Showtime: Crypto Art and NFTs with Alex Masmejean
Apr 20, 2021
Show notes
Non-fungible tokens are proofs of authenticity that are stored on a blockchain. Unlike fungible tokens, such as cryptocurrencies which are interchangeable, non-fungible tokens aren’t inherently equivalent to any other token. Because they are unique, they can be used to represent any unique asset. Their presence on a blockchain enables an NFT owner to trade the asset and prove they are its owner.
One such use case for NFTs is artwork, and the company Showtime is bringing artists and creators together to showcase their work. Crypto art is verified with NFTs and therefore can’t be authentically reproduced. This lets artists sell their original work to prospective buyers. With Showtime, you can discover and follow new crypto artists, browse the trending page and like, comment, and share artwork. The platform shows a variety of art styles and experience levels.
In this episode we talk with Alex Masmejean, co-founder and CEO at Showtime. Before Showtime Alex worked as an advisor at TapIn and operations at MetaCartel DAO. We discuss non-fungible tokens, the world of crypto art and the growth and future of Showtime.
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Synthetix: Derivatives Trading in DeFi with Justin Moses
Apr 19, 2021
Show notes
Volatility is the degree of fluctuation of something’s price. Highly volatile assets may see rapid and large price changes, while less volatile assets will maintain a steady price. This concept is important in decentralized finance because cryptocurrencies tend to be volatile assets.
The company Synthetix provides assets called Synths that provide exposure to an asset without holding the underlying resource. For example, you can hold and trade Synths that track the price of USDs, synthetic gold and silver (measured by the ounce), and other currencies and commodities. Users use Synthetix to trade the price equivalents of real-world assets on Ethereum. This lets them diversify their investment portfolios with less volatile assets while staying on the blockchain and executing trades against smart contracts.
In today’s episode we talk with Justin Moses, CTO at Synthetix. Previously Justin worked as CTO at Haven and as a Tech Advisor at blueshyft. We discuss derivatives trading in DeFi, the liquidity and volatility of synthetic assets, and the rewards and features available from using Synthetix.
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1inch Exchange: Decentralized Exchange Aggregation with Anton Bukov
Apr 17, 2021
Show notes
A decentralized exchange, usually referred to as a DEX, is a platform for exchanging cryptocurrencies. Depending on trading volume for different coins, some DEXs are more liquid than others. On the one hand you can freely swap unlisted tokens and maintain full control over your private keys and wallet information. On the other hand, without the right supply and demand it’ll be difficult to swap a particular coin at the right price.
1inch Exchange is a decentralized exchange aggregator that can split a single trade transaction across multiple DEXs. Their Pathfinder API ensures users get the best price by using a discovery and routing algorithm to find the best possible paths for token swaps and then splits the swap across multiple exchanges and market depths of the same exchange. 1inch uses multiple liquidity sources, including private liquidity providers, to ensure there is sufficient liquidity for all swaps on their platform. If the rate of a trade becomes more expensive than the user has confirmed from the UI, the algorithm can cancel part of the route and simply return the unswapped tokens to the user’s wallet.
In today’s episode we talk with Anton Bukov, co-founder of 1inch. Anton was previously a senior smart contract engineer at NEAR Protocol and chief blockchain engineer, consensus researcher at MultiToken. We discuss the pros and cons of decentralized exchanges, splitting cryptocurrency swaps across multiple exchanges with 1inch Exchange, and the growth of decentralized finance.
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Compound: Cryptocurrency Interest Rates with Jared Flatow
Apr 14, 2021
Show notes
Decentralized applications, termed “dApps,” are applications that feel like normal apps but are actually deployed (mostly) on the Ethereum blockchain. This means dApps can’t be taken down, can’t be censored or blocked, typically use Ethereum accounts as identity, and would only experience downtime if Ethereum itself went down. There are a lot of things you can do with blockchain applications, particularly with decentralized finance.
The company Compound develops protocols, built on the Ethereum blockchain, that establishes money markets. Money markets are pools of assets with algorithmically derived interest rates based on supply and demand. The Compound protocol represents assets as fungible ERC-20 token balances called cTokens. cTokens automatically increase in value from the amount of the initial underlying asset. The interest generated and managed through the Compound protocol can be used primarily for long-term investing in Ether and tokens as well as dApps and other entities. Compound provides lots of documents and discords for infusing interest and liquidity into dApps and related projects. This enables dApps to manage assets that generate interest and could lead to entirely new blockchain-based business models.
In this episode we talk with Jared Flatow, Director of Protocol at Compound. Previously, Jared worked as a software engineer at Caffeine and founded the company Quasi Convex Union. We discuss the importance of liquidity and interest-earning assets in DeFi, how Compound is helping enhance dApps and the role and growth of dApps overall, and his goals for Compound going forward.
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OPYN: DeFi Options Trading with Aparna Krishnan
Apr 09, 2021
Show notes
A ‘token’ can represent almost anything in Ethereum, according to Ethereum.org: Lottery tickets, points in an online platform, fiat currency, and much more. These tokens must follow a standard called ECR-20 to have the same type and value of any other token, and behave just like the ETH.
The platform Opyn lets users buy and trade decentralized finance (DeFi) options on ETH and ECR20s. “Options” represent underlying assets with predefined (strike) prices and expiry dates that can be bought and sold. Opyn provides options protocols through smart contracts that are powerful and capital efficient. Using options helps secure against volatility and flash crashes, typically have lower margin requirements, can yield interest bearing collateral, and are noncustodial with Opyn.
In this episode we speak with Aparna Krishnan, a co-founder of Opyn. We discuss options trading and how it differs from trading pure cryptocurrencies, developing and using smart contracts to define DeFi protocols, and the unique benefits of using Opyn for options trading.
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AAVE: Liquidity Protocol with Ernesto Boado
Apr 08, 2021
Show notes
In decentralized finance (DeFi) a liquidity pool is a collection of cryptocurrency funds created from the deposits of many users and usually multiple different currencies. There are 2 main types of pools: custodial and non-custodial. Custodial pools are controlled by a third party manager which contains information like the private keys and the funds. They are most commonly web-based. Non-custodial pools mean that each contributor has complete control of their private keys (their funds) and are often browser based or keys can be stored and funds traded using hardware devices.
AAVE is a trusted, open-source, and non-custodial liquidity protocol on Ethereum. Participants use AAVE to either deposit or borrow funds. Depositors earn interest on their funds in the same currency they deposited: USD-USD, DAI-DAI, etc. When demand is high for the deposited currency, the earned interest increases automatically. Borrowers deposit collateral and then borrow from any currency in the protocol. Their entire platform, from their APIs to smart contracts, are open-source and reviewable by anyone. This has been the basis for many platform audits, providing high reliability to users and enabling integration into other services and products.
In this episode we talk with Ernesto Boado, a full stack and blockchain developer currently co-leading the development of the AAVE protocol. We discuss decentralized finance, token economics, and how AAVE aTokens make their service unique.
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Chainlink: Connecting Smart Contracts to External Data with Sergey Nazarov
Apr 07, 2021
Show notes
A smart contract contains the “terms” of a blockchain transaction between a buyer and a seller as well as the capabilities to execute those terms. In order for smart contracts to include outside data from the world, such as stock market data, weather, sports data, etc…, the contract needs a third party service called an oracle. The industry standard blockchain oracle is Chainlink.
Chainlink is a decentralized and open-source oracle network that connects to any blockchain with seamless API connections. Their nodes connect to trusted data with cryptographic proofs that make their network tamper-proof. Chainlink is used with smart contracts that secure billions of dollars of value for blockchain projects. Their oracle network greatly expands the value of smart contracts and is used to create cutting-edge, modern blockchain applications.
Sergey Nazarov is the co-founder of Chainlink and joins us to talk about their platform. He is an expert in smart contracts and discusses Chainlink, the role of oracles in the blockchain ecosystem, and the future of smart contracts and blockchains.
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dYdX: Crypto Trading with Antonio Juliano
Apr 01, 2021
Show notes
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are electronic currencies with a complete transaction history stored on a blockchain. A cryptocurrency blockchain is a linear record of all the transactions between users for a given currency. This record is public and distributed across thousands of computers, which makes falsifying a transaction nearly impossible because the hacker would need to alter over half of all copies. People use digital “contracts,” which is code that dictates the terms of the transaction and executes those terms, to perform trades. Understanding these technologies and how to use them used to be essential to trading and holding crypto.
The platform dYdX is lowering these barriers to entry for people who want to invest in cryptocurrencies. Rather than learning to buy and hold cryptocurrencies manually, dYdX provides a detailed but easy to understand user interface for investing in popular cryptocurrencies. They recently released what they call Layer 2 protocol, which significantly reduces the gas cost of trading and therefore the fees and minimum trade sizes. There is no wait required to withdraw your funds with Layer 2 and the entire process has the highest grade security.
Antonio Juliano is the founder of dYdX. Antonio has also founded Weipoint and worked as a software engineer at Uber and Coinbase for three years before launching dYdX in 2017. He joins us today to talk about the crypto community, their recent release of Layer 2 with dYdX, and the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Transcript provided by We Edit Podcasts. Software Engineering Daily listeners can go to weeditpodcasts.com to get 15% off the first three months of audio editing and transcription services with code: SED. Thanks to We Edit Podcasts for partnering with SE Daily. Please click here to view this show’s transcript.
Augur: Ethereum Prediction Markets with Joey Krug
Feb 18, 2021
Show notes
Prediction Markets provide an exchange for trading based on the outcome of events. Most prediction markets are centralized- they operate like a casino, where betting takes place under the supervision of one central governing organization. This makes the market less efficient than it otherwise might be: the central organization is a business, and it makes money by extracting value from the trades the customers make.
Augur is a prediction market built on the Ethereum blockchain. A trading network built on a blockchain can have a decentralized, permissionless transaction record without a centralized, governing body. Augur’s network is built to be transparent, low-cost, and free from interference.
Joey Krug joins us today from Pantera Capital, a venture capital fund focused on Blockchain technology. Joey is also a co-founder of the Forecast Foundation, which contributes to the development of the Augur open-source project. We discuss what it takes to build a trustworthy decentralized market, how Augur is solving challenges such as the oracle problem, and why blockchain may be the key to democratizing finance.
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Reach: DApp Programming Gateway with Chris Swenor and Jay McCarthy
Feb 10, 2021
Show notes
Blockchain technology has a wide variety of potential applications. Fields such as finance, supply chain management, and even voting have seen innovations driven by the development of distributed applications built on blockchains, called DApps. However, developing a DApp on a blockchain often requires low-level knowledge about cryptographic protocols or particular networks. Since no one blockchain platform has emerged as dominant- and the field itself is rapidly evolving- there is a high opportunity cost for developers if they choose to invest significant time learning one blockchain paradigm or another.
Reach provides a platform for developing DApps, complete with a high-level language based on Javascript. Reach allows developers to write one set of code to specify the DApp and all its components, and which can be deployed onto any blockchain implementation under the hood. Reach’s goal is to allow developers to focus on writing business logic for their DApps rather than worrying about low-level implementation details and aims to smooth the steep learning curve for developers new to the world of blockchain.
Chris Swenor and Jay McCarthy are the founders of Reach. Chris was formerly the co-founder and CEO of Alacris Protocol, an operating system for blockchain applications, and he is currently a technologist in residence and mentor at Harvard. Jay has been a computer science professor for over a decade, and worked on the development of the Racket programming language. Chris and Jay join the show today to talk about the challenges of developing on blockchain, how Reach helps make blockchain developers more productive, and how the blockchain ecosystem might evolve in the future.
Transcript provided by We Edit Podcasts. Software Engineering Daily listeners can go to weeditpodcasts.com/sed to get 20% off the first two months of audio editing and transcription services. Thanks to We Edit Podcasts for partnering with SE Daily. Please click here to view this show’s transcript.
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