February 2019 OST LIVE Upcoming Guests from The Block, Chainsafe Systems, Swarm, StartEngine, and TokenTax

Last month we featured venture capitalist Christian Kameir, author and podcast host Matthew Aaron, Delta CEO Nicolas Van Hoorde, and climate initiative advocate Joseph Pallant. We covered the basics of security tokens, how a portfolio tracker grew to 1.2 million users, and building a blockchain for climate using ERC-998. Special thanks to the community and our guests for being part of the OST LIVE series.

Upcoming Guests

This month we will feature CPA Zac McClure of TokenTax, Gregory Markou of ChainSafe Systems, a dual interview with StartEngine’s Howard Marks and Swarm’s Timo Lehes, and an OST LIVE twist with The Block’s Mike Dudas, who will be interviewed by OST’s Jason Goldberg.

1. 6 February — Zac McClure, Co-Founder of TokenTax
   It’s tax season in the U.S., and we’ve all been made well aware that cryptocurrencies are taxable. Exchanges such as Coinbase have released crypto tax reporting tools to help users file their gains and losses. Zac McClure, co-founder of TokenTax, will join us to discuss the implications of taxes on cryptocurrency. TokenTax is a firm that files cryptocurrency capital gains and income taxes for clients and supports over 30 cryptocurrency exchanges. McClure will provide a global perspective on crypto tax regulations as well as common practices for U.S. taxpayers.
2. 13 February — Mike Dudas, Founder and CEO at The Block
   OST’s Jason Goldberg will interview Mike Dudas on entrepreneurship, the latest in the crypto market, and crypto controversies. Dudas is the founder and CEO of The Block, an online media platform focused on crypto market information, technology, and crypto assets. Dudas previously co-founded partnerships platform Button and worked as head of business development at Venmo before it was acquired by PayPal. In his early career, Dudas worked on commerce and payments at Google and in corporate Strategy at the Walt Disney Company.
3. 20 February — Gregory Markou, Partner and VP Engineering at ChainSafe Systems
   Gregory Markou is ChainSafe Systems’ partner and VP of engineering. ChainSafe is the platform behind the Görli blockchain, which we discussed last December. Ethereum 2.0, also known as Serenity, is a network upgrade to the Ethereum network that is intended to increase transaction throughput, be energy efficient, and maintain a balance between decentralization and security. Markou will explain the benefits, development status, and implications of Ethereum 2.0.
4. 27 February — Howard Marks, CEO at StartEngine / Timo Lehes, Co-Founder at Swarm
   The rise of the STO has called for a security token standard. StartEngine’s EIP-1450 and Swarm’s SRC-20 are just two of the many protocols being developed to establish a regulation-compliant security standard. Howard Marks is the CEO of StartEngine, a Los Angeles-based accelerator and crowdfunding platform that connects investors with technology startups. Timo Lehes is a co-founder at Swarm, an open infrastructure platform for digital securities, not to be confused with the Ethereum distributed storage solution that is also called Swarm. This livestream will dive deep into Swarm’s SRC20, StartEngine’s EIP-1450, and the latest in security tokens.

People of OST

For “People of OST,” we will feature principal QA engineer Somashekhar Mulimani, lead UX designer Swaminathan Jayaraman, global controler Asaf Weitzman, and software engineer Aniket Ayachit. People of OST is a weekly segment in which we sit one-on-one with an OST team member to learn about what happens behind the scenes, getting to know the individuals behind the OST project. Check out our latest interview with Ashfaq Bhojani, OST’s administration director.

Get Your Questions Answered!

We post a Reddit thread for each guest so you can submit your questions and get them answered on OST LIVE. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch live and meet community members in the live chat. You can also find OST LIVE on your favorite podcast app, including: iTunes, Alexa, Spotify, CastBox, Google Play, TuneIn, Stitcher, PodBean, Overcast, and Player FM.

About OST

OST blockchain infrastructure empowers new economies for mainstream businesses and emerging DApps. OST leads development of the OpenST Protocol, a framework for tokenizing businesses. In September 2018 OST introduced the OpenST Mosaic Protocol for running meta-blockchains to scale Ethereum applications to billions of users. OST KIT is a full-stack suite of developer tools, APIs, and SDKs for managing blockchain economies. OST partners reach more than 300 million users. OST has offices in Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and Pune. OST is backed by leading institutional equity investors including Tencent, Greycroft, Vectr Ventures, and 500 Startups.