The Charlie Shrem Show

Patrick McClain with The Reimagined podcast, Anthony Garretts from Gonzaga and Danny Cook at the University of Illinois interview Charlie Shrem. Charlie gives a history of who he is and how he got involved in crypto. Charlie discusses crypto company investing woes and how SBF relates. Charlie provides background on BitInstant and what it means to be a Bitcoiner. Charlie and Patrick discuss transparency and freedom and how blockchain technology can make companies more money. Charlie shares how his view of Bitcoin has changed over the years and how it first became valuable. Charlie provides his perspective on how Bitcoin improves lives and has a value proposition worldwide. Charlie predicts how blockchain tech will be used in the future. Charlie addresses how crypto previously scaled and how it will scale moving forward. Patrick dives into a big block and small block explanation and the conspiracies about Bitcoin being attacked. Charlie reflects on these conspiracy theories and his thoughts regarding them. Charlie shares how he continues to learn in this industry. Charlie gives his thoughts on how mass adoption of blockchain will happen. Charlie and Patrick end the show giving advice to students who are considering a career in blockchain.

Former Bloomberg journalist and founder of DeCential Media Matt Leising and Charlie start the show discussing how they feel about the industry so far in 2023. Matt shares his thoughts on journalism and its growth and challenges within the blockchain niche. Matt provides his experience with writing his book Out of the Ether. Matt gives his thoughts on why people say the early Ethereum heist was the best thing that happened to the industry. Matt shares why he made the decision to leave Bloomberg to create DeCential. Matt gives a brief history of the Ethereum heist and how the whitehackers became involved. Charlie and Matt discuss how this industry is full of interesting stories. Charlie and Matt compare the crypto community to religion. Matt shared what pushed him over the edge to become a crypto “zealot.” Matt shares his experience getting to know Vitalik during his book writing.

Charlie begins the show by introducing CIO of Fox and President of Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL), Melody Hildebrandt and the importance of her as a guest. Melody dives into how BCL was dreamed up. Melody discusses how Fox is a risk-taking business and how that’s important in setting the foundation in blockchain and moving the industry forward. Melody shares their experience bringing components of The Masked Singer to the blockchain and the failures and successes of teaching a new audience how to use this new technology. Melody discusses the importance of identifying the value proposition to get fans and creators interested and engaged with this technology. Charlie talks about “Just Dance” and the disappointing finance and incentives for creators. Charlie and Melody talk about putting the Hollywood Waterfall on-chain and how that benefits creators and their income stream. Melody talks about Krapopolis and how NFT holders have helped shape its creation. Melody gives her thoughts on regulations and Fox’s approach. Melody teases Fox’s possible future DAO plans. Melody and Charlie talk about SMS’s breakthrough moment and hypothesize what crypto’s moment will be. Melody explains how Fox determines what’s working and what’s not when it comes to crypto activations. Charlie reflects on his experiences in crypto and how important friction is in the industry. Melody talks about “signed trust” and where it is worth pursuing.

Charlie gives an introduction to Paulina and noncustodial onboarding. Paulina explains how noncustodial onboarding works. Paulina shares why they created Ramp. Charlie reflects on his experience with onboarding with BitInstant. Paulina shares her experience in the bear and bull markets and her observations. Charlie and Paulina discuss scams over the years in the crypto sphere and how Ramp is attempting to educate consumers. Charlie and Paulina discuss choke points from traditional banks and how Ramp addresses them. Paulina describes how Ramp handles KYC and avoids fraud. Paulina talks about what she think crypto is about and how Ramp aims to educate as much as possible. Paulina explains how Ramp avoids making onboarding a cumbersome process. Paulina shares how Ramp determines what customers want. Paulina gives a look into her experience at ETHDenver this year. Paulina explains why she appreciates competition in the on ramp space.

zkLend Co-founder Jane Ma introduces herself and shares info on zkLend and how its products work. Jane explains how zkLend connects off-chain assets with on-chain protocols. Jane and Charlie talk about how regulation will play into decentralized lending. Jane and Charlie talk about the future of blockchain scalability, including an in-depth discussion of rollups. Jane shares why she feels decentralization is so important and Charlie concurs with his thoughts on recent events underlining its importance. Jane discusses how zkLend will be a responsible part of the future of defi. Jane dives into the struggle of balancing safe, responsible moves for the company with the urge to tackle the unexplored frontiers of the crypto industry. Charlie gives his thoughts on governments and law enforcement being involved in crypto and how the industry should work with them. Jane shares her sentiment on the industry. Jane and Charlie give their thoughts on equity in the crypto community. Jane shares women’s resource SheFi.

Are you tired of the centralized web holding us back from true decentralization? Are you ready to hear from an expert in the field who's leading the charge towards a truly censorship-resistant internet? Look no further than our latest episode featuring Harrison Hines, CEO of Fleek! With nearly a decade of experience in the blockchain industry, Harrison Hines is a force to be reckoned with. He's leading the charge towards a truly decentralized Web3, and he's not afraid to call out the shortcomings of the current Web2 infrastructure tech stack that's holding us back. Harrison's insights on the growth and development of Web3 will leave you feeling inspired and informed. He'll discuss the importance of a censorship-resistant internet and how centralized platforms like AWS and Cloudflare are keeping the industry stuck in Web2.5. You'll also get an inside look at Fleek, the Web3 developer platform that Harrison founded with a mission to provide truly decentralized web development. With over 64,000 companies currently using the platform and more than 500,000 daily file uploads, it's clear that Fleek is making waves in the Web3 space. But that's not all. Harrison will also share his vision for the future of a truly decentralized internet through real Web3 solutions. You won't want to miss this edgy and informative episode, so tune in now!

Charlie kicks off the show by introducing Mike’s background and a bit about ConsenSys’ background. Mike dives into what he is most excited about in the incubator right now. Charlie and Mike discuss the word “token” in crypto and why it needs to change. Charlie and Mike talk about Gitcoin and taking possession of what we put out into the digital world. Mike discusses the different types of DAOs and Charlie ideates on real-world use cases for DAO technology. Mike and Charlie talk about Rug Radio and podcasting and how to empower listeners to contribute. The conversation turns to building out the infrastructure not just for crypto’s sake, but for everyone else that will use blockchain in the future. Mike discusses the potential of the industry and empowering individuals and creators. Mike provides his view on money crypto versus tech crypto and the public sentiment surrounding both. Charlie and Mike compare managing a media company to working within the blockchain space. Follow Mike at @mkriak on Twitter.

Charlie starts the conversation off with a discussion about singe key wallets and the questions recent hacks have uncovered about them. Christoph introduces Safe, previously Gnosis Safe, explaining its background and potential use cases. Christoph shares breaking news ahead of ETHDenver. Charlie and Christoph discuss a collaborative approach to the financial world. They talk about building a framework where people can manage their keys in a simple way with minimal trust necessary. Charlie and Christoph dive in to Safe’s manifesto and what it means on a deeper level. Christoph discusses the truth behind last year’s crypto industry failures. Charlie and Christoph touch on fundamental human flaws and how they played into last year’s industry failures. Christoph explains how Safe works as a smart contract and how regulations play into Safe’s infrastructure. Charlie and Christoph give their takes on the definition of DAOs.

Charlie is joined by Diego Di Tommaso, the Co-Founder and COO of OVR, an open-source, AR platform powered by Ethereum Blockchain. Diego and Charlie talk about the future, where AR will begin to augment our perception and field of view in the physical world, and how OVR’s digital lens is making this possible today. Diego explains what will come next, revealing how will soon be able to bring our “whole body” into the metaverse through motion tracking bodysuits, unlocking new opportunities for human communication and connection in the virtual world.

Charlie starts the show off by talking about being on a film set with his wife and how it fuels him creatively. Max discusses how he views tokenomic and why he values token use cases outside of turning them into fiat. Charlie and Max compare the Fed to those creating tokenomics for crypto projects and the importance of data. Max shares what people should look for when determining if they should join and/or invest in a project. Charlie and Max discuss ETH staking and the upcoming Beacon chain unlock. Max talks about how regulations impact his investment decisions. Max explains how Aleph Zero works and what layer 1s can do with enterprises. Max talks about the assumptions you have to make when investing in early technology like Web3. Max talks about his investment in Overnight Oats (code coming soon?). Charlie and Max share entrepreneur stories. Max and Charlie discuss avoiding burnout.

Charlie Shrem sits down with Riccardo Pelligrini, Co-founder and CEO of Web3 Builders Inc., the makers of TrustCheck.xyz, to discuss the issue and prevalence of scamming in Web3. With users only ever “one wrong button” away from a “rugpull”, “honeypot” or “drainer”, Riccardo gives listeners a peak under the hood to explain how TrustCheck works, and how small behavioral shifts can help keep the community safe.

Charlie reflects on the 9 year anniversary of his arrest. Charlie and David Wachsman compare FTX and Mt. Gox. David and Charlie discuss the passion then and now in the Bitcoin and crypto communities. David reflects on the mainstream perspective of crypto. Charlie discusses the positives of the reduced interest in crypto post-FTX. Charlie shares his views on maximalism in the industry. Charlie talks about why decentralized matters to him. Charlie shares how he learned about Bitcoin and why he created the Bitcoin Foundation. David and Charlie discuss the challenges of communicating innovation to the masses. David and Charlie share how they got their first Bitcoin. The conversation wraps up with Charlie's advice to exchanges post-FTX. Josip Rupena introduces himself and his company Milo. Charlie and Josip discuss crypto mortgages, how they work, and why they are important. Charlie talks about how decentralization plays out in mortgages and lending. Josip and Charlie discuss possibilities for the future of blockchain integration in today's world. Charlie shares his thoughts on the true meaning of charity in the industry. Charlie and Josip forecast how the lending industry will evolve and the possible implications. Charlie compares this year's industry failures with the 2008 market crash and predicts what it means for the future. Josip announces that he is launching a crypto lending product.

Security is critical to unlocking the potential of DeFi and creating an environment where mass adoption can occur, but security is contingent on education. How do we teach what they need to know when crypto education is shrouded with tribalism and mounting politicization, and access is only typically reserved for those with the financial means? Charlie speaks with Jessica Levesque the Executive Director at CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4), the industry leader in professional blockchain certifications. Together they discuss how we can democrotize crypto education and give the next generation of users and industry pioneers the tools they need.

Charlie introduces Alex Kriete of Motus Capital Management and his storied history with Citi Bank. Alex and Charlie discuss the continued need for centralized banking alongside decentralization and how the industry should move forward post-FTX. Alex describes his company’s approach to managing investments in a volatile market, then pivots to why Motus dove into crypto. Alex shares an example of his fundamental approach to the market and how they evaluate tokens and projects. Charlie and Alex discuss, at a high level, avoiding the FTX fallout. Alex shares insights on deal flow and macroeconomic factors. Alex shares why Motus exists and how important education is for the growth of the industry. Charlie and Alex compare the dotcom era to crypto and its potential future. Alex shares his experience at FTX Bahamas. Alex and Charlie talk the importance of reflection in the crypto industry. Charlie reflects on his experience at Quantam Miami and the 9 year anniversary of his arrest.

Today’s episode takes a look at blockchain security, mainstream user experience, comics for blockchain, bridges and more. The conversation begins with Will introducing GBC.AI and explaining how its simple technology can keep blockchain users from getting scammed. After reflecting on public sentiment of crypto the last six months, Charlie and Will discuss how imperative security in the space will be moving forward. The conversation then dives into the importance of user interface and experience to move blockchain technology into regular mainstream use. Will dives into blockchain use cases and specific examples of how GBC.AI can partner with protocols. Will shares analogies to demonstrate how GBC.AI can serve as a trusted quality assurance in blockchain that’s independent, impartial and trustworthy. Will shares how comics became a part of the company’s pitch deck and the process of creating them. Charlie and Will ideate on creating the ‘Clipy’ of GBC.AI and discuss inputting a mascot for the mainstream crowds. Will goes into the business side of Wallet Guardian and how they plan to build out the B2B products, similar to Web2 antivirus software. The conversation turns to bridges and speculation of their future.

Today’s guest is Nick Johnson, the founder and lead developer of ENS. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed, open, and extensible naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS converts human-readable Ethereum addresses like john.eth into the machine-readable alphanumeric codes you know from wallets like Metamask. The reverse conversion -- associating metadata and machine-readable addresses with human-readable Ethereum addresses -- is also possible. Nick previously worked as a software engineer at Ethereum from June 2016 to August 2018, where they implemented a trending system to identify trending terms on Lumi, improved integration with Twitter, and made significant improvements to the efficiency, scalability, and monitoring of backend systems. Prior to Ethereum, Nick worked as a senior software engineer at Google from June 2014 to June 2016. At Google, they were a primary point of contact for external developers with questions and problems using Google App Engine, and they wrote client libraries and SDK code to improve the user experience with App Engine. Nick also wrote extensive technical blog posts to help users with specific App Engine technologies, and they gave talks at high profile technical conferences around the world on subjects related to App Engine development. Nick Johnson completed a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Canterbury. We discuss a variety of topics including ENS, Digital Identities, Ethereum, Web3, and much more. We begin our conversation by discussing Nick’s journey to crypto and why he is so passionate about wallet addresses. Nick shares his first experience with Bitcoin but didn’t really understand the value proposition. Nick explains how crypto eventually clicked for him when he discovered Ethereum. Nick shares his experience working for the Ethereum foundation. We discuss the various tradeoffs between working for startups versus the corporate environment. Nick shares how NameCoin was an inspiration for ENS and how they were able to learn from NameCoin’s mistakes. We discuss what we are most excited about the upcoming trends for 2023. Nick shares why he is very excited of ZK-rollups. We discuss the relationship between ENS labs and the ENS DAO. We focus on the future of DAOs and why it is so disruptive. We discuss the organizational structure of DAOs and the importance of proper identity verification practices for DAOs. Nick explains the importance of removing the politicking and governance capture in DAOs. We discuss how Web3 enables people to own their digital identity. Our final conversation topic centered around ENS’s 2023 roadmap. Nick discusses their upcoming Name Wrapper and their commitment to long term sustainability. Please enjoy my conversation with Nick Johnson.

Jordan Fried is a blockchain evangelist and crypto-capitalist. He’s currently the Chairman and CEO of Immutable Holdings, “The Blockchain Holding Company.” Immutable Holdings is a collection of industry-leading businesses within the digital assets ecosystem. Our mission is to demystify and democratize digital assets by building products and services that increase awareness and adoption of digital assets for both retail and institutional users. We’re capitalizing on market opportunities made possible by the ongoing innovation and evolution of the digital asset ecosystem with our portfolio of businesses including: NFT.com, Immutable Asset Management, 1-800-Bitcoin, HBAR Labs, CBDC.com, and Immutable Advisory. Previously Jordan was part of the founding team behind Hedera Hashgraph (Hedera.com). He served as Senior Vice President of Business Development at Hedera from inception in 2017 until the end of 2020, signing partnerships with Google, IBM, Boeing, and LG Electronics while also launching $HBAR into one of the top 100 cryptocurrencies in the world. Jordan also co-founded and served as CEO of Buffered VPN, one of the most trusted personal VPN services online until it was acquired in the first quarter of 2017. In 2012 Jordan discovered Bitcoin and never turned back. Today he is an angel investor in companies like Buffer.com, Clearview.ai, Hive.org, and other early-stage startups. He has been featured in Wired Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Time.com, and Success.com. He frequently speaks at events around the world about entrepreneurship, blockchain, NFTs, decentralization, and the future of money. We discuss a variety of topics including Bitcoin and Crypto, NFT.com, Defining Success, Perseverance, and much more. We begin our conversation by discussing being comfortable with uncomfortability. Jordan shares his Bitcoin origin story and we discuss how everything happens for a reason. We discuss some of the similarities of our backstories. Our next conversation focused on success. Jordan shares his advice about how to position yourself for success. We discuss how content compounds and why creating content is a great way to establish yourself as an authority within a niche. Our next conversation focused on how Jordan became on of the members of the founding team of Hedera. Jordan shares his experience of being full-time in crypto while experiencing his first crypto bear market and the whorl wind of emotions that spurred. Jordan discusses the mantra that helped him get through the bear market and how anyone can apply that mantra to help them get through difficult times in their own lives. We discuss the importance of going all in and how being fully committed is one of the keys to success. We discuss the possible crypto trends for 2023. Jordan shares what sectors and projects he’s most excited about and why. Our final discussion centered around defining success and what it means to be successful. Please enjoy my conversation with Jordan Fried.

Today’s guest is Steve Walbroehl, Chief Technology Officer / Chief Security Officer and cofounder of Halborn. Halborn is a blockchain cybersecurity firm that aims to secure the blockchain and protect users against data and monetary. Operating across the software development lifecycle, Halborn provides a suite of products and services designed to identify and close vulnerabilities in Web3 applications, helping to create the security standards that the market lacks. The company serves a diverse global client base spanning Layer 1 blockchains, infrastructure providers, financial institutions, and application and game developers. Halborn was founded in 2019 and is based in Miami, Florida. Steve has over 15 years of experience in cybersecurity, he is an expert, trainer, and technical leader in penetration testing, ethical hacking, web application, and cloud security, infrastructure security, vulnerability scanning and detection, IT compliance, and risk mitigation. He's worked with Fortune 500 companies spanning the Financial, Insurance, Mortgage, Technology, Utilities, Hospitality, and Blockchain industries. He holds several information technology and security certifications, including CISSP, CEH, CRISC, OSCP, OSWP, CISM, GWAPT, GAWN, AWS Solutions Architect Associate, CCNA, and Six Sigma. We begin our conversation by discussing the differences between traditional and crypto cybersecurity. Steve explains why security is the most important sector of industry, the crypto. We discuss why being a security specialist in crypto is very stressful. We discuss the connection between regulation and cybersecurity. We stress that regulation can foster decentralization and provide better user protection guidelines. Steve shares how the internet regulation during the early days of the internet could provide a blueprint for how to foster proper regulation and compliance in crypto. Our next conversation topic centered around the systemic risks that developed in DeFi due to greed. We discuss how greed fueled flawed protocol design spurring the wrong incentives resulted in the collapse of various centralized institutions. Steve expresses his concern about proof-of-stake as a centralizing force. Steve shares a story where he explains the systemic risks that can come from cross-chain liquidity, similar to the 2008 financial crisis. We transition our conversation to focus on the security risks in crypto. Steve explains the full spectrum of vulnerabilities that are present in crypto. We discuss how these vulnerabilities can be exploited and why a particular type of protocol is targeted more routinely than others. Steve explains that security in crypto requires taking into account technical vulnerabilities and socio-economic incentives to properly assess a project’s vulnerabilities. Our next conversation topic centered around Halborn. Steve shares that one of the requirements to work as a security engineer at Halborn is to hack their way in. We discuss how coding and security testing is both an art and a science. We discuss the security of SHA-256 and why Bitcoin was a cryptography marvel. Our conversation transitions to focus on Seraph, the world’s first blockchain security notary platform powered by Halborn. Steve explains how Seraph can help provide a security framework and guardrails for projects looking to standardized security practices. Our final discussion topic centered around the connection between adoption and security. Steve explains how increased security will lead to increased adoption of DeFi. Please enjoy my conversation with Steve Walbroehl.

From the early days of Bitcoin when enthusiasts were making their own physical coins to the amazing Bitcoin Art of today. Today’s guest is George Moses the curator of the Bitcoin Museum. Also! We are giving away FREE tickets to Quantum Miami Bitcoin and Crypto event in January 2023- https://quantummiami.com/untold On this episode, we'll be talking about the interesting history of Bitcoin Memorabilia. From the early days of Bitcoin when enthusiasts were making their own physical coins to the amazing Bitcoin Art of today. Today’s guest is George Moses the curator of the Bitcoin Museum. George is a Bitcoin OG and collector of Bitcoin Memorabilia. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to learn about Bitcoin memorabilia, hear interesting stories about the early days of Bitcoin, and advice for starting your own Bitcoin memorabilia collection. We discuss a variety of topics including physical Bitcoins, the history of Casascius coins, Bitcoin Art and much more. We begin our conversation by discussing the history of physical Bitcoins. George explains how Casascius coins rose to prominence in the early days of Bitcoin. We transition our conversation to focus on how George became interested in Bitcoin. George explained how a physical representation of Bitcoin helped him understand the concept and led him to become more interested in the topic. Our next conversation topic centered around how George amassed such a large a diverse collection of physical Bitcoins. George shares how he started collecting physical Bitcoins. He explains how he used Bitcoin Talk to learn about Bitcoin and acquire Casascius coins. We discuss how the chase of acquiring these Bitcoins was what captivated George and fueled his desire to collect them. George shares some of pieces that he would like to add to his collection but have so far eluded him. George shares what are some of the rarest pieces of Bitcoin memorabilia and their significance. I share my experience collecting Bitcoin memorabilia. We discuss how I was able to acquire a copy of the iconic London Times front page with the title “Chancellor on the Brink of Second Bailout.” We talk about Bitbills and why they are not often mentioned outside of Bitcoin OG circles. George gives some awesome advice for anyone who is looking to start their own Bitcoin Memorabilia collection. George stresses that Bear Markets are the perfect time to educate yourself and become immersed in the space. Our final discussion topic centered around curating the Bitcoin Museum and preserving the History of Bitcoin through these priceless pieces. Please enjoy my conversation with George Moses.

My guest today is my friend, Scott Melker, the Wolf of All Streets. Scott is a trader, investor, and the host of the popular “The Wolf of All Streets Podcast,” the author of “The Wolf Den” Newsletter, and prolific writer and thought leader in the crypto space. He has been featured on Fox Business, in the New York Times, Forbes, Businessweek, The Wall St. Journal, Coindesk, CoinTelegraph, CNN, and much more. Prior to jumping down the Crypto rabbit hole, Scott Melker, also known as The Melker Project, had a 20-year music career and was a world-renowned producer and DJ. He has played alongside legends from nearly every musical genre, including Enrique Iglesias, Future, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Neyo, Sheryl Crow, T.I., Jason Derulo, Public Enemy, Kanye West, DJ AM, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Steve Aoki, A-Trak, Lupe Fiasco, Prince Royce, J Balvin, Joey Montana and more. We discuss a variety of topics including Bitcoin, Crypto Markets, the Macro Environment, Recapping 2022, and look forward to 2023. We begin our conversation by discussing the increased institutional adoption that happened throughout 2022 and the fallout from the increased institutional adoption. We discuss how the immense amount of capital is still on the sidelines waiting to be deployed. We touch on the various crypto blowups that happened throughout the year and the impact that had on the crypto market. We also compare FTX to MT Gox and the similarities and differences. We pivot to discuss about the possible decoupling between crypto and the broader macro environment. We discuss the various signs to look for that could signal a changing in the sentiment around and within the crypto industry. We discuss why DeFi was the biggest winner of 2022. We discuss possible trades for 2023 and why the crypto market could have bottomed. Scott emphasizes the value of dollar cost averaging regardless of the price of the asset. He also notes that all financial assets, not just cryptocurrency, have decreased in value recently. Scott explains why the FTX fallout was so disastrous and can have dramatic second order consequences. We finish our conversation by discussing the beauty of free markets. Please enjoy my conversation with Scott Melker