Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang welcomes Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who discusses his mission to end the U.S. government’s regulatory overreach of the crypto industry, the parallels between crypto and the biotech industry where he came from, whether “code is law” is an appropriate framework for crypto regulation, how Bitcoin could be a check on the Fed, and how less regulation would actually lead to fewer, not more, instances of fraud like FTX.  

Ramaswamy is promising to release a comprehensive crypto policy plan this week. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights: 

• what Vivek thinks about crypto and why he is interested in this topic as a presidential candidate
• why he believes the SEC is engaging in “unconstitutional overreach” when it comes to crypto
• what the similarities are between early-stage biotech and early-stage crypto investing
• whether current regulatory requirements create a "false blanket of security"
• how Vivek would act to make sure the SEC doesn't overreach
• how the system should respond to less regulation in terms of fraud and innovation
• how stablecoins can reinforce the value of the dollar and Bitcoin can help discipline the Fed, according to Vivek
• whether Bitcoin is an asset that the Fed should buy for its balance sheet
• why Vivek believes it was a mistake to abandon the gold standard in the 1970s
• the gang's debrief of the conversation: what stood out, where they agree or disagree with Vivek
• their reaction to the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly 
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Disclosures

Guest

• Vivek Ramaswamy, American entrepreneur and U.S. presidential candidate

Links

• Fox Business: Ramaswamy woos pro-crypto voters, says he’ll build new policy framework for digital assets
• Axios: Ramaswamy goes after regulators at crypto event
• CoinDesk: Vivek Ramaswamy Is Drafting a 'Crypto Policy Framework'
• WSJ: Stablecoins Can Keep the Dollar the World’s Reserve Currency
• Decrypt: What Stops the Fed From Buying Up Bitcoin?
• Forbes: What Happened In 1971?
• Unchained: SBF Trial, Day 18: Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty on All 7 Counts in Swift Verdict

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