Top episodes recapping the 2022 crypto landscape

Throughout this landmark year, The Scoop podcast provided a window into the individuals, ideas and stories shaping the burgeoning crypto industry.

From CEO interviews with Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, a16z General Partner Chris Dixon and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried — and their thoughts on everything from technical innovations to social and economic implications — here are The Block editorial staff’s top picks of the 2022 season of The Scoop.

1. Inside crypto’s ‘biggest deleveraging event’ and the Three Arrows Capital fallout

   In June, Three Arrows Capital’s insolvency caught many in the crypto world by surprise.

   In this episode, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy and The Block’s Larry Cermak analyze the fallout from the Three Arrows meltdown and explain the massive deleveraging this event caused in the crypto markets.

2. Gauntlet’s Tarun Chitra explains the keys to building a successful DeFi projectIn contrast to the centralized lenders who got wiped out this year from improper risk management, DeFi lending and borrowing platforms such as AAVE remained resilient to contagion.

   Tarun Chitra, CEO of DeFi optimization platform Gauntlet Network, unpacks how DeFi protocols manage risk.

3. Venture capitalists are shunning tokens, say veteran crypto investorsAs the frothy ICO boom that proliferated the prior market cycle has cooled down, some venture capitalists are discovering tokens are not always the best way for crypto projects to capture value.

   This episode with CoinShare’s CSO Meltem Demirors and Aglaé Ventures MP Vanessa Grellet unpacks why VCs are becoming more reluctant to invest in early token rounds and how the crypto VC landscape has changed since last year’s bull market.
   
   

4. Ethereum Merge Edition Part 2: Moving to proof of stake is like swapping planes in flightEthereum’s Merge was certainly one of the most remarkable technological achievements in crypto this year.

   As part of The Scoop’s coverage of the event, Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan came on the show to provide a technical overview of the Merge and to explain how the long awaited upgrade reduces Ethereum’s energy consumption, among other improvements.
   
   

5. How data ownership redefines the relationship between artists and fansOne of Web3’s biggest value propositions is the way in which users are enabled to own their data.

   Grammy award-winning DJ RAC, and Audius Co-Founder and CEO Roneil Rumburg examine the limitations of centralized music streaming platforms and explain how data ownership in web3 allows artists to redefine their relationship with their fans.
   
   

6. Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung explains the ‘open’ metaverseThe race to build an ‘open’ metaverse is underway, and blockchain game developer Animoca Brands has set aside billions of dollars to invest in gaming and metaverse related projects.
   
   CEO of Animoca Brands Robby Yung shares his philosophy on what it means to build an ‘open’ metaverse and describes how Animoca is thinking about strategic investments within the sector.
7. Brian Armstrong reflects on Coinbase’s origin storyEarlier this year, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase released a documentary that they had been secretly developing for the past several years. CEO Brian Armstrong came on the show to share his thoughts on how the film turned out.

   This episode addresses some of the thornier moments in the film and provides a candid look into the mind of the man behind one of the most successful crypto companies operating today.
   
   

8. 2-hour sit-down with Sam Bankman-Fried on the FTX scandalOut of all the calamities to strike the crypto industry this year, Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged mismanagement of customer funds is perhaps the most egregious.

   Bankman-Fried’s responses to a barrage of questions detail how a legacy payment system linked FTX’s future to Alameda’s fate, why regulators and auditors alike failed to discover this relationship and much more.
   
   

9. Kristin Smith unpacks the new Blockchain Association PACWith U.S. regulators becoming increasingly more involved in digital assets, it is important for the crypto industry to have knowledgeable blockchain advocates in DC.

   Blockchain Association Executive Director Kristen Smith discusses how the new Blockchain Association PAC is helping shape digital asset regulation in the US, and why she believes Congress is the appropriate authority to design a regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
   
   

10. a16z’s Chris Dixon on the state of the crypto market: ExclusiveWith billions of dollars of capital invested and billions more still sitting on the sidelines, a16z crypto is one of the most prolific venture investors in the space. a16z also is one of the few major venture capital firms that managed to entirely dodge the FTX bullet.

    In this episode, a16z General Partner Chris Dixon shares some of the guiding principles that determine a16z’s investments in the crypto space and explains why the time is ripe for decentralized networks to replace centralized, corporate ones.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.