CopperCasts

Mona El Isa - Founder, Enzyme Finance - Ep019

Episode 19 of CopperCasts welcomes DeFi entrepreneur, Mona El Isa, who joins us at our London office to discuss her popular on-chain asset management protocol, Enzyme Finance.

Enzyme empowers individuals to set up, manage and invest in customised on-chain investment vehicles. According to DeFi Pulse, the protocol currently has over $138m in assets committed to the platform.

CopperCasts are split into two parts. The first is a short (2min) video in which our guest shares with us something they find unusual or inspiring about the digital asset space. The second half is a traditional audio-only podcast, which you can search for in all the usual places.

In this audio-only conversation, Mona talks to host, Tyler Kenyon, about her background as a trader at Goldman Sachs and a fund manager, and the struggles she faced in TradFi. She then details what attracted her to the world of crypto, the origin story of Enzyme and also discusses the protocol’s new Sulu release.

Make sure to check out Mona's Show & Tell on our Youtube channel to hear Mona discuss the asset management tech stack for DeFi and the growth of the Enzyme protocol.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

Nate Hindman - Head of Growth, Bancor - Ep018

Episode 18 of CopperCasts welcomes Nate Hindman, Head of Growth at Bancor.

Bancor is an on-chain liquidity protocol that enables automated, decentralised exchange on the Ethereum network. Bancor is perhaps most famous for pioneering the world's first blockchain-based automated liquidity pool, or automated market maker (AMM).

CopperCasts are split into two parts. The first is a short (2min) video in which our guest shares with us something they find unusual or inspiring about the digital asset space.

The second half is a traditional audio-only podcast, which you can search for in all the usual places.

In this audio-only conversation with CopperCasts host, Tyler Kenyon. Nate details Bancor's history, what sets it apart from Uniswap and SushiSwap as an automated market maker, the protocol's pioneering role in protecting against impermanent loss, and the upcoming release of Bancor V3

In his Show & Tell, Nate dives deeper into the issue of impermanent loss and how Bancor is able to provide IL protection.

Rebecca Ferguson - Actress - CopperCasts Ep 017

In somewhat of a departure from our regularly scheduled programming, we bring you a unique episode of Coppercasts with our special guest, award-winning actress Rebecca Ferguson.

Copper recently released its first foray into the world of television advertising, with a 30 sec exclusive spot on Bloomberg. In this episode we speak to our leading lady about her star-studded career, growing up in Sweden, shooting her newest film Dune (out now, and amazing!), NFTs, and crypto writ large.

I can honestly say I've never had this much fun talking about crypto. We don't have our usual Show & Tell element, but in this case we have something better. Check out Rebecca and Copper's first TV commercial here.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

Jakob Palmstierna – Partner, GSR – CopperCasts Ep 016

Welcome to episode 16 of CopperCasts. This interview is with Jakob Palmstierna, partner at GSR.

Founded in 2013, GSR is a leading global market maker for cryptocurrency spot and crypto derivative markets.

In this conversation, CopperCasts host Tyler Kenyon and Jakob go into detail about the expansion of the crypto derivatives and options markets. Jakob also sheds lights on derivatives within the DeFi space, the crucial role GSR will play in DeFi options, as well regulatory complexities in the wider crypto markets.

Make sure to also check out Jakob's Show & tell on our Youtube channel. In this 2 minute clip, he examines the growth of the crypto derivatives and options, detailing why he believes that these markets may eventually outsize the spot markets 10 to 1 in the years to come.

John Newbery – Founder & Director, Brink – CopperCasts Ep 015

Many people think of Bitcoin as a 'finished product’ that does not require technical improvements. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Today, it is estimated that there are around 20-30 developers fixing bugs, improving performance and adding new features to Bitcoin. 

Episode 15 of CopperCasts welcomes John Newbery, one such developer who for over five years has been working on enhancing the security of the most sophisticated software of our time.

In 2020, John founded Brink, a non-profit organisation that supports Bitcoin’s open source developer community and has already funded six developers through its grants and fellowship programs. 

In this fascinating conversation with Tyler, John explains the inner workings of bitcoin core development, highlights the challenges that Brink is tackling and also describes Bitcoin’s upgrade path.

Make sure to check out John’s Show & Tell on our Youtube channel where he unpacks how Brink is contributing to Bitcoin’s long-term success in a 3min explainer.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

Philip Gradwell – Chief Economist, Chainalysis – CopperCasts Ep 014

The latest CopperCasts episode welcomes Philip Gradwell, Chief Economist at Chainalysis, the blockchain analysis company.

In this conversation, you’ll get a glimpse of how difficult it is to link a wallet address to real identities, how privacy coins such as Monero work, Chainalysis’ plans in DeFi, the true scale of illicit activity occurring on the network, and buying socks with Bitcoin (which Philip once did!).

Make sure to also check out Philip’s Show & Tell on our Youtube channel, which looks at institutional inflows into the space. Philip describes that since November, large whales have bought 1.7m Bitcoin in total at an average cost of $35k per Bitcoin. He concludes that the willingness to buy the digital asset at this price level likely puts a new floor on the Bitcoin price of at least $35k.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

Hugo Philion – Co-Founder & CEO, Flare Networks – CopperCasts Ep 013

Welcome to another episode of CopperCasts, where we recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Hugo Philion, CEO and co-creator of Flare Network.

CopperCasts are split into two parts. The first is a short (2min) video in which our guest shares with us something they find unusual or inspiring about the digital asset space. The second half is a traditional audio-only podcast, which you can stream at the bottom of this page, or search for it in all the usual places.

In this longer conversation with our host, Tyler Kenyon, Hugo dives in and lays out all the facts on what Flare is. He explains how Flare is able to provide assets such as Ripple, Litecoin, Stellar and Dogecoin a trustless way of accessing smart contracts, so that these assets can enter the exciting world of NFTs and all of the future developments that smart contracts bring.  

Tyler and Hugo also touch on other topics such as regulation, celebrity endorsement of the space and what we can expect in the near future. 

Short on time but keen to hear what Flare is from the horse’s mouth? Make sure to check out Hugo’s Show & Tell on our Youtube Channel for a 2min description of Flare and the value it can bring to the crypto community.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

Stani Kulechov – Founder & CEO, AAVE – CopperCasts Ep 012

Welcome to episode 12 of CopperCasts, where we're joined by Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Aave.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you'll know that Aave is a wildly popular decentralised finance (DeFi) platform for lending and borrowing assets.

In August 2020, it became the second DeFi protocol to hit $1 billion in total value locked (TVL). Six months later, this figure has swollen to an astounding $6 billion TVL.

CopperCasts are split into two parts. The first is a short (2min) video in which our guest shares with us something they find unusual or inspiring about the digital asset space. The second half is a traditional audio-only podcast, which you can stream at the bottom of this page, or search for it in all the usual places.

Stani’s Show & Tell segment focuses on the exponential growth of DeFi and how TVL (the most popular metric for DeFi) works. He also provides a primer on what Aave is why it continues to grow market share at an incredible place.

In the longer audio-only podcast, Stani and Tyler leave no stone unturned, discussing Aave's exciting new projects in the pipeline, emerging trends such as reg-tech and Stani's experience as an angel investor.

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.

David Marsh – Chairman & Founder, OMFIF – CopperCasts Ep 011

In episode 11 we speak with David Marsh, a financial specialist, author and commentator on political, economic and monetary issues. 

David Marsh worked for more than 20 years as a reporter for outlets including Reuters and the Financial Times. He then turned to a career in investment banking. Currently he serves as Chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), an independent think tank organisation concerned with central banking and economic policy.

In the Show & Tell segment which you can find on our Youtube channel, David identifies ways that central banks can evolve to keep up with the horsemen of fintech. He also calls for partnership ecosystems between CBs and new private sector payment technologies to preserve fair competition and drive further efficiency in payments.

In this longer audio-only podcast, David and Tyler delve deeper into the key changes that big tech is driving in central banking, including the development of central bank digital currencies and their role in promoting financial inclusion.

You can follow David and OMFIF on twitter.

Yichen Wu – CEO & Founder, Tesseract – CopperCasts Ep 010

This week's Coppercast comes to you from the Finnish seaside city of Helsinki, where we met with the dynamic Yichen Wu, CEO and co-founder at Tesseract Investment.

Tesseract is a forerunner in the rapidly growing digital asset lending market, enabling individuals or institutions to earn passive income on their cryptocurrency assets.

CopperCasts are split into two parts. The first is a short (2min) video in which our guest shares with us something they find unusual or inspiring about the digital asset space. The second half is a traditional audio-only podcast, which you can stream at the bottom of this page, or search for it in all the usual places.

The Show & Tell segment sees Yichen outline some of the inefficiencies in the crypto lending space, and explain how Tesseract and Copper are solving these issues.

In the longer conversation, Yichen talks about the trends he is seeing in institutional crypto borrowing and lending, why regulators are right to take a slow and prudent approach to digital assets, nurturing the 'shallow' crypto talent pool, and why CrossFit is like airline food...

Don’t forget to download the full episode, and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You can hear more from the Copper team by following @CopperHQ, or visit our site and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, copper.co/insights.