Anita Ramaswamy
Reporter, Crypto and Fintech
The Latest from Anita Ramaswamy
There’s always another nightmarish crypto hack around the corner
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we looked at the near-term future for crypto gaming as VCs zero in on where to place consumer bets. This week, we’re looking at hardware wallets and th
Sometimes, stealing crypto is the moral choice
The world of crypto moves quickly and sometimes, when there’s an ongoing heist, the best thing that technically savvy but ethically sound users can do is join in on the pillaging. That’s w
Play now, pay later: Halliday bags $6M seed round led by a16z
Blockchain-based games have seen a surge in popularity, but playing them is getting expensive. Play-to-earn games like StepN require players to purchase an NFT before they can participate, while other
BlackRock hops on bitcoin bandwagon with new Coinbase tie-up
After years of resisting, the world’s largest asset manager has finally taken the plunge into crypto in a substantial way. BlackRock, which oversees $10 trillion in assets, is partnering with pu
Upstream’s new vault could help NFT holders sleep at night
Imagine paying millions of dollars for a JPEG of a monkey just to have it stolen from your digital wallet. That’s exactly what happened to actor Seth Green, who ended up pleading with the hacker
SEC spears ‘Crypto Crusaders’ over alleged pyramid scheme
U.S. regulators are seizing their moment during this ongoing crypto bear market to crack down on bad actors in the space as many investors are already souring on the asset class. The U.S. Securities a
Arca’s David Nage on how regulatory scrutiny is impacting venture investment in web3
The regulatory environment surrounding crypto is shifting stateside as the SEC takes aim at major players in the web3 world, promising to shake up business as usual with aggressive action. This week o
Can VCs game crypto out of this downturn?
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we looked at Musk holding onto doge. This week, we’re talking about where all of this crypto VC money is possibly gonna go. To get this in your inbox e
Securities are in the eye of the beholder
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has brought down its wrath on Coinbase. The publicly traded exchange has been under investigation for allegedly selling crypto tokens on its platform that q
You can’t afford a house, but you can probably afford Nada
Rents are going up in cities across the U.S., but the national homeownership rate has been steadily declining as prospective buyers grapple with low supply, weakening purchasing power and record-high
A niche facet of startup employee pay, explained
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
If it walks like a dog and barks like a dog, perhaps it’s actually a digital asset security
Crypto exchange Coinbase is facing an SEC probe into whether it illegally sold securities. So did it?
New York City’s Interplay is raising $10M for new blockchain fund
We’ve seen a number of new web3-focused venture fund launches in the past month from large traditional VCs, including Lightspeed, as well as smaller, crypto-native firms such as Valkyrie. Althou
The “D” in DAO doesn’t stand for democracy, says Upstream CEO Alexander Taub
Ever since a group of chronically online crypto enthusiasts tried to buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution in a high-profile bidding war, DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) have been at the f
The race to build a social media platform on the blockchain
It’s easy to be skeptical of the big social media giants. They typically sell user data to advertisers and have been mired in controversy for their approach to content moderation. Web3 proponent
The Dogefather sends his regards
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we looked at a crossover episode for meme investing. This week, we’re talking about Musk dumping tokens while holding onto others. You can get this new
Get ready for a lot of dead DAOs
After a lengthy crypto bull run, the startups and projects in the space are reining in expectations and settling in for a long-haul crypto winter. It’s been a particularly tough time for DAOs, w
WTF is a 409A?
In the past few months, both Stripe and Instacart have seen their internal valuations updated in a 409A appraisal process. What is this all about, and why should startups consider a lower valuation?
Crypto startup Blockdaemon continues acquisition spree, buying Sepior
Crypto infrastructure provider Blockdaemon has acquired Danish startup Sepior, a digital asset security company providing key management services for institutional clients, for an undisclosed price. T
Regulators should address crypto ‘garbage’ first, former SEC Chairman Clayton says
Stablecoins, CFTC oversight are among the first issues the U.S. Senate hopes to tackle in a bipartisan crypto bill.