Joe McCann, Founder, Chairman of the Board, NodeSource

This episode of The Scoop, The Block's interview podcast hosted by Frank Chaparro, features Joe McCann, founder of NodeSource, discussing his path from enterprise software into crypto trading and investing, along with his read on where digital-asset markets stood in mid-2019. 

Read Full Transcript

McCann built NodeSource into one of the best-known companies supporting Node.js in enterprise environments, giving him a technology-industry perspective that he carried into his growing profile as a crypto markets commentator. By the time of this conversation, McCann had become a recognizable voice on Crypto Twitter for his charts and technical market analysis, and the episode traces how that side career developed alongside his software business.

The interview lands during a notable stretch for crypto markets: bitcoin had rallied sharply through the first half of 2019 after the prolonged 2018 bear market, reigniting interest from both retail traders and institutions that had pulled back the previous year, and prompting fresh debate over whether the asset class had entered a new cycle or was due for another correction. The discussion covers McCann's approach to reading market structure, including how he thinks about liquidity, order flow, and the behavior of large holders during periods of rapid price movement.

He and Chaparro also talk through the maturation of crypto trading infrastructure at the time, from the rise of derivatives platforms to growing institutional interest in custody and prime brokerage services, and how those developments were changing who was participating in the market. McCann shares his perspective on separating signal from noise on social media, a skill increasingly relevant as crypto Twitter grew into a primary venue for price discussion and rumor.

The conversation also touches on lessons McCann carried over from building and scaling a technology company, and how that operational experience shaped his risk management and thinking about volatility compared to traders who came up purely through finance. The episode offers a window into how a technologist-turned-trader was thinking about crypto's next phase just as the market was climbing out of its longest bear cycle to date.