Could the Crypto Markets Revive in 2023? Two Researchers Discuss - Ep. 439

Lucas Nuzzi, head of R&D at CoinMetrics, and Larry Cermak, VP of research at The Block, discuss the current state of the crypto market, including the potential for contagion effects and the challenges faced by VC companies. They also delve into the mining industry and the issues surrounding MEV and Ethereum. The conversation also touches on stablecoins, DeFi activity and NFT trading, and the potential dangers of Binance’s dominance in the industry.

Show highlights:

how the collapse in 2022 of FTX and other behemoths will affect the industry in 2023
why there’s been a lot of forced selling in the markets recently
why the industry could still be headed to more contagion effects
the characteristics of the current bear market, how it differs from previous ones, and the role of the macroeconomic environment
why it’s very hard to predict how prices will behave in 2023
why VC firms will have to focus on long-term projects rather than speculation
what’s going to happen in the Bitcoin mining industry in 2023 considering the current tough situation
why Lucas thinks that Bitcoin “drastically overpays for security”
why MEV is a concerning issue and how it represents a single point of failure for Ethereum
how the narrative of alternative layer 1s has changed and why the focus will shift to layer 2s
whether there is a need to develop better blockchain monitoring tools
why stablecoin issuers have a very good business model given the interest rate environment
what are the problems of stablecoins and how they will be regulated
why DeFi activity and NFT trading were down so heavily in 2022 and whether the downtrend will change
how Binance’s dominance is “terrifying” and whether it could hurt the industry
Lucas’ concerns about the lack of transparency around Binance’s BNB token