forward to the next one. Cheers.
Starting point is 01:07:05 Hi Laura, this is Paul Walsh from Metacert. I'd like to say thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to sit down and talk to you about cybersecurity in the crypto world. 90% of all data breaches worldwide start with fishing. And so it was a great opportunity for me to talk about how people can avoid fishing scams
Starting point is 01:07:29 because a lot of people actually ended up getting in touch with me via Twitter and our telegram group and via email to say thank you because they enjoyed the interview I did with you. And as a result of that, they install our software. So they're less likely to fall for fishing scams, which means fewer couples breaking up over financial issues and more kids going to college next year. So thank you so much. I love the show.
Starting point is 01:07:56 I loved in particular your interview with CZ from Binance. I love listening to your show on Long Drives. And a prediction for 2019, I predict cryptocurrencies, as in ICOs, will continue to find life difficult. we'll see some really great projects coming out. And I also predict that fishing will continue to be a challenge because it's actually the biggest cybersecurity problem outside of crypto. So it's not going to change for crypto people anytime soon. So thank you very much.
Starting point is 01:08:37 Much love from the Netasur team and our community. Thank you and hope you have a great holiday and a fantastic 2019. Hi, Laura. This is Jameda. I am from Chicago, and I've been listening to your podcasts unchanged and unconfirmed for the past six months. It's very educational, and you have got some bright and the best people into your interviews in the cryptocurrency space. I especially enjoyed the ones with Charlie Lee, Vitalik Boutrin, and you're... and others.
Starting point is 01:09:18 Thank you for a very enlightening and educational podcast system you have. Anyway, I am interested in the blockchain healthcare use cases because I'm a practicing physician, and I would envision more and more use cases of blockchain in health care, including portable electronic medical records, interoperability, contracting the opioid epidemic, and the perennial problem of drug shortages
Starting point is 01:09:56 in the healthcare industry. For 2019 prediction, I think the security token offerings will be a big boost to the crypto space tokenizing the securities, stocks, dividends, whatnot. And if that becomes successful, I am also thinking the security-based derivatives like the ETS or index funds would be popular.
Starting point is 01:10:31 And the rating agencies, just like the Morning Store for securities, or a spreadsheet like what Ian Bellina does, Hello, Laura. My name is Kerry Allen. I hail from Poughkeepsie, New York. And I would like to congratulate you on your 100th podcast. I'm relatively new in the blockchain arena and your podcasts. I look forward to hearing them every week. I'm really fascinated by your guest in the conversation. Being from the creative, field. I'm a photographer. My interest in the blockchain is copyright management. I would like to get photographers and artists involved to getting their work on the blockchain. Again, congratulations, and more success in the coming year. Thank you. Hi, Laura. This is Steve from NYC, Steve underscore flash at Twitter. I have two reasons why I love the Unchained podcast.
Starting point is 01:11:43 Number one, you have the most interesting and prominent guests from the blockchain in crypto space. Two, you always ask the best questions to keep people honest. Crypto prediction for 2019, more regulation and volatility until Q4, where we'll see Bitcoin and Ether lead the charge into 2020 to the Promise Land. Thanks so much. Love your show. Looking forward to 2019. Bye. Hello, Laura.
Starting point is 01:12:12 This is Vladimir Yelosovchik, calling from New York City. I just wanted to weigh in 2019. Love Your Show. I think my favorite episode is Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville. Why, perhaps it will be bigger than the web in episode 71. my prediction for 2019 is that first half of 2019 will be very difficult
Starting point is 01:12:45 and still will be painful for a lot of people in the market and it's just going to be, I think, pretty tough first half second half. We'll see what happens. Thanks. Bye. Laura, this is Brian from Smith & Crown on behalf of myself and the team here, we wanted to say congratulations on 100 episodes and wishing you the best of luck on whatever comes next.
Starting point is 01:13:15 As far as 2019 goes, we see this as an era of infrastructure and information systems for the industry. It couldn't be more excited about what comes next. Best of luck, and here's the 2019. Emily Coleman, CMO of ShapeShift, Congratulations to Laura and the Unchained team for the 100th episode. Looking forward to the year ahead, learning more about all the things that the crypto universe has to teach us, coming out of really great minds over there at Unchained.
Starting point is 01:13:48 Hey, Laura. This is Adam Hurwitz from San Francisco, California. First, congrats on the 100 episodes. I recently started listening to the Unchained podcast as I'm building a Discovery app for Cryptocurrency. news called Coinverse and Unchained is one of the great sources I found. My predictions for 2019 are that the first few killer apps will finally emerge. A few potential projects could be Braves web browser which I'm currently using and is faster than the competitors in that space. I think zero-X's decentralized exchange has potential to win in that sector and be widely adopted.
Starting point is 01:14:35 And I also think V-Chain is well positioned with their consulting partnerships to deliver solutions in the supply chain and logistics space. That being said, there's still a good chance that 80% of the projects not delivering a usable solution in the short term will drop off. but the overall growth in the area will grow at a more sustainable and steadier pace than in 2017 Hi Lawrence, Angela Tran in San Jose, California. Keep up with your interviews. The more diverse, your guests are the bad perspective we have,
Starting point is 01:15:18 and more educated our investment will be. One suggestion that I have is that to have your guests disclose some of the coins that they're holding, so majority of them learn from them. Most likely, they do have a bad perspective on which coins will do well. As for next year, I don't have a prediction. I just hope that the coins will go up as long as it goes up. I'm happy. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:15:44 Hey, this is Cryptoafidi. Laura, congrats on 100 episodes. Seems like only yesterday you were forgetting to take yourself off mute, putting the headphones on backwards. in all seriousness thanks for the great content love listening to you when I'm working in the studio and here's to the next hundred hey this is dan from LA
Starting point is 01:16:04 I don't know if this is the Laura Chen or Laura Chen 100 bucks but I like Jimmy's song and the Zappos CEO is my favorite podcast I basically agree with most of what
Starting point is 01:16:19 Jimmy Song says and price predictions or predictions and basically everything the opposite of what Vinny the Oracle says. Hey, this message is for Laura Shen. Laura, this is Jake Brookman from Coin Fund. Thank you so much for
Starting point is 01:16:34 having me on your show Unchained to talk about generalized mining. 2019 is going to be an awesome year for decentralized networks, and I'm looking forward to it and see you there. Take care. Hi, Laura. My name is Sasha Hodder. I live in Tampa, and I'm a huge fan of your show.
Starting point is 01:16:50 My favorite episode was recent on November 6, 2018. when he had Marco Santori on, and he really demystified a lot of information around airdrops and the difference between a stock and an investment contract. My 2019 prediction is that Ross Albright gets out of jail, and he makes Bitcoin great again. Yeah, hello, this is Jamie Diamond speaking from the moon.
Starting point is 01:17:15 Yeah, I'm already on the moon. You guys, with your tulips and Lambo memes, you guys are going to zero in 2019. Okay, mark my words on that. Peace out. Bye bye. Hi, yeah, this is Joe Pesci from Los Angeles, California. My crypto prediction for 2019 is Bitcoin's going to the moon, baby. Thanks so much for joining us today for the 100th episode of Unchained.
Starting point is 01:17:44 Big thanks also to everyone who submitted messages for the show. It was so nice to hear from listeners and past guests alike. New episodes of Unchained comma every Tuesday. If you have until ready, rate review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. If you liked this episode, share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. And if you're not yet subscribed to my other podcast, Unconfirmed, I highly recommend you check it out and subscribe now. Unchained is produced by me, Laura Shin, with help from Rayling Gallup Poly, fractal recording, Jenny Josephson, Corinne Fife, and Daniel Ness.
Starting point is 01:18:15 Thanks for listening.

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