Episodes

  • Amanda Wick: the need for Women in Crypto
    Mar 10 2024

    Happy International Women's day!!!

    We recorded this episode in light of International Women's day during Fintech week in Japan. Although I could genuinely speak to her for hours about her career as a US federal prosecutor and chief of legal at Chainalysis (!), I wanted to talk about something related to #CryptoGirls and #WomenInCrypto.


    I hope this conversation shines a light on some of the much needed work that is yet to be done in the gender equity space in fintech/crypto/blockchain industry (side note: let's bring back the word crypto).


    Amanda is Principal at Incite Consulting and CEO/Founder of the Association for Women in Crypto (AWIC).


    If you are a student, AWIC membership is free, and if you are a professional, you will need to pay for AWIC, however, I can testify to the quality of the network. The support and involvement that you will get from it will be worth every cent. (I am not getting paid to write this, it is a genuine pitch!)


    I really hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did, please don't forget to give us a quick review or follow us @cryptogirlshq on your fav social media platform. This really helps CryptoGirls get more quality guests on like Amanda and spread all the good info to you all ❤️


    Lots of love

    CGHQ xx


    --

    About your host:

    Nikita is a graduate student at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics. She studies market design and has a special interest in blockchain and cryptography. Connect with us through our social media pages: Instagram: ⁠@cryptogirlshq⁠ TikTok: ⁠@cryptogirlshq⁠ X: ⁠@cryptogirlshq ⁠YouTube: ⁠@cryptogirlshq

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    23 mins
  • The 2024 Solana outage: red flags we noticed
    Feb 21 2024

    On February 6, 2024, there was a Solana blockchain outage that lasted 5 hours. Transactions completely stopped during this time. The outage was fixed with an update to the Solana Labs validator code to version 1.17.20.

    There were a few things we noticed that were astray, some things that have been obviously going on for years, but things that Nikita thinks shouldn't be happening in 2024.

    Show notes:

    The Coindesk article mentioned:

    You can check the Solana validator numbers here at solanabeach.io. At the time of recording there were over 1600 active validators and a superminority of 21.


    The Two Solana validator clients:

    • Solana Labs Validator client
    • The Solana-Jito Labs validator client that is basically a copy-paste of the Solana Labs Validator. If you'd like us to cover the MEV component of this, please let us know!

    The two teams that are working on new Solana validator clients (this is good news if you're a Solana fan):

    • Agave by Anza scheduled for release late 2024
    • Firedancer by Jump Crypto (in development as of time of writing)

    CryptoGirls is an educational platform designed for young women to learn more about blockchain technology. We aim to provide curated and reliable information for women wanting to explore blockchain-related business applications and/or creative endeavors.


    Host:

    Nikita is a graduate student at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics. She studies market design and has a special interest in blockchain and cryptography. Connect with us through our social media pages: Instagram: @cryptogirlshq TikTok: @cryptogirlshq X: @cryptogirlshq YouTube: @cryptogirlshq

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    14 mins
  • The Wellbeing Protocol: the future of charity
    Feb 6 2024

    60 cents out of every dollar goes towards running the costs of a charity. What if we could make something that could radically change that and ensure that over 99% over our donation would directly help those in need? It was a delight to speak to Mark Pascall from The Wellbeing Protocol, a long-time enthusiast in the DAO space. The Wellbeing Protocol (TWP) is a not-for-profit organisation building a technology based infrastructure that empowers and supports community self determination. The Wellbeing Protocol has attracted support from both New Zealand government and from established figures within the crypto industry, signalling it's potential to be one of the first real applications of decentralisation improving welfare. A deep thank you to Mr. Pascall for coming on the CryptoGirls podcast.


    Connect with The Wellbeing Protocol at their website: https://www.thewellbeingprotocol.org/

    Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:56 The Wellbeing Protocol History and Future 12:45 Current TWP projects 21:51 How will TWP migrate onto the Blockchain? 28:17 Quadratic voting and conviction voting 35:53 TWP could radically change charity efficiency 38:33 Tax free donations? 40:30 Thoughts on regulation as a founder 49:52 Even a basic understanding can get you far 51:40 Blockchain's need for diversity

    --


    CryptoGirls is an educational platform designed for young women to learn more about Web3/Blockchain technology. We aim to be a trustworthy, reliable, and practical source of information for women wanting to explore blockchain-related business applications and/or creative endeavors.
    Connect with us through our social media pages:
    Instagram: @cryptogirlshq TikTok: @cryptogirlshq X: @cryptogirlshq YouTube: youtube.com/@cryptogirlshq

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    56 mins
  • Matthew Ketchum Exposes Crypto Industry Lies
    Jan 23 2024

    On today’s episode, Nikita welcomes Matthew Ketchum, one of Tokyo's most well-known business consultants across real estate, technology and music. We explore why and how crypto has become so useless as a payment mechanism, the crypto industry carrying over exploitative norms from the finance industry, and the crypto bro culture surrounding so much of the industry. Hopefully by grounding ourselves with the truths of the industry we are able to better navigate the future with more honest and transparent blockchain creations! This episode was filmed at Centrum Shibuya, a Global Web3 Co-Working Space, the perfect Tokyo base for small events, building and networking. Matthew's channels: Twitter: MatthewBKetchum LinkedIn: matthew-ketchum Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:12 - Crypto vs crypto 07:31 - Blockchain Before Bitcoin 21:52 - 1EthToTravel 23:39 - Interlude 24:33 - Looking forward 27:46 - Blockchain landscape amongst Japanese creatives 28:46 - How can we help governments understand crypto 31:11 - Tools to use 31:35 - Nikita's experience with Ledger 36:46 - What wallets to use? 50:48 - Zaiko ticketing CryptoGirls is an educational platform designed for young women to learn more about Web3/Blockchain technology. We aim to be a trustworthy, reliable, and practical source of information for women wanting to explore blockchain-related business applications and/or creative endeavors. Connect with us through our social media pages: Instagram: @cryptogirlshq TikTok: @cryptogirlshq X: @cryptogirlshq YouTube: @cryptogirlshq


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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Janine Grainger Part B: The Technical
    Dec 30 2023

    Welcome to Part 2 of Crypto Girls’ Janine Grainger Interview. We’ll be covering some of the more technical sides to her exchange business, including wallets, blockchain, privacy, and AML. Janine Grainger from Easy Crypto is one of New Zealand’s biggest tech CEO and founders, running the Easy Crypto New Zealand, Australia and now South Africa.The CryptoGirls co-hosts are Sophie and Nikita, who specialise in Law and Market Design respectively. Stay tuned for Part II: The Technical! Episode chapter are as follows: 01:25 Does crypto need a rebrand? 05:10 How has the Easy Crypto business been impacted by the 2022 run on crypto? 07:20 What does the Easy Crypto infrastructure look like? 13:15 How do Easy Crypto staff help people avoid scams and accidental money laundering (money mule)? 14:56: Is full decentralisation possible? 17:05 Vulnerability to scams: anyone can be a victim! 20:00 The potential for blockchain to actually reduce scams by increasing transparency 25:43 New tech within the crypto industry Janine is really excited about 30:43 Generating unlimited wallets 31:24: What wallet apps/ hardware does Janine use? 36:15: How does Easy Crypto decide what tokens to put on the platform? Follow us! 📸 @cryptogirlshq 🎥 @cryptogirlshq ____ The content on CryptoGirls is for informational and educational purposes only.  CryptoGirls is not a financial adviser.  None of the information disseminated on cryptogirlshq.com, @cryptogirlshq Instagram, TikTok or any other medium which CryptoGirls distributes information constitutes legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. Please see our full financial disclaimer at cryptogirlshq.com/legal.

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    41 mins
  • CEO of leading crypto exchange EasyCrypto - Janine Grainger
    Dec 17 2023

    Janine Grainger from Easy Crypto is one of New Zealand’s biggest tech CEO and founders, running the Easy Crypto New Zealand, Australia and now South Africa. In this episode, we are thrilled to be talking to her about her business, career path and entrepreneurship tips.The CryptoGirls co-hosts are Sophie and Nikita, who specialise in Law and Market Design respectively.



    Stay tuned for Part II: The Technical!
    Episode chapters are as follows:
    01:25 Introduction 02:53 Janine’s beginnings: role models & allies 06:00 Corporate life vs Entrepreneurship 06:50 Start of Easy Crypto 08:30 Entrepreneurial traits & risk appetite 11:10 Can emotions play positively in business? 13:50 Preparing to transition from employee to CEO 16:30 First hire at Easy Crypto that changed Janine’s life 18:20 Perfectionism and letting go 25:00 Resilience builds strength 25:39 Easy Crypto’s recent $17m capital raise experience (& lots of hot tips!) 33:48 Key differences between the South African and New Zealander Easy Crypto customer

    Follow us!
    📸 @cryptogirlshq 🎥 @cryptogirlshq 👩‍💻 www.cryptogirlshq.com
    ____
    The content on CryptoGirls is for informational and educational purposes only.  CryptoGirls is not a financial adviser.  None of the information disseminated on cryptogirlshq.com, @cryptogirlshq Instagram, TikTok or any other medium which CryptoGirls distributes information constitutes legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice. Please see our full financial disclaimer at cryptogirlshq.com/legal.
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    39 mins
  • SEC sues Binance... the tea the shade and the lowdown
    Jul 6 2023

    Nikita and Sophie deep dive into the SEC suit against Binance (and Coinbase)... will this be the end for CZ?

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    54 mins
  • The DAO Attack Explained! [VIDEO PODCAST]
    May 5 2023

    The DAO attack is a piece of blockchain history that you probably want to know. 

    On the 17th of June, 2016, an unknown attacker started syphoning out thousands of dollars worth of ETH every second out of "The DAO". 

    The attacker managed to take 3.5 ETH (back then worth ~$50m), which eventually pressured the lead Ethereum community to hard fork the Ethereum blockchain on July 20, 2016.

    Some helpful links that were mentioned in the podcast 

    • CHECKS EFFECTS INTERACTIONS: https://fravoll.github.io/solidity-patterns/checks_effects_interactions.html  

    • NYT on the Gün et al.’ paper in May 2016: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/business/dealbook/paper-points-up-flaws-in-venture-fund-based-on-virtual-money.html 

    • The infamous “no-funds-at-risk” post: https://medium.com/ursium-blog/no-dao-funds-at-risk-following-the-ethereum-smart-contract-recursive-call-bug-discovery-29f482d348b#.mbfqikiyo (by Stephen Tual)

    • Vitalik’s blog post the day after the hack: https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/06/17/critical-update-re-dao-vulnerability 

    • Christoph Jentzsch “Lessons Learned” from the hack blog post: https://blog.slock.it/the-history-of-the-dao-and-lessons-learned-d06740f8cfa5 

    • More on the alleged DAO hacker: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2022/02/22/exclusive-austrian-programmer-and-ex-crypto-ceo-likely-stole-11-billion-of-ether/?sh=4f07267b7f58 

    • Laura Shin’s book “Cryptopians”: https://www.amazon.com/Cryptopians-Idealism-Greed-Making-Cryptocurrency-ebook/dp/B08Y8MQ66Z 

    • Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) 2017 evaluation on the legality of The DAO crowdsale: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-81207.pdf 

    We hope you enjoyed this podcast, if you did, please like & subscribe!

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    26 mins