Howdy! I just want to catch you up on some of the work Su and I have been publishing outside of UCC.
Articles
Contango and Backwardation: A Window into Market Behaviour (by Su and Arthur): In this article, Su and Arthur focus on the phenomena of contango and backwardation and their implications on market structure.
An analysis of developer funding in Bitcoin (by Hasu and Derek Hsue): Here, Derek and I examine the importance of funding open-source development, what funding mechanisms exist, and tradeoffs that each of them brings. We also apply our findings to Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency landscape, analyze how Bitcoin development has been funded in the past, and how it might evolve in the future.
Efficiency, liquidity, and volatility in crypto markets (by Su): Su investigates the counter-intuitive result that while market efficiency has substantially increased over that time period, trading volumes denominated in BTC have actually declined and volatility has remained consistently high. He then discusses similarities of the crypto market structure to that of FX markets.
Rollback or Reimbursement: An Analysis (by Su and Hasu): In light of an index price spike on Deribit, we analyze the pros and cons of rollbacks vs reimbursement for exchanges.
Vertcoin’s 51% attack – a case-study for blockchain security (by Hasu): Using the example of Vertcoin, I show how ASIC resistance hurts the security of a blockchain by making it cheaper to attack.
Perpetual Swaps: Comparisons and Findings (by Su): The perpetual contract is an important product for price discovery and speculation and has the most volume traded as a consequence. Su compares perpetual swaps across different exchanges and highlights key differences that traders should be aware of.
Does Buying Top10 Coins Pay Off? A Concise Study (by Su): In a quick analysis, Su shows how an ETF-like strategy of “buying the top 10 coins” would have performed against BTC.
The Great Race to Crypto Banking (by Hasu): Crypto exchanges and their competitors are racing to adopt, -and ultimately democratize- financial services known from legacy finance. The three low hanging fruits are (1) interest accounts, (2) payments, and (3) tax services. Because of the low switching cost for customers, this transformation into crypto-banks will happen much faster than expected, leaving exchanges that don’t follow suit in the dust.
Bruno and Bill: a Story of Broken Trust while Building a Trustless Protocol (by Su and Hedgedhog): Su and Hedgedhog revisit the story of an ICO founder gone rogue to highlight the risks from key man risk, and admin access more generally, in DeFi. Similar risks exist at this point in major protocols like Maker, Compound, and Dydx.
Maker & Taker Fees on Crypto Exchanges: A Market Structure Analysis (by Su): Su explains how the Maker and Taker fee structures have evolved as a result of natural market evolution, and disproves the myth that Maker rebates are a form of “free lunch”
How the BCH developer tax affects BTC miners (by Hasu): Using the proposed BCH developer tax as an example, I show how changes in profitability in any of the SHA256 coins necessarily affect all SHA256 miners.
Navigating the Crypto Gambling Wasteland (by Su and Hedgedhog): Su and Hedgedhog speculate why gambling as a crypto use case still hasn’t taken off.
Understanding Quanto Risk and Opportunity (by Su): In this piece, Su explains Quanto derivatives whose exotic risks fool many inexperienced traders.
No, Concentration Among Miners Isn’t Going to Break Bitcoin (by Hasu): In my first op-ed for Coindesk, I explain why concentration of hashpower (or stake) does not imply insecurity, as miners with more control in a network also have a stronger vested interest in its protection as well.
No, Concentration Among Miners Isn’t Going to Break Bitcoin – Part 2 (by Hasu): After the previous article sparked some excellent discussions on Twitter, I address the best questions and comments in this follow-up piece on hashpower concentration.
Podcasts
Su on “The Coinist Podcast”: Su discusses Bitcoin volatility, S2F model, whether ETH can outperform, decentralized exchanges, and things to watch in 2020 with host Luke Martin.
Hasu on “Into the Ether”: Eric Connor and I discuss the current state of both the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities and where their current narrative journeys have landed them. We also dive deep into the topics of monetary policy, PoW vs PoS, development funds, and more.
Hasu on “Amun State of Crypto”: The Amun team and I dissect what the Bitcoin halving means for the mining space and whether the declining block reward poses a risk for long-term security.
Hasu on “Ark Invest”: It is an honor for me be invited to the “Ark Invest” podcast, where Yassine and I have a great conversation about Bitcoin’s security model. I strongly recommend this one if you’re even remotely interested in blockchain security, as we synthesize much of my previous year’s work (and the best counterpoints to it) into a single episode.
