research

Gemini is a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, wallet, and custodian for digital assets. Founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the brothers were early pioneers and adopters in Bitcoin and the sector. The firm operates as a New York trust company, requiring the company to comply with fiduciary obligations, capital reserve requirements, and banking […]

CMS Holdings is a principal investment firm focused on the digital asset ecosystem. The firm was founded in early 2019 by Daniel Matuszewski, Bobby Cho, and Julien Seguin.  . Before founding CMS, Matuszewski and Cho had been in the over-the-counter trading space since the early days of the sector, working for the desks of firms […]

A common misconception about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is that privacy can’t exist while transacting, which makes many citizens anxious about general-purpose or retail CBDC. In fact, transaction privacy is such a big factor for potential users that it was the top concern among respondents in the CBDC survey that the European Central Bank […]

In September 2020, the Crypto exchange Binance launched an Ethereum-compatible blockchain, with its exchange token BNB as the native token. Like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) provides a smart contract platform for decentralized finance applications (DeFi). The rise and popularity of DeFi applications and demand for the Ethereum network have subsequently made it more costly […]

Each month The Block Research hosts an analyst call reviewing the most important topics from the month prior. This month Lars Hoffmann takes a look at January by the numbers. Ryan Todd shares insights from MicroStrategy’s historic Bitcoin Summit. Mika Honkasalo discusses Cosmos IBC and arguments for application-specific chains.

On January 27th, 2021, Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), delivered a speech for Stanford’s Hoover Institution policy seminar. His speech was titled ‘Digital currencies and the future of the monetary system,’ and it covered the digitization of money. Bitcoin, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were discussed in […]

LedgerPrime is a quantitative and systematic investment firm focused on digital assets. The firm launched in 2017 as the principal trading arm of Ledger Holdings Inc., and in 2019 raised separate capital for trading and investment as a hedge fund. Aside from its active quantitative strategies, the firm has also been actively investing since April […]

In January 2019, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) started releasing a yearly central bank digital currency (CBDC) paper based on results from its global survey of central banks. The third paper, ‘Ready, steady, go? – Results of the third BIS survey on central bank digital currency,’ was recently published on January 27th. Central banks […]

As the oldest U.S. bitcoin investment firm, Pantera Capital has established itself as a cryptocurrency and blockchain investment leader. Founded in 2003 by Dan Morehead, Pantera Capital was initially a traditional hedge fund focused on investing in global macro trends. In 2013, the firm shifted its focus to digital assets and blockchain technology. With over […]

DeFiance capital is a Singapore-based digital asset fund focused specifically on the decentralized finance (DeFi) vertical. Founded by Arthur Cheong, the firm operates as a sub-fund of Three Arrows Capital. Before the firm was founded in September 2020, Cheong was an early investor in DeFi protocols, operating similar investment strategies to DeFiance since late 2018.  […]

Avalanche is an open-source platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and enterprise solutions. Developers can create customizable blockchains within Avalanche that fit their application’s needs, whether that be an open and public blockchain or a private blockchain solution. Developed by Ava Labs, the team raised a total of $60 million across three separate sales. In […]

Andersson Horowitz is one of the most renowned venture capital firms to come out of Silicon Valley. Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, the firm made early bets on several high profile software startups like Skype, Facebook, Airbnb, Twitter, and Lyft. The firm was an early investor in digital assets, investing in […]

In April 2017, the Interchain Foundation raised $17 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum to build an interconnected blockchain network. Networks built on Cosmos will have the ability to maintain governance-related autonomy and be interoperable where they can transfer tokens and data with each other. Tendermint, also known as All In Bits Inc., has been […]

On January 21st, 2021, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) met to discuss the latest monetary policy updates for the eurozone. At the subsequent press conference, ECB President, Christine Lagarde was asked a question about the digital euro.  During the Q&A session, a reporter stated, “Many people are a little worried about […]

Kenetic Capital is a blockchain-focused investment firm and proprietary trading shop based in Hong Kong. The firm was founded by Jehan Chu in 2016. Kenetic Trading, the high-frequency trading firm, is operated as a separate entity and is independently managed. The trading firm deploys both high and medium frequency principal trading strategies through their proprietary […]

On December 2nd, 2020, a proposal for the Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act was announced by members of the 116th United States Congress. The bill’s discussion draft was introduced by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and Chairman of Task Force on Financial Technology Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA-08). If […]

Last week, ‘Fiat Freeway’ examined the most recent interpretive letter on digital assets from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC).  We’ve also previously covered GMO-Z.com Trust Company Inc.’s trust charter approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Visa’s novel offline payment system (OPS) protocol for CBDC, Paxos’ […]

Recently, we mapped out the projects and companies that are currently developing on Polkadot’s ecosystem. While some of these initiatives are self-funded, most have received funding through the Web3 Foundation’s grant program, venture capital, and or directly from Polkadot’s treasury.  Our research identified a total of 21 projects that have received outside capital from investors […]

Polkadot is one of the more anticipated Proof-of-Stake networks and smart contract challengers to Ethereum. The network was founded by Gavin Wood, a co-founder of Ethereum, Robert Habermeier, a former Thiel Fellow, and Peter Czaban, the technology director of the Web3 Foundation. The core team behind the development of Polkadot includes the research & development […]