Episodes

  • Episode 248 - Defi Rundown - The Lost Episode

    Episode 248 - Defi Rundown - The Lost Episode
    Jun 9 2021

    Decentralized Finance: The future of cryptocurrency. It's time for Karim and spearhead the CryptoBasic breakdown of this space in the longest episode that CryptoBasic has ever recorded.


    We go over everything from Liquidity Farming, to Rug Pulls, and more.


    This episode spent nearly 6 months on the shelf. It's something of a swan song for the CryptoBasic team as they just couldn't keep the project afloat without sacrificing their morals.

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    2 hrs and 20 mins
  • Episode 247 - It's time for Sushi... swap.

    Episode 247 - It's time for Sushi... swap.
    Sep 15 2020

    Hello everybody and welcome to the Crypto Basic Podcast! Now, before you start rage-tweeting us, we know we've been away for quite some time, but people need vacation, and we're definitely people. Besides vacation though, we decided that the Crypto Basic Podcast will be releasing episodes less often, but with more concise and in-depth information. By releasing weekly episodes, we're doing a disservice to the quality of the podcast as sometimes we scramble to find interesting stuff that frankly, sometimes is just not there, and that way we're doing a disservice to you, the listener. However, we're not going anywhere. Sorry haters. So, expect less but better Crypto Basic goodness from now on.


    In today's episode we talk about Sushiswap, a decentralized exchange on the Ethereum blockchain that shows a lot of promise. There has been some drama -its creator fucking up big time, that is- that we didn't cover because we recorded this episode about a week ago and didn't release it in time, but talking about the project and its ins and outs still made for a very interesting and engaging discussion. Tune in to find out more!
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Episode 246 - Crypto Scams through Tik Tok?

    Episode 246 - Crypto Scams through Tik Tok?
    Jul 23 2020

    Welcome to the Crypto Basic Podcast!


    Joining you are Brent "Pump and Dump" Philbin, Adam "The TikToker" Levy, and Karim "You guys are insane" Baruque.


    Our issue for today is a call to action posted on TikTok, that urges users to invest 25$ in dogecoin en masse, leading to artificial inflation of its price, AKA a pump and dump. We discuss its implications, it's dangers, and what it means for the future of crypto that these kinds of things are now reaching the teen and preteen demographics. Tune in now!


    Hey Karim, what's the price of Dogecoin??


    Dogecoin spikes 1900% in 2 days.


    Global search interest in “how to buy dogecoin” also skyrocketed from a score of 25 to 100, the highest possible search popularity score, over the past few days, according to 12-month Google Trends data analyzed by CoinDesk.


    Why is Dogecoin spiking?? Not entirely sure the exact origin of it but a few TIk Tokkers posted a video talking about how if you invest $25 into Dogecoin you get 10k shares. if it goes to $1 we all make $10k. then people started buying it and it actually spiked 20% tuesday.


    Effect of Tik Tok on crypto. Gen Z is growing up. Do you think they will adopt? Could this be the start of a bull? This could also be the start of another Bitconnect with people getting hurt by a pump and dump.


    Could be a bunch of Dogecoiners getting together and trying to get the coin to blow up on tik tok. Things can go viral there in a hot second.

    Videos on videos coming out talking about how Doge is a good investment.


    For those who don't know, Jackson Palmer, the CEO of Dogecoin, created it as a memecoin bc Coinmarketcap and Doge memes were the two tabs open in his web browser.


    It has no real use case.


    Kid influencers

    https://twitter.com/jespow/status/1281021629632352256?s=20
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    51 mins
  • Episode 245 - Where are they now?

    Episode 245 - Where are they now?
    Jul 14 2020
    Welcome to another episode of the Crypto Basic Podcast! Today the gang is doing a self-reflective session on our predictions and critique of various coins and projects throughout the time the podcast has been active. How did we do in making judgments and assumption on projects such as Substratum, Kucoin, Bitcoin Hex, Tether, Divi, Dragonchain and others? Did our scam callouts turn out to be scams? All of the above and more on today's episode of the Crypto Basic Podcast.Coins CryptoBasic called out on previous shows, how did they end up?SubstratumEpisode 1Episode 2Our position on the? VERY hard scam. We had 3 full episodes and talked a lot of shit with their community.Subreddit has been dead since 9 months ago.Highest price point AFTER the 2017 bubble - $.82 in May of 2018. For reference we released the first episode warning listeners of the scam in November of 2018.They raised $13M in ICO funds and delivered nada.They announced that they were seeking private funding in September of 2019, and now it is a completely dead project.Verdict - WE WERE RIGHTKucoinEpisode where we first mentioned KucoinOur position on them? Lukewarm. Mike really liked them, but I didn't like their pyramid style marketing. I also had some issues with their interface. I never went so far as to call them a scam, but never trusted them with a single cent. We did pull the referral bonus from the shownotes. We called the flags "offwhite"Hilariously shitty MLM style video.They're still operational, subreddit is booming, and they're one of the exchanges with name recognition.Storytime about Kucoin. My first troll.We did cover some of the red flags over the course of the time after we talked about them. They had some issues with where their location was and they gotHighest price point after the 2017 bubble - $4.99 May 2018Current price as of recording - $.81Verdict - We were basically wrong here. More risk than a high end exchange, but they're ranked just below Gemini.CryptopiaOur position on the scam: I wouldn't put my money on the site. Didn't call them an outright scam.Went down on July 3, 2019.They're still in liquidation.People will not be made whole.Bitcoin HexThis is an ongoing scam - I want to do a red flags episode which we'll record next week on Bitcoin hex.Right now, they're still kicking.What I remember is that Trevon James, a previous Bitconnect shill, was shilling it.I went to his Youtube. HO LEE SHITSome great fucking titles"5 steps to turn $200 into $200,000 with Cryptocurrency"Vitalik Sent me $600,000 worth of HEXHow to Make Money with Crypto (holding up stacks of USD cash)Why HEX can EASILY reach $1Hex is up 315% what a scam right?Verdict - Episode next week.TetherOur position - Tether is a scam. It is not backed, and you cannot trust it.Price - $1Price - $1Stop using TetherTell Story about how easy DAI isDiviEpisode on the Divi ProjectThis was a coin we did a 101 on and Karim and Mike definitely disagreed on the evaluation. Karim didn't call it a scam, he just didn't like the project. Here's what I remember about Karim's negative thoughts - this was the only coin that ever had one of their team members have a rational response to it.Coin Market cap doesn't have data that far back, oddly, but the earliest they have the price was $.009. per coin b ack in November of 2018.Today's price - $.04 - a 440% increaseVerdict - Wrong for now, probably eat crow.79th in Market CapDragonchainOur positoin - Lukewarm again. Karim didn't say it was scam, he just didn't really like it. This was a project that was essentially making itself turnkey ICO launchers. Well ICOs aren't really a think anymore and their first ICO's didn't go well.The subreddit isn't VERY active but it is actiev.Post 2017 bubble highest price - May 2018 $1.35Current price $.089Verdict - Right to be skeptical of the project, certainly not a scam yet.FCoinOur stance - we released an episode called "Is Fcoin a scam" our answer was fucking yes it was.If you go there on coinmarketcap - it says "we have received reported of impeded withdrawls due to insolvency"They shutdown around February 2020 and blamed "poor auditing" for the shutdown, as they were transferring out tons of money from their cold wallets.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Episode 244 - Notes on the Federal Reserve

    Episode 244 - Notes on the Federal Reserve
    Jul 3 2020

    Welcome to the Crypto Basic Podcast! We'd been gone for a little while (blame our editor and his "exams", yeah right) but we're back and this week we're talking about the big ol' Fed, which announced that it will start buying individual corporate bonds. What does that mean for the economy and the banking system? What the hell are SMFCCs and SPVs? And are they sexually transmitted diseases, or do they just sound like that? Tune into today's episode for the answer to this truly profound and engaging question, and many many more.


    Fed says it is going to start buying individual corporate bonds

    • The Federal Reserve said Monday it will start buying individual corporate bonds.In order to “support market function and eases credit conditions.” they added functions to its Secondary Market corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF)SMCCF? - It is a Special Purpose Vehicle launched by the Fed in March
    • SPV? - A subsidiary created by a parent company to isolate risk
    • Basically creates separate company with isolated balance sheet
    • SPV operations limited to acquiring and financing specific assets
    • SPV may be created solely to securitize debt so that investors can be assured of repayment.
    • Can help companies securitize assets,
    • create joint ventures,
    • isolate corporate assets, or perform other financial transactions.
    • Fed is trying to ensure banks continue to lend to corporations
    • The SMCCF then buys corporate bonds and Bond ETFs,
    • To encourage lending by ensuring demand for the bonds
    • But it was only started with bond ETFs…. So lets talk about these functions
    • So whereas before it was “passively” buying ETFs at fair market value is (metrics and restrictions)
    • Now it has $750b to buy individual corporate bonds directly (with a maturity of within 5yrs)
    • This is on top of ETFs in the market
    • The loans will be tailored to small- and medium-sized companies and can range from $250,000 to $300 million.
    • Dow went from down 700 to a +157pt spike after announcement
    • Fed has yet to launch its Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility.
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    41 mins
  • Episode 243 - Bitmain Coup?

    Episode 243 - Bitmain Coup?
    Jun 18 2020

    Welcome to the CryptoBasic Podcast! This time around we don't go over a lot of things - we just focus on the basics, the important info, the headlines. Kung Fu, private militias, corporate coups, you know, the good stuff. If this sounds weird to you, tune in to find out what the heck has been going on with Bitmain and how the crypto space can sometimes offer stories and incidents that are truly hollywood-worthy.


    • What is Bitmain exactly?
    • Bitmain produces ASIC miners for the Bitcoin Blockchain. The Antminer. Basically the gold standard in mining gear.
    • They also run Antpool, which is a big mining firm that has a lot of hashpower - but they aren't the biggest.
    • Remember when we covered this in a flagship? Lets go back over.
    • This was back in October 2019.
    • Jihan Wu sent an e-mail to the entire Bitmain team that said that Ketuan Zhan was dismissed from the company.
    • Wu was then given the roles of executive director and legal representative.
    • Then is, Zhan still had 36% of the company in shares, and it wasn't clear what was happing with them.
    • Zhan then filed a lawsuit in the Cayman islands to try and stop this from happening.
    • They also filed to go public in the US with the SEC right before all of this.
    • Zhan wins a victory in April.
    • So the Bejing District Bureau if Justice actually went ahead and blocked Bitmain's attempt at replacing the legal representative with their current CFO. Even though Jihan Wu was the representative, Bitmain wanted to switch.
    • This has been in courts since Jan 2.
    • He was then granted the right to return to his post as legal representative.
    • When he tried to attend the beaureau to collect his registration, he was surrounded by those loyal to Wu, and his license was grabbed from his hands.
    • Then shit got physical, details are sparse.
    • There's now TWO official seals somehow. Zhan wasn't in possession of the real one because it was physically taken from him. I guess in Chinese law the physical seal is pretty important. So there are now two serial numbers and there's dispute as to which one is accurate.
    • Getting more interesting
    • So most of the staff was working from home because of the Pandemic
    • On June 4 Zhan actually sent all employees a notification via wechat that he was back in the office starting the day before, and that they needed to return to the office to work.
    • There's literally a video out there of Zhan marchingg on the Bitmain offices with armed guards
    • So he used his private guard force to enter the office and has apparently seized control.
    • He was handing out $10,000 worth of Yuan for anyone that showed up to the office to work with him.
    • He made a public decree to finish the IPO and have a market cap of over $50M in 5 years.
    • It looks like Zhan has taken control of the company's Wechat account, and has been posting saying that the "new" seal is the official seal.
    • Karim's video suggestion
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    36 mins
  • Episode 242 - US Monetary Outlook

    Episode 242 - US Monetary Outlook
    Jun 5 2020
    Today the gang's all here, gathered around the fireplace, eating metaphorical marshmallows as papa Karim, our resident economist, busts out the spit facts. We're going over the current economic state of the US, monetary strategies, how they affect economies and trade between them, and much, much more. So, grab a stick, poke a marshmallow and relax while Karim gets them FACTS into your brain.The U.S. Treasury Will Borrow A Record $3 Trillion This Quarter As Stimulus Spending SoarsOver last two months Congress has authorized more than $3 Trillion in emergency stimulusIn order to come up with that cash the Treasury will have to issue record breaking amount of debtLast quarter, the Treasury borrowed about $500 billion, and it plans to borrow another $677 billion in the third quarter.relatively cheap to borrow with record low interest rates (10 year note yielding about 0.6%)The Treasury’s numbers only account for legislation that has been passed to date. Another stimulus package is in the worksUS Debt big picture$25 Trillion threshold crossed, $7 trillion in the last 5 yearsAccording to data from the US Treasury growth is$1.2 million per minute$1.7+ billion per dayNational Debt ClockEvery 15 secs our tax revenue is falling by like 100kDebt per citizen $75,600Per Tax payer though that’s $200,000Currency Creation (M2 Money supply) +$100,000 every few secondsWho owns that debt?Majority of US debt owned by Americans (investors, fed, banks).30% owned by foreign entitiesChina and Japan more than 1 Trillion eachDebt to GDP2019 -publicly held federal debt was almost 80% percent, $17 trillionAccording to CBO estimates then, debt was already rising faster than the economy and was projected to reach 98% by 2030now at 107% and projected to 108% by 2021, our record was 106% year after WWIIAnother chart shows Gross debt to GDP after WWII at around 118%Checked again this morning on Nat debt clock, looks like we broke this barrier as of 5/21 119.08%Saw this back of envelope simplifications 35m to 1 reductionUS as householdIncome - 100k p/yrDebt - $714kUnfunded liabilities (medicare,SS,VA) - $4.2mInternational perspective06-18FWIW Trump said if he gets re-elected he’ll wipe the debt =) he said that last time too and it was +5Trillion going into this (last time we cleared the debt was Andrew Jackson 1835)Interesting quote though to keep this in perspective -“If the Fed didn’t take these and other emergency measures, “the system already would have blown up,The markets would have crashed 10 times over.” - Tim Duy University of Oregon (Economist, US Treasury)Modern Monetary Theory, Is there a limit?MTT points out a government that controls its own currency can't default on debtBut defecit + interest rates increase outstanding debt, is there a limit?Sustainability does not require the government deficit to be zero, or surplusesit requires that the debt increase at the same rate, or more slowly than, GDP growthParts of MMT rely on the President and Congress to fight, at some point, the inflation created by money printingby either tax increases or reducing government spending.But this ignores the political realities that easy for fed to print, but hard for politicians to tax more or cut spendingMMT also "ignores distributional effects of paying for borrowing"Essentially MMT tends to consider debt payment as occruing between two players within the economyAs we mentioned before, irl USA has 30% of debt owned by foreign entitiesInterest payments to those investors reduce the income flowing to U.S. residents, making Americans less well off.This would be justifiable if today’s spending raised income and living standards in the futureSo this is not just a problem of scale, but of allocationHere is the catch 22If we keep creating money, there is going to be inflation unless we raise interest rates (which makes borrowing /spending more expensive)“too much money chasing too few goods”If we raise interest rates, we exacerbate the debt problemDevaluing the currency?strong currency is not necessarily in a nation's best interests.Weak Domestic currencymakes exports more competitive, while making imports more expensiveHaving more exports spurs economic growth,pricey imports can stimulate local consumptionwealth effect also takes hold here as widely held assets prices rise, making ppl feal wealthyDangersDevaluation hurts citizens purchasing power overseasCan lower productivity by making capital equipment and machinery more expensive to importStrategic devaluation doesn't always work though, and here we can get currency warsStrategic reasons to devalue currencyTo boost eports (as explained)To shirnk trade defecitsIf your country was importing too much and exporting too little this can be used to achieve a better balancewhile Many countries run persistent imbalances, Economic theory says this isnt sustainableThe important one here, to reduce Sovereign Debt BurdensIf debt payments are fixed, a weaker currency makes these ...
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Episode 241 - Contact Tracing: A Crypto Solution to the Pandemic?

    Episode 241 - Contact Tracing: A Crypto Solution to the Pandemic?
    May 29 2020

    Welcome to another episode of the Crypto Basic Podcast, where today we’ll be talking about -surprise surprise- the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s not a random commentary episode though, no general rambling, but a discussion on what we think might be a possible solution for the coronavirus crisis: Contact Tracing. Decentralized, blockchain based, anonymous and, as far as the data predicts, VERY effective. Tune in now to learn the ins and outs of it, and how it would revolutionize pandemic management.


    Relevant Links


    • NCase.me Website that has the covid playable simulators
    • Source Code for DP-3T Labs
    • A website we've referenced on the show before - ncase.me.
    • This is a great website and it takes you step by step through the process of epidemiology. Why is the virus acting like it does, what ways could it act if things were different?
    • You can play with the simulations to see how even one little thing about the virus changes, and it brings everything into or out of balance.
    • After going on and on down the line, they come to this conclusion - the lockdown doesn't do anything but flatten, and then inevitably reset the curve. Testing doesn't solve the problem, and neither does herd immunity.
    • Enter contact tracing.
    • So what is google building with contact tracing?
    • Well Google isn't exactly building it, but they are funding it.
    • This is being created by a company called DP-3T. Which is a cute short name for Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing.
    • It is being worked on by cytologists, but it isn't using blockchain.
    • Phones will broadcast via bluetooth what looks like a wallet key every few minutes.
    • If you're close to another phone, your phones will exchange strings.
    • Both phones store those strings for 14 days.
    • If someone gets covid, they're marked as being in a hospital / doctor. The doctor can put in a one time passcode that confirms that the phone holder has been diagnosed with covid.
    • Positive strings get stored in a database, and phones check the database every 5 minutes for any strings that they've heard recently.
    • It's compatible with anyone's app that uses the source code, and the code is public.
    • I see an interesting future, where if this were implemented properly with a public database and zero knowledge proofs, it would solve the problem and keep liberties in tact.
    • The Nuance of the argument.
    • Why it's hard to know where to stand.
    • Fuck Plandemic
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    47 mins