Kunlun Yang, "Senior Quant" at Credmark, joins us today for a meandering conversation about around crypto, crypto lending, tradfi, DeFi, regulation, trust, risk management, Kunlun's experience in getting into crypto, and a whole lot more!

This was a great opportunity to pick the brain of a highly experienced, knowledgeable expert.  Kunlun shares his views on why "the code is law", why crypto has (or doesn't have) value, usability and adoption by the broad mass of financial services consumers, open vs closed systems...too many areas to list here.  Check it out if you're looking for a week's worth of insights from a consummate crypto finance professional.

A few relevant links from our discussion:

Market Risk Regulation - the Bank of England Prudential Risk Authority: SS13/13 Market Risk Supervisory Statement
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/prudential-regulation/supervisory-statement/2020/ss1313update.pdf

Curve Pool Reentrancy Exploit Postmortem July 30th, 2023
https://hackmd.io/@LlamaRisk/BJzSKHNjn

The Saga of Curve Finance: DeFi's Intricate Landscape
https://dewhales.substack.com/p/the-saga-of-curve-finance-defis-intricate

"An alternative take on why Silicon Valley Bank failed"
https://www.schroders.com/en-us/us/intermediary/insights/an-alternative-take-on-why-silicon-valley-bank-failed/

"Why do banks invest in MBS?"
https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~pschnabl/research/DSS_SVB.pdf

Some DeFi risk links:
1.  LlamaRisk: https://cryptorisks.substack.com/
2.  Credmark's DeFi models: https://credmark.com/product?defiApi=true#learnmore 

You can find Kunlun on X/Twitter at @leafyoung and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leafyoung/

The Crypto Credit Association (CCA) is an industry nonprofit representing the global crypto lending sector.  Visit us at https://cca.finance / hjttps://cryptocreditassociation.org, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/cryp... - join the CCA to include your voice in the growing crypto credit community!

Intro/outro music:  Angelical Pad, courtersy of Luca di Alessandro
https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/angelical-pad-143276/

Today's episode of the Crypto Credit Association conversation series focuses on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA / MiCAR) regulation, the European Union's flagship crypto law.

Our guest, Ben Schmid of PWC, shares his analysis of some of the salient points of MiCA - what are some misconceptions about MiCA, how does it complement the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), what are the gaps, and what are potential future developments in European crypto finance regulations?

Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation: https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica

PWC have created a great overview of the regulation:  https://legal.pwc.de/en/news/articles/the-eus-markets-in-crypto-asset-regulation-micar

MiFID II:  https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-and-data/interactive-single-rulebook/mifid-ii

Howey test:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-are-the-howey-test-and-its-implications-for-cryptocurrency

Benjamin Schmid is a Manager at PWC in Frankfurt - you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-schmid-37b192b0/

Check out this recording in video format at https://youtu.be/NuwbbWG8YIE

The Crypto Credit Association (CCA) is an industry nonprofit representing the global crypto lending sector.  Visit us at https://cca.finance / https://cryptocreditassociation.org, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crypto-credit-association/ - join the CCA to include your voice in the growing crypto credit community!

Intro/outro music:  Angelical Pad, courtersy of Luca di Alessandro
https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/angelical-pad-143276/

Today we talk about techniques that help build a more methodical, evidence-based approach to decentralized finance.

DeFi brings many opportunities for innovation, but as with traditional finance, all financial speculation entails risk.  Both institutional and retail market participants can benefit from financial modelling in order to make more informed decisions.  

Asan gives his perspectives on various aspects of risk modeling based on his background in financial risk management.  How is the increasing speed of innovation and technology defining our ability to participate in crypto markets?  What are some of the fundamental principles that will shape the future of DeFi?

Asan Tulemis is founder of Continuum, a quantitative analytics company based in Sydney, Australia.  Visit Continuum at http://continuum.money/

You can find Asan on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/atulemis

Visit the CCA at https://cryptocreditassoriation.org or https://cca.finance, and join us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crypto-credit-association

Check out this recording in video format as well, at https://youtu.be/wx4yhWixodg

Welcome Dean Tappen, Executive Director of the USTETA CLIC (Crypto Logic and Integrity Committee).

In today's video, we focus on the US regulatory environment, particularly the  present state of regulation, which agencies are responsible for ensuring the stability of crypto finance, and current challenges surrounding the development of rules and structures.

Dean and I talk about how many of the failures (and failings) recently experienced across various crypto firms are nothing new in the financial sector.  We discuss how rather than being tech- and innovation driven, crypto actors must understand that they are financial services firms and act accordingly, and the need to differentiate between crypto technology and crypto companies - with DeFi and related innovations having trust built in rather than relying on existent, mature regulation and unreliable norms in traditional finance.

About CLIC:  "CLIC  endeavors to position the United States at the forefront of innovation and development in cryptocurrency while protecting the assets of individuals.

For more information please visit 
https://www.usteta.org/crypto-logic-integrity-committee/ or contact Dean Tappen at dtappen@usteta.org".  

You can find Dean on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-tappen-77a067136/

Visit us at https://cca.finance or https://cryptocreditassociation.org

This is Part II of our exchange with David Weisberger, co-founder and CEO of CoinRoutes.  If you missed part I, you can find it here:

https://five.libsyn.com/episodes/view/26315922

Dave shares his four considerations for regulation - protection of client assets, robust and mandatory risk disclosure, fair and equitable markets, and items pertaining to "fiduciariness" of intermediaries. 

How do these principles affect all of financial services? What is the role of risk in crypto lending and other crypto related services?  What are the respective limits and roles of technology and regulation in creating trust in underlying crypto market infrastructures?  What are Dave's predictions for future practices and regulations? 

CoinRoutes' website is at https://coinroutes.com/

You can find Dave on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-weisberger-7b0b9ab/

Visit us at https://cca.finance or https://cryptocreditassociation.org, and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crypto-credit-association

Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@cryptocredit

Intro/Outro music by Alexi Action, courtesy of Pixabay

We are joined today by David Weisberger, co-founder and CEO of CoinRoutes.  CoinRoutes is a prominent and leading algorithmic trading company across CeFi and DeFi.

In Part I of this two-part conversation, Dave shares his views on a topics related to risk management, stability, and regulation in the crypto lending space.

How did excessive risk taking and lack of transparency lead to crypto failures among lenders?  What are some of the similarities between bad lending and risk management in traditional banking and crypto, and why is it unreasonable to single out crypto for irresponsible practices?  How can crypto technology help create stability through trust, transparency, and traceability, and how can it open up the kinds of closed financial systems that are a major factor in traditional bank collapses such as SVB?

Mark Yusko:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_W._Yusko

Join us for part II of this exchange, when we talk more about regulatory principles:  https://five.libsyn.com/episodes/view/26315937

CoinRoutes' website is at https://coinroutes.com/

You can find Dave on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-weisberger-7b0b9ab/

Visit us at https://cca.finance or https://cryptocreditassociation.org, and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/crypto-credit-association

Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@cryptocredit

Intro/Outro music by Alexi Action, courtesy of Pixabay

Darshan, Paul, and John continue last episode's discussion about risk management in crypto lending.  What went wrong, how can technology, regulations, and business good practices help remediate risk to all involved.

Part I:  https://youtu.be/N7ZuVb_eFCA

.This is part II of II around topics related to risk in crypto lending, and the fourth in a series of online events hosted by the CCA.  Future episodes will include conversations about regulation, internal risk management controls, and similar topics relevant to the industry.

For an explanation of decentralized finance (DeFi):  https://www.investopedia.com/decentralized-finance-defi-5113835

Also check out this video at https://youtu.be/ypE6rqdQ5Oc

Visit us at https://cca.finance and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12743744/