There are constantly new tokens, DeFi projects, NFTs collections and DAOs being launched – but how can you make sense of everything going on in the crypto space? From the hype to the scams, TechCrunch senior crypto reporter Jacquelyn Melinek explores the impact of crypto on finance, art, web3, and society as a whole. Whether you’re a fan or a skeptic, every Thursday, Jacquelyn chats with a crypto expert, learning alongside you to break down the nuance behind the wild world of crypto. Chain Reaction is produced by Yashad Kulkarni and Maggie Stamets with editing by Kell Keller.

Subscribe to the Chain Reaction newsletter to dive deeper: https://techcrunch.com/newsletters

There are constantly new tokens, DeFi projects, NFTs collections and DAOs being launched – but how can you make sense of everything going on in the crypto space? From the hype to the scams, TechCrunch senior crypto reporter Jacquelyn Melinek explores the impact of crypto on finance, art, web3, and society as a whole. Whether you’re a fan or a skeptic, every Thursday, Jacquelyn chats with a crypto expert, learning alongside you to break down the nuance behind the wild world of crypto. Chain Reaction is produced by Yashad Kulkarni and Maggie Stamets with editing by Kell Keller.

Subscribe to the Chain Reaction newsletter to dive deeper: https://techcrunch.com/newsletters

1. • SEP 21, 2023

   Staying strategic during regulatory uncertainty (w/ Chris Lehane)

   Staying strategic during regulatory uncertainty (w/ Chris Lehane)

   For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn did a live interview with Chris Lehane, chief strategy officer at Haun Ventures, at TechCrunch’s Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco.

   Prior to joining the firm, Chris was an executive at Airbnb. He also co-founded a strategic consultancy firm, Fabiani & Lehane, that advised political, corporate, technology, entertainment and professional sports clients. In the 1990s, Chris held various government roles like press secretary to Vice President Al Gore and was special assistant counsel to President Bill Clinton.

   After a number of decades working across different industries, Chris landed in the world of crypto at Haun Ventures, a web3-focused venture capital firm that has two investment vehicles: a $500 million early stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund. Aside from Haun, he is also a member of Coinbase's Global Advisory Council.

2. • SEP 14, 2023

   So you want more web3 enterprise adoption? ( w/ Google Cloud, Circle, Chainlink and Xangle panelists)

   So you want more web3 enterprise adoption? ( w/ Google Cloud, Circle, Chainlink and Xangle panelists)

   For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn is sharing a panel she moderated live at Avalanche House, while she was in Seoul, South Korea for Korea Blockchain Week.

   The panel focused on the biggest opportunities and challenges facing web3 enterprise and included the following speakers:
   - Dan Sun, startup success manager for web3 APAC lead at Google Cloud
   - Gagan Mac, head of product and senior director of web3 services at Circle
   - Johann Eid, chief business officer at Chainlink Labs
   - Lihan Lee, co-CEO and founder of Xangle

3. • SEP 7, 2023

   OG Bitcoiner on the blockchain’s evolution, investing and need for regulatory clarity (w/ Charlie Shrem)

   OG Bitcoiner on the blockchain’s evolution, investing and need for regulatory clarity (w/ Charlie Shrem)

   For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Charlie Shrem, founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, general partner at Druid Ventures and host of the Charlie Shrem show.

   Before all that, he was the co-founder and CEO of BitInstant which was a bitcoin payment processor that started in 2011. Shortly after founding the company, he was charged with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and for allegedly attempting to launder over $1 million through the now defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road. He spent a little over a year in a low-security prison as a result.

   Now, Charlie is a vocal advocate for clearer crypto regulation, he’s a crypto investor, podcaster, and even a movie producer.

4. • AUG 31, 2023

   Americans may get a bitcoin spot ETF soon (w/ Craig Salm)

   Americans may get a bitcoin spot ETF soon (w/ Craig Salm)

   For this week’s news episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Craig Salm, chief legal officer at Grayscale Investments.

   Grayscale is a digital asset investment firm that aims to provide products and services, like its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), to institutional and individual investors. The company was founded in 2014 and is one of the world’s largest digital asset currency managers. It currently owns 3.4% of outstanding bitcoin, “worth tens of billions of dollars,” according to a recent legal filing.

   The firm was making headlines this week after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Grayscale in a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the matter of a bitcoin ETF. This ruling is in response to the SEC denying Grayscale’s application to convert its GBTC product into a bitcoin spot ETF in June 2022.

5. • AUG 24, 2023

   Blockstream is still betting on Bitcoin and mining it (w/Erik Svenson)

   Blockstream is still betting on Bitcoin and mining it (w/Erik Svenson)

   For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Erik Svenson, co-founder, president and chief financial officer at Blockstream, a bitcoin and blockchain-focused infrastructure firm.

   The company was founded in 2014 and has its own sidechain technology, Liquid Network, as well as bitcoin mining operations and hardware wallets for Bitcoin and other assets. It most recently raised $125 million in January and has raised over $400 million to date.

   Erik previously worked on Wall Street as a former VP for AIG investments and was a co-founder and consultant of other startups. His last startup he co-founded before Blockstream was Dan’s Plan, a health tech company.

6. • AUG 17, 2023

   A bitcoin spot ETF could open the floodgates for greater crypto demand (w/ Eric Balchunas)

   A bitcoin spot ETF could open the floodgates for greater crypto demand (w/ Eric Balchunas)

   For this week’s news episode, Jacquelyn talks with Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, alongside TechCrunch+ editor-in-chief Alex Wilhelm.

   Balchunas is the author of The Institutional ETF Toolbox and The Bogle Effect. He also co-hosts Bloomberg’s Trillions podcast and ETF IQ show.

   Spot bitcoin exchange traded funds, or ETFs, have been a hot topic in the crypto community for many years, but have recently gotten more attention due to Jacobi Asset Management listing Europe’s first bitcoin spot ETF, almost two years after its initial approval. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently delayed deadlines for bitcoin spot ETF applications.

   We dive into what’s going on with the bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S., why it matters and the odds of the SEC approving one in the near future. We also talk about Europe’s first bitcoin spot ETF, how these investment vehicles in general could impact crypto exchanges’ trading volumes and what else is in store for them.