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Episode 49 of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Human Rights Foundation Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblock.co.

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Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Human Rights Foundation and a frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine.

In this episode, Gladstein talks through his newly released book, Hidden Repression: How the IMF and World Bank Sell Exploitation as Development.

According to Gladstein, Western prosperity has come mainly at the expense of developing nations:

“We should be proud of the American Revolution and we should be proud of our Bill of Rights and we should be proud of democracy — it’s definitely part of the reason why we’re so successful — but another part of the reason is we’ve stolen wealth, labor, resources from poor countries for a long time now.”

In contrast to neocolonial monetary policies which forced many developing nations into “debt traps,” Gladstein says bitcoin is a credible neutral alternative:

“Think about all the digital money we use in the world today that’s run by governments and corporations. [Bitcoin] is the only thing where the people have control over the monetary policy, at least in my view, and that’s what makes it so interesting.”

During this episode, Chaparro and Gladstein also discuss:

• How “number go up” drives bitcoin adoption
• Why gold has failed as a form of currency
• How bitcoin is used in the global south

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This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CleanSpark.

About CleanSpark

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

© 2023 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.

After criticism from the crypto community, the firm pledged to open-source the Ledger Recover code before releasing the controversial update.

The crypto-focused investment firm has now backed three projects centered around maximal extractable value (MEV), a way for validators to earn extra money from traders.

Open interest for Litecoin futures derivative contracts has surpassed $420 million globally, representing growth of 22% year-to-date.

This surge in demand for LTC futures is the highest observed since the beginning of 2022, according to data from Coin Glass. Open interest refers to the total value of unsettled trading contracts and can be used to measure trends in interest for a particular asset.

The jump in open interest for LTC futures may be influenced by several factors, including the upcoming halving event for Litecoin, which is often referred to as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold.

During the halving event set for Aug. 5, the rate of new coin issuance on the network will be halved, and the reduction in new coins could drive up the perceived value of Litecoin due to increased scarcity.

Litecoin has seen modest gains this month, rising almost 7% so far this month from $86 to $92, according to data from CoinGecko. It’s also seen a large surge in its hash rate over the past year, adding another favorable metric to the asset’s profile.

Hash rate is a measure of the processing power dedicated to Litecoin’s blockchain, and it’s increased 45% over the past year to reach 730 TH/s, according to data from BitInfoCharts. This surge indicates a heightened level of interest from proof-of-work miners, who play a vital role in ensuring the security of the network and validating transactions.

© 2023 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.

The project also launched its new PLEX client that eases the burden of resource-intensive computations for scientific data.

Tron founder Justin Sun’s potential sale of MakerDAO’s token – movements of tokens to an exchange often come before sales – coincide with the DeFi protocol’s controversial restructuring.

Blockchain Capital, one of the crypto sector’s most active venture investors, is weighing the benefits of several en vogue international crypto hubs amid a sector crackdown by authorities in the United States.

Bart Stephens, founder and managing partner of the San Francisco-based company, said in a statement to The Block that it is “no secret that the current administration has become overtly hostile to crypto by allowing Elizabeth Warren and Gary Gensler to decide what next-generation internet and financial technology will be available to Americans.”

“While the U.S. is offshoring blockchain technology innovation, other jurisdictions like the UK, the UAE, and Hong Kong are actively courting U.S. entrepreneurs and venture capital firms like Blockchain Capital. Crypto is a global industry and is based on the concept of decentralization so we are exploring decentralizing our financial and human capital,” he added.  

Migration patterns

The news comes during a period of drastic action by U.S. regulators in the wake of FTX’s collapse late last year.

This year alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against multiple crypto outfits including Justin Sun and his companies, along with Bittrex and Gemini, and some celebrities for endorsing cryptocurrencies. Concurrently, two crypto-friendly banks in the U.S. — Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank — were shut down by regulators, leaving precious few banking options for startups in the space.

Numerous U.S. crypto firms are now mulling where best to base their operations, including the likes of Coinbase, the Nasdaq-listed exchange operator. The company recently secured a license to operate an international exchange out of Bermuda, where it plans to offer derivatives trading; has praised the UAE’s approach to governing the crypto sector; and expanded the services it offers in Singapore.

“The message here is the world is sort of moving on with or without the U.S. and we are very committed as a global company to keep moving forward on international expansion,” said Hassan Ahmed, country director for Singapore at Coinbase.

A pro-crypto regime

Blockchain Capital is one of the crypto sector’s most prolific investors. Founded in 2013, it has backed over 160 companies in the space and manages some $2 billion in assets, according to its website. The Block Research’s data suggests it is among the sector’s 25 most active venture investors in the past six months with 12 deals.

A spokesperson for the company said that where it ultimately chooses to expand will depend on which jurisdiction boasts the most pro-crypto regulatory framework. Authorities in both Hong Kong and the UAE have been actively engaged in crafting more welcoming regimes for crypto firms this year.

© 2023 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.

BNB Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain project associated with crypto exchange Binance, has seen a rise in transactions — its highest since last May — thanks to its lower fees and increasing adoption.

The average number of transactions on BNB Chain hit 4.8 million on May 22 using a seven-day moving average — a level last seen in May 2022 — according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. BNB Chain is ranked number one by that metric, among other Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchains, including Polygon and Avalanche.

The rise of BNB Chain can be attributed to several factors, according to Arnaud Bauer, a senior blockchain solution architect at BNB Chain. Bauer told The Block the blockchain’s low transaction fees, high throughput, or number of transactions per second, and adoption by DeFi and gaming projects have helped achieve a high transaction count.

“Activities such as NFT minting, token transfers, and claimings have become more attractive thanks to BNB Chain’s cost-effective transaction fee,” Bauer said.

Arnaud Bauer on BNB Chain outlook

Bauer expects the trend to continue as BNB Chain provides optionality to both projects and end users. “On one hand, projects can leverage the high-throughput environment to build robust platforms and, on the other hand, users are more incentivized to engage within their communities due to lower transaction costs,” he said.

“However, it is imperative for the BNB Chain developer community to continually monitor and adapt to the evolving demands to ensure long-term growth and success of the entire BNB ecosystem,” Bauer said.

BNB is currently the fourth-largest crypto token in the world with a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion, according to CoinGecko data. The price of BNB is currently trading at around $314, down 1.6% over the past 24 hours.

BNB Chain is not the only Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchain benefiting from consistently high gas fees on Ethereum. As The Block reported earlier this month, daily new unique addresses of EVM-compatible blockchains, including Polygon and Avalanche, peaked at 6.77 million last month — a level not seen before 2021.

© 2023 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.

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