Why is Facebook getting into crypto? How does the Bitwise report miss the mark? And what’s behind the Q1 growth in DeFi?

Today, we’re looking back on Q1 to explore the most important headlines in crypto. We start with a discussion of Facebook’s motivation to enter the space and how the introduction of ZuckBucks might impact the ecosystem as a whole. Michael shares his take on the Bitwise report, explaining why it doesn’t answer the right question and describing the SEC’s need to build surveillance infrastructure on the so-called Big 10 exchanges that matter.

Louis covers the dominance of Binance, sharing their big wins early on and what they are doing to maintain market share. Finally, we talk about the growth of DeFi this quarter, examining the popularity of lending products in a market cycle characterized by idle crypto. Listen in for insight around the two protocols that focus on synthetic assets and learn how we are thinking about the rising price of crypto and the potential for another bull run.

Today’s Topics

[0:17] Facebook’s motivation to enter the crypto space as a data play and to support its core business delivering ads

[10:31] How Facebook might introduce its token to the market and the potential for tension between ZuckBucks and governments in emerging markets

[21:52] How the introduction of ZuckBucks will impact the crypto ecosystem as a whole

[27:50] The potential for other big corporations to follow Facebook’s lead and establish stable coins of their own

[31:03] The Bitwise report for the SEC and the need to build surveillance infrastructure on the exchanges that matter

[37:06] The CME request for trading data that led to a DOJ price manipulation probe

[39:00] Why the growth of CME is a comfort to the SEC while that of BitMEX is not

[46:00] Binance’s big wins early on and what they are doing to maintain market share

[56:18] What’s behind the growth in DeFi this quarter

[1:01:05] The two protocols that focus on synthetic assets and the pros + cons of crypto derivative products

[1:06:56] The rising price of crypto and the potential for another bull run