Unchained - Are Democrats Against Crypto? These Two Congressional Candidates Say No - Ep.316

Episode Date: February 4, 2022

Shrina Kurani, a Democrat running for a House seat in California, and Morgan Harper, a Democratic candidate running to represent Ohio in the US Senate, explain why they are running pro-crypto campaigns. They discuss how crypto will affect the 2022 midterms, justify being both pro-crypto and pro-environment, and talk about the importance of educating regulators about Web3. On this episode of Unchained, they highlight: how Morgan’s work at the American Economic Liberties Project and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau led her to run for Senate on a pro-crypto platform why Shrina chose to mint NFTs on Solana to help fundraise for her campaign what issues Morgan and Shrina have with the current financial system (and how they believe crypto could help solve such issues) why both Shrina and Morgan stress that education is the key to making effective crypto policy in the US what message Shrina and Morgan want to send to fellow Democrats about the crypto industry why Morgan believes that single-issue voting for crypto candidates could be dangerous Thank you to our sponsor! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Morgan Harper Campaign Website: https://morganharper.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mh4oh    Shrina Kurani Campaign Website: https://www.shrinakurani.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/shrinakurani    Additional Reading Information on Shrina’s NFT drop https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/12/16/congressional-candidate-kurani-dropping-2022-solana-nfts-as-part-of-campaign/  Why Shrina is advocating for web3 ​​https://medium.com/@shrinakuraniforcongress/im-running-for-congress-here-s-why-i-m-advocating-for-web3-50409ffdd11 Morgan’s thoughts on web3 versus traditional finance https://twitter.com/mh4oh/status/1463219384776806402?s=21 9 pro-crypto congressional candidates https://laurashin.bulletin.com/want-to-support-a-pro-crypto-congressional-candidate-check-out-these-9  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And the book comes out for every 22nd, and again, you can pre-order it at Bitley-S-Cryptopians. Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no-hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin, a journalist with over two decades of experience. I started covering crypto six years ago, and as a senior editor at Forbes, was the first mainstream media reporter to cover cryptocurrency full-time. This is the February 4th, 2022 episode of Unchained. With the Crypto.com app, you can buy, earn, and spend crypto in one place. Download and get $25 with the code, Laura, link in the description.

Today's guests are Morgan Harper, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, and Shrina Karani, a Democratic. congressional candidate for California's 41st district. Welcome, Morgan, and Shrina. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for having me, Laura. There's a perception that the Democrats are more anti-crypto, while the Republicans are more pro-crypto. And although I know there are plenty of Democrats who are also pro-crypto, and there are also some prominent Republicans who are anti, I do think for the most part, the more vocal supporters at least tend to be Republicans. And the more vocal critics tend to be Democrats. And there's obviously a whole new crop of Democratic candidates who seem to be pro-crypto,

such as you two. But before we actually dive into all those issues, why don't each of you give us your backgrounds, what you were doing before you decided to run for Congress, why you decided to run, and then why you're pro-Web3? And Morgan, why don't we start with you? Sure. Well, yeah, no, thank you again for bringing us together. It's exciting to be here with both of you and talk about crypto. And, you know, just, yeah, a little bit about me. I'm from Columbus, Ohio, originally born and raised. I had some early life experiences that just made me aware of the fact that we don't really have a level playing field in terms of people's ability to access opportunity. And that put me on a mission to do something about it. So I figured out, oh, public policies

driving a lot of decision making, got to figure that out, got a master's in it, became a lawyer, and then eventually worked in Washington at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the financial and foreclosure crisis. And that's when I really just started to wake up to the reality that in many ways we don't have a policy problem. We have a politician problem. And we need to have more people that understand what's going on on the ground and really trying to use these positions to get things done to run and win if we're going to see what I believe should be the vision of our core American value, American dream, is that everybody gets that access to opportunity. That's why I'm running for the United States Senate. And yeah, look forward to more of the discussion.

And then just add at the end, why you're pro web three. Well, you know, what's been interesting, and I first learned about, you know, things like crypto, Bitcoin when I was at the CFPB. And, you know, I'm all about trying to make sure that we have a level playing field and that we have people being able to access opportunity. And what we've seen over the past 20 years, especially, is the economy has not met places like Ohio with that opportunity. There's been a lot of capital accumulation on the coast, and a lot of places in the Midwest are not faring as well, and people don't feel like they have

access to the traditional financial system as well to be able to build wealth. And so, you know, in conversations with people about crypto, blockchain technology, Web 3, you know, hearing that this might be something that gets us closer to level of the playing field and from people in Ohio who are excited about it. So that's why I want to learn more about it as well. And Shrina, what's your pre-politics background and why did you decide to run and why are you pro-WP3? Yeah, of course. I love all of these questions. So I am running for Congress, as you mentioned, in California's 41st congressional district. And I grew up here. And my parents worked seven days a week. I grew up in their small business. And I realized, especially now that that level of hustle still doesn't support families, especially here and across America. And so, Morgan, I love what you're mentioning. around the wealth gap, around generational inequalities, and the fact that we need to be able to create new pathways and new systems to be able to allow people to get there. I'm an engineer. I went to

UC Riverside, my hometown's UC, and got my degree in mechanical engineering and dove straight into sustainability. Acknowledging the climate crisis and the fact that we need to do something now, I started building companies related to food, energy, and water. And have most recently been building a financial technology company to be able to create access to capital. And the fact that most entrepreneurs, most American people don't have access to capital, don't have the ability to buy in to our financial institutions. Well, I don't want to say the way they used to because they didn't really before either, but especially now we're seeing a lot of these problems exacerbated across a fold when we're talking about being able to buy a home. And we talk about the fact that who actually

is getting mortgages, who is able to be able to be able to. to have the capital to do the things that they need to do. And we're seeing increased disparities across the board. So I think started working in crypto, actually, with the last company that I was building Republic, which also has a revenue sharing token. So actually launched a token last year to be able to create more opportunities for people to buy in and realize that when we talk about Web 3,

I love the definition of Web 3, right? We talk about Web 1, where it's read only. you come to the internet to consume Web 2, where you're reading and writing and, you know, people are creating content. And Web 3, where we now have the opportunity to own our assets, right? And rather than the centralization of power that we've traditionally seen with technology, we now have the opportunity to decentralize that power and actually bring profit back to the people. So Morgan, as you mentioned, you used to work at the CFPB, and the founding of that can be credited to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is probably one of the more vocal anti-crypto voices.

Can you talk a little bit more about your experience there and how that informs your views on Web 3 and why you think that that could address some of the problems that you've seen through your experience? Yeah, the CFPB was a real pivotal experience for me, just as a professional, as a public policy, I hope to be a leader. And yeah, you know, so some of what I learned there. as I mentioned in the introduction, you know, it was the first place where I ever heard anybody talk about crypto.

And that was because we were founded as an agency that was supposed to be also monitoring new developments in financial markets that consumers might be interacting with. And we had a team that focused on that. And it was that team that started coming back, you know, from California talking about people being interested in this space and starting, you know, different companies or investments and things like that. And so I wasn't really responsible for that as part of my portfolio.

portfolio, of course, you know, in the 2012, 2013, we had much bigger issues in some ways that we were facing with still dealing with the outcomes from the financial crisis and all of that. But, but I noted it and I was, this is interesting. And, you know, the other thing that I would say about the CFPB that made it unique is that it was founded to be a data-driven agency, that, you know, there's this perception that the federal government, and I will say, with all honesty, It's a perception that I held before working there of the federal government's just always bit behind the eight ball. It's a lot of bureaucracy.

It's not cutting edge, but that we wanted to be an agency that was directly, you know, engaging with people, getting information, actually asking and collecting more information by having things like a consumer complaint database hearing from people directly about what was going on in different markets that they were participating in. And then coming to the table with people who are in industry, consumer advocacy groups, all the experts to then be best informed to make good policy and develop appropriate regulations that both understand the opportunity of different products but then are protecting people from the risks. And, you know, that has informed everything about how I think about public policy.

And it's interesting. I've been surprised, especially during this campaign, about how scared people are of disagreeing. And, you know, I put some of that at the feet of big tech, which is, you know, one of I think our main problems right now as a society just in terms of breeding this polarization and people, everybody getting in their rabbit hole and not having to really interact with people who have different opinions than they do. But that's something that we need leaders to be aggressively working against and bringing us together to talk because we can't have people going to Congress to develop public policy to be leaders in a place like the Senate or or the House who aren't willing to engage with people who have different opinions than they do.

And especially on this topic, I mean, you know, I can't speak for any other elected official, but just, you know, to me, there are very few things that we could just be hard know on, you know, especially when they're somewhat newer. We need to be in a posture of gathering information and doing what's best for the people that we represent. And, you know, again, my orienting principle is if there are people in the state of Ohio that are interested in this, that are finding that it's creating pathways to wealth that they hadn't experienced before, then I need to be representing them in a good way and getting more information and supporting them. And then, yes, also understanding how we mitigate any risk. But at a minimum, you know, be in a posture of openness and understanding

as we think about, you know, different policies and regulations. And one thing that I noted was you wrote up a tweet storm about how you, you know, you felt the real issues when it came to consumer financial protection really had to do with existing financial institutions in the traditional financial system as opposed to scams and frauds in crypto. I mean, although, of course, you acknowledge that those do exist in crypto. Can you also talk a little bit about that? Well, you know, it's interesting. And I'd be curious that Shrina has this experience as well. Whenever we're talking about something new, people like to pretend as if what's come before is flawless, right? And without any, any weakness. And that's what I

wanted to emphasize in that that tweet thread is that we have some real issues within the existing financial system that a lot of people have just acted as if it's normal course, that of course we're going to charge people fees because they don't have enough money in their account, even though it's perfectly possible for the bank to know when they are approaching the end of their balances and to warn them of that and then not have them do an additional transaction. That technology exists. But instead, we let banks ignore that information and then continue to charge people things like overdraft fees that are just predatory and really targeting people who don't have a lot of money in the first place and extracting more income and wealth from

them. And so I want to always shine a light on the truth is one of my goals as a person. And again, as a leader and to not let those types of arguments shut down any discussion of the future. Because it's a very typical rhetorical tactic I've found, and especially with the existing financial system and especially with a lot of, I would say, black people, different communities of color who have been left out of the traditional financial system. Honesty is the only way to get people to take you seriously at this point because people know. I mean, it hasn't, the traditional financial system hasn't been serving them in the same way. and there's more awareness of that than ever.

And so you can't just, again, have this position of hard know when we have people who know exactly what the weaknesses are and are looking for better opportunities. And Shrina, your campaign is interesting because, and I believe it's the first congressional campaign that sold NFTs for fundraising. And when you launched them, you wrote up a post about how you felt that they helped solve

some problems with political fundraising. Can you explain? what you mean? Yeah, of course. Well, I think the reason why we did the NFT drop had a couple of sort of motivations behind it. I think first and foremost, Morgan, I love that you're really highlighting the fact that education is a big problem here, that we have to look at the past and say, hey, we've had some real problems in the way that our traditional institutions have existed. And so if we're looking at why inequality exists in the first place, we have to look at how things have been done before. And so I think step one,

is educating the American population. We talk about educating the elected officials, and we need to make sure that we're bridging that gap to the rest of the community, right? And so I think part one is education, right? How do we make sure that we can get more people on board to even understand what this new pathway even means and what it looks like?

And then when we talk about political fundraising, I'm sure Morgan can attest to this, but it is not fun, right? When you sign up to be a candidate, you're doing it because you want to change things because you want to get policy done. And instead, you're being told that you have to do 30 plus hours of fundraising on the phone talking to donors, right? And trying to get money because, and this is something I was just looking up last week, but female candidates on average actually lag behind by about half a million dollars in terms of their male counterparts and what they're able to raise.

And so especially as a female candidate, especially as a woman of color, you're really trying to make do with, a lot less compared to your competitors and to the other people that are in the field. And so you have to get creative. And I think NFTs were a really interesting way. For one, it sparked a lot of conversation around what is an NFT, what is crypto. A lot of people in the areas are like, oh, yeah, there's a new stadium, right? Didn't the new stadium get renamed Crypto.com? Oh, yeah, I've heard of that. I think I know what that is. And actually being able to facilitate a conversation around, well, I thought, you're a pro-climate, you know, a strong, bold climate agenda candidate, how can you be supporting crypto?

How can you be supporting something that has such a massive environmental impact? And it's like, well, we did it on Solana. Our footprint of an entire NFG drop was a couple of dozen Google searches was the equivalent, right? And so acknowledging that, yes, this is an industry that has had a footprint. That's because we're still relying on non-renewable sources. And so if we're able to have a more renewable energy mix, first of all, we'd address this problem, you know, at its core. And a lot of these technologies are taking on, if you look at Ethereum in 2022, they've committed to changing to a proof of state technology, right?

And so we're seeing changes in the industry to actually commit to these things. So I think being able to further the discussion around this has been an incredible opportunity for us with the NFT drop. and of course helped us, you know, save quite a few hours on the phones to help with our fundraising for end of quarter. That's great. So in a moment, we'll talk about the effect of adopting crypto on your campaigns. But first, a quick word from the sponsors who make this show possible. The ScoreBet app here with trusted stats and real-time sports news. Yeah, hey, who should I take in the Boston game? Well, statistically speaking.

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Download the crypto.com app now and get $25 with the code, Laura. Link in the description. Back to my conversation with Morgan and Shrina. Before we went to the commercial break, Morgan, it looked like you wanted to add on the discussion I was having with Shrina about fundraising. Yeah, yeah. Well, because Sharia really hit the nail on the head. I mean, the fundraising aspect of running for office is one of the primary reasons why more regular people don't run.

And I think that it's not a surprise that there is a pretty big overlap between people, between people who are attracted to more independent types of candidates. Yes, I am a Democrat, proud to run as a Democrat, but I am doing this in a very different way than most Democrats who have run for office, especially in the state of Ohio, in that I'm not taking corporate PAC money. We're individually funded, and it's that grassroots model. And it gets at this idea of we have had a generation of deferring to traditional power structures, to parties that then tell us what we should be believing and who should be,

who's best position to represent us. And we're in this era where, I've said it a couple of times, but the jig is up to an extent. And we don't know if these people have actually had our best interests at heart. And we want to have people that can be firmly on the side of doing what's right, decentralized power, having more freedom over our lives and then also elected officials that recognize that's our goal, not in my opinion, a false, far, right way, but in the true ownership and having the ability to really build your life in the way, support your family in a way that isn't just deferring to these traditional power structures.

So to me, that's one of the key parts of having political leadership that is free to do what's right. And then also people who are in this space, I think, have this idea that, yeah, some of these traditional financial structures as well haven't really served a broad swath of the population getting to that place of economic freedom and want to both support candidates who get that, but then also because that's the vision that we have for our lives is, you know, being able to have more ownership and control. And so since adopting a pro-crypto stance, what effect have you seen that have on your campaigns and then extrapolating from that?

What effect do you think crypto in general will have on the midterms? I can start. And it gets at one of the things that Trina actually had mentioned in terms of environmental impacts. I mean, that is one, you know, especially as someone. who I identify addressing the climate crisis and recognizing the opportunity in addressing the climate crisis from an economic perspective as one of my top priorities. And investing in renewable energy in a place like Ohio that is positioned to be a manufacturing leader, that we make sure that renewable energy is a core part of that as we rebuild our manufacturing sector. For some people,

it can seem inconsistent to be willing to talk about crypto blockchain technology and also have that position as a strong climate advocate. And so, you know, it was interesting for me to hear how, you know, Shreda's been talking about that. And, you know, making sure that people have full information about existing environmental or energy usage from some of the technologies that already are in place. And then, yes, of course, doing whatever we can as we explore the opportunities with blockchain crypto to minimize any negative environmental impact. I think it's possible based on the conversations that I'm having with people, but that has certainly been a common question that I've gotten. But, you know, also, though, I've had a lot of people in Ohio who have reached

out once they saw that I was talking about crypto and blockchain to be supportive and talking about how they've had the experience of, you know, being able to get a little bit of a financial cushion for the first time in their lives. And a lot of women who have reached out saying, you know, I haven't heard a lot of women talking about crypto. It feels like it's been a very, you know, male-dominated space and that you're out there is really encouraging to see. And And then people who don't feel like they fit into any political home or category that are reaching out to say, you know, happy to see someone that, you know, they would never follow a Democrat otherwise. But this is interesting to hear you talking about this and that, you know, might be willing to support. So on a number of fronts, very, you know, interesting reactions.

And Shrina, what about you? Yeah, I would say a lot of my experiences very much echo Morgan's, right, in terms of being able to reach new people, people who often see. the world of politics in black and white, Democrat or Republican, and I really like what Morgan said about the fact that we are here to put the issues first. If our job is to serve the American people, then we need to make sure that we're actually representing the interests of American people and a good chunk of Americans own crypto, right? And so this is not something we can put by the wayside. This is not something that we can ignore. And we actually have a responsibility to address, to make sure that people have guidance to actually work within the wayside.

this industry in a legal way, right? People are looking for tax reporting frameworks. They want to make sure that they're actually following the rules, but there are not very clear rules to follow. And so, I think we have the opportunity to continue to educate the American population. We have the opportunity, especially as a congressional candidate, we were talking about the fact that California has a lot of congressional districts. And the nation has a lot of members of Congress and a lot of congressional candidates. And so finding ways to really separate yourself from the path, I think, is also a way that we can continue to sort of lead the conversation in terms of what innovation looks like, what it means to have elected officials who are open and willing to work with technology and with new pathways to actually

create more access for more people. So I think there's a lot we can do here when it comes to education, when it comes to sort of setting ourselves apart as an American people in terms of. of how we're approaching crypto and being able to create pathways for more people to actually participate. So at the moment, the administration is definitely considering a number of different measures for regulating crypto, you know, when it comes to things like stable coins or, you know, tax implications. I mean, there's just any number of issues that they're looking at. If you were to be elected to Congress, what regulations would you want to put in place?

Maybe I'll start in the administrative because actually I wanted to also go back to just the role that this will play in the midterms. And I think the administration talking about that connects to that question as well where we do run the risk, I would say those of us on the progressive side of things, Democrats, as there's this perception out there that we're the party of no, no, no, and whether rightly or wrongly. And that we're not on the side of supporting entrepreneurs or business. small businesses, even medium-sized businesses to an extent. And so, you know, I do think it's important that we have a posture, again, of being open-minded and talking to people who are building in this space. And this is, you know, just another example of that. And so I think it's good that, you know, the administration is saying and projecting that they're going to put out an executive order and gather more information. It sounds like, you know, it's going to be gathering more information from different federal agencies that might touch this space and figure out what what the opportunities and the risks are as we move towards appropriate policy solutions.

And just based on a lot of the conversations I've had, it sounds like that's what a lot of people in this space are craving. And it's very consistent with what I would hear at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. People want to be able to know what regulations are to then have more predictability as they're building companies and innovating in the space. And so, So what the specifics come down to, I'm still kind of figuring that out. But my sense is people are actually looking and welcome, you know, having a real discussion about substantive regulations and what they might look like. Yeah, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think it really does come down to education, right? I think the first step, which is why I'm also excited about actually about this executive order is that we do need to gather information and we do need to look to the different agencies.

but also the industry to take a look at, you know, what do we need? What guidance are people looking for? And I think that comes down to a few things. And I think as the industry continues to evolve and as we continue to talk to folks in the space, I'm sure we'll be able to build out the list of things that we need to fully address. But I think some of the basics include tax reporting frameworks, right? We need to make sure that exchanges actually understand what they need to do to abide by federal regulation because it really isn't federal regulation. And so how do we make sure that exchanges understand how to do that? How do we look at KYC, AML, and CFT frameworks in a way that actually protects people's privacy, but also abides, once again, by federal regulation and make sure that it's consistent with the basic values of

crypto when it comes to transparency and openness, but also privacy, right? I think there is an opportunity to have safe harbors for new types of organizational structures. We have the rise of Dowell. We have the rise of dows, we have this ability for people to sort of organize in a way that doesn't necessarily have precedence. And so what does that look like from a regulatory perspective? And so I think ultimately what it comes down to once again is education, making sure we understand where we are now as an industry and what needs to happen moving forward, but also creating that space for innovation to continue and make sure that we're not over-regulating and actually stifling that innovation, but allowing it to happen within a sort of safer capacity.

So Morgan kind of addressed this earlier in the conversation, even though I didn't ask it directly, but I did want to ask you, Shrina, you know, as we mentioned some of the more prominent Democrats, such as Elizabeth Warren, who is very influential in the Democratic Party. Like she's criticized Bitcoin for having a high genie coefficient, meaning that the wealth is quite concentrated in the hands of a few. She's said things like defy is the most dangerous part. to the crypto world. And you just mentioned like KYC AML. And I know the administration is kind of maybe looking at trying to apply that to what are called self-hosted wallets, which are just, you know,

not wallets on an exchange. But I just wondered, like, you know, what would your message be to some of these more prominent Democrats who, you know, have this more negative view about crypto? I think once again, it starts with education, right? We need to. to make sure that we're actually listening to industry and looking at some of the facts, right, as we talk about KYCA, AML and CFT, where is some of this, you know, more illicit and nefarious activity actually happening. And the majority of it's still happening, for one, in a cash-based economy. And it's secondly happening in traditional institutions, right? And so the percentage of crypto that actually has some of this activity is incredibly small. And so I think

we have to look at the data. We have to once again look to industry experts and, actually understand what's happening in the space and sort of set the playing field to a certain extent to be able to address that. We still don't know what's going to happen in the future. We are at the very beginning of this new type of technology, and we need to address the fact that we're at the beginning. And there are a multitude of pathway that this could go, and how do we set regulatory frameworks that once again allow the innovation to continue while doing it in a way that isn't exacerbating inequality that is actually allowing new pathways for more people to enter the space and make sure that we're protecting privacy. We're allowing people to custody their

own assets in a way that is safe and is understood and can be regulated, but also allows people to control their assets in a way that traditional institutions just don't allow. Great. And so what would each of you like the crypto community to know about you? That's a great question. Well, you know, so coming back to one of the points that you all were just talking about, because I do think this is really important. That is another topic that people come to me, you know, since I've been tweeting and engaging different podcasts and all of that, is this is just a replication of the problems with the existing

financial system. This is not decentralizing anything. This is replicating the centralization of power. That is one of the reasons why we have income and wealth inequality in the U.S. at such an alarming rate. And that we have to get to the bottom of. And so that's one of the things that I'm always asking people about is, you know, is this truly open, right?

And are we, you know, what are the transaction fees looking like? Are we replicating existing problems? So I think that is important to talk about. The other thing that I would say, you know, in terms of what I want people to know about me, but then also just something for the crypto community to think about as they're engaging with different political figures is, you know, just a couple of days ago here in Columbus, I had a debate with one of the Republicans who's in the primary for the Senate seat, Josh Mandel, who is someone who is very active in this space and I believe talking and engaging

with a lot of people. I think there's a real risk whenever anyone is considering themselves a one-issue voter, that you need to be very careful about what are the other things that people stand for. And even if it's not, it doesn't feel like it's very important to you. If there's somebody that maybe you like on this issue but is also a lot, questioning separation of church and state, for example, is that really going to be furthering the vision that we all have of economic freedom, of decentralized power, of the type of country that we want to be living in and rights being respected? And so, you know, I believe it's important

that the community exercises an appropriate level of discretion in terms of who they're supporting and what else they stand for to make sure that we're all shooting for the same thing. And I believe that we're best served by a country where we respecting people's rights, but then also, yes, jointly working together to try to decentralize power and achieve more economic freedom. Shrina? Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that, Morgan. I have actually a very similar perspective when it comes down to as you're assessing the political landscape and as we're building out the crypto industry, a lot of it comes down to the basic values. What are the things that the crypto community values that a lot of the words of heard used are openness, our transparency, our grassroots,

are ways that we can create a new system that actually allows more people to participate, more people to actually own the system that we're building together, right? How can we turn users into owners, right? It's a conversation that we have a lot. And as we go back to those basic values, looking at the political landscape in terms of which candidates, which policies are actually reflecting those values that you care about. And I love what Morgan mentioned around not being a single issue voter because there can be discrepancies and there are so many nuances across all of the issues. And so going back to the basic values of this new system,

of Web 3, of this new industry and this new world that everyone is trying to build together now and making sure that that's reflected in the people in the elected official. that are going to be representing you and are going to be carrying your voice on a congressional level. And so I really hope that people sort of take the time to actually assess, you know, what is it that's important to you, who is representing those values,

and how are we making sure that we're building a future that is more sustainable, that is more equitable, and that is safe for people to participate in, that you can have your privacy, that you can make sure that you and yours and future generations are going to be able to continue to live the life that you would want them to live. Great. Well, it's been so much fun talking with both of you. Where can people learn more about each of you and your work? So I'm at Morgan Harper.org is our website and then MH4.0, so Morgan Harper number four, Ohio, on all social platforms.

And please reach out. Really want to be accessible and connect with as many people as possible. So DM me, email. whatever. Yeah, and for me, it's just my first name, last name.com. So shrina-carani.com and on all social channels at Shrina Karani slash Shrina Karani. Just got on TikTok, still trying to figure that out. But you got lucky. I couldn't get Morgan Harper. I would wait to the punch. But would also welcome any and all sort of insights, any advice, any questions, any thoughts, any ideas. You can reach me on email as well at Shrina at Shrina. At Shrina. Karani.com and I would really, really appreciate the support. I think for new candidates that are trying to change the way that, you know, government has been done before and are trying to champion

issues that not a lot of folks understand. We need support. And so it would really, really appreciate your time, your energy and any way that you can support our campaigns. Great. All right. Well, thank you both so much for coming on unchanged. Thank you, Oro. Thank you, Laura. Don't forget, next up is the weekly news recap. Thanks for tuning in to this week's news recap. The second largest hack in Defi history. Wormhole was exploited on Wednesday for 120,000 Wrapped Eth.

According to Twitter user, Tony Intern, the attacker was able to steal almost all of the wormhole, wrapped Eath, which accounts for 20% of the $1.6 billion in wrapped Eath locked into Solana. With Ethereum hovering at around $2,600, the exploit is worth over $300 million and ranks as the second largest hack in Defi history, data from wrecked shows. Wormhole is a cross-chain bridge, meaning wormhole locks assets into a contract on one chain and mints a wrapped version of the asset onto another chain. According to Paradigm Researcher Sam CZ Sun, Sun, the attacker spoofed a guardian

signature and minted 120,000 ETH on Solana without having to bridge ETH in the first place. A Guardian is a node that signs off on transactions between chains. By creating a fraudulent guardian signature, the attacker was able to mint wrapped Eth on Solana out of thin air and move the fake wrapped Eith to Ethereum in exchange for real Eith. Optimism's Kelvin Fichter also came to the same conclusion. The Wormhole team announced that the vulnerability was patched at 7.41 p.m. on Wednesday night. By Thursday morning, the bridge was live. Jump Crypto replaced the 120,000 Eth on Wormhole's Eth contract, so that Wrapped Eth was once again fully backed on Solana.

In the hours after the attack occurred, it appears the Wormhole team reached out to the hacker's address to offer a $10 million white hat bounty in exchange for returning the funds. As of press time, there is no update on this front. NFT volume in January skyrocketed, despite a choppy crypto market. Crypto started 2022 as a $2.2 trillion asset class, according to data from coin market cap. 31 days later, the market sat at $1.7 trillion, a 22% decline. Tocans that ended last year on a hot streak were particularly hit hard by the market correction, with 2021 darlings, Tara and Solana, down more than 40% on the month. Blue chips, Bitcoin, and Ether were also hit hard in January, dropping roughly 20% and 25% respectively.

Despite the drawdown, non-fundable tokens had a record month. In January, NFT Marketplace volume hit an all-time high of $6.75 billion, doubling last August's previous record of $3.31 billion, data from the block shows. OpenC led the way, facilitating 60% of January's NFT volume. However, looks rare. An NFT marketplace that debuted on January 10th via a vampire attack on OpenC saw over $2 billion in volume on its platform. Solana NFTs also had a big month,

surpassing $1 billion in historical volume, and Magic Eden and NFT Marketplace did a record $300 million plus in January. High NFT trading volume coincided with tons of mainstream adoption. Twitter implemented NFTs into profile pictures, and Reddit is testing a similar feature. YouTube and Meta are both rumored to be working on NFT products. In addition, celebrity adoption of NFTs was rampant with Justin Bieber and Gwyneth Paltrow, joining the Board of Yacht Club community.

U.S. Stakers could be in for a tax reprieve. Last year, Joshua and Jessica Jarrett sued the IRS for a refund, claiming that they erroneously paid taxes on crypto staking rewards as if it were income. The lawsuit argues that staking income should not be treated as income until it is sold. This week, the IRS offered the Jarrett's their refund without explaining the reasoning behind the refund, which would also mean that the IRS wouldn't be setting a precedent. However, Joshua said that they are not taking the refund. explaining, I refused the offer,

because I know that until my case receives an official ruling, I have no certainty they won't try to tax me again. In essence, Josh sued the IRS for clarity on taxation of new tokens created through staking. The IRS tried to pay him off to drop the suit. He turned down the money to continue the case and seek binding precedent for us all, wrote the blockchain association's Jake Chervinsky on Twitter. According to coin trackers, Sheehan Chandra Sechara, if decided in favor of the Jarrett's, the case would only set a precedent for proof of stake staking income and would not cover interest,

mining, or airdrop income. Relatedly, Coinbase has teamed up with TurboTax to allow users to convert state and federal tax refunds directly to crypto via the exchange. Fidelity thinks Bitcoin is superior money. Fidelity digital assets published a report this week titled Bitcoin First, arguing that Bitcoin is fundamentally different from other digital assets and would most likely be the winning cryptocurrency in a multi-chain or winner-take-all future. Quote, Bitcoin's first technological breakthrough was not as a superior payment technology, but as a superior form of money. As a monetary good, Bitcoin is unique. Therefore, not only do we believe that,

investors should consider Bitcoin first in order to understand digital assets, but that Bitcoin should be considered first and separate from all other digital assets that have come after it. Additionally, this week, during a conversation at Micro Strategies Bitcoin for Corporations Conference, Christine Sandler, head of sales and marketing at Fidelity Digital Assets, revealed that the company started mining cryptocurrency and accumulating Bitcoin in 2014. DM never launched, but Silvergate coin might. According to a statement on Monday, the DM Association will begin the process of winding down over the next few weeks after a tumultuous three years. The announcement officially retires DM, formerly Libra, Facebook's stablecoin project.

Disclosure, I write a Facebook bulletin newsletter. In DM Group's statement, CEO Stuart Levy revealed that DM's demise was in influenced by regulatory scrutiny. In the United States, a senior regulator informed us, the DM Association, that DM was the best designed stablecoin project the U.S. government had seen. Levy added that it became clear from our dialogue with federal regulators that the project could not move ahead. As a result, the best path forward was to sell the DM group's assets, as we have done today to Silvergate, said Levy. Silvergate Bank is purchasing the remains. of DM for $182 million.

The digital asset-friendly bank partnered with the meta project over a year ago to create a stablecoin pegged USD in a last-ditch effort to revive the project. With its $182 million purchase, the bank said it will use

DM's existing tech to enable a Silvergate issued stable coin, which it hopes to do so in 2022. India welcomes crypto with a 30% tax. India plans to tax income earned from transacting with virtual digital assets at a rate of 30%. There has been a phenomenal increase in transactions in virtual digital assets,

said India's finance minister, Nirmala Sita Raman. The magnitude and frequency of these transactions have made it imperative to provide for a specific tax regime. Interestingly, neither crypto or NFTs were directly mentioned in the speech. Instead, the term virtual digital asset was used. The budget also provided a roadmap for the launch of a digital rupee. According to Sita Ram, a digital rupee will be issued using blockchain and other technologies to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022 to 2023.

This will give a big boost to the economy. On a related note, Thailand also announced crypto tax news, stating that it is abandoning plans to impose a 15% tax on crypto. NFT backlash shuts down worms before it even began. Despite the success of NFTs in January, many traditional companies entering the space have been facing intense criticism from environmentally conscious fans. For example, this week, Video Game Publisher Team 17 reneged on its plans

to launch an NFT collection based on the Worms video game franchise, which has sold over 75 million games in its lifetime. Team 17 is today announcing an end to the MetaWorms NFT project. We have listened to our Teamsters, development partners, and our games communities, and the concerns they've expressed and have therefore taken the decision to step back from the NFT space, tweeted the company. Team 17's statement came after its partner, AgroCrab, condemned NFTs. We believe NFTs cannot be environmentally friendly or useful, and really are just

an overall fucking grift, wrote the firm before threatening to end its relationship with Team 17 if its NFT plans weren't canceled. Other companies, such as Discord and Ubisoft, have received similarly vociferous backlash from their fanbases regarding NFT and crypto integrations. GameStop is a crypto company now. On Thursday, GameStop unveiled a partnership with the Ethereum Layer 2 solution, Immutable X, to launch its own NFT Marketplace. Disclosure, Immutable, is a former sponsor of my show. The two companies have set up a $100 million grant to support developers using the marketplace as part of the deal. In related news, gaming company Ubisoft has agreed to enter the Hedera Hashgraph ecosystem and operate a node

while exploring the blockchain's distributed ledger technology. This comes shortly after Ubisoft launched a TASO's powered NFT platform for its games. Time for fun bits. Yes, Dune Analytics raised exactly $69,420,000. Another week, another series of huge fundraisers. FTC Trading Limited, the Sam Bankman-Fried-led firm, announced a $400 million Series C raise on Monday, valuing the company at $32 billion.

In the past six months, FTCS, the third ranked crypto exchange by CoinMondon. market cap, has brought in $1.8 billion in funding and has seen its valuation increase 75%. FtXUS recently announced a monster raise of its own at a valuation of $8 billion. Phantom, the Salana-based crypto wallet, closed a $109 million Series B fundraising round that value the firm at $1.2 billion. Paradigm led the round with Crypto Powerhouses A16C, Variat Fund, jump capital and defy alliance among others participating. The raise coincides with Phantom's release of its iOS app.

The firm plans to double its headcount in the near future. This week, the data visualization firm, Dune Analytics, also announced new funding led by KOTU, bringing in a memetic $69,420,000 and garnering a new valuation of $1 billion. The data firm plans to use something. the fund to build a community application programming interface or API that will allow users to compare data across chains in a single query. Additionally, the Financial Times reports that Ugo Labs, the developers behind board API

Club, are looking to raise at a $5 billion valuation from A16Z. Thanks so much for joining us today. To learn more about Morgan and Trina, check out the show notes for this episode. Unchained is produced by me, Laura Shin, with help from Anthony U. Daniel Ness, Mark Murdoch, Shashonk, and CLK transcription. Thanks for listening.