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    Business

    Epicenter – Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

    Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view.

    Epicenter is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Meher Roy, Sunny Aggarwal, and Friederike Ernst. Since 2014, episodes have been downloaded over 4 million times.

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    Copyright: © CC BY-NC-SA

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    Latest Episodes:
    Elias Simos: Rated Network - Reputation for Machines = Transparent Blockchain Infrastructure Sep 28, 2023

    Data immutability and transparency are key features that define a blockchain’s public ledger. However, while transactions are indeed transparent, information surrounding the blockchain’s infrastructure layer is not readily available. Since Ethereum’s Merge to PoS and the introduction of staking delegation, actionable data on the validator and client status quos became crucial for the wellbeing of the network. Rated Network aims to build a reliable ‘reputation system for machines’ forming the infrastructure layer, through better data curation and improved transparency.

    We were joined by Elias Simos, founder of Rated Network, to discuss data interpretation in blockchain infra and what conclusions can be drawn about validator performance, client diversity & much more.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Elias’ background and founding Rated Network
    • Providing transparency in blockchain infrastructure layer
    • Tapping into Ethereum’s data. The subjectivity of performance
    • The consumer profile of Rated data
    • Ethereum’s credible neutrality & client diversity
    • EIP-7514 & managing Ethereum’s state bloat
    • Governance: dev council vs. on-chain
    • Expanding Rated to other PoS networks

    Episode links:

    • Elias Simos on Twitter
    • Rated Network on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/515


    Misha Komarov: =nil; Foundation – The Marketplace for ZK Proof Generation Sep 22, 2023

    Zero knowledge proof systems have found tremendous cryptographic utility in scaling blockchains, due to their ability to prove computational integrity, succinctly. However, despite recent advancements in ZKP R&D, their construction still requires special prover circuits. Their complexity is what gatekeeps zero knowledge technology to a select few astute teams. =nil; Foundation aims to challenge this status quo by providing an alternative through their zkLLVM circuit compiler and zk proof marketplace. By commoditising the production of custom proofs, =nil; Foundation unlocks an entire new range of applications employing zero knowledge technology.

    We were joined by Misha Komarov, co-founder of =nil; Foundation, to discuss the use cases and challenges of building the first marketplace for (outsourced) zero knowledge proofs.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The vision behind =nil; Foundation
    • Use cases for zk tech
    • zkLLVM circuit compiler
    • Homomorphic encryption, ZKPs & privacy solutions
    • ZKP marketplace
    • Why proof markets (currently) run on DBMS
    • Marketplace actors
    • Proof generators vs. PoW miners
    • Infrastructure challenges
    • Future roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Mikhail Komarov on Twitter
    • =nil; Foundation on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/514


    Robbie Ferguson: Immutable - The Web3 Gaming one-stop-shop Sep 16, 2023

    Apart from its numerous financial applications, blockchain technology could also disrupt the gaming industry, causing a paradigm shift towards true digital ownership, one that would create new incentive models for both players, as well as developers. Up until recently, technological barriers seemed cumbersome for most game developers, but the advancements of layer 2 scaling solutions made on-chain integrations viable. Immutable set out to create an all-in-one platform for developers, empowering them to create a lush gaming ecosystem to seamlessly onboard Web2 players.

    We were joined by Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable, to discuss the state of Web3 gaming and Immutable's contribution to this paradigm shift.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Robbie’s background and founding Immutable
    • The pitfalls of centralised in-game asset marketplaces
    • Web3 game development challenges
    • Onboarding the Web2 gaming scene
    • Immutable’s value prop
    • Integrating Polygon’s zkEVM with the STARK-powered Immutable X
    • Immutable SDK & DevEx
    • AppStore’s Web3 policies
    • Immutable Passport
    • Enforceable royalties
    • $IMX

    Episode links:

    • Robbie Ferguson on Twitter
    • Immutable on Twitter
    • Gods Unchained on Twitter
    • Guild of Guardians on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/511


    Stani Kulechov: Lens Protocol – Decentralised Social Media Primitive Sep 08, 2023

    Social media revolves around content creation, and while the content itself could be tokenised through NFTs, SocialFi aims to take it a step further. The recently released friend.tech app went to show that users might be interested in something more than just content - creator shares. This implicitly links back to handles and profiles, and we can slowly start to unveil the primitives of social media. Lens Protocol predates the friend.tech venture, in both timeline, as well as scope. While social media became synonymous with monopolistic central entities, Lens Protocol aims to build the decentralised bedrock for Web3’s social layer. These primitives would not only be interoperable with any Web3 application, but they would redefine content creation, feed generation and monetisation.

    We were joined by Stani Kulechov, founder of Lens Protocol & Aave, to discuss decentralised social graphs and how to leverage smart contracts to build the primitives for Web3's social layer.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The vision behind Lens
    • Lens V2 and smart contract capabilities
    • Social media development platform
    • Defining the Web3 social media primitive
    • Feed generation algorithm on Lens
    • Integrating on-chain and off-chain infrastructure
    • The tragedy of the commons in decentralised social media
    • Can a public good architecture also accommodate private goods?
    • Growth model, sponsored transactions and monetisation
    • Governance and decentralised social media

    Episode links:

    • Stani Kulechov on Twitter
    • Lens Protocol on Twitter
    • Aave on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/512


    Stephane Gosselin: Frontier Research - Solving Ethereum's MEV Problem Sep 01, 2023

    The maximal extractable value (MEV) problem, if left unchecked, could represent an existential threat to Ethereum’s core values. One might argue that it is a natural result of solving market inefficiencies, but it entices to centralisation and collusion in order to extract the highest amount of value. Additionally, through front-running and back-running, it creates unnecessary overhead, which caused up to 2.4% of the total network congestion back in DeFi summer of 2020 (according to Flashbots’ research). As current infrastructure cannot eliminate MEV altogether, Flashbots and other research groups have tried to come up with solutions to address its aftermath.

    We were joined by Stephane Gosselin, co-founder of Flashbots and Frontier Research, to discuss the MEV landscape, what research breakthroughs have been recorded and how they impact DevEx and UX.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Reflecting on ‘Frontrunning the MEV crisis’
    • Decentralising the MEV ‘supply chain’
    • The vision behind Frontier Research
    • Request-for-Quotation (RFQ) explained
    • Block building
    • Uniswap X and how it might impact LPs & block building
    • Decentralising block building
    • Proposer-builder separation (PBS)
    • MEV burn
    • How MEV influenced different applications’ UX
    • Intents

    Episode links:

    • Stephane Gosselin on Twitter
    • Frontier Research
    • Frontier Research on Twitter
    • Flashbots

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/511


    Marko Baricevic: Cosmos SDK - The Internet of Appchains Aug 25, 2023

    From the very beginning, Cosmos set out to provide an alternative to the monolithic blockchain architecture proposed by Ethereum. Cosmos SDK was the cornerstone of this vision, as it allowed developers to spin up blockchains effortlessly. Its modularity enabled custom, self-sovereign chains to become a reality. And, instead of being a jack of all trades, those chains were centred around a sole purpose, thus transforming them into appchains. In turn, as the ecosystem grew, appchains had to be interoperable with one another, but this was already a core feature of Cosmos, via IBC. Before Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap, appchains were thought to be a much-needed scaling solution. However, with the advancements of zero knowledge technology, the Cosmos SDK now faces another set of challenges as it navigates the market demand for L2 scaling solutions.

    We were joined by Marko Baricevic, Cosmos SDK product lead, to discuss the development philosophy behind the Cosmos Hub and how appchains evolved over time.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Marko’s background
    • Cosmos SDK’s history and high-level overview
    • Cosmos SDK modules and VMs
    • Ethereum’s & Cosmos’ development philosophies
    • Cosmos SDK value prop and use cases
    • Cosmos SDK vs. other frameworks (e.g. Substrate)
    • Token value accrual and the fragmentation dilemma
    • Using the Cosmos SDK to build rollups
    • Cosmos SDK vs. Avalanche’s HyperSDK
    • Adoption of fraud proofs and validity proofs by the Cosmos SDK

    Episode links:

    • Marko Baricevic on Twitter
    • Cosmos on Twitter
    • Cosmos SDK on Twitter
    • Interchain Foundation on Twitter
    • Binary Builders on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/510


    Sandeep Nailwal: Polygon 2.0 - The New Value Layer of the Internet? Aug 18, 2023

    What started out as Matic Network, in 2017, and later rebranded to Polygon, in 2021, it is now facing another major milestone: Polygon 2.0. Apart from a tokenomics update, their plans include building an aggregation layer for every scaling solution that will settle on Ethereum. This will not only provide crucial rollup interoperability, but it will also further offload Ethereum by recursively combining multiple proofs into a single one.

    We were joined by Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, for a fascinating discussion on Polygon’s future revamp, their views on infrastructure decentralisation and interoperability.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sandeep’s background and the vision behind Matic
    • Polygon 2.0
    • ZK rollup vs. Validium
    • Multi-purpose sharding
    • Tokenomics
    • Staking decentralisation
    • Interoperability
    • The multi-chain future outlook
    • Blockchain adoption and use cases

    Episode links:

    • Sandeep Nailwal on Twitter
    • Polygon on Twitter
    • Polygon Labs on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/509


    Stephen Young & Storm: NFTFi – P2P NFT Lending Protocol: From PFPs & Art to RWA Aug 11, 2023

    After a 2021 frothy bull market, NFTs are currently experiencing the depression phase of the market cycle. However, despite the fact that only NFT art has truly found its product-market fit, NFTs in general represented the consumerist moment for crypto. In addition, they also provided a solution for tokenising real world assets (RWA) and intangibles, potentially penetrating markets worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. Moreover, similar to digital art, the advent of AI poses a challenge when it comes to establishing provenance, but this represents another utility for NFTs, as they can be traced back to their origin, given the public nature of blockchains.

    We were joined by Stephen Young and Storm from NFTFi, to discuss the general state of the NFT market, future prospects for NFT development and how their P2P NFT lending platform unlocks new sources of liquidity in this bear market.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Stephen’s & Storm’s backgrounds and what allured them to NFT finance
    • NFT market overview
    • Tokenised real world assets (RWA)
    • NFTFi’s peer-to-peer vs. peer-to-pool models
    • How other DeFi derivatives apply to the NFT market
    • NFT vs. fungible token market size
    • Blur’s Blend
    • NFT royalties
    • NFT lending protocols differences
    • How escrow contracts affect NFT ownership and utility
    • NFTFi roadmap
    • Interest rates for different collections
    • NFT art market
    • AI art
    • Collateralizing RWA

    Episode links:

    • Stephen Young on Twitter
    • Storm on Twitter
    • NFTFi on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/508


    Alex Gluchowski: zkSync - A new Era for EVM-compatible zk rollups Aug 04, 2023

    Ethereum scaling solutions often resort to tradeoffs, sacrificing security or decentralisation in favour of scalability. However, zk rollups hold the potential of increasing throughput, while also inheriting the layer 1’s security. This is achieved through zero knowledge validity proofs, which are published on Ethereum mainnet. The final hurdle remains the sequencer decentralisation. zkSync was designed around EVM-compatibility, offering custom scaling solutions through its hyperchain architecture.

    We were joined by Alex Gluchowski, co-founder & CEO of Matter Labs, to discuss the zk rollup landscape, its bottlenecks, and what makes zkSync stand apart as the most popular rollup.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • High-level overview of zero knowledge proofs
    • ZK rollups
    • zkSync Era
    • ZK ecosystem taxonomy
    • Rollup performance: bottlenecks & tradeoffs
    • Bridging between zkSync hyperchains
    • Data availability. Validium vs. Volition
    • Governance & security layers
    • Sequencer decentralisation

    Episode links:

    • Alex Gluchowski on Twitter
    • zkSync on Twitter
    • Matter Labs on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/507


    Patrick O'Grady: Avalanche – Building High Performance VMs With HyperSDK Jul 28, 2023

    The recent history of L2s has shown that there doesn’t need to be ‘one chain to rule them all’ or an ‘ETH killer’. Instead, a healthier approach would be to find the best solution for a specific need, taking into consideration any potential tradeoffs. Avalanche has done just that, focusing from the get-go on delivering high transaction throughput, using their unique subnet architecture, consensus protocol and warp messaging. HyperSDK continues this conviction, offering a framework for developers to spin up customisable, high performance virtual machines.

    We were joined by Patrick O’Grady, VP of Engineering at Ava Labs, to discuss HyperSDK and how it enables building customisable, high performance VMs on Avalanche subnets.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Patrick’s background
    • Avalanche’s consensus protocol
    • Subnets
    • AvalancheGo design concepts
    • Warp messaging
    • Staking and subnet validators
    • HyperSDK
    • HyperSDK vs. Cosmos SDK
    • Avalanche throughput parameters
    • Custom solutions for developers

    Episode links:

    • Patrick O'Grady on Twitter
    • Ava Labs on Twitter
    • Avalanche on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/506


    Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum - MEV, Staking Derivatives and Privacy (EthCC 6) Jul 22, 2023

    We couldn’t miss EthCC 6 and we got to sit down with Vitalik Buterin to discuss hot topics from the Ethereum ecosystem: MEV, staking derivatives, privacy, decentralisation and future interoperability. Ethereum’s merge to proof-of-stake brought with it the emergence of liquid staking derivatives (LSD). Similarly to mining pools in proof-of-work consensus models, staking pools could pose a risk to Ethereum’s decentralisation. In terms of privacy preserving solutions, the advances in zero knowledge research were a big breakthrough, especially as EVM-compatibility became possible. Maximal extractable value (MEV) remains a pressing matter, but hopes are that the upcoming proposer-builder separation (PBS) will alleviate it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • EthCC 6 updates and development across Ethereum’s ecosystem
    • MEV and proposer-builder separation (PBS)
    • Liquid staking derivatives (LSD), governance and decentralisation
    • Privacy
    • ZK proofs and decentralised identifiers (DID)
    • Ecosystem interoperability
    • Cross-chain bridge security
    • Conclusions

    Episode links:

    • Vitalik Buterin
    • Ethereum Foundation on Twitter
    • EthCC on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Friederike Ernst & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/505


    Avril Dutheil: Neutron – Interchain Smart Contracts on Cosmos Jul 14, 2023

    Blockchains are secured through the economic incentives offered to their validators/miners. The more robust the network effect among validators, the more difficult it is for that blockchain to be compromised. However, building a truly decentralised and reliable validator set is not a trivial task. As a result, hub and spoke ecosystem designs like Cosmos’ (and even Polkadot’s), aim to share the main hub’s validator set and security to their ‘consumer’ chains (parachains in Polkadot’s case). Neutron relies on interchain queries, interchain accounts and interchain (replicated) security to deliver the most secure CosmWasm smart contract platform in the Cosmos ecosystem.

    We were joined by Avril Dutheil, GM at Neutron, to discuss Neutron’s smart contract platform and how it leverages replicated security (ICS) and interchain accounts (ICA).

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Avril’s background and the value prop behind Neutron
    • Practical examples
    • Interchain accounts and different use cases
    • Interchain security
    • Atom hub vs. Polkadot relay chain. Onboarding and security models
    • Offboarding Cosmos consumer chains
    • Replicated security vs. Modular blockchains
    • Neutron’s token utility and governance

    Episode links:

    • Avril Dutheil
    • Neutron on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/504


    Sveinn Valfells: Monerium – Regulated On-Chain Euro (EURe) Jul 07, 2023

    Stablecoins represent the backbone of DeFi, allowing complex financial applications to be protected from external volatility. From fiat-backed to algorithmic, there are multiple approaches to issuing and backing stablecoins. While US regulations are looming over the crypto industry, Monerium released a fully regulated on-chain euro stablecoin, the EURe, enabling direct SEPA transfers, on- and off-ramp.

    We were joined by Sveinn Valfells, CEO of Monerium, to discuss the European E-Money Directive and how it set the ground for fully regulated on-chain currencies (EURe) built on top of SEPA.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sveinn’s background and building Monerium
    • Regulated on-chain EUR and seamless SEPA on- and off-ramps
    • How electronic money regulation differs from MiCA
    • What assets back EURe
    • Monerium’s business model
    • EURe’s adoption compared with other stablecoins (USDC, USDT)
    • Issuing other currencies on-chain
    • CBDCs and the banking sector
    • Challenges of building on SEPA
    • IBAN discrimination
    • KYC limitations
    • DeFi and stablecoin backing
    • Real world assets used as on-chain collateral

    Episode links:

    • Sveinn Valfells on Twitter
    • Monerium on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/503


    Eli Ben-Sasson: Starknet - zk-STARKs and Cairo 1.0 upgrade Jun 30, 2023

    Layer 2 zero knowledge roll-ups have initially been used for achieving private transactions on blockchains. However, past simple transfers, interacting with a public smart contract posed a serious challenge. As research and technology evolved, proof construction became much more efficient, enabling zk-powered scalability. There is a variety of pros and cons for each type of proof system, but given the impending rise of qunatum computers, we have witnessed a recent migration from SNARKs to STARKs. While the former relies on trusted setups, zk-STARKs are quantum-resistant.

    We were joined by Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder of Starkware, to discuss Starknet's layer 2 architecture, as well as the upcoming update to Cairo 1.0 and how it will impact scalability performances for STARKs.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Shifting from privacy to scalability
    • ZK roll-up taxonomy and main differences between SNARKs and STARKs
    • Why scalability is easier to implement than privacy solutions
    • Constructing proofs efficiently in Cairo
    • Starknet’s layer 2 architecture
    • Built-in account abstraction
    • Volition, data availability and trust assumptions
    • Sequencer decentralisation and crypto regulations
    • Storage proofs
    • Cairo upgrades & TPS
    • Council-based vs. DAO governance
    • Future developments

    Episode links:

    • Eli Ben-Sasson on Twitter
    • Starknet on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/502


    Luka Müller: Sygnum Bank & MME Legal – Crypto Regulations & Institutional Investors Jun 23, 2023

    As institutional money set their eyes on crypto, some degree of centralisation and regulation was inevitable. However, the key aspect is to limit it to access gateways and not affect protocols’ decentralisation. Recent events have shown that price manipulation is easily achieved in conditions of low liquidity, hence regulated fiat on- and off-ramps will, in the end, also benefit retail consumers. It once again all boils down to achieving these goals while maintaining privacy for users and ensuring that regulations will not stifle innovation.

    We were joined by Luka Müller, co-founder of MME Legal Firm & Sygnum Bank, to discuss about crypto regulations, institutional investors, user privacy & CBDCs.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The evolution of MME Legal Firm & Sygnum Bank
    • Sygnum Bank’s pro-crypto services & target clients
    • The impact of FTX’ collapse. DeFi vs. CeFi
    • Investor protection post-Terra Luna’s demise
    • Expanding in the APAC region
    • Switzerland’s pro-crypto regulations
    • User privacy vs. KYC & AML
    • US’ crypto policy: regulation by enforcement
    • EU’s MiCA framework
    • Luka’s insights on crypto’s value proposition
    • CBDC vs. cash privacy
    • Exciting crypto trends and innovations

    Episode links:

    • Sygnum Bank on Twitter
    • MME Legal on LinkedIn

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/501


    Epicenter – Looking Back on 10 Years of Crypto. AI Doom & Gloom? SPECIAL Jun 16, 2023

    As Epicenter hits the 500 episode milestone, our hosts look back on almost 10 years of crypto developments, analysing the good, the bad and the ugly. What projects & narratives have surprised our hosts? Has Bitcoin failed in becoming a reliable store of value? Will ZK proofs provide the much needed solution to AI’s alignment problem? Last but not least, are we still early? Get ready for a fascinating discussion, albeit gloomy for this special occasion.

    Thank you for being part of this amazing journey! We wouldn’t have made it so far without your continuous support! Looking forward to the next 500 episodes!

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Brian’s health update
    • Looking back on 10 years of Epicenter & crypto development
    • Are we still early on Bitcoin or has that ship already sailed?
    • Stores of value: Bitcoin vs. Gold vs. Market Indexes
    • The need for stablecoins, including algorithmic ones!
    • Projects & narratives that took a 180 degree turn
    • AI vs. verifiable computation via ZK proofs
    • The control & alignment AI problems
    • Decentralised identity systems (DID)
    • Looking forward to the next 500 episodes

    Sponsors:

    • CoinGecko: CoinGecko API provides access to the most comprehensive data aggregator in the market, supporting more than 10,000 crypto assets from over 700 exchanges! Visit https://gcko.io/epicenterCGpromo today and use the promo code ""EPICENTER"" to unlock an additional 10% OFF!

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Meher Roy, Sunny Aggarwal & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/500](https://epicenter.tv/500)


    Zac Williamson & Joe Andrews: Aztec - Privacy-preserving, hybrid ZK rollup Jun 09, 2023

    In order to achieve true transaction privacy, it is not enough to encrypt or build ZK proofs for transaction bundles, as long as the underlying blockchain uses an account-based model. Aztec is building a ZKVM that superposes an UTXO model, so that balances are constantly updated as new, untraceable, log entries. The upcoming Aztec 3 aims to enable privacy-preserving smart contracts, using a hybrid, multi-layered rollup. This approach allows for both public and private smart contracts to be executed simultaneously.

    We were joined by Zac Williamson & Joe Andrews, to discuss the evolution of Aztec, from ZK Money to their upcoming privacy-preserving hybrid ZK rollup.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The evolution of Aztec, from ZK money to Aztec 3
    • How Aztec’s ZKVM ensures privacy for Ethereum transactions
    • The need for UTXO model for privacy-preserving encrypted databases
    • Interacting with public smart contracts in a private manner
    • Technical roadmap and challenges faced along the way
    • How Aztec differs from Mina protocol
    • Recursive proofs
    • Estimating gas
    • Main-net sequencer decentralisation
    • Goblin Plonk
    • The future of programmable privacy

    Episode links:

    • Zac Williamson on Twitter
    • Joe Andrews on Twitter
    • Aztec on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/499


    Fig: Squid Router – Sub-20 Second Cross-Chain Swaps. Axelar-Powered Interoperability Jun 02, 2023

    As crypto evolves, it becomes clearer that the future will be multi-chain. Presently, moving funds between different blockchains is frustrating...to say the least. The current bridging solutions are prohibitive from a UX perspective, mainly due to how finality is reached across different blockchains. This translates to long wait times and anxiety when interacting with new protocols, caused by the incertitude of funds arriving safely on the other side. Another major blockage consists of gas fees, particular to each blockchain, which often require an additional swap. But what if, users could enjoy near-instant cross-chain swaps (sub-20 second) and one-click transaction aggregators?

    We were joined by Fig, co-founder of Squid Router, to discuss how they leverage Axelar's infrastructure to achieve one-click, near-instant cross-chain swaps, creating user-friendly interoperability.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Fig’s background
    • How Squid tackles interoperability
    • Building a better DevEx & UX on top of Axelar’s security
    • Choosing what DEXes to wrap & aggregate in Squid
    • Optimising gas fees, prices & MEV cross-chain
    • Squid’s business model
    • Integrating other messaging protocols
    • Addressing finality to reduce swap times below 20 seconds
    • How Squid x Axelar solve other bridging protocol issues (e.g. multichain hack)
    • Squid use cases

    Episode links:

    • Fig on Twitter
    • Squid on Twitter
    • Axelar on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/498


    Collin Myers & Oisín Kyne: Obol Network - Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) May 27, 2023

    Ethereum's merge and transition to a proof-of-stake consensus implied switching from proof-of-work mining to transactions being validated by entities that have an economic stake in the network. Proof-of-stake distributed networks are subject to complex game theory models (e.g. slashing). Distributed validator technology (DVT) enables a more modular validator stack at every level: key pairs, hardware and entities. This reduces trust dependencies and increases security for validator entities.
    We were joined by Collin Myers & Oisín Kyne, founders of Obol Network, to discuss Ethereum's 2.0 PoS consensus, the current validator landscape and how distributed validator technology (DVT) allows for an increased security and overall smoother UX for validator entities.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Collin’s & Oisín’s backgrounds
    • Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) explained
    • How DVT improves user experience for different staking models
    • Reducing validator costs and increasing fault tolerance through DVT
    • Obol middleware approach
    • Obol v.2
    • Interacting with other middleware from the Ethereum stack
    • Expanding DVT to other ecosystems
    • Future validator landscape
    • How post-Danksharding data availability will be handled by an Obol cluster
    • L2 Ethereum equivalence

    Episode links:

    • Collin Myers on Twitter
    • Oisín Kyne on Twitter
    • Obol Network on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/497


    Ben DiFrancesco: Umbra – Privacy Preserving Token Transfers May 19, 2023

    Public transaction history in blockchains represents one of their key features which, alongside immutability, aim to provide an alternative to CeFi. However, this transparency comes at a price: privacy. As a result, different solutions have been proposed, that preserve privacy while maintaining all the other benefits of blockchain technology, but there currently isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to this problem. For example, zero knowledge proofs convey the validity of a transaction batch without sharing any other details, but the underlying arithmetic circuits are both complex as well as computational intensive. Umbra proposes a system that relies completely on elliptic curve cryptography, employing multiple private-public key pairs to achieve stealth payments.

    We were joined by Ben DiFrancesco, founder & CEO of ScopeLift, to talk about Umbra's privacy preserving stealth token transfer system and if the need for privacy on blockchains outweighs any implicit UX frictions.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ben’s background
    • Umbra's mission
    • How Umbra works
    • Non-interactive key distribution
    • Potential solutions (& trade-offs) for Umbra's computational intensity
    • Generating private-public key pairs by the Umbra smart contract
    • User experience (UX) for senders and receivers
    • Fee structure for deterring griefing attacks
    • How Umbra works for ERC20 tokens & NFTs
    • Privacy preserving withdrawals from stealth addresses
    • Privacy vs. UX friction
    • Smart wallets & account abstraction
    • Prioritising privacy

    Episode links:

    • Ben DiFrancesco on Twitter
    • Umbra on Twitter
    • ScopeLift on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/496


    Emin Gün Sirer: Avalanche – The Future of Crypto: From Gaming to LLM-Powered Smart Contracts May 11, 2023

    As the second Avalanche summit drew to a close, Sebastien Couture and Sunny Aggarwal sat down with Emin Gün Sirer for a fascinating conversation exploring future innovation narratives in crypto. Longtime friend of Epicenter, Ava Labs' founder and CEO shared his unique insights on the industry, from both a founder, as well as a former academia perspective.
    Given Avalanche's consensus & architecture, it boasts high TPS and scalability properties, incentivising founders to build better products in the AVAX ecosystem.

    One of the most controversial narratives is that of LLMs (i.e. ChatGPT) powering smart contract development by bypassing programming languages and even bytecode altogether. The question arises if replacing the human third-party with an AI fixes trust issues or not, but only time will tell which piece of code we can actually consider 'law'.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Emin’s background, from academia to running a multi-billion dollar company
    • Main takeaways from the 2nd Avalanche summit
    • Innovation narratives in the Avalanche ecosystem. NFTs & blockchain gaming
    • The Avalanche architecture, consensus & scalability
    • Avalanche’s evolution
    • ChatGPT smart contracts & no-code blockchains
    • Auditing AI & security
    • Innovation vs. Stagnation
    • Bitcoin, BTC.b & ordinals
    • Bridging Cosmos with Avalanche: IBC x Warp
    • Best & worst products built by crypto

    Episode links:

    • Emin Gün Sirer on Twitter
    • Avalanche on Twitter
    • Ava Labs on Twitter
    • Shrapnel on Twitter
    • Gunzilla Games on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/495


    Ali Yahya: Andreessen Horowitz – A16z Crypto Investment Thesis May 03, 2023

    When it comes to top-tier VCs, very few equal Andreessen Horowitz' (a16z) impressive portfolio, which stretches over both Web2 and Web3. Their crypto venture arm includes investments in most industry verticals, from infrastructure projects to NFTs and blockchain gaming. Constructing such a solid investment thesis requires conviction in the long-term prospects of the industry, as well as an influential network.

    We were joined by Ali Yahya, GP at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss about a16z structure, operations and investment thesis, as well as the broader crypto landscape and value proposition.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ali’s background
    • Why Google didn’t embrace crypto
    • a16z’s team structure
    • The role of a GP in a VC
    • a16z’s thesis when it comes to crypto investing
    • Which crypto niches Ali is most bullish on
    • Governance vs. platform risk
    • Valuation-based investments
    • Protocol revenue and monetary premium for L1s
    • Token vs. Equity
    • How to prevent banking crisis contagion for crypto projects

    Episode links:

    • Ali Yahya on Twitter
    • a16z crypto
    • a16z

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/494


    Jose Macedo: Mars Protocol – Red Bank' Credit on Cosmos via Osmosis Apr 28, 2023

    The end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 were marked by centralised institutions failing: from CEXes to CeFi itself, contagion spread quickly in over-leveraged and opaque entities. Amidst this chaos, (crypto)people turned their hopes, once again, to DeFi. However, in lack of traditional enforcing mechanisms, not even battle-tested decentralised lending protocols could find a solution to provide under-collateralised loans, aka credit. Mars Protocol, with its unique hub & outposts architecture, aims to answer this need in the Cosmos ecosystem, by deploying on Osmosis and tapping into its deep liquidity. From manual leverage to credit and yield farming, Mars will feature a wide suite of DeFi products.

    We were joined by Jose Macedo, founder of Delphi Labs, to discuss the history of Delphi Digital, their learnings from incubating projects and the vision behind Mars’ ‘Red Bank’ DeFi products.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jose’s background
    • Delphi Digital’s history
    • Incubating projects on Solana and Terra
    • Learning from Terra
    • The vision behind Mars Protocol
    • Mars’ DeFi suite
    • Different risk parameters and collaterals
    • Mars’ module architecture (outposts) in the Cosmos ecosystem
    • How Mars Protocol differs from Osmosis
    • Mars Protocol roadmap & Mars v.2
    • Ecosystem accelerator

    Episode links:

    • Jose Macedo on Twitter
    • Delphi Labs on Twitter
    • Delphi Digital on Twitter
    • Mars Protocol on Twitter
    • Astroport on Twitter
    • Osmosis on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/493


    John Letey: KYVE – Decentralised and Accessible Data Storage Apr 21, 2023

    We often take data storage for granted, but the rise of centralised storing facilities (i.e. AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.) hangs over like Damocles’ sword. When it comes to blockchains, full nodes store that network’s complete data history. Even if storage costs are set to decrease as technology evolves, so do blockchains accumulate more data over time. An interesting solution would be to create a decentralised backup for blockchain data and Arweave is a prime candidate for it. There is but a missing link represented by uploading and validating different blockchains’ data. This is where KYVE steps in, offering a decentralised validating solution to verify uploaded blockchain data and even retrieve it from Arweave, on demand. This also extends to off-chain data, opening new possibilities for data availability and scalability.

    We were joined by John Letey, founder and CTO of KYVE Network, to discuss the challenges and use cases of decentralised data storage and how blockchain interoperability could benefit from it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • John’s background
    • Why KYVE migrated to a Cosmos app-chain
    • High-level explanation of KYVE
    • KYVE’s data pools and data streams
    • How KYVE connects to Arweave
    • Validating uploaded blockchain data
    • How Arweave works
    • KYVE v.2
    • How slashing is handled
    • KYVE use cases
    • Future roadmap

    Episode links:

    • John Letey on Twitter
    • KYVE Network on Twitter
    • KYVE Network
    • Arweave

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/492


    Tim Galebach: Uqbar – Smart Contracts on Urbit Apr 14, 2023

    Building a truly decentralised, peer-to-peer network, based on a built-in identity system, limits the ecosystem’s interoperability with the outside world. Onboarding developers and users to Urbit was only the first hurdle. On-ramping crypto was a whole different & daunting task. Uqbar set out to build an execution layer on top of Urbit, enabling smart contracts, which would ultimately settle, via a ZK rollup, on Starknet.

    We were joined by Tim Galebach, founder of Uqbar, to discuss the different design choices involved, from Hoon programming DevEx to a hybrid ZK-optimistic rollup.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tim’s background
    • Urbit explained
    • How Uqbar took shape
    • Integrating crypto in the Urbit stack
    • Hoon’s usability and DevEx
    • AI-enabled Uqbar
    • Uqbar interoperability
    • Rollup vs. L1 approach for Uqbar
    • Hybrid ZK-optimistic rollup
    • Getting from programming in Hoon to ZK proofs
    • Use cases for Uqbar & Urbit

    Episode links:

    • Tim Galebach on Twitter
    • Uqbar on Twitter
    • Urbit on Twitter
    • Uqbar

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/491


    Ryan Zurrer: Dialectic AG - A Decade of Crypto Ventures: From BTC mining to P2E gaming Apr 07, 2023

    Considering the abundance of cryto projects launching constantly, making sound investment decisions requires both ample experience in the space, as well as a reliable network. Predicting future trends in such a volatile industry is a skill very few possess, especially since narratives evolve at a rapid pace. Ryan Zurrer is one of the OG participants and investors in the blockchain industry, with an experience of more than 10 years and an impressive portfolio of investments. From BTC mining to ICOs, DeFi and more recently NFTs & play-to-earn gaming (P2E), Ryan has witnessed all the major cycles in crypto.
    We were joined by Ryan Zurrer, founder of Dialectic AG, to discuss about the crypto investment landscape and the evolution of the industry from BTC to P2E gaming.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ryan’s background, from BTC mining to ICOs and P2E gaming
    • Keepers in blockchain networks explained
    • Axie Infinity and the evolution of play-to-earn gaming
    • Web2 vs. Web3 gaming and the importance of communities
    • NFTs in art, culture and blockchain gaming
    • Traditional vs. digital fine art
    • Dialectic’s investment strategies
    • MEV & market efficiency
    • Geopolitical climate and crypto investments
    • Psychedelics & MAPS

    Episode links:

    • Ryan Zurrer
    • Dialectic AG
    • Vine Ventures
    • MAPS

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/490


    Barry: Dymension – Modular Blockchains and RollApps Mar 31, 2023

    When it comes to scaling blockchains, there are 2 main types of off-chain solutions: sidechains and L2s (i.e. rollups, state channels). These are all intended to scale monolithic L1 blockchains. However, the core functional layers of a blockchain could also be reinvisioned as customisable building blocks. This idea led to the creation of modular blockchains, which handle execution, consensus and data availability separately from one another, thus considerably increasing throughput.
    Dymension is a Cosmos modular blockchain hub that acts as settlement layer for RollApps (app-specific chains).

    Sebastien was joined by Barry, Head of Product at Dymension, to discuss the advantages of developing modular blockchains, their scalability and how RollApps integrate in this environment.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Barry’s background
    • The evolution of scaling solutions & Dymension’s RollApps
    • The nuances of different types of rollups (L1 vs. L2, Ethereum vs. Cosmos)
    • The scalability trilemma and modular blockchains
    • Cosmos’ ICS scaling
    • The architecture of Dymension and its RDK
    • How RollApps choose the data availability layer
    • RollApp interoperability
    • Incentivising sequencer neutrality
    • Network roles in Dymension and differences between SDK & RDK
    • Use cases & limitations of RollApps
    • Future roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Barry on Twitter
    • Dymension on Twitter
    • Dymension's website
    • The Interop Podcast on Twitter
    • Celestia on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/489


    Laurence Ion & Vincent Weisser: Vita DAO – From DeSci to Longevity Research Mar 24, 2023

    Scientific research & publishing are gruelling tasks that extend outside the scope of science itself. Centralised publications abound in archaic practices that span from submitting a paper to getting it peer-reviewed and finally published, process which may take even up to years. In addition, research requires funding from very early stages of pursuing an idea, all the way to its finality (i.e. clinical trial or real-life applications). In TradSci (traditional science), funding is usually obtained once progress has already been achieved or when a startup has been formed.
    DeSci (decentralised science) sets out to change this paradigm by funding early stage research via DAOs. When it comes to scientific publications, peer reviewing is also decentralised and incentivised, considerably speeding up the process. Moreover, contributions can be clearly retraced, avoiding false claims over IP, and the research itself becomes much more easily accessible and disseminated.

    We were joined by Vincent Weisser & Laurence Ion, stewards of Vita DAO, to discuss the advantages of DeSci in general, and the progress of longevity research in particular.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Vincent’s background and his interest in longevity
    • Laurence’s background and his interest in biotech
    • The purpose of DeSci
    • Which science branch is better suited for DeSci
    • How DeSci fixes contribution acknowledgement & incentive misalignment
    • From research idea to startup via DeSci funding
    • $VITA token utility
    • Accelerating scientific publishing via DeSci
    • How IP is attributed in a DeSci setting
    • Project review and governance in Vita DAO

    Episode links:

    • Vincent Weisser
    • Laurence Ion
    • Vita DAO
    • Molecule DAO
    • Vita DAO projects
    • Molecule
    • Bio DAO launchpad
    • The Longevity Prize
    • The Longevity Decentralized Review

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/488


    David Schwartz & Jordi Baylina: Polygon zkEVM – From Mainnet to Mass Adoption - Part 2 Mar 17, 2023

    While Part 1 (#486) focused on the technological advancements that allowed proofs to be generated in a practical manner, lowering both the time and the hardware requirements, in this episode, we take a closer look at the use cases of different types of zk rollups and how they could promote blockchain mass adoption. Polygon's zk EVM equivalence, coupled with low transaction fees, promise a frictionless user experience. As with all L2 rollups, sequencer decentralisation remains a pressing issue that needs to be solved.

    We were joined by Jordi Baylina (tech lead) & David Schwartz (CTO) from Polygon's zkEVM, to discuss the relationship between Polygon's multiple zk rollups, their use cases, as well as network statistics for zk-EVM.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The relationship between Polygon and zkEVM
    • The differences between Polygon’s multiple zk rollups
    • Network participant roles in zkEVM
    • Transaction submission stages
    • Sequencer decentralisation
    • Transaction costs
    • Use cases for different zk rollups
    • Open-sourceness, decentralisation and the licensing of zkEVM’s prover
    • The decentralised identity project (DID)
    • Roadmap after main-net launch

    Episode links:

    • Polygon zkEVM – From Circuits to Mainnet – Part 1
    • Jordi Baylina on Twitter
    • David Schwartz on Twitter
    • Polygon zkEVM on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/487


    David Schwartz & Jordi Baylina: Polygon zkEVM – From Circuits to Mainnet - Part 1 Mar 10, 2023

    With the upcoming launch of Polygon's zkEVM mainnet, L2s are undoubtedly a huge narrative that is unfolding in 2023. It is time to take a step back and recognise the incredible amount of effort that has gone into researching and building L2 scaling solutions in general and zk rollups in particular. Tech-wise, we barely scratched the surface of general purpose processors that can handle zk circuits, so there is still tremendous room to grow. As layer 2s become more efficient, so will the applications that are dependent on blockchain throughput.

    We were joined by Jordi Baylina (tech lead) & David Schwartz (CTO) from Polygon's zkEVM, to discuss the different milestones & challenges they had to overcome in designing a zk rollup, from circuits to mainnet.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jordi’s & David’s backgrounds
    • The idea behind Hermez Network
    • zkEVM scaling & validity proofs
    • How different ZK rollup models function
    • What challenges zkEVM encountered during development
    • Evolutionary pathways in the realm of ZKPs
    • Auditing zkEVM
    • Trusted setup requirement for zkEVM

    Episode links:

    • Jordi Baylina on Twitter
    • David Schwartz on Twitter
    • Polygon zkEVM on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/486


    Jesse Pollak: Base – The Optimistic Gateway to Crypto Adoption Mar 03, 2023

    Layer 2 scaling solutions are widely regarded as the next step forward in the mainstream adoption of crypto as they enable higher throughput and lower transaction fees. Coinbase’s recent announcement of building an optimistic rollup solution called Base is proof (no pun intended) that major centralized actors view this as an opportunity to onboard new users in a decentralized crypto economy. The following years will abound in innovation as both optimistic and zero-knowledge rollup solutions still have plenty of room to grow, but the involvement of centralized entities will act as a catalyst from a technological, as well as a regulatory standpoint.

    We were joined by Jesse Pollak, Head of Protocol at Coinbase, to discuss the thesis & business model behind Base and how it will act as an interoperable bridge to onboard the next billion users on-chain.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jesse’s background and his role as Head of Protocol at Coinbase
    • Base’s business model & thesis
    • Building on the Optimism stack
    • Permissionlessness
    • How regulations are going to influence users of Base (vs. Coinbase)
    • Learning from the competition (BSC)
    • Different fee markets to offset transaction costs
    • Why Base chose the Optimism stack
    • Base’s upgradeability
    • Tackling Optimism’s withdrawal period
    • Bootstrapping Base
    • Future roadmap and mainnet timeline

    Episode links:

    • Jesse Pollak on Twitter
    • Base on Twitter
    • Coinbase on Twitter
    • Optimism on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/485


    Rebecca Liao: Saga – Bootstrapping Chainlets in the Multiverse Feb 24, 2023

    Building a blockchain from the ground-up is a daunting task in itself, one that should not be a concern when designing an end-user application. Moreover, as Web3 aims to move away from centralized vertical scalability towards a multi-chain decentralized environment, horizontal scalability and cross-communication should represent a standard. While Cosmos solves the latter, deploying application-specific blockchains has not been a streamlined process. Saga aims to address this by providing automated means of deploying application-specific blockchains, called chainlets that use the validator set of Saga. This leads to a simplified user (and developer) experience, presently much needed in the Web3 gaming and entertainment industries.

    We were joined by Rebecca Liao, co-founder & CEO of Saga, to discuss bootstrapping app-specific chains in just one click, leveraging the scalability & security of Cosmos, thus allowing developers to focus more on the product and less on the blockchain infrastructure.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Rebecca’s background & building Saga
    • Leveraging Cosmos SDK, IBC & ICS to bootstrap other chains
    • Chainlets
    • Saga validators & tokenomics
    • IBC & elastic scaling for chainlets
    • ICS & Saga’s tech stack
    • Chainlet customization
    • Partnerships & use cases
    • Chainlet ‘Musical chairs’ auction
    • Targeting gaming and entertainment industries
    • Multi-chain future and inter-chain communication

    Episode links:

    • Rebecca Liao on Twitter
    • Saga on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/484


    Luis Schliesske & Hilmar Orth: Gelato Network - Web3 Backend Automation & Relay Feb 17, 2023

    Web3 has always been criticised for its not so friendly user experience. While one might argue that it requires a mere learning curve, similar to that of e-mail services when first introduced, Web2’s ease of use has become the norm. Account abstraction and smart contract automation are just 2 solutions for unlocking higher flexibility in transaction execution logic. These backend improvements, alongside scaling solutions and a more user-friendly frontend (e.g. wallets, interfaces) will represent the main drivers of adoption.
    We were joined by Luis Schliesske & Hilmar Orth, founders of Gelato Network, to discuss about Gelato Network’s approach to decentralising Web3's backend through automation and relaying, in order to onboard the next 100 million users.
    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Luis’ and Hilmar’s backgrounds
    • The need for automation in smart contracts
    • How bots operate in automation processes
    • Interacting with Gelato’s node network
    • Automation, relayers & gasless transactions
    • How automation impacts trust assumptions
    • Gelato beta start & use cases
    • Account abstraction & user experience

    Episode links:

    • Luis Schliesske on Twitter
    • Hilmar Orth on Twitter
    • Gelato Network on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/483


    Joel Thorstensson: Ceramic – Building the Dataverse Feb 09, 2023

    The Metaverse has taken the world by storm in 2021 and even though many have and are still opposing it, the fact that we are spending the majority of our lives online is an undeniable truth. The boundaries between physical and digital worlds are slowly eroding away. Our digital presence generates a data footprint that is currently being stored in big tech’s centralized silos. As a whole, these user-generated data breadcrumbs represent our digital identity. Web3 has, so far, mainly focused on financial aspects, disregarding user specific data even though the latter actually represents the vast majority (>90%) of all generated data.

    We were joined by Joel Thorstensson, co-founder of 3Box Labs, to discuss Ceramic’s goal of decentralizing ‘social’, account-based data in the form of user-generated event streams, that could unlock true application interoperability built on a composable data layer.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Joel’s background & founding Ceramic
    • The concept behind Ceramic
    • Ceramic’s event stream design vs. other data solutions
    • The need for consensus in Ceramic
    • Use cases for Ceramic
    • Data privacy potential
    • Application interoperability
    • Data redundancy & protection
    • Ceramic’s ecosystem & business model

    Episode links:

    • Joel Thorstensson on Twitter
    • Ceramic on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/482


    Trent McConaghy: Ocean Protocol – AI & the Data NFT Marketplace (V4) Feb 01, 2023

    From technological breakthrough to philosophical defiance, the topic of AI has always sparked intense debates ever since Alan Turing & John McCarthy advanced this branch of computer science. One might argue that this was caused by expectations overwhelmingly surpassing technological capabilities. However, the recent public release of ChatGPT has rekindled former sci-fi apocalyptical scenarios, even if it is (still) just a trained language model. Humanity gazed in awe as a simple input/output text interface could instantly disrupt fields such as software engineering or copywriting. Worst part? It also challenged (arguably) the most important human-specific trait: creativity (Midjourney). Data is the lifeblood of AI as it increases the model’s prediction accuracy: larger input sample translates into more outputs that help fine-tune weights during back-propagation cycles (the model ‘learns’).

    We were joined by Trent McConaghy, founder & CTO at Ocean Protocol, to discuss the advantages of implementing blockchain (& NFT) technology in data management and trading, what makes a particular data set valuable and what challenges derive from AI implementations and the data digital gold rush.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Trent’s AI background & founding Ocean
    • The evolution of Ocean Protocol
    • Managing third-party access to data NFTs
    • Minting data NFTs & their metadata
    • Discovering & verifying data quality
    • AI generated data sets & intellectual property
    • Ocean marketplace user base
    • Data farming
    • Data curation & veOcean rewards

    Episode links:

    • Trent McConaghy on Twitter
    • Ocean Protocol on Twitter
    • Ocean Marketplace

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/481


    Paul Frambot: Morpho Labs – Peer-to-Peer DeFi Lending Protocol Jan 25, 2023

    DeFi lending protocols operate accordingly to their smart contracts and are perfect examples of ‘Code is law’, even if some recent exploits have not quite abided to this harsh truth. From well established protocols to degenerate DeFi farms with astronomic APYs, they all mainly use liquidity pools. Morpho Labs proposes a peer-to-peer approach that operates on top of another protocol’s liquidity pool (i.e. Aave, Compound), offering better rates for lenders as well as borrowers.

    We were joined by Paul Frambot, co-founder and CEO of Morpho Labs, to discuss about the benefits and challenges that arise from a peer-to-peer lender-borrower matching system and what failsafes are in place.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Paul’s background and diving into DeFi
    • Founding and funding Morpho
    • The concept behind Morpho
    • Improving lending & borrowing APYs
    • How lenders and borrowers are matched
    • Managing gas fees in a P2P setting
    • Securing collateral in peer matches
    • Sharing liquidity with Aave and Compound
    • Morpho token economy
    • Managing liquidations
    • User experience & integrations
    • Morpho’s business model
    • Future roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Paul Frambot on Twitter
    • Morpho Labs on Twitter
    • Morpho Labs

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/480


    Antonio Juliano: dYdX – Decentralized Perpetual Exchanges Jan 20, 2023

    2022 has proven time after time that centralised entities are prone to multiple points of failure, intentional or not. Decentralised finance (DeFi) addresses these, but the user experience has often been lacklustre compared to that from centralised finance (CeFi). Exchanges are the backbone of any market, but high throughput is required in order to ensure that both makers and takers can proficiently use them. Decentralised exchanges have long faced issues due to bandwidth constraints native to blockchains, but recent L2 scaling solutions have provided a considerable increase in terms of throughput. For example, dYdX is currently the largest consumer of STARKs, but growing institutional and retail interest in derivative financial products urges for an even better alternative.

    We were joined by Antonio Juliano, founder & CEO of dYdX perpetual exchange, to discuss about the upcoming transition to dYdX V4 and what challenges decentralised exchanges have to face amidst technological bottlenecks and upcoming regulations.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Antonio’s background & timing products
    • dYdX product overview
    • Price feed oracles
    • dYdX user demographics & UX
    • Development timeframes & taking risks
    • Order book vs. AMM
    • Building a sovereign blockchain on Cosmos
    • The challenges of decentralising order books
    • IBC integrations and composability
    • Current state of scaling solutions
    • Migrating from dYdX V3 to V4 & token utility
    • DeFi vs. CeFi
    • DeFi education & regulatory outreach

    Episode links:

    • Antonio Juliano on Twitter
    • dYdX on Twitter
    • dYdX exchange

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/479


    Carl Beekhuizen & Trent van Epps: Ethereum Foundation – EIP-4844 & KZG Ceremony Jan 12, 2023

    The recent advancements of layer 2 scaling solutions, especially zero-knowledge rollups, led to a complete redesign of Ethereum’s scalability roadmap. As a result, the initial concept of sharding the execution layer was abandoned and replaced by the idea of data sharding. This proposal, named after its author, is know as Danksharding. EIP-4844 is also referred to as proto-danksharding as it sets the foundation for data sharding, through the introduction of data blobs.

    We were joined by Carl Beekhuizen & Trenton Van Epps from the Ethereum Foundation, to discuss about the upcoming EIP-4844 timeline and its KZG ceremony.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Trent’s and Carl’s backgrounds
    • Danksharding and scaling Ethereum
    • Data BLOBs and data availability
    • KZG ceremony
    • How trusted setups evolved
    • KZG commitment requirements
    • How trust is ensured
    • Combining randomness
    • How storing secrets is prevented
    • General contribution details
    • Special contributions
    • Quantum vulnerability
    • General EIP-4844 timeline

    Episode links:

    • Carl Beekhuizen on Twitter
    • Trenton Van Epps on Twitter
    • Morgan Peck's article

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/478


    Anna Rose & Kobi Gurkan: Zero Knowledge Proofs – State of the ZK Ecosystem - Part 2 Jan 05, 2023

    While Part 1 (#476) focused more on the general landscape of the ZK ecosystem, covering team updates and developments, in this episode, we take a closer look at specific use cases for ZK proofs and if the focus has shifted from privacy to blockchain scalability. Moreover, as the dusk of 2022 introduced chatGPT to the world, it seems only fitting to explore ZKP integrations in machine learning (ML).

    In Part 2 of this 2-part episode, we were joined by Anna Rose, host of Zero Knowledge Podcast and founder of ZK Summit, ZK Validator and ZK Hack, and Kobi Gurkan, Head of Research at Geometry, to discuss current applications for ZK proofs and what narratives are going to shape 2023 for the ZK ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Applications and use cases for ZK proofs
    • ZK bridges
    • Audits and ZK security
    • ZKML (Machine Learning)
    • Succinctness vs. Privacy
    • 2023 predictions for the ZK ecosystem
    • Privacy - human right or concern?

    Episode links:

    • Zero Knowledge Podcast on Twitter
    • Zero Knowledge Podcast on YouTube
    • Anna Rose on Twitter
    • Kobi Gurkan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/477


    Anna Rose & Kobi Gurkan: Zero Knowledge Proofs – State of the ZK Ecosystem - Part 1 Dec 30, 2022

    Blockchains are immutable record keepers, storing information about every transaction ever recorded. However, this attribute comes at a cost: as more and more transactions occur, so does the size of the record expands. In turn, the hardware requirements for running a node increase which ultimately affects decentralization. Another aspect frequently criticized is how transactions are being processed by legacy blockchains in terms of speed. For both of these aspects there is a cryptographic solution that addresses scalability: zero knowledge proofs (ZKPs). These allow one entity (prover) to prove to another entity (verifier) that a statement is true, without revealing any additional information about the process or data involved. When applied to blockchains, ZKPs improve scalability and privacy by certifying that state transitions occurred, without the need to relay the underlying information.

    In Part 1 of this 2-part episode, we were joined by Anna Rose, host of Zero Knowledge Podcast and founder of ZK Summit, ZK Validator and ZK Hack, and Kobi Gurkan, Head of Research at Geometry, to discuss the state of the ZK ecosystem and how this promising technology is evolving.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Anna’s background & her involvement in the ZK ecosystem
    • Kobi’s background in cryptography
    • Trusted setups, a brief history: Plumo & Aztec
    • ZK Hack(athon)
    • The State of the ZK ecosystem
    • How the ZK landscape evolved: from SNARKs to STARKs
    • Trade-offs: compatibility, security, performance
    • Aztec & Noir DSL
    • The need for performance benchmarks
    • ZK L1s: Zcash, Mina, Aleo

    Episode links:

    • Zero Knowledge Podcast on Twitter
    • Zero Knowledge Podcast on YouTube
    • The paper Kobi mentioned (by Ariel Gabizon)
    • Anna Rose on Twitter
    • Kobi Gurkan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/476


    Ted Blackman & Gary Lieberman: Urbit - Decentralized Computing Platforms Dec 21, 2022

    When discussing the widespread adoption of true, peer-to-peer decentralization, one could easily identify various social and political obstacles. However, there is also an often overlooked technological impairment as the underlying architecture of computer networks was not designed to achieve global-scale decentralization. Ideally a complete restructuring would be necessary, from applications and programming language, to as profound as rewriting operating system kernels. This is what Urbit is trying to achieve; a decentralized network where users have full control over their computer, running a unified operating system, where applications function seamlessly, without centralized chokepoints.

    We were joined by Ted Blackman, CTO of Urbit Foundation, and Gary Lieberman, the Chorus One Team Lead for Urbit, to discuss how Urbit reshapes the way we interact with computers, its current development stage, and what challenges it has to overcome.

    Topics covered in this episode:
    - Ted's background
    - What Urbit is building
    - The disruptive potential of Urbit
    - Gary's motivation behind joining Urbit
    - Urbit's impact on user experience
    - Current development stage and potential limitations
    - General timeframe for Urbit adoption
    - Other use cases for Urbit
    - Implications Urbit might have for crypto (synergies)
    - Privacy vs. Accountability
    Episode links:
    - Urbit: https://bit.ly/3A9COrX
    - Urbit Foundation: https://bit.ly/3G8KZXR
    - Ted Blackman: https://bit.ly/3Wuqyde
    - Gary Lieberman: https://bit.ly/3YJcRt6
    Sponsors:
    - Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: https://epicenter.tv/475


    Nick Dodson: Fuel Labs – Modular Execution Blockchains Dec 17, 2022

    As crypto adoption increases, so does the pressing need for blockchain scalability. Monolithic blockchains provide data availability, consensus and execution on a single, base layer, which makes scaling them a difficult endeavour. Multiple layer-2 (L2) scaling solutions have been proposed to address computation and/or data availability, but they reach the same design bottlenecks: limited bandwidth, account state models, sequential transaction processing, etc. Modular blockchains separate the core functionalities, redesigning them as customisable building blocks. This allows for greater flexibility and scalability, adapting blockchain structure to its intended function.

    We were joined by Nick Dodson, CEO and co-founder of Fuel Labs, to discuss modular execution layers and how they approach different aspects of blockchain design and scalability.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Nick’s background and founding Fuel Labs
    • Why most blockchain designs are not scalable
    • The vision behind Fuel Labs’ modular execution layer
    • The difference between L2 roll-ups and modular execution layers
    • Blockchain design philosophies and integrations
    • UTXO and multi-thread parallel transactions
    • UTXO vs. account model systems
    • Fuel Labs’ own virtual machine (VM)
    • Multiple native assets support
    • Developer experience switching to Sway DSL
    • Bridging to a settlement layer and interoperability
    • Building on Fuel

    Episode links:

    • Fuel Labs
    • Fuel Labs on Twitter
    • Nick on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/474


    Epicenter Hosts – The Bear Is Back: Recollections From 2022 Dec 09, 2022

    This year has been quite a rollercoaster for the crypto industry. From the long-awaited success of the Ethereum Merge to the spectacular collapse of FTX, this year has been full of lessons, resilience, and insights. This is also one of a few bear markets where activities and developments continue to feel vibrant across the board, while long-term adoption and regulations seem evermore uncertain.

    With that backdrop, our hosts sit down for a conversation on the current state of crypto and look back on 2022. The topics range from the general public sentiment to key developments within the industry, as well as exciting themes that the hosts are looking forward to in the upcoming future. Throughout the conversation, the hosts also express concerns over the issues with privacy and regulations, and how the ecosystems can resiliently move forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • General public sentiment heading into the new year, after Luna and FTX collapse
    • CeFi versus DeFi
    • Crypto Regulations and adoption trends
    • The Ethereum Merge, MEV, and OFAC-sanction
    • Roadmap and community development for censorship resistance
    • zkEVM and Eigen Layer
    • The future of Cosmos Ecosystem and Cosmos Hub
    • The state of Urbit
    • Urbit and crypto
    • Thoughts on the Solana community and ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • Brian on Twitter
    • Sebastien on Twitter
    • Felix on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/473


    Fredrik Haga: Dune Analytics – The Open Data Platform Nov 30, 2022

    Dune Analytics is a platform aggregating blockchain data, making data easier to query and understand for the larger public. Over the past years, Dune has become the go-to tool for blockchain analytics, as well as the home of a community of dune wizards numbering in the thousands, with its fundraising at a 1 Billion valuation as a testament to the growth of the project over the past 4 years.

    In today's episode, we are joined by the project's co-founder, Fredrik Haga. We discuss the products Dune Analytics offers, why it's hard to aggregate data that in principle is public, and how a community of data wizards was built in a grassroots effort. We also chatted about product focus and vision for the future, as well as useful lessons for bootstrapping a project on a shoestring budget.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The beginning of Dune
    • The challenges and difficulties in building a blockchain data product.
    • Technical improvements on Dune V2
    • Supporting for non-evm chains
    • Business models, userbases, and valuations
    • Interesting use cases on Dune
    • Community Building
    • The focus on product experience and next steps for the project

    Episode links:

    • Dune Analytics's website
    • Dune Analytics Twitter
    • Fredrik Haga's twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/472


    Ben Fielding & Harry Grieve: Gensyn – The Deep Learning Compute Protocol Nov 25, 2022

    Artificial Intelligence is a fascinating field that has made tremendous development over the past few years. From GPT-3 to Dall-e and Stable Diffusion, the vastness of the scope of applications for AI and neural computing is becoming clearer than ever. At the base layer, there is a need for decentralized p2p AI compute platform that provides flexible access to the wider public. Gensyn sets out on the mission to provide just that by building a market place protocol for AI compute - ultra-low cost, hyperscale, permissionless.

    In today’s episode we are joined by the project's co-founders Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve. We take a deep dive into the current landscape for AI and AI compute, the reasonings and trade-offs in building Gensyn, the protocol’s focus and edge cases, and how the protocol is utilizing the blockchain technology as both incentive layer and credibly neutral platform.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The founders' background and reasonings for development on Blockchain
    • The current state of AI development and breakdown of AI concepts
    • The current landscape for AI modeling and compute
    • Gensyn's difference to other protocols, such as Golem
    • How Gensyn is adhering to the decentralized default, and making trade-offs in product building
    • Building Gensyn as a Layer-1 protocol
    • Deep dive into the Gensyn Protocol and edge cases
    • Other players in the protocol: solvers, verifiers, and whistle blowers
    • Building a blockchain

    Episode links:

    • Gensyn
    • Gensyn on Twitter
    • Ben Fielding on Twitter
    • Harry Grieve on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/471


    Sreeram Kannan: EigenLayer – The Ethereum Restaking Protocol Nov 17, 2022

    EigenLayer is a 'programmable slashing' layer2 protocol built on Ethereum which leverages security through the method of restaking. This is a bootstrapping mechanism which allows existing Eth2 stakers to access the collateral in the staking system to provide additional services, for additional yield, while taking on additional risk.

    We were joined by founder Sreeram Kannan who explained to us the concept of re-staking, how this works in the EigenLayer protocol, use cases, and the roadmap ahead.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sreeram's background and how he got into crypto
    • His role at the University of Washington Blockchain Lab
    • EigenLayer and the concept of re-staking
    • The risk with 'programmable slashing'
    • The participants in the EigenLayer economy
    • Impact on decentralization and home stakers
    • EigenDA and other EigenLayer use cases
    • Combatting malicious slashing
    • The EigenLayer roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Episode B007 - Devcon Panel – Censorship Resistance and Credible Neutrality
    • EigenLayer
    • EigenLayer on Twitter
    • Sreeram on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/470


    Anastasiya Belyaeva & Luis Cuende: Nation3 – Creating a Sovereign Cloud Nation Nov 10, 2022

    For centuries, we have been led to believe that nation states are the only way to organize humankind at scale. But governments all around the world are failing to react swiftly to the severe destruction of our planet from things like war and climate change, and this is endangering our whole species.

    Nation3 is ready to overturn this, by building a Web3-powered, tax-free, solarpunk sovereign cloud nation. It is structured as a DAO, meaning there is no legal entity, no gatekeepers, and no influence by trad states. The goal is to gradually build or invest in products and services that allow citizens to be actively involved in economic activity. The $NATION token serves as the gateway to participate in the community Discord, participate in governance decisions, receive an NFT passport, and eventually receive services provided by the new cloud nation.

    We were joined by founders Luis and Anastasiya to chat about why they see this is as necessary for humankind, how the legal, governance and economic aspects will work, and the long term visions for the project.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Luis and Anastasiya's backgrounds
    • The problem that Nation3 is trying to solve
    • How the legal system works
    • The differences between Nation3 and traditional nations
    • The core services Nation3 will provide
    • Why is the nation tax-free and how will the economy be supported?
    • Issues with selling passports
    • How will democracy work?
    • The biggest learnings from Aragon
    • What is the vision for acquiring land

    Episode links:

    • Nation3
    • Nation3 Techtree
    • Nation3 on Twitter
    • Anastasiya on Twitter
    • Luis on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/469


    Dev Bharel: Wormhole – The Cross Chain Messaging Protocol Nov 03, 2022

    Wormhole is a decentralized cross chain messaging protocol powering the transfer of value and information across high value chains. A network of Guardian nodes secure the protocol by observing and attesting to events and data on its connected chains. These attestations are gossiped around the open Wormhole peer-to-peer network, allowing anyone connected to the network to observe the flow of information. Portal is a bridging app built on top of Wormhole where users can seamlessly bridge tokens and NFTs across supported chains and easily enter the network’s ecosystem.

    We were joined by Dev Bharel, Developer Relations for Wormhole. He gave us great insight into how the protocol works, security assumptions and incidents, the concept of generalized messaging passaging, and the Portal Bridge as a first adopter of the Wormhole protocol. We also chatted about what else is being built on Wormhole, and how you can get involved.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dev's background and how he got into crypto
    • An overview of Wormhole
    • The different network ecosystems in Wormhole and challenges with adding new networks
    • The Wormhole guardian network and its plans for expansion
    • The user experience on Portal Bridge
    • Relayers on the network
    • Using Wormhole bridge assets directly with non-native tokens
    • The Wormhole hack and the changes that have been made
    • Using zero knowledge proof on bridges

    Episode links:

    • Portal Bridge
    • Wormhole hack
    • Bug bounty program
    • Developer docs
    • Wormchain
    • xHack hackathon
    • Wormhole on Twitter
    • Dev on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/468


    Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum – State of Affairs After the Merge Oct 26, 2022

    With the long awaited Ethereum Merge successfully executed last month, we caught up with Vitalik at DevCon in Bogota to talk shop: How does he see the state of the network, does he think looming centralization is a threat. Was Ethereum's danksharding plus third party layer 2s a good architecture decision? How much of an issue is MEV?

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The state of the network and credible neutrality
    • Should validators have agency?
    • How much of a problem is MEV
    • The Ethereum Surge
    • The road to Danksharding
    • Decentralizing the sequencer
    • The future of the space
    • The one most important thing we need to get right in the coming year for the ecosystem to succeed

    Episode links:

    • Ethereum
    • Devcon 6
    • Episode 402 - Ethereum – Can It Go Beyond DeFi?
    • Join the Epicenter team!

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/467


    Ethan Buchman & Zaki Manian: ATOM 2.0 – Deep Dive Oct 24, 2022

    Since its announcement a few weeks ago at Cosmoverse in Medellin, Atom 2.0 has sparked intense debate in the Cosmos community and throughout the blockchain ecosystem. It proposes three pillars for the Cosmos Hub: Interchain Security, the Interchain Allocator, and the Interchain Scheduler. However, parts of the paper have been contested and debated over fears of token holder dilution, potential treasury mismanagement, and even the collapse of the Hub. We chat with Ethan Buchman and Zaki Manian to dive deep into Atom 2.0 and its vision for Cosmos moving forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The ATOM 2.0 announcement and follow up
    • The goal of the whitepaper
    • Interchain Security and its role in Cosmos' future
    • Interchain Security vs. Mesh Security
    • Cosmos scalability
    • Liquid staking in the Cosmos ecosystem
    • Distributing funds through the Allocator
    • Atom issuance model
    • The motivation behind the Interchain Scheduler
    • The governance process - voting on the whitepaper
    • Next steps to community adoption

    Episode links:

    • Atom 2.0 Whitepaper
    • Atom 2.0 forum post
    • Atom 2.0 Debate episode on The Interop
    • Ethan on Twitter
    • Zaki on Twitter
    • Join Epicenter!

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/466


    Anett Rolikova, David Hoffmann, Joseph Schweitzer & Nick Johnson: Devcon 6 Recap – Live From Bogota Oct 22, 2022

    After a 2 year hiatus, Devcon was back for its 6th and best year so far, this time in Bogota, Colombia. As things wrapped up we grabbed a few of the Ethereum community's most prominent names for a recap on the conference. Hear as we chat to Nick Johnson from ENS, Anett Rolikova from Nethermind, David Hoffmann from Bankless, and Joseph Schweitzer from the Ethereum Foundation, about their particular standouts of the event, the LatAm and wider Ethereum community, and what they see coming next for Devcon 7 and beyond.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Introductions and a look back over the conference
    • The LatAm Ethereum community
    • Favourite talks from the conference
    • Having a booth at Devcon
    • What's in store for Devcon7 next year
    • The future vision for the event

    Episode links:

    • Devcon
    • Devcon 4 recap from Prague

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/465


    Devcon Panel – Censorship Resistance and Credible Neutrality Oct 14, 2022

    Bonus Episode: At a side event at Devcon in Bogota Colombia, Friederike moderated a panel discussion on censorship resistance and credible neutrality with Phil from Flashbots, Patrick from Infura, Sebastian from HOPR, Martin from Gnosis, and Sreeram from EigenLayer. We dove deep into what credible neutrality constitutes, whether it needs defending, and if so how we should go about it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Introduction to the panel
    • What is censorship resistance and credible neutrality?
    • When has Ethereum been or not been crediably neutral, and where is it today
    • Recent cencorship instances in the space
    • The roadmaps for more credible neutrality

    Episode links:

    • Devcon

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/B007


    Cryptocito: Cosmoverse – Where Cosmonauts Unite Oct 05, 2022

    We caught up with Cosmoverse co-founder and YouTuber Cryptocito, for a chat from this year's event in Medellin. We look back on the 2nd edition of the conference and how the ecosystem has grown since last year. We also dive into some of the announcements, notably, ATOM 2.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Cosmoverse in Medellin
    • Cryptocito's background and how Cosmoverse was born
    • Highlights from the conference
    • Mesh security systems
    • Cosmos community growth
    • Thoughts on Interchain Foundation (ICF)
    • ATOM 2.0

    Episode links:

    • Cosmoverse
    • Crytpocito's youtube
    • Cosmoverse on Twitter
    • Cryptocito on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/464


    Sebastian Bürgel: HOPR – The Peer to Peer Network Changing Data Privacy Sep 28, 2022

    HOPR is a decentralized and incentivized peer-to-peer mixnet open to anyone who wants to join and run a node. The network allows people, companies, and devices to exchange information online with its metadata stripped. People who communicate and transact using HOPR — or apps and services which run on top of the platform — can be sure that no-one can find out what data is being shared, who is sending or receiving it, or even how much data is being sent. HOPR gets its name from the fact that it provides metadata privacy by sending data packets through multiple nodes - or “hops” – in the network. Decentralization ensures that the network is fully independent and there is no entity that can control it or intercept the traffic.

    We were joined by HOPR founder Sebastian Bürgel, who chatted about the need for a platform such as this in the space, how it works by sending packets through nodes, the HOPR token, and The DecenGov DAO.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sebastian's background
    • An overview of HOPR
    • Mixnet vs onion routing
    • Who is the HOPR user?
    • How packets move through the network
    • The distribution requirements for HOPR nodes
    • The costs involved
    • The HOPR token
    • The DecenGov DAO
    • Why privacy systems in crypto have such a hard time finding traction

    Episode links:

    • HOPR
    • HOPR on Twitter
    • Sebastian on Twitter
    • Join the Epicenter team!

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/463


    Hyung Lee: Crescent Network – The Hybrid AMM/Orderbook Decentralized Exchange Sep 23, 2022

    Crescent is an AMM/Orderbook Hybrid Decentralized Exchange that allows trading inter-chain assets in a cost-efficient manner. Crescent is a sovereign Cosmos chain that was created after migrating the Gravity Dex from the Cosmos Hub. Crescent particularly focuses on efficient use of liquidity by giving powerful tools to market makers to use their capital and provide good prices for traders.

    We were joined by the founder of Crescent Network, Hyung Lee, to chat about his involvement in the Cosmos ecosystem, B Harvest, the Gravity DEX, and combining AMMs and orderbooks. We also hear about Crescent's roadmap and future role within the ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Hyung's background and how he got into crypto and the Cosmos ecosystem
    • Launching Crescent on its own chain
    • The vision for Crescent's role within the ecosystem
    • Liquidity formation for the project
    • Comparing AMM and orderbooks and the advantages/disadvantages of each
    • How AMM and orderbooks have been combined
    • The future of AMMs
    • Difference between a market maker and a liquidity provider
    • Cross chain dex aggregation
    • MEV and the interchain world

    Episode links:

    • The Crescent Ethos
    • Crescent Network
    • Crescent on Twitter
    • Hyung on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.
      https://omni.app/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/462


    Dappcon – Roundtable: The Ethereum Merge Sep 14, 2022

    In the countdown to the merge, Sebastien and Friederike teamed up with Eduardo Antuña, Co-founder of DappNode, at this year's Dappcon which is back after a 2 year hiatus. Hear as they chat about what the merge means for the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Update on Dappcon
    • The implications of the Tornado Cash sanctions in the wider crypto space
    • ZK bridging and the merge
    • The Gnosis ecosystem
    • The importance of privacy
    • The user experience in crypto and how its important for onboarding
    • POAP distribution

    Episode links:

    • Dappcon
    • The Merge
    • Dappcon on Twitter
    • Eduardo on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/461


    Ameen Soleimani: RAI – A Low Volatility Trust-Minimized Stablecoin Sep 07, 2022

    Decentralized stablecoins have long been regarded as a fundamental building block for the decentralized web. The first ground-breaking project in this area is Maker with their stablecoin DAI. Multiple ideas existed for how Maker should evolve and the path Maker chose was to add multiple types of collateral and rely on governance input to maintain stability. Over time, the vast majority of Maker's collateral came to be represented by USDC, a centralized stablecoin issued by regulated US institutions.

    Rai Reflex Index (RAI) decided to fork Maker and choose a path favoring trust-minimization over faster scaling. Unlike with Maker, only ETH is accepted as collateral and a different mechanism is used to maintain low volatility that doesn't rely on governance input. We were joined by Reflexer Labs' co-founder Ameen Soleimani to chat about the philosophical differences to Maker, the mechanisms used to ensure the stability of RAI, the threat of regulatory intervention for DAI and how we can create truly trust-minimized stablecoins to ensure the resilience and neutrality of DeFi.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ameen's background and the vision behind Reflexer
    • How RAI differs from Maker
    • The problem with DAI becoming multi-collateral and adding more governance control
    • RAI's stability mechanism
    • The function of the redemption price
    • Who holds RAI and how stable is it?
    • FLX governance
    • How decentralized stablecoins can scale

    Episode links:

    • Reflexer Labs
    • Reflexer on Twitter
    • Ameen on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/460


    Preethi Kasireddy: DappCamp – Becoming a Web3 Developer Sep 02, 2022

    DappCamp is a 21-day cohort-based course for Web2 developers making the shift to Web3. It offers hands-on experience on how to architect, develop, and scale a Web 3.0 app on Ethereum. Participants are given the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded peers to learn and build together, and also meet world-class founders who built some of the most successful apps on Ethereum to understand best practices and common pitfalls.

    Preethi Kasireddy, Founder of DappCamp, started her crypto journey while at a16z and later joined Coinbase as a software engineer. After teaching herself Ethereum Dapp development during the 2017 ICO boom she built smart contracts for various crypto projects and created TruStory where she and her team built a blockchain on Cosmos. She also writes a great blog which often see her posts go viral. Preethi joined us to chat about how her journey in crypto has evolved, her love of writing, learning and teaching, why she created DappCamp, and being a woman in the crypto space.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Preethi's background and how she got into crypto
    • Her early days with Coinbase and TruStory
    • Preethi's love of writing which led to her blog
    • DappCamp
    • What are the major struggles people face with learning web3 development?
    • Opportunities for DappCamp graduates
    • How DappCamp will evolve in the future
    • Being a woman in crypto
    • Keeping up to date with the crypto industry

    Episode links:

    • DappCamp
    • Preethi’s Blog
    • DappCamp Twitter
    • Preethi’s Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/459


    Peter Van Valkenburgh: Coin Center – The Sanction on Tornado Cash Aug 24, 2022

    On August 8, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash, citing allegations it helped North Korea's Lazarus hacker group launder millions of dollars worth of crypto proceeds stolen from various crypto projects over the past few years. Coin Center believe that OFAC has overstepped its legal authority by adding certain Tornado Cash smart contract addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons (SDN) List, potentially violating US Americans' constitutional rights to due process and free speech.

    Peter Van Valkenburgh, Director of Research at Coin Center, joined us for an in-depth look at how OFAC operates, why he believes this sanctioning represents an overreach, what's next for Tornado Cash, and what this means for the rest of the blockchain ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An overview of the Tornado Cash case
    • What is the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)?
    • How is it determined who gets on the OFAC list? What happens to you if you're on the list?
    • Does this only apply to US Americans?
    • How does one get removed from the list?
    • What did Tornado Cash do wrong, and what should they have done?
    • Is there an acceptable level of maliciousness within the system?
    • Comparison to PGP
    • Why Tornado Cash was targeted over other privacy enhancing tools
    • The reaction from the crypto ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • OFAC - The Office of Foreign Assets Control
    • Coin Center
    • Tornado Cash on Twitter
    • Coin Center on Twitter
    • Peter on Twitter
    • Join the Epicenter team!

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/458


    Ethan Frey: CosmWasm – The Smart Contracting Platform for Cosmos Aug 19, 2022

    CosmWasm is a smart contracting platform built for the Cosmos ecosystem. It's the Cosmos (Cosm) way of using WebAssembly (Wasm). CosmWasm is written as a module that can plug into the Cosmos SDK, meaning that anyone currently building a blockchain using the Cosmos SDK can quickly and easily add CosmWasm smart contracting support to their chain, without adjusting existing logic.

    We were joined by the project's founder, Ethan Frey, for a deep dive into what WebAssembly is and the benefits of its integration with Cosmos SDK, its interaction with IBC and use cases for other cross-chain apps, and the roadmap ahead.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ethan's background and how he got into crypto and in particular Cosmos
    • What Ethan worked on during his time at Tendermint
    • Why CosmWasm was created
    • What is WebAssembly and what are its advantages
    • How does WebAssembly compare with the EVM?
    • What are the pros and cons of developing Cosmos SDK modules vs building things in CosmWasm?
    • How CosmWasm interacts with the IBC module
    • The roadmap for CosmWasm
    • Potential use cases on cross-chain CosmWasm apps
    • The CosmWasm Academy

    Episode links:

    • CosmWasm
    • CosmWasm Academy
    • WYND DAO
    • CosmWasm on Twitter
    • Join the Epicenter team!

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/457


    Brett Scott: Cloudmoney – The Future of Cash Aug 12, 2022

    A cashless society - one where paper and coin currency is no longer used and instead replaced with electronic transactions. Many countries are already moving in this direction with benefits noted as including lower crime rates and reduced money laundering, and of course convenience. But going cashless does have its downsides.

    Brett Scott is the author of Cloudmoney, a revelatory story about the fusion of big finance and tech, which requires physical cash to be replaced by digital money or 'cloudmoney'. Diving beneath the surface of the global financial system, He uncovers a long-established lobbying infrastructure waging a covert war on cash, as banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress.

    He joins us to dive deeper into the thesis behind his book and to share his views on how cryptocurrency and blockchain fits into this.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Brett's background and how he got into the Fintech space
    • The central thesis of Cloudmoney
    • The meaning of 'not all money is created equally'
    • The arguments around Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
    • Privacy and the value of digital payment data
    • Central bank digital currency
    • Brett's views on the blockchain industry
    • IOU vs money as a commodity
    • Where to buy Brett's book

    Episode links:

    • Cloudmoney
    • Brett's newsletter
    • Brett on Twitter
    • Join Epicenter as our Community Manager

    Sponsors:

    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/456


    Stephane Gosselin & Vasiliy Shapovalov: MEV-Boost – Preparing for the Merge Aug 06, 2022

    Flashbots has pioneered the work around MEV which has become one of the most important topics in crypto today. MEV-Boost is an implementation of proposer-builder separation (PBS) built by Flashbots for proof of stake Ethereum. Validators running MEV-Boost maximize their staking reward by selling their blockspace to an open market while protecting Ethereum decentralization. It is estimated that validators running MEV-Boost can increase their staking rewards by over 60%. MEV-Boost is free, open-source, and neutral software.

    Lido has become the leading liquid staking solution on Ethereum with a huge amount of stake and has also taken on a key role in shaping the future of staking on Ethereum.

    We were joined by Stephane Gosselin, co-founder of Flashbots, to chat about MEV and the importance of MEV-Boost, how it works and it's impact on Ethereum. Also joining the chat is Vasiliy Shapovalov, Tech Lead at Lido, to share with us the significant impact MEV-Boost will have on Lido.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Stephane and Vasily introductions
    • What is MEV and why is it important?
    • MEV supply chain and the centralization risks with it
    • The significance of MEV for Lido
    • Lido MEV policy for node operators
    • The economics around MEV-Boost
    • Flashbot Protect - will this still exist in MEV-Boost?
    • Beyond Ethereum - what are the solution for cross-chain MEV
    • The impact of L2s and rollups on MEV and MEV-Boost
    • Timelines as we approach The Merge

    Episode links:

    • Flashbots
    • Lido
    • MEV-Boost in a nutshell
    • Why your blockchain needs an MEV solution - Hasu
    • Stephane on Twitter
    • Vasily on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/455


    Epicenter Hosts – Is the Ethereum Roadmap the Right Path for Eth Holders? Jul 29, 2022

    An interesting question that has sparked debate in the Twittersphere and amongst our hosts. Hear as Meher, Friederike and Brian discuss scaling visions currently in the ecosystem, with particular focus on Ethereum Layer 2s and whether or not this is a good path forward for holders of Eth.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Introduction to the hosts
    • Meher's opinions and recent twitter thread on Ethereum
    • How Layer 1s and Layer 2s work together
    • Smart contract sharding
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Solana
    • The Ethereum roadmap from here

    Episode links:

    • Meher's twitter thread
    • Epicenter - About Us
    • Brian on Twitter
    • Friederike on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/454


    Bettina Boon Falleur, Griff Green & Jerome de Tychey: EthCC 5 – A Recap of This Year's Event Jul 22, 2022

    EthCC is over for another year and what a week it was! 6 stages, 2,000 attendees, over 200 speakers, 40 hours of talks and content, 40 sponsors, and 130 side events (and parties) all over Paris. The Ethereum France team pulled it off again with the fifth edition of the Ethereum Community Conference bringing the community together in the city of love.

    Keeping with tradition we did an EthCC recap panel and were joined by Ethereum France President Jerome de Tychey, EthCC Project Manager Bettina Boon Falleur, and Founder of Giveth Griff Green. We talk about the standout moments of this year's event, how the conference has grown over the years, NFT tickets, the European Ethereum community, and the future of EthCC.

    Episode links:

    • EthCC 5
    • Ethereum France
    • Giveth

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/453


    Mona El Isa: Enzyme – The Future of Asset Management Jul 14, 2022

    Enzyme Finance, previously named Melon, is a decentralized protocol built on Ethereum (ETH) that allows users to create, manage and invest in custom crypto asset management vehicles onchain. Using Enzyme Smart Vaults, individuals and communities can build, scale and monetize investment strategies that employ the newest innovations in decentralized finance. Enzyme enables Depositors to interact with Vaults in a way that is non-custodial and requires minimal trust between parties. Vault Managers can be bound to performing certain actions or forbidden from others.

    We were joined by Mona El Isa, CEO & founder at Avantgarde Finance and Enzyme Finance, for the second time after her first appearance 5 years ago. We chat about the transition from Melon to Enzyme and the current state of the protocol, how vaults work on the platform, decentralized governance and how to survive a bear market.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The transition from Melon to Enzyme
    • Has the vision for Enzyme changed?
    • How does the protocol work?
    • Choosing your vault and redeemability
    • Who are Enzyme users?
    • Becoming a vault manager and sharing your vault
    • 24/7 reporting
    • The MLN token
    • Governance - Enzyme’s path to decentralization

    Episode links:

    • Episode 158 - The Polkadot Protocol – One Blockchain to Connect Them All
    • Enzyme
    • Enzyme on Twitter
    • Mona on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/452


    Tim Beiko: Ethereum Foundation – The Ethereum Merge Jul 08, 2022

    The hotly anticipated Ethereum merge due later this year, will see the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH. This is a truly exciting step in the Ethereum vision of more scalability, security, and sustainability.

    Tim Beiko, Protocol Support for the Ethereum Foundation, is heavily involved in the project. He joined us to give some deep insights into governance within Ethereum, a full update on how the merge is coming along and the next steps, and how Ethereum will look post-merge.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tim's background and how he got involved in the space
    • Unpacking governance on Ethereum
    • The Ethereum client ecosystem
    • The current state of Ethereum's testnet landscape
    • The Merge: what is it, and where do we stand?
    • What is coming next in the lead up to the merge and how is success measured?
    • How did the very recent Sepolia test go?
    • Scaling - what will the ecosystem look like post-merge?
    • The Ethereum roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Nebular Summit
    • Ethereum Foundation
    • The Merge
    • Ethereum on Twitter
    • Tim on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Joseph Schweitzer. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/451


    Josh Lehman: Urbit – The Peer-to-Peer Network Re-Decentralizing the Internet Jun 29, 2022

    Urbit is an exciting new operating system and peer-to-peer network that’s simple by design, built to last forever, and 100% owned by its users. Under the hood it's a from-scratch software stack compact enough that individual developers can understand and control it completely. Urbit deconstructs the client-server model in favor of a federated network of personal servers with built-in, cryptographically-owned identity, each of which is capable of distributing and running their own applications that communicate over the Urbit network.

    We were joined by the Executive Director of the Urbit Foundation, Josh Lehman, who explained in depth how the Urbit ecosystem was built and now runs, the advantages of the network from user and developer perspectives, the bridge with crypto, and how the roadmap for the kernel is looking going forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Josh's background and how he became involved with Urbit
    • An overview of Urbit and the current state of the system
    • What’s changed about Urbit over the last three years
    • Urbit's address space consisting of galaxies, stars and planets
    • What Urbit applications are and how they differ from iphone applications or a dApps
    • The advantages of the Urbit user and developer experiences
    • The connection between Urbit and crypto
    • The projects currently being built on Urbit - Holium, Uqbar, Tirrel
    • What the roadmap for the underlying Urbit kernel looks like
    • How you can get involved

    Episode links:

    • Episode 205 - A Digital Republic Reinventing the Internet
    • Urbit
    • Urbit Grants
    • Urbit on Twitter
    • Josh on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -
    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/450


    Jamal Raees & Yanni Giannaros: Wyre – Using Blockchain for Cross-Border Payments Jun 23, 2022

    Wyre is a leading fiat-to-cryptocurrency and payment infrastructure company for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. In blockchain time, Wyre has been around forever -- it was founded in 2013. Wyre leverages blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments, bridging the gap between traditional payment processing and digital assets. Focusing on developers, the company provides easy-to-integrate APIs which enable thousands of developers to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. The company has “on-ramped” over 15 million end users to their partners and has processed over $10B in payments since inception.

    We were joined by Co-founder and CEO Yanni Giannaros, and Director of Crypto Strategy Jamal Raees, to chat about payments applications in general and in web3, how Wyre works on a technical and business level including regulatory constraints, their recent acquisition by Bolt, and the roadmap for the platform.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The history of Wyre and the changes they have seen in the space over the past 10 years
    • Yanni and Jamal's backgrounds and how they met
    • A technical overview of Wyre
    • The challenges of running an onramp
    • Bolt's recent acquisition of Wyre
    • Payments applications in web 3 - what works and what doesn't
    • The Wyre business model and fees
    • The jurisdictional restrictions for using Wyre and Yanni and Jamal's thoughts on the current regulatory environment
    • The future of crypto interfaces
    • The Wyre roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Wyre
    • Wyre on Twitter
    • Yanni on Twitter
    • Jamal on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/449


    Ed Felten: Arbitrum – The Layer 2 Scaling Solution Increasing Speed and Reducing Fees Jun 17, 2022

    Arbitrum is a Layer 2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain which helps reduce high transaction gas fees. Arbitrum uses a multi-round optimistic rollup that regularly checks in with Ethereum’s main chain.

    OG cypherpunk and ex deputy CTO of the USA, Ed Felten, is one of the creators of Arbitrum. He joined us for an in depth chat about how transactions are processed on the protocol, who validates them, what the security guarantees are, and how the economics will work in the longer term.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ed's background (including his time as deputy CTO of the USA!) and what led him to creating Arbitrum
    • A walk back to pre-blockchain crypto
    • Why Arbitrum chose to build on top of Ethereum
    • What are roll-ups and what's the user experience with them on Arbitrum?
    • A deep dive into how transactions work on Arbitrum
    • How nodes work on the platform
    • Transaction fees on Arbitrum
    • How is Arbitrum designed differently to Optimism?
    • Arbitrum and bridges to ETH and other assets
    • How will different scaling solutions co-exist in the future?

    Episode links:

    • Arbitrum
    • Arbitrum on Twitter
    • Ed on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/448


    Arjun Bhuptani: Connext – Speeding Up Secure Bridges Between Chains Jun 09, 2022

    Connext is a crosschain liquidity network that speeds up fully-noncustodial transfers between EVM-compatible crosschains (xapps) and L2 systems. Connext works in tandem with nomad bridge technology, enabling fast transfer of value between blockchains and interchain DeFi protocols. Their goal is to create a world where users never need to know what chain or rollup they're on, and developers can build applications that utilize resources from many chains/rollups simultaneously.

    We were joined by Connext founder Arjun Bhuptani to chat about bridge technology in general, Connext's pivot from state channels to bridges, their recent partnership with Nomad, and what is coming next.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Arjun's background and how he got into the space
    • Arjun's involvement with the Moloch DAO
    • What is Connext?
    • The history of interoperability
    • Connext and the bridges they utilize
    • Connext's partnership with Nomad
    • Bridge hacks
    • Finality and rollbacks - dealing with reorgs and probabilistic finality
    • What is Connext's capital efficiency model

    Episode links:

    • Connext
    • Nomad
    • Connext / Nomad partnership
    • Connext on Twitter
    • Arjun on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/447


    Dan Finlay: MetaMask – The ETH Based Wallet for Swaps and dApps Jun 02, 2022

    MetaMask is the de-facto standard self-custodial wallet for Ethereum. It started off as a web browser extension on chromium. More recently, it also launched a mobile app. MetaMask allows you to interact with decentralized applications (dapps) natively.

    We were joined by Dan Finlay, Founder & Group Manager at MetaMask, to chat about the motivation for building MetaMask, the security of the platform, decentralization, the future of seed phrases and much more!

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dan's background and how he got into the space
    • The journey of creating MetaMask Consensys
    • Why this was built as a browser extension
    • MetaMask mobile: What’s the scope? How do people use it?
    • Number of MetaMask accounts, funds stored in MetaMask wallets and some use cases
    • Security on the platform
    • The future of seed phrases
    • How thinking has shifted from smart wallers to EoA's with enhanced capabilities
    • What is MetaMask Snaps?
    • When will we see the MetaMask token?

    Episode links:

    • MetaMask
    • Forum
    • Twitter
    • Dan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap
    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/446"


    Nick Johnson: ENS – An Update on the Global Naming System for Ethereum May 25, 2022

    The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) allows users to register .eth domain names, which can be used natively in some browsers and all Ethereum wallets. It provides a solution to long crypto addresses with a human-friendly format, analogous to DNS domain names that point to IP addresses. There are now 1.1 million registered domains on ENS.

    Nick Johnson, Lead Developer of ENS, was last on the show 5 years ago when ENS had just been created. We had him back on to give us an update on how the project had evolved and to chat about the kinds of content ENS domains point to, the ENS token airdrop, the governance of the platform, and the road ahead, particularly with respect to scaling solutions and spiralling Ethereum gas costs.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What is Domain Name Service (DNS)?
    • How do you register a top level domain?
    • The relevance of ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)
    • The kinds of content ENS domains point to and some use cases
    • The fees associated with .eth domains
    • The ENS token airdrop
    • Governance - how the process of using delegates worked
    • The kinds of decisions delegates have made so far
    • Trading ENS tokens
    • Nick's views on the major challenges facing the ethereum ecosystem today

    Episode links:

    • Episode 183 - ENS – A Global Naming System for Ethereum
    • ICANN
    • ENS
    • ENS Governance
    • ENS on Twitter
    • Nick on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/445


    Stani Kulechov: Aave – 3.0 May 18, 2022

    Aave is an open-source moneymarket protocol. An Ethereum native, it's deployed on Avalanche and Polygon, with more than $1 billion deposited on each. V3 is now live on seven different blockchains, including Fantom, Arbitrum, Optimism and Harmony. Aave, which has a decentralized governance system, collects about $50 million in revenue per year to its treasury through its various activities, which makes it self-sustainable.

    Two years after his last visit to the show and after the recent Aave 3.0 release, we had Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, back on to chat about governance within the DeFi space, his new project Lens Protocol, and the road ahead for not only his projects, but also the ecosystem as a whole.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • In view of the situation this week with Terra and UST, we hear Stani's take on stable coins and stable coin mechanisms and how this has evolved over time
    • New collateral - how a collapse of an asset can affect lending markets
    • Governance within Aave and DeFi protocols in general
    • How interoperability looks for a lending protocol
    • Stani's new project LensProtocol - the composable and decentralized social graph
    • Why have other decentralized social networks not managed to take off?
    • Stani's recent ban from Twitter #freestani
    • The roadmap for both Aave and Lens over the next 2 years
    • What is coming next for the ecosystem?

    Episode links:

    • Aave
    • Lens Protocol
    • Aave on Twitter
    • Lens on Twitter
    • Stani on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -
    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap
    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/444


    Chun Wang: stakefish – From Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake May 13, 2022

    Chun Wang started mining Bitcoin in 2011 and later created F2Pool, one of the leading Proof-of-Work mining pools. Despite his deep involvement in Proof-of-Work, Chun also recognized the transformative impact of Proof-of-Stake and started stakefish. stakefish has become one of the leading staking provider.

    Chun joined us to talk about his journey and reflections on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Proof-of-Stake. We also dove into the topic of humans becoming a multi-planetary species and whether Bitcoin's consensus could be modified to allow mining on different planets.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Chun's background and how he got into crypto
    • Why he created the mining pool F2Pool
    • The biggest differences between running validators like stakefish vs a mining pool like F2Pool
    • What led him to build stakefish
    • Chun's views on Ethereum
    • Why Bitcoin is more decentralized than Ethereum
    • The future of Proof-of-Stake
    • Stakefish's Ethereum staking product
    • Chun's thoughts of MEV and how will stakefish deal with it in the future
    • Making Bitcoin multiplanetary

    Episode links:

    • stakefish
    • F2Pool
    • stakefish on Twitter
    • Chun on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/443


    Florian Glatz: The European Crypto Initiative – Why Europe Needs a Regulatory Shift to Avoid Crypto Irrelevance May 08, 2022

    Florian Glatz, blockchain.lawyer, is one of the most knowledgeable OG's at the intersection of crypto and law. He was last on the show 6 years ago when we talked in great detail about smart contracts and the DAO. We welcomed him back to discuss the regulatory environment, with a focus on Europe. We covered key topics like the recently floated Proof of Work ban, Travel of Funds Regulation (TFR), and Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation. We also discussed the European Crypto Initiative, a new lobby organization that Florian co-founded, which is advocating for crypto-friendly regulation on a European level.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What Florian got wrong about DAOs when he was on the show in 2016
    • The story of the Geman blockchain association Bundesblock that Florian co-founded and was president of
    • The European Crypto Initiative - Why a European-level organization is needed
    • The most important regulatory questions facing crypto today
    • Why crypto taxation is a particularly challenging issue
    • How will competition between different nation states play out?
    • Whether we will see the rise of new nation states or digital nations

    Episode links:

    • Episode 125 - Defining a Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO)
    • The Sovereign individual
    • blockchain.lawyer
    • Florian on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/422


    Kyle Samani & Tushar Jain: Multicoin Capital – An Update From the Thesis-Driven Investment Firm Apr 29, 2022

    Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm that invests in the crypto space. They manage a hedge fund and a venture fund, investing across both public and private markets. Since their founding in 2017, they have become known for their high returns.

    We were joined by founders Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain, for Multicoin's third visit on the show, to chat about how they came together to form Multicoin, their current investment thesis and how it has evolved, and the road ahead in the blockchain ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tushar and Kyle's backgrounds and what led to Multicoin
    • Why did they choose to create an investing company?
    • Their current investment thesis and how it has evolved
    • Multicoin's decision to not invest in certain lucrative projects
    • How they chose what to invest in
    • The Proof of Physical Work thesis
    • The process of how they select an investment and the strategy behind their portfolio
    • Projects they regret not investing in
    • A prediction of how the blockchain ecosystem will look in three years
    • Dominance of DeFi

    Episode links:

    • Episode 361 with Kyle
    • Episode 223 with Kyle and Tushar
    • Protocols dont capture value, DAOs manage risk - thesis
    • Multicoin on Twitter
    • Kyle on Twitter
    • Tushar on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/441


    Gregory Landua: Regen Network – The Blockchain for Planetary Regeneration Apr 22, 2022

    Regen Network is a blockchain focused on ecological regeneration and reversing climate change. Their aim is to reinvent the economics of agriculture so that farmers are seen not only as food producers, but also as land stewards. Regen Network serve as the foundation on which which other projects and protocols may build upon and harness to execute their own climate-focused business models. Using a distributed ledger and modern remote sensing technology, the Regen team are creating new tools allowing humanity to reconnect with the environment.

    We were joined by CEO & Co-founder of Regen, Gregory Landua, to chat about what has motivated him to create Regen. We took a deep dive into how Regen Network works and especially discussed carbon credits and the Nature Carbon Ton (NCT), a novel carbon credit token they are launching.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Gregory's background and what motivated him to create Regen
    • Why he chose to build Regen on Cosmos
    • What are carbon credits and how is their impact measured?
    • How the Nature Carbon Ton (NCT) token works and what is the vision for how it evolves
    • The 2 modules Regen have built on Cosmos SDK - Ecocredits and Data
    • Regen 4.0 - what is coming next?

    Episode links:

    • Regen website
    • Regen on Medium
    • Regen on Twitter
    • Gregory on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/440


    Felix Lutsch: Chorus One – On Proof-of-Stake, Interoperability & Crypto Markets Apr 15, 2022

    Brian was joined by Felix Lutsch, CCO of Chorus One, for a discussion of what is going on in crypto today. The discussion included the evolving Proof-of-Stake landscape, the role of and trends around liquid staking and interoperability. They also discussed the crypto markets and the possible impact of a changing macro environment with increasing inflation.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Felix's background and how he got into crypto
    • How the staking landscape is evolving
    • The increasing complexity within the staking industry and the impact this will bring, including compliance and MEV
    • Liquid staking - where it is today and where it is headed
    • Interoperability - IBC adoption, Terra, composability
    • Crypto markets - inflation and predicting the future

    Episode links:

    • Chorus One
    • Chorus One on Twitter
    • Felix on Twitter
    • The Q-Trap by Arthur Hayes

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/439


    Adrian Brink & Christopher Goes: Anoma – The Blockchain 'Undefining Money' Apr 06, 2022

    Anoma is a set of protocols that puts privacy front and center. It aims to facilitate “Self-Sovereign Communities” by providing tools that grant increased control to individuals and communities governing their day-to-day interactions and activities.

    We were joined by co-founders Adrian Brink and Christopher Goes, to help unravel the complex offering that is the Anoma Network. Hear as we chat about why they created Anoma, some use cases to explain how it works, and the roadmap going forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What led Adrian and Christopher to starting their own PoS blockchain
    • What 'undefining money' actually means
    • How Anoma works
    • The Namada blockchain
    • Multi asset shielded pools - why aren't they used more often?
    • A deep dive into the technical components of Anoma
    • The relationship between Anoma and Namada
    • Thoughts on FATF and recent moves to make sending KYC information with transactions mandatory
    • Timelines for upcoming launches

    Episode links:

    • Anoma
    • Discord
    • Anoma on Twitter
    • Adrian on Twitter
    • Christopher on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/438


    Federico Kunze Küllmer: Evmos – The Ethereum Virtual Machine on Cosmos Mar 30, 2022

    Leveraging the Cosmos SDK, Evmos is the first IBC-compatible EVM-based blockchain, bringing composability, interoperability, and fast finality to Ethereum. While much of the Cosmos ecosystem has embraced CosmWasm to deploy smart contracts, Evmos brings EVM capabilities to the Interchain and allows developers to write contracts in Solidity, the most widely used language in crypto.

    While the Evmos launch was halted in early March due to a critical vulnerability and a failed chain upgrade, the project is highly anticipated by the Cosmos community as it promises to bring speed, scale, and interoperability to Ethereum. This week, Sebastien was joined by the co-founder of Evmos, Federico Kunze Küllmer, to chat about the innovation that Evmos is bringing to the EVM ecosystem and the long-term vision for the project.

    This episode is an excerpt of an extended interview with Federico released on The Interop, a new podcast hosted by Sebastien Couture. To hear the full interview and subscribe to The Interop, check the episode links.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Fede's background and how he got into crypto
    • The early days at Tendermint and contributing to Ether Mint
    • The delayed launch of the Evmos upgrade and how that has affected the project
    • What innovation does Evmos bring to the EVM now and in the future
    • Evmos' interoperability with other chains
    • Bridges and the issue asset fungibility
    • How sovereign chains will interact with smart contracts or addresses on Evmos
    • What DeFi applications will be launched on Evmos
    • Standout features of the token model
    • Is fragmentation on the Interchain a good approach?

    Episode links:

    • Hear the full interview on The Interop podcast
    • Evmos
    • Evmos on Twitter
    • Federico on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/437


    Laura Shin: The Cryptopians – Uncovering the Secrets of Early Ethereum Mar 23, 2022

    After more than three years in the making, Laura Shin has just released her first book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze. In it she dives into the history of Ethereum and the 2017 ICO craze by telling the tale of the early tensions and power struggle that defined Ethereum's founding. It gives the inside story of The DAO, and depicts 2017's global initial coin offering tidal wave that boosted prices and fortunes.

    Laura Shin, former Forbes journalist, podcast host, and now author, joined us for a fascinating chat about the research that went into the book (including the 200+ interviews), revealing the infamous Ethereum hacker, and how the book has been received and her future plans for another.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Laura's background and how she got into crypto
    • Why did Laura choose to write this book?
    • Researching for the book and the people she interviewed
    • Laura's takeaways about the Ethereum founders
    • The reveal of the hacker and the reactions from those close to them
    • The Ethereum 'Shadow Government'
    • The importance of Vitalik to Ethereum today and where he might be headed next
    • Where are the other co-founders of Ethereum now?
    • What's next for Laura?

    Episode links:

    • Buy the book
    • Laura Shin
    • The Unchained Podcast
    • Laura on Medium
    • Laura on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/436


    Alex Blania: Worldcoin – The Eye Catching Crypto Coin Mar 16, 2022

    Worldcoin is a start-up trying to engineer widespread adoption for its cryptocurrency by giving away tokens. Sound too good to be true? Depends how you look at it (literally). Participants must be willing to have their eyes scanned on registration by a proprietary iris scanner dubbed 'orb'. Worldcoin says the scan is necessary to prove that users are human and to verify they only register once. The start-up has attracted big investors but it has also raised concerns among an increasingly privacy-conscious public with some labeling it a MLM.

    We were joined by co-founder and CEO, Alex Blania, who explained the idea behind Worldcoin and the aspect of UBI, the current number of orbs in circulation and users, and he addresses the criticisms they have faced so far. Worldcoin is due to launch later this year.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alex's background and how he got into crypto
    • The idea behind Worldcoin and the aspect of UBI
    • How does the orb work?
    • How they have reacted to some of the criticism regarding privacy and onboarding
    • A deep dive into how the protocol works
    • The incentive mechanism with Worldcoin
    • An overview of Worldcoin users
    • The corporate structure of Worldcoin
    • Regulatory issues

    Episode links:

    • Worldcoin
    • Worldcoin on Twitter
    • Alex on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/435


    Amir Haleem: Helium – The People's Wireless Network Mar 09, 2022

    Helium is a global, distributed network of long-range wireless coverage hotspots for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, powered by the Helium blockchain. Community run hotspots create 'The People’s Network' and they are rewarded with $HNT, the native cryptocurrency of the network, through the Proof-of-Coverage mechanism. Helium has managed to build the largest P2P network with over 600,000 hotspots and is now starting to deploy other networks like a 5g cellular network.

    We were joined by Founder and CEO of Helium, Amir Haleem, to chat about how Helium works and the most interesting use cases, how the Proof-of-Coverage mechanism allows the community to participate, and the road ahead for the network.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What is a wireless network and what makes them so interesting
    • The objective of Helium
    • The use cases Amir is most interested in
    • How cellular networks are utilized
    • Helium and censorship resistance
    • The architecture of the Helium Network
    • Proof-of-coverage
    • The HNT and Data Credit tokens
    • The possibility of Helium becoming interoperable and hosting smart contracts
    • The biggest challenges in Helium's future

    Episode links:

    • Helium
    • Helium on Twitter
    • Amir on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/434


    Sergey Gorbunov: Axelar – The Blockchain Interoperability Network Mar 04, 2022

    Axelar is a highly scalable, decentralized blockchain that aims to connect all existing blockchains. The proof of stake network, built on the Cosmos-SDK, allows application developers to choose the best blockchain to deploy their applications and use Axelar’s cross-chain communication protocols to lock, unlock, and transfer assets between networks, as well as communicate with applications on other blockchains.

    Co-founder and CEO of Axelar, Sergey Gorbunov joined us to chat about his experience working on Algorand, the importance and future of interoperabilty protocols, and the vision behind Axelar.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sergey's background and how he got into crypto
    • The lessons he learnt from his time at Algorand
    • Why and how Axelar was built
    • The future of interoperabilty protocols
    • What are security challenges around interoperability
    • Interoperability use cases beyond token transfers
    • Atomic transactions with Alexar
    • The road ahead for Axelar

    Episode links:

    • Axelar Site
    • Axelar Discord
    • Axelar on Twitter
    • Sergey on Twitter
    • Nonconventional Podcast by Ela Crain

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/433


    Gabriel Shipton & Stellar Magnet: AssangeDAO – The NFT Funding the Julian Assange Case Feb 23, 2022

    It's been just short of 2 years since we had Julian Assange's father John, and Harry Halpin, on the show to chat about his imprisonment and the impact it could have on the crypto community. At that time it was unknown if/when Julian would be extradited to the US to face trial. On December 10 2021, the US government won its appeal of a British court ruling that barred Assange’s extradition to the US. On the very same day the AssangeDAO was born and now has a thriving community of 10k people behind it.

    The DAO raised over $50 million and the funds were used to bid on an NFT, Clock, which is part of a collection between Assange and digital artist Pak. The bid was successful and proceeds from the sale of the Clock NFT will go to support Assange’s legal defence fund and awareness campaign about the free speech implications of his case.

    We were joined by Julian's brother Gabriel, and Stellar Magnet, core contributors of the AssangeDAO. We spoke about Julian's case as it currently stands, how the DAO was born and why they chose to purchase the NFT, and the road ahead.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Julian Assange and his imprisonment from his involvement with Wikileaks
    • The Assange DAO and why an NFT was purchased with the funds raised
    • What are the next step options that the DAO is considering?
    • Where to learn more about the Assange DAO
    • How to contribute

    Episode links:

    • Episode 339 - What Julian Assange Represents to the Crypto Movement
    • AssangeDAO site
    • US based site
    • UK based site
    • AssangeDAO on Twitter
    • Gabriel on Twitter
    • Stellar on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/432


    Alex Skidanov & Illia Polosukhin: NEAR Protocol – Scaling Blockchain to a Billion Users Feb 19, 2022

    NEAR Protocol is a leading smart contract platform that aims for simplicity, security and scalability. NEAR was one of the first sharded blockchains and allows deploying smart contracts using Web Assembly on currently four different shards. NEAR's sharding design, Nightshade, splits the blocks into different segments, which allows for great scalability without negatively impacting user and developer experience. Since, its launch NEAR has evolved into one of the most active smart contract ecosystems.

    Illia and Alex, co-founders of NEAR, joined us to chat about the NEAR's protocol design and recent advances, such as the launch of Aurora, NEAR's EVM shard. We also discussed how their sharding solution works and how it can scale to support a massive amount of users and applications.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Why Illia and Alex decided to build NEAR
    • NEAR's core idea to scale through sharding
    • NEAR’s Nightshade sharding design
    • Dealing with interactions between programmes
    • How cross-shard interoperability works
    • Aurora - the EVM shard
    • NEAR's focus on user experience
    • Pagoda - the first web3 startup platform
    • The biggest challenges ahead

    Episode links:

    • NEAR Protocol
    • Aurora
    • NEAR on Twitter
    • Alex on Twitter
    • Illia on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/431


    Kevin Owocki: Gitcoin – Building and Funding the Open Web Feb 09, 2022

    Gitcoin is a platform which funds software developers for work in open source ecosystems. Open source creates value without capturing it: Gitcoin creates funding mechanism to correct the asymmetry between value created and value captured. So far they have raised $51million, which were then distributed to public goods projects.

    We were joined, for the second time, by Gitcoin's founder Kevin Owocki. Hear as we chat about quadratic and public good funding, the Internet of Jobs, and Kevin's book, Greenpilled - Regenerative CryptoEcononmics, which is out soon!

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An update on what's happened since Kevin was last on the show
    • High level funding stats and measuring the success of Gitcoin
    • Quadratic funding - why and how?
    • Public good funding
    • Impact DAOs and Regenerative CryptoEconomics
    • Gitcoin's transformation to a DAO
    • The Internet of Jobs (IoJ) - advantages and disadvantages
    • Greenpilled - Kevin's book

    Episode links:

    • Episode 257 - Gitcoin – Aligning Incentives in Open-Source Development
    • Gitcoin results
    • Greenpilled - Regenerative CryptoEconomics - book coming soon
    • Take the Green Pill
    • Gitcoin on Twitter
    • Kevin on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/430


    Dean Tribble: Agoric – The Secure JavaScript Smart Contracts Platform Feb 03, 2022

    Agoric is an Proof-of-Stake blockchain built on the Cosmos-SDK that allows developers to create secure smart contracts written in JavaScript. It offers developers safe, reusable DeFi components and built-in economic primitives like a stablecoin, while connecting to the larger blockchain ecosystem via IBC.

    Besides covering the Agoric platform, we dove into the long prehistory with Agoric CEO Dean Tribble. Dean and his co-founders have been working on smart contracts and secure computing for decades, long before cryptocurrencies were invented, and a lot of that work shaped the Agoric platform today. We talked about underlying design principles like the Object Capability Security Model, but also the tradeoffs between Ethereum's model of scaling on a single chain versus the Cosmos model of sovereign chains interoperating asynchronously.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dean's background and how he got into crypto
    • Smart contracts in pre-blockchain times
    • Why was Agoric created?
    • The Object Capability Security Model
    • Why they chose to build on the Cosmos SDK and the problems that solves
    • IBC transfers
    • How much can Agoric scale?
    • What's coming next for Agoric

    Episode links:

    • Episode 286 - Agoric and the Decades-Long Quest for Secure Smart Contracts
    • Agoric website
    • Agoric on Twitter
    • Dean on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/429


    Zeus: Olympus DAO – The Decentralized Reserve Currency Jan 25, 2022

    Olympus is a hotly debated project in the DeFi space. It posits to be a decentralized reserve currency protocol. Each OHM token is partially backed by the Olympus treasury, but how large the treasury is, depends on what is counted towards it. We would argue that OHM tokens should be discounted for this purpose. Users can interact with Olympus DAO through staking and bonding, which incentivizes users to deposit or sell their collateral to the Olympus treasury in return for discounted OHM tokens.

    We were joined by Olympus Founder Zeus to chat about why the protocol was created and how it works, and we address the debate about it being a Ponzi scheme.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Zeus' background and how he got into crypto
    • Why and how the OHM was created
    • Bonding and staking within the protocol
    • APY on Olympus DAO
    • How Olympus would deal with a DAO run
    • Is Olympus a Ponzi?
    • The goals for Olympus this year

    Episode links:

    • Olymus DAO website
    • Olympus Discord
    • Olympus on Twitter
    • Zeus on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Zubin Koticha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/428


    Auryn Macmillan & Kei Kreutler: Zodiac – The Expansion Pack for DAOs Jan 20, 2022

    Zodiac is a collection of tools built according to an open standard which proposes a composable design philosophy for DAOs. Built by the Gnosis Guild team, this extension pack for DAOs enables connection between platforms, protocols, and chains, no longer confined to monolithic designs. It not only changes access, but bridges chains, organizations, and networks through DAO-to-DAO (D2D) collaboration mechanisms.

    We were joined by Kei Kreuther and Auryn Macmillan, founders of Gnosis Guild, a core contributor to the Zodiac platform. Hear as we chat about the rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, the Zodiac Toolset and how it works, and the future of DAOs in not only the blockchain space but also in the real economy.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Kei and Auryn's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • Where DAOs came from and the arc of their evolution
    • The overlap between DAOs and cooperatives
    • Unraveling the abundance of DAO tools
    • The components and modules of the Zodiac Toolset
    • The types of legacy organizations or governance structures that are most ripe to transition into DAOs
    • The future of DAOs and their place within the real economy

    Episode links:

    • A prehistory of DAOs
    • Ep 33 - Reality Keys – A Certificate Authority for Facts
    • What DAOs and Cooperatives can learn from each other
    • Fostering Worker Cooperatives with Blockchain Technology: Lessons from the Colony Project
    • Gnosis Guild Blog
    • Zodiac
    • Gnosis Guild Discord
    • Gnosis Guild on Twitter
    • Kei on Twitter
    • Auryn on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/427


    Harry Halpin & Jaya Klara Brekke: Nym – The Next Generation of Global Privacy Jan 14, 2022

    The current lack of privacy on the internet exposes billions of people to mass surveillance and data breaches, undermining trust in digital services and stifling innovation. Nym is a mixnet and develops the infrastructure to prevent this data leakage by protecting every packet’s metadata at the network and application layers.

    We were joined by Nym's CEO & Founder Harry Halpin, and CSO Jaya Klara Brekke, to chat about the threat mass surveillance has on society, what Nym sets out to do and take a deep dive into the architecture of the protocol.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Harry and Jaya's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • Harry's personal experience with surveillance
    • Mass surveillance on the internet
    • The rationale behind the cypherpunk manifesto “transparency for the powerful, privacy for the rest of us”
    • The 'general public's' attitude towards privacy
    • The Nym infrastructure, purpose and benefits
    • How Nym works with other applications
    • How does incentivization work
    • Harry's relationship with Julian Assange

    Episode links:

    • “Privacy for end users, transparency for the infrastructure” blog post
    • Ep 339 - What Julian Assange Represents to the Crypto Movement
    • Nym website
    • Main Telegram
    • Node Setup Help Chat
    • GitHub
    • Documentation
    • YouTube
    • Harry on Twitter
    • Jaya on Twitter
    • Nym on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/426


    Guy Zyskind: Secret Network – Bringing Privacy to Blockchain Jan 09, 2022

    Formerly Enigma, Secret Network is a blockchain-based, open-source protocol built using the Cosmos SDK. It uses Trusted Execution Environments on nodes to marry privacy-by-default with smart contracts.

    We welcomed Guy Zyskind, Founder & CEO of Secret Network, back on the show to chat about the progression of the project into the new protocol and why this is now built on Cosmos, advantages and drawbacks in using Trusted Execution Environments and SGX technology over cryptography only, and why people might want to keep NFTs private.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Guy's background and how he got into crypto
    • How Enigma/Secret Network evolved
    • Why the Switch to Cosmos?
    • Trusted Execution Environment and SGX
    • The levels of privacy within the network
    • Why CosmWasm?
    • The future of SGX computation
    • Secret contracts interacting with other IBC enabled chains
    • The types of applications running on Secret today
    • NFTs on Secret

    Episode links:

    • Episode 246 - Enigma
    • Secret Network
    • Discord
    • Secret Network on Twitter
    • Guy on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/425


    Amir Taaki, Ivan Jelincic & Rose O'Leary: DarkFi – Let There Be Dark (Part 2 of 2) Dec 29, 2021

    The DarkFi squad return for the second part of this 2 part episode. We chat about the FreeAssange DAO, totalitarianism in crypto, and hear about Amir's early involvement in many projects including Bitcoin, DarkMarket (OpenBazaar) and even Ethereum. Diving a bit more technical, we also cover the DarkFi platform, a new blockchain that prioritizes privacy. As a base layer for anonymous applications and smart contracts, it's a multichain interoperable, and open source product that anyone can build any type of applications on utilizing zero-knowledge proof.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The Free Assange DAO
    • Is transparency ever a good thing?
    • DarkMarket
    • Totalitarianism in crypto
    • Amir shares his views on Ethereum
    • Solarpunk

    Episode links:

    • Dark.Fi
    • DarkFi manifesto
    • DarkFi Element channel
    • DarkFi on Twitter
    • Amir on Twitter
    • Rose on Twitter
    • Ivan on Twitter
    • The Dark Forest

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe
    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/424


    Amir Taaki, Ivan Jelincic & Rachel-Rose O'Leary: DarkFi – Let There Be Dark (Part 1 of 2) Dec 23, 2021

    DarkFi is a new DeFi platform that prioritizes privacy. As a base layer for anonymous applications and smart contracts, it's a multichain interoperable, and open source product that anyone can build any type of application on utilising zero knowledge proof. The goal is to create a universe that anyone can access irrespective of their nationality or political beliefs.

    Amir Taaki, Rachel-Rose O'Leary and Ivan Jelincic, the members of the squad, joined us to chat about the importance of darkness and privacy within crypto utilizing zero knowledge proof technology. This is a 2-part series and in the next episode we explore AMMs, and the Free Assange DAO

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An introduction to the DarkFi team and how they got into crypto
    • Darkness and why it's important
    • The crisis of civilization in the West
    • Crypto anarchy
    • The connection between crypto and moral fiber
    • The problems within crypto DarkFi is aiming to solve and how they are doing it

    Episode links:

    • DarkFi Element channel
    • DarkFi on Twitter
    • Amir on Twitter
    • Rose on Twitter
    • Ivan on Twitter
    • The Dark Forest
    • The Sovereign Individual
    • Secular Cycles

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/423


    Joey Santoro: Fei Protocol – Introducing Fei v2 Dec 16, 2021

    Fei Protocol is a decentralized, liquid, and scalable stablecoin platform, based on a new concept called Protocol Controlled Value (PCV). After a rocky start, Fei is now back on the road to growth with an upcoming v2 and one of the biggest token mergers in crypto history.

    On the day before the Fei v2 launch, we were joined by Founder Joey Santoro to chat about the differences between v1 and v2, how the platform works on a PCV model, TRIBE and protocol governance, and the Rari merger.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Joey's background and how he got into crypto and stablecoins specifically
    • The Fei launch
    • The mechanisms of Fei v1
    • Redeemability
    • Use cases of Fei
    • The Fei PCV system and Balancer's role
    • The Rari Merger
    • What's next for Fei

    Episode links:

    • Fei Protocol
    • Discord
    • Fei on Twitter
    • Joey on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Tally: Tally is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycash
    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Statelayer. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/422


    Epicenter – The Hosts Look Back on 2021 Dec 10, 2021

    2021 was an exciting year for the crypto space. We've seen all time market highs, dramatic regulatory shifts, and some use cases hit the main stream. 4 of our hosts got together to dissect the standout events of this year, and share their predictions for what is coming next.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The NFT explosion of 2021
    • The DeFi bluechip decline
    • Layer 1 wars & bridges
    • DAO proliferation, tooling, and emergence of new organization paradigms
    • Return of Dogecoin
    • Bitcoin in El Salvador
    • Looking ahead - crypto and its tax implications
    • The future of MEV
    • Urbit

    Episode links:

    • Episode 374 - The Great Epicenter Host Extravaganza 2021
    • Epicenter - About Us
    • Brian on Twitter
    • Friederike on Twitter
    • Sebastien on Twitter
    • Sunny on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/421


    Nicolas Julia: Sorare – Marrying Fantasy Sports and NFTs Nov 30, 2021

    Sorare is a blockchain sports game which bridges fantasy football and NFT collectibles. A player collects a team of players in the form of NFTs and based on the performance of the players in the real world, scores points. At the end of the tournament, the Sorare participant is ranked and earns rewards.

    Nicolas Julia, Co-founder & CEO of Sorare, created the game in 2018, way before the NFT craze of 2021. He joined us to chat about fantasy sports and what convinced him of NFTs, working in the football industry and the impact of licenses, and the regulatory push backs they have faced as a company.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Nicolas' background and how he got to into the crypto space
    • How Nicolas got into NFTs in 2018
    • An overview of fantasy sports and Sorare
    • Why did Sorare choose to work with licenses and how they work
    • The challenges of working in the football industry
    • Sorare as a Web3 product
    • The size and value of the Sorare community
    • Regulatory push backs against Sorare
    • The motivations behind the numerous platform transitions
    • The biggest entrepreneurial lessons Nicolas took away from his time at Stratumn and his vision for Sorare

    Episode links:

    • Sorare website
    • Sorare Community
    • Discord
    • Sorare on Twitter
    • Nicolas on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/420


    Emin Gün Sirer: Avalanche Nov 24, 2021

    Avalanche is an open, scalable, and secure smart contracts platform. It targets three broad use cases; building application-specific blockchains, building and launching highly scalable decentralized applications (dapps), and building arbitrarily complex digital assets with custom rules, covenants, and riders (smart assets). It prides itself off on being blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly.

    Emin Gün Sirer is the Founder & CEO of the Avalanche network. He is also a long time friend of the show, and joined us again for the 4th time after a 5 year break to share his journey since then, which led him to creating Avalanche. We also dove deep into the technical aspects of the protocol and how it fits into the blockchain ecosystem as a whole.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Gun's journey over the past 5 years which led him to creating Avalanche
    • The unique features and trade-offs in the protocol
    • A deep dive into bridging within Avalanche
    • MEV extraction within the protocol
    • Avalanche consensus - reliance on seed anchors

    Episode links:

    • Episode 76 - From Selfish Miners to The Miner’s Dilemma
    • Episode 103 - Bitcoin-NG – Scientists Versus the Church
    • Ep 134 - On a Rocky DAO
    • Avalanche
    • Ava Labs
    • Avalanche on Twitter
    • Gun on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/419


    Anatoly Yakovenko: Solana – at Breakpoint Nov 17, 2021

    Solana has pursued the vision of a single, fast and scalable blockchain from the start. Today, it has become one of the fastest growing ecosystems in crypto with hundreds of projects spanning DeFi, NFTs, Web3, and more.

    Last week 2,000 attendees descended on Lisbon for the first-ever Solana conference, Breakpoint. We caught up with Co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko at the event for a chat about the Solana journey and some of the most important questions they are facing today around decentralization, scalability, governance, and MEV.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Solana's origin story and thesis
    • The current state of Solana
    • What censorship resistance is and why it matters
    • Solana's bottlenecks and remaining scaling challenges
    • Anatoly's views on governance
    • Solana and Miner Extractable Value (MEV)
    • Rollups as an Ethereum scaling solution
    • Market and adoption cycle

    Episode links:

    • Episode 312 with Anatoly
    • Breakpoint
    • Solana on Twitter
    • Anatoly on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/418


    Jerry Brito & Peter Van Valkenburgh: Coin Center – The Current US Regulatory Landscape for Crypto Nov 10, 2021

    Coin Center is an independant not-profit research and advocacy organisation focused on the public policy issues that affect cryptocurrencies and open permisionless blockchain networks. Their mission is to build a better understanding of technologies like Ethereum and Bitcoin and to promote a regulatory climate that preserves free speech and privacy.

    Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh joined us for a fascinating chat about the current regulatory landscape in the US and how that might affect the crypto ecosystem going forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An overview of Coin Center
    • How the political and regulatory has changed in the past 2 years since the release of Libra
    • The regulatory topics currently impacting the US
    • Ransomware and investor protection law
    • Is the consumer protection force too tough?
    • The Infrastructure Bill
    • The US vs Europe approach
    • The future of the ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • Epicenter Episode 296 with Jerry
    • Epicenter Episode 227 with Peter
    • Coin Center on Twitter
    • Jerry on Twitter
    • Peter on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/417


    Jérôme de Tychey: Cometh – The Blockchain Game at the Intersection of NFTs and DeFi Nov 02, 2021

    Cometh is a game on Ethereum that lets users own yield-generating NFTs, integrating both DeFi and NFT features into a single, fun gaming experience. As a player, you control spaceships (also called astronomers) orbiting around giant stars and your goal is to position yourself close to the asteroids (also known as smart asteroids) passing by. When you are close enough, you will be able to mine tokens from that asteroid.

    Jerome de Tychey, founder of the project, joined us to chat about how the game works, interactions with AMMs and lending protocols, and the future of blockchain gaming.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jerome's background and his involvement building the French Ethereum community
    • Jerome's role at Ledger and ConsenSys
    • An overview of Cometh and how the game works
    • How Cometh interacts with AMMs and lending protocols
    • The game’s native tokens: MUST and DUST
    • Cometh's use of Polygon and the launch of its own layer-2 network
    • How Cometh taps into the existing NFT world
    • The potential for games built on top of existing DeFi infrastructure
    • The future of blockchain gaming and NFTs

    Episode links:

    • Cometh
    • Docs on Cometh
    • Github
    • GeckoCon
    • Cometh on Twitter
    • Jerome on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity - including other dex aggregators such as Paraswap, 1inch and Matcha - offering the best prices on all trades. It provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/416


    Ariah Klages-Mundt & Lewis Gudgeon: Gyroscope – The All-Weather Stablecoin Oct 27, 2021

    Gyroscope is an "all-weather stablecoin" that is backed by a reserve portfolio that tries to diversify across many risk factors. By maintaining a reserve of many decorrelated assets, it makes Gyro Dollars more resilient, similar to how it is hard to move a spinning gyroscope. In a market where there's an explosion of new stablecoins, Gyroscope attempts to find a niche by providing a very stable and resilient option.

    We were joined by co-founders Lewis Gudgeon and Ariah Klages-Mundt to chat about how Gyroscope works and their strategy to try to make it a standard throughout DeFi.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Their backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • An overview of the Gyroscope Stablecoin
    • The collateral being used
    • The mechanism used for stabilizing reserves
    • Use cases of the Gyrodollar
    • SAMMs and PAMMs
    • Leverage loans
    • Governance within the protocol
    • The goals of the current testnet
    • How to get involved

    Episode links:

    • Gyroscope
    • Discord
    • Gyroscope blog
    • Twitter
    • Lewis on Twitter
    • Ariah on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/415


    Alessio Delmonti: PieDAO – The Asset Manager for Tokenized Portfolios Oct 19, 2021

    PieDAO is is a decentralized asset manager for tokenized portfolios and enables anyone to create allocations for both crypto and traditional assets. PIES are non-custodial pools available to anyone in the world with an internet connection. PIES require no minimum deposits for users. DOUGH is the token that governs the platform. Token holders are given voting rights on all decisions.

    We were joined by the Founder of PieDAO, Alessio Delmonti, to talk about how the project works and why he is so committed to making wealth creation more accessible to all.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alessio's background and how he got into crypto
    • Alessio's views on 'financial inclusion'
    • What is PieDAO and its mission
    • A breakdown of the different components of PieDAO
    • NFTs in PieDAO
    • Using ETFs in their methodologies
    • KPI options and how that plays into governance
    • The PieDAO Oven
    • The roadmap for the project

    Episode links:

    • PieDAO
    • The Oven
    • PieDAO Discord
    • Governance Forum
    • PieDAO on Twitter
    • Alessio on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/414


    Jeff Wu & Teddy Woodward: Notional Finance – The Fixed-Rate Lending Protocol Oct 12, 2021

    Notional is a protocol on Ethereum that facilitates fixed-rate, fixed-term crypto asset lending and borrowing. The core concept of Notional is fCash, a zero-compound bond defined by a currency type and maturity date. Notional’s liquidity pools are built by liquidity providers who contribute cTokens and fCash and act as counterparty to the lenders and borrowers that are active on the protocol.

    We were joined by co-founders Teddy Woodward and Jeff Wu to chat about the benefits and tradeoffs of fixed rate interest borrowing, how Notional operates, and comparisons to other lending protocols in the space.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Teddy and Jeff's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • The benefits of a fixed rate over a variable interest rate loan
    • The product from a user perspective
    • The role of liquidity providers in the protocol
    • Tradeoffs of using Notional as opposed to other lending platforms
    • Lender and borrower obligations
    • How Notional maintain security
    • The ERC1155 token standard which is implemented on fCash
    • The maturity parameter and how it's determined
    • The Notional governance model

    Episode links:

    • Notional Finance
    • Notional Discord
    • Notional on Twitter
    • Teddy on Twitter
    • Jeff on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/413


    Vasiliy Shapovalov: Lido – The Liquid Staking Solution for Ethereum 2.0 Oct 06, 2021

    Lido is a DAO that provides a liquid staking solution for Ethreum 2.0. It lets users stake their Ether, without locking assets or needing to maintain infrastructure, whilst participating in on-chain activities. Lido attempts to solve the problems associated with initial Ethereum 2.0 staking - illiquidity, minimum requirements, immovability and accessibility, by making staked Ether liquid and allowing for participation in DeFi.

    Vasiliy Shapovalov, Co-founder of Lido, joined us to talk about all things Ethereum staking and the benefits of liquid staking with Lido.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Vasiliy's background and how he got into crypto
    • An overview of Lido and the problem it solves
    • How Ethereum 2.0 staking works
    • Lido's fee structure and business model
    • Lido's governance model and the LDO token
    • How the ETH/stETH peg is maintained
    • Liquid staking and its role in DeFi
    • Lido for other blockchain networks like Solana
    • The LEGO Grant program

    Episode links:

    • Lido
    • Vasiliy's talk at EthCC
    • Lido on Twitter
    • Vasiliy on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/412


    Nevin Freeman: Reserve – Stable Currency as a Human Right Sep 28, 2021

    The Reserve project is on a mission to provide every person in the world access to stable currency. They are working to rebuild financial services in countries such as Argentina and Venezuela, that have suffered from high inflation and ongoing currency devaluation. The protocol is designed to host a completely decentralized stablecoin that can not be manipulated by governments, with an end goal of a fully self-sustainable platform with decentralized governance and developments.

    We were joined by Co-founder & CEO, Nevin Freeman, to chat about Reserve's focus in Latin America, their support of activism, and the road ahead for the project.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Nevin's background and how he got into crypto
    • What is Reserve and what is the problem it's solving
    • How do they get around regulatory pushbacks in Latin America
    • The main components of the Reserve system - RSV and RSR
    • Tackling high gas fees
    • Reserve's go to market strategy and why the focus on Latin America
    • Why Reserve encourage's activism
    • Reserve's goal to eradicate hyperinflation
    • The connection with Peter Tiel (Paypal)
    • The Reserve business model

    Episode links:

    • Reserve
    • Reserve on Twitter
    • Nevin on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/411


    Jordi Baylina: Hermez – ZK Technology for Scaling Ethereum Sep 21, 2021

    Hermez is an open-source ZK-Rollup optimised for secure, low-cost and usable token transfers on the wings of Ethereum. The Hermez network team is currently developing the next version of the decentralised ZK-Rollup with full support of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) by making a full set of zkEVM opcodes.

    Jordi Baylina, the Technical Lead at Hermez, joined us to chat about how the protocol works, the recent merge with Polygon, and the roadmap leading to Eth2.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jordi's involvement in the infamous DAO hack
    • The Giveth community he created with Griff Green
    • How Hermez use EVM opcodes to combine zk and EVM
    • How the protocol works as a user
    • How do token transfers work?
    • Currently the advantage is in scaling, could this also translate to privacy?
    • Hermez's merge with Polygon - how the joint model will look
    • The Hermez roadmap and how it fits with Eth2.0
    • Jordi's views on the future of blockchain

    Episode links:

    • Hermez
    • Giveth
    • Jordi at EThCC 2021
    • Hermez on Twitter
    • Jordi on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity offering the best prices on all trades and provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/410


    Erik Voorhees: ShapeShift – Decentralizing a Fox Sep 14, 2021

    Erik Voorhees, CEO & Founder of ShapeShift, joins us for his 4th appearance on the show. ShapeShift recently announced they are decentralizing the company and its products, which would see the company transition from a centralized entity and platform to a DAO. With the largest airdrop in history they distributed FOX tokens to over a million customers and DeFi community members, who will eventually fully control the exchange.

    In this episode we hear the reasoning behind this shift, cross-chain Interoperability, the FOX token, and the future of the Shapeshift platform as a DAO.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The journey of ShapeShift since Erik's last appearance on the show
    • What led ShapeShift to becoming decentralized and the process so far
    • ShapeShift as a product - its features and how it will be accessed
    • The future structure of Shapeshift as a DAO
    • Cross-chain Interoperability and the Cosmos ecosystem
    • The goal of the FOX token
    • The future of the ShapeShift ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • Episode 300 - ShapeShift – There’s a New Fox in Town
    • ShapeShift
    • ShapeShift to Decentralize Entire Company; Largest Airdrop in History
      Shifts Governance to the Community
    • FOX token airdrop
    • ShapeShift on Twitter
    • Erik on Twitter
    • Seb's new podcast – The Zen Crypto Show

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/409


    Mounir Benchemled: ParaSwap – Solving Liquidity for DeFi Sep 08, 2021

    ParaSwap is a DEX aggregator that aims to provide the best prices over multiple DEXes on the Ethereum blockchain. Users are able to scan dozens of exchanges for the best possible crypto price points, and get the most for their swaps.

    We were joined by ParaSwap Founder, Mounir Benchemled, to chat about his role in the French DeFi community, DEX aggregators in general, and what makes ParaSwap an important slice of the DeFi ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Mounir's background and how he got into crypto
    • Why did he start a DEX aggregator?
    • The French DeFi ecosystem and community
    • An overview of DEX aggregators - the advantages and challenges
    • The role of the ParaSwap router
    • The prospect of a ParaSwap token
    • A DEX aggregator from a legal perspective
    • How ParaSwap makes money
    • Mounir's views on Layer 1 and Layer 2s
    • The future of DeFi trading

    Episode links:

    • ParaSwap
    • ParaSwap on Medium
    • ParaSwap on Twitter
    • Mounir on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/408


    Mike Novogratz: Galaxy Digital – Bridging Crypto and Institutional Worlds Aug 31, 2021

    Mike Novogratz is the CEO of Galaxy Digital, an investment bank targeting institutional investors, which he also founded. He was formerly a Partner and President of Fortress Investment Group LLC and prior to that Partner at Goldman Sachs. Considered quite the risk taker, he has made and lost many fortunes over the years.

    We chatted to Mike about the cross over between finance and blockchain, regulatory affairs, and of course, wrestling.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Mike's background in wrestling and transition into finance
    • How he got into the crypto space
    • How Mike and Galaxy Digital are providing a link between crypto and traditional finance
    • The long term impact of crypto on the world
    • The vision for Galaxy Digital
    • Mike's views on the market cycles

    Episode links:

    Galaxy Digital

    Galaxy Digital on Twitter

    Mike on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting-edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/407


    Dominic Williams: DFINITY – Smart Contracts and the Internet Computer Aug 24, 2021

    The DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit scientific research organization with a mission to build, promote, and maintain the Internet Computer. The IC is a layer 1 smart contract enabled blockchain which achieves remarkable scaling properties through native sharding.

    We were joined by Founder and Chief Scientist of DFINITY, Dominic Williams, who explained his deep support for smart contracts, gave us an insight into the Internet Computer Ecosystem, and shared his visions for its future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dominic's background and an update on DFINITY
    • The advantages of smart contracts
    • The Internet Computer ecosystem
    • How DFINITY compares to Ethereum
    • The concept of sharding - subnets
    • The tokenomics of The Internet Computer
    • Vision for the Internet Computer's future

    Episode links:

    • DFINITY
    • The Internet Computer Roadmap
    • DFINITY on Twitter
    • Dominic on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Gnosis Safe: Gnosis Safe is a smart wallet for securely managing digital assets and allows you to define customized access permissions. - https://epicenter.rocks/gnosissafe

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Martin Köppelmann. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/406


    Joe Andrews & Zac Williamson: Aztec Protocol – Bringing Scalable Privacy to DeFi Aug 17, 2021

    Aztec Protocol enables private transactions on Ethereum. It uses a zero-knowledge proof system, allowing users to effectively create shielded representations of tokens, which can then be sent and redeemed for the underlying token. They recently launched Aztec 2.0 and their rollup service for Ethereum, zk.money. This allows users to submit Ether to the Aztec rollup contract with the options to shield, send privately, unshield and emergency ushield (escape hatch). The latest version also allows DeFi users to save gas and participate anonymously in DeFi transactions.

    We were joined by Zac Williamson, Co-founder and CTO, and Joe Andrews, Head of Product, from Aztec, to give us an in-depth look into the Layer 2 project and explain how version 2 of the protocol in a game-changer in terms of privacy and scalability.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What has happened in the last year since Aztec were last on the show
    • High-level overview of Aztec
    • How the Aztec rollup works in DeFi applications
    • The challenges privacy introduces for DeFi
    • SNARK, the core technology that powers Aztec
    • Noir (zkSNARK DSL)

    Episode links:

    • Episode 335 - Aztec Protocol – Bringing Zero-Knowledge Transactions to Ethereum
    • zk.money
    • Discord
    • Aztec on Twitter
    • Joe on Twitter
    • Zac on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter - paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Dev Ojha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/405


    Chris Spadafora: BadgerDAO – Bridging Bitcoin and DeFi Aug 10, 2021

    Badger is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with a single purpose: To build the products and infrastructure necessary to accelerate Bitcoin as collateral across other blockchains. BadgerDAO is extremely community focused and has succeeded in creating a seamlessly operating DAO out of a group of random people with a shared set of values and a mission.

    BadgerDAO's founder, Chris Spadafora, joined us to talk about how he built this decentralized community, why Bitcoin & DeFi, and the products they have created including Sett and Digg.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Chris' background and how BadgerDAO came about
    • How they successfully built a strong community
    • Why Bitcoin and DeFi?
    • Who is the target audience for Badger?
    • The Sett vaults - strategies
    • Digg - the rebase system
    • Chris' thoughts on “DeFi on Bitcoin”

    Episode links:

    • Badger website
    • BadgerDAO Wiki
    • Discord
    • Badger on Twitter
    • Chris on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity offering the best prices on all trades and provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/404


    Paul Kohlhaas & Tyler Golato: VitaDAO – The Collective Funding Longevity Research Aug 04, 2021

    VitaDAO is a decentralized collective funding early stage longevity research. Their mission is to extend human lifespan by researching, financing, and commercializing longevity therapeutics in an open and democratic manner.

    We were joined by Tyler Golato and Paul Kohlhaas, co-founders of Molecule and initiators of VitaDAO to talk about how drug discovery and approval currently works, what the status of longevity research is, what role IP plays -- and how all of this could change in the future with DAOs like VitaDAO.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Paul and Tyler's backgrounds and how they came to work on VitaDAO
    • Longevity - thinking of aging as a disease
    • Where is the research at today?
    • How longevity research currently takes place in the pharmaceutical industry
    • How VitaDAO is alleviating patency issues
    • The first funded project with the Knudsen lab in Copenhagen - Molecule
    • How DAOs make the decisions

    Episode links:

    • The Molecule blog
    • VitaDAO
    • Goldman asks: 'Is curing patients a sustainable business model?'
    • VitaDAO Discord
    • VitaDAO on Twitter
    • Molecule on Twitter
    • Paul on Twitter
    • Tyler on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusone
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter - paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/403


    Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum - Can It Go Beyond DeFi? Jul 29, 2021

    Vitalik Buterin joins us for an in-depth conversation at EthCC 4 in Paris. During his keynote presentation, he expressed his hope for Ethereum to go beyond DeFi as he wishes to see more non-financial applications built on the platform. From better social media platforms to novel approaches for funding public goods, from his perspective, Ethereum has the potential to change the world for the better, beyond financial applications.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How has the past year been for Vitalik and Ethereum
    • The state of crypto today
    • What interesting experiments are in crypto now defining membership
    • Has Ethereum gone too far into financial applications
    • Vitalik's views on using rollups on non-DeFi applications
    • What are the biggest problems of the world today?
    • NFTs and social media
    • The concept of retroactive public goods funding
    • The future of DAOs

    Episode links:

    • Episode 171 - DAO Lessons, Casper and Blockchain Interoperability
    • Vitalik's talk at EthCC 4
    • Vitalik on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • CowSwap: CowSwap is a Meta-Dex Aggregator built by Gnosis. It taps into all on-chain liquidity offering the best prices on all trades and provides some UX perks (no gas costs for failed transactions!) and protects traders against MEV. - https://epicenter.rocks/cowswap

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/402


    Ambre Soubiran, Jerome de Tychey & Mounir Benchemled: EthCC 4 – Liberté, Égalité, Décentralisé Jul 24, 2021

    EthCC is back and stronger than ever! Despite the pandemic, ongoing travel restrictions and sanitary passes, the Ethereum France team hosted the fourth edition of the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris. Over 1,000 people attended the week-long affair, which saw an impressive number of side events and, as always, legendary parties. For many attendees, it was their first conference since last year's edition, and the first time they were able to embrace their fellow Etherians since the beginning of the pandemic.

    For this EthCC recap panel, we're joined by Kaiko CEO Ambre Soubiran, Ethereum France President Jerome de Tychey, and ParaSwap Founder Mounir Benchemled. We discussed the conference, how the ecosystem has evolved this past year, the rapid growth of DeFi and NFTs, and what to look forward to as the community continues to grow.

    Episode links:

    • Kaiko
    • ParaSwap
    • Ethereum France

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Chorus One: Start earning rewards and contribute to network security by staking with Chorus One, a staking provider securing over $1bn in assets on over 25 decentralized networks. Head over now to chorus.one to start your staking journey.

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/401


    Sunny Aggarwal: Osmosis – The AMM Protocol Built for Liquidity Providers Jul 16, 2021

    Recently launched Osmosis is a Cosmos based and IBC enabled AMM protocol that allows for a high level of customization by liquidity providers. As the main dex on the Cosmos network, Osmosis provides liquidity for IBC-enabled Cosmos assets like AKT and ATOM for the first time.

    Head of the Osmosis development team, Sunny Aggarwal, joined us for a chat about why the protocol was built and the problem it solves, the wider Cosmos ecosystem, and the roadmap for the protocol.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Why the Osmosis project was built
    • How Osmosis works on Cosmos
    • What is IBC?
    • What the ecosystem looks like
    • What the AMM landscape looks like on Cosmos
    • What the roadmap of Osmosis looks like
    • The Gravity Bridge
    • How was the chain bootstrapped?
    • What is the ION?
    • The Osmosis community

    Episode links:

    • Osmosis
    • Cosmos
    • Osmosis on Medium
    • Osmosis on Twitter
    • Sunny on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Zubin Koticha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/400


    Felix Leupold: CowSwap – Tackling the Shortcomings of AMMs Jul 07, 2021

    Originally started with a focus on prediction markets, Gnosis has done innovative work around automated market makers (AMMs) and decentralized exchanges for years. The latest protocol launched by the Gnosis team is CowSwap. CowSwap introduces various innovations that could improve user experience, reduce gas costs, reduce the effects of MEV and result in better outcomes for retail traders.

    We were joined by Felix Leupold, software developer at Gnosis to discuss CowSwap and the future of decentralized exchanges.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Felix's background and how he started working on CowSwap with Gnosis
    • Why did Gnosis make the shift away from prediction markets, and why the return to focus on AMMs
    • The relationship between Gnosis Protocol and CowSwap
    • How CowSwap works from a user perspective
    • How are solvers chosen and what are the incentives around providing solutions
    • What MEV is and why it’s a problem
    • The upcoming integration with Balancer V2
    • How fees in CowSwap work and the effect on LPs
    • Where is CowSwap today and what is its roadmap
    • Felix's views on the future of order-book based exchanges

    Episode links:

    • CowSwap
    • Gnosis
    • CowSwap on Twitter
    • Felix on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/399


    Cassidy Daly & Lucas Vogelsang: Centrifuge – Introducing Real-World DeFi Jun 30, 2021

    Centrifuge is an open and permissionless protocol built on Polkadot and Ethereum that unlocks collateral for DeFi. Centrifuge allows for the tokenization of real world assets such as invoices, real estate, or goods, and puts them on the blockchain. This allows users to borrow against these assets from investors. Investors lend dai in exchange for an interest rate that depends on the borrower and the asset used as collateral.

    We were joined by Lucas Vogelsang, CEO & Centrifuge Co-founder, and Cassidy Daly, Token Design & Research at Centrifuge. They explained why they built the protocol and how it works, the first application built on top, Tinlake, its integration with other DeFi platforms such as Maker, and their vision for the future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How did Centrifuge come about and what is its vision
    • What challenges do they face using real world assets as collateral
    • How users are protected against spam and fraud
    • The underwriter token model
    • What are the value limits on what can be borrowed?
    • Some use cases of where Centrifuge can make the biggest impact
    • Who are the lenders involved in the protocol?
    • How the protocol works on a technical level
    • The Centrifuge token - CFG
    • Altair - the Kusama parachain on Polkadot
    • What the integration of Tinlake assets in DeFi looks like

    Episode links:

    • Centrifuge website
    • Tinlake
    • Understanding Tinlake
    • Centrifuge on Twitter
    • Lucas on Twitter
    • Cassidy on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/398


    Dankrad Feist: Ethereum Foundation – An Eth2 Progress Update #2 Jun 22, 2021

    Ethereum 2.0 is an upgrade to the Ethereum network that aims to improve the network's security and scalability. Recently, we chatted to Danny Ryan about the Merge and switch to Proof of Stake. As a follow up to that episode, we were joined by Dankrad Feist, who heads the sharding and statelessness research at the Ethereum Foundation.

    We dove deep into the technical infrastructure of how Eth2 addresses scaling through sharding, the pros and cons of data shards vs. execution shards, and how this links up with ZK-rollups. We also talked about the Ethereum state and how the state can be altered for protocol improvements.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dankrad's background and how he came to work on Ethereum
    • An overview of potential protocol updates and where they’re at right now
    • Data availability shards and the overall concept of sharding in the protocol
    • How shards are maintained with validators and Proof of Stake
    • How Rollups work and the vision for their future
    • The role of execution shards and what they provide that data availability shards don't
    • Composability across data shards
    • Statelessness; what the Ethereum state is and how it is used
    • What is state rent?
    • EVM and parallelization
    • Dankrad's views on the future of Ethereum and what it will bring to the blockchain space

    Episode links:

    • Episode 393 with Danny Ryan
    • Eth Research
    • Ethereum Blog
    • Ethereum Community
    • Eth R&D Discord
    • Ethereum on GitHub
    • EF on Twitter
    • Dankrad on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/397


    Alex Gluchowski: zkSync – The First EVM-Compatible zkRollup Protocol Jun 15, 2021

    zkSync is a trustless protocol for scalable low-cost transactions on Ethereum. It's also the only zkRollup protocol which supports EVM smart contracts.

    Alex Gluchowski is co-founder of Matter Labs, and co-creator of zkSync. We spoke with Alex in depth about how the protocol works and the potential for a highly scalable transaction and application layer on Ethereum.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alex's background and how he got into the crypto space
    • An overview of existing Ethereum scaling solutions
    • Difference between Optimistic Rollup and zkRollup
    • Transferring funds to the zkSync Layer 2 and gas fees involved
    • How the zkSync transaction sequencer works
    • Withdrawing funds to Layer 1 and timescales involved
    • How the procol deals with reorgs
    • How block formation works on zkSync
    • The function of the zkSync token

    Episode links:

    • zkSync
    • For Developers
    • zkSync on Twitter
    • Alex on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/396


    Roman Semenov: Tornado Cash – Keeping Your Ethereum Transactions Private Jun 08, 2021

    By default, all transactions made on Ethereum are public. Tornado Cash is a decentralized privacy preserving solution built on Ethereum which adds privacy through obfuscation. Users can place Ether and some stable coins in prescribed increments [1 Eth, 10 Eth, 100 Eth...] into the Tornado Pool. In return, they are issued a private note, with which they can withdraw funds at a later time to a different address.

    We were joined by Roman Semenov, co-founder of Tornado Cash, to talk about how the protocol works, how it was set up, community governance, and where he sees Tornado Cash's position in the quickly growing privacy ecosystem on Ethereum.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Roman's background and how he got into crypto
    • The problem Tornado Cash solves and how the protocol works
    • What tokens are supported and can you swap tokens?
    • Smart contracts and zero knowledge
    • Costs involved for deposits and withdrawls
    • Weaknesses of the protocol
    • The Compliance Tool feature
    • The regulatory threat to private coins in the future
    • Tornado Cash's roadmap and how they see themselves positioned in the wider ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • Tornado.cash
    • Dune Analytics
    • Tornado Cash on Twitter
    • Roman on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/395


    Alex Masmej: Showtime – Building the Open Social Graph With NFTs Jun 02, 2021

    Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they're secured by the Ethereum blockchain. And they have taken the crypto space by storm is recent months. Showtime is a NFT social media network where creators & collectors showcase their digital art. It reads all marketplaces and instead of buying and selling, you can comment, share and like. It's been described as the Instagram for NFTs.

    We were joined by Alex Masmej, Co-founder and CEO of Showtime, to chat about why he got into NFTs and in particular crypto art, how Showtime works and its purpose, and the future of the platform.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alex's background and how he got into crypto
    • The story behind the $ALEX token
    • Uncollateralized lending and why it's important
    • The vision for Showtime
    • Alex's views on the NFT craze
    • What is the open social graph
    • Why Alex chose to focus on crypto art
    • How Showtime compares to similar platforms like Opensea and Zora
    • The Showtime business model, funding sources, and 5 year plan

    Episode links:

    • Showtime
    • Showtime on Twitter
    • Alex on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/394


    Danny Ryan: Ethereum Foundation – An Eth2 Progress Update May 27, 2021

    Ethereum will switch from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) likely already later this year in a much anticipated upgrade to Ethereum 2. The switch to PoS aims to make Ethereum both more secure and more sustainable by securing the network through Ether instead of mining. A second Eth2 update will address scaling through sharding at a later time.

    Danny Ryan, Researcher with Ethereum Foundation, has been a major driving force behind the Eth2 project. He joined us for a progress update and we chatted about how the protocol will work in its steady state, what has launched so far, what happens in The Merge, and how PoS will affect centralization tendencies.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Danny's background and how he got into crypto
    • An overview of Eth2 - Phase 0, Beacon Chain
    • The role of a validator and building blocks
    • Penalties and rewards within the protocol including slashing
    • What the epoch is and how it relates to finality
    • The Proof-of-Stake merge
    • Why Proof-of-Stake is favorable for security purposes
    • What is the roadmap for sharding?
    • Ethereum fees

    Episode links:

    • Ethereum Community
    • Eth R&D Discord
    • Ethereum on GitHub
    • Eth Research
    • EF on Twitter
    • EF blog
    • Danny on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Martin Köppelmann. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/393


    Scoopy Trooples: Alchemix – Financial Alchemy Through Self-Repaying Loans May 21, 2021

    Alchemix is a DeFi protocol that enables users to create self-repaying loans. Users deposit collateral (DAI) to take out a loan in Alchemix's native synthetic stablecoin, alUSD. Alchemix then uses the DAI deposits and puts them into the Yearn protocol to earn yield and over time, that yield automatically pays off your debt.

    We were joined by Alchemix co-founder Scoopy Trooples, who gave us a deep look into how the protocol works, alUSD and the ALCX token, and what is coming out soon with V2.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Scoopy's background and how he got into crypto
    • What is the story behind the name Scoopy Trooples and his anonymity?
    • A high level overview and use case of Alchemix
    • Scoopy's vision for alUSD
    • The integration with Yearn
    • Will alUSD drive down yields of other stablecoins?
    • How Transmuter works to maintain the 1:1 peg
    • The long term vision for Alchemix and biggest potential risks
    • The Alchemix community
    • How they raised their funds

    Episode links:

    • Alchemix Website
    • Alchemix Discord
    • Alchemix on Twitter
    • Scoopy on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Zubin Koticha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/392


    Michael Egorov: Curve Finance – The Stablecoin Exchange Protocol May 13, 2021

    Curve is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) that lets users and other decentralized protocols exchange stablecoins (DAI to USDC for example) with low fees and low slippage. Unlike exchanges that match a buyer and a seller, users transact with the smart contract itself. By providing a flatter curve targeted for relatively stable pairs, Curve has established the lead position for these markets. Curve is also leveraging its own token CRV to incentivize long-term adoption of the protocol and decentralize control of governance.

    We were joined by Curve Finance Founder, Michael Egorov, to chat about why he created the protocol and his long term vision for the project.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Michael's background and how he got into crypto
    • How Curve works from the perspective of a trader and as a liquidity provider
    • How they came up with the stableswap design
    • How Curve compares to Uniswap v3
    • Michael's take on forks, fork threat, and Curve's moat
    • Curve's thesis on good governance
    • How they keep the protocol secure
    • An overview of the Curve community and ecosystem
    • The long term vision for Curve

    Episode links:

    • Curve Finance
    • Curve Resources
    • Curve on Twitter
    • Michael on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Zubin Koticha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/391


    Tim Roughgarden: EIP-1559 – Tackling the Gas Fee Problem on Ethereum May 07, 2021

    Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-1559 is a proposal to make several tightly coupled additions to Ethereum’s transaction fee mechanism. Central to the design is a base fee, which plays the role of a reserve price and is meant to match supply and demand. Every transaction included in a block must pay that block’s base fee (per unit of gas), and this payment is burnt rather than transferred to the block’s miner. The base fee is adjusted after every block, with larger-than-target blocks increasing it and smaller-than-target blocks decreasing it.

    Tim Roughgarden is a Professor of Computer Science and member of the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Tim did an extensive game theoretical review of EIP-1559 and joined us to chat about what the proposal is trying to do and why, and how it is doing it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What Tim's research focuses on and how he became involved with blockchain
    • What made him interested in the fees problem
    • The current fee system on Ethereum - the first-price auction and base fee
    • EIP-1559 - the problem it solves and how it does it
    • Increasing and decreasing of block sizes
    • The threat of miners colluding to drive down base fees
    • Deep dive into how the proposal works
    • What are some alternatives to EIP-1559

    Episode links:

    • Tim Roughgarden
    • EIP-1559 on GitHub
    • An Economic Analysis of EIP-1559
    • Tim on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/390


    Phil Daian & Stephane Gosselin: Flashbots – The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MEV Apr 28, 2021

    Flashbots is a research and development company focussed on Miner Extractable Value (MEV). MEV is the profit a miner can make through their ability to arbitrarily include, exclude, or re-order transactions from the blocks they produce. Flashbots has created a fork of the ethereum geth client, MEV-geth, to allow miners to exploit MEV, currently run by 80% of miners.

    Co-founders of Flashbots, Stephane Gosselin and Phil Daian, recently joined us to chat about the protocol and to deep dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of MEV.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Stephane and Phil's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • What led them to creating Flashbots and what it does
    • What is Miner/Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)
    • A technical deep dive into how the project works with miners and searchers
    • The progress on the SGX solution
    • Spam attacks and reorgs on Flashbots
    • Phil's reply to the perspective that MEV extraction is theft
    • What is Generalized Frontrunning?
    • How MEV differs at L1 vs L2
    • What's the plan for Flashbots going forward?

    Episode links:

    • Flashbots on GitHub
    • Flashbots on Medium
    • MEV...what do?
    • Stephane on Twitter
    • Phil on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: Give ParaSwap a try at https://paraswap.io/epicenter. This URL will allow you to claim a 50% refund on gas fees for your first swap of at least 1 Eth. This offer is available until May 1st 2021 and refunds will be made every Friday starting April 9th, 2021*Terms and conditions apply. -
    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/389


    Trevor McFedries: Brud – Using AI to Bridge Real and Virtual Worlds Apr 22, 2021

    Trevor McFedries joined us for a fascinating chat about his background in the football and music industries, and how this led him into crypto. Trevor is the cofounder of Brud, a technology startup specializing in artificial intelligence and media. At Brud, they create social media personas with the help of CGI technology, the most well known being Lil Miquela. Lil Miquela is a sentient robot navigating life in LA -- and has millions of followers on instagram.

    Trevor also started Friends With Benefits, a gated online community on a private discord server with a community token. We talked with Trevor about the increasingly immersive social media experience, the future for creators and the future of organizations.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Trevor's background in football and music, including his time working at Spotify
    • An overview of Brud
    • Who is Lil Miquela?
    • How do these fictional characters fit into the 'real world'?
    • How Trevor got into crypto
    • The Friends with Benefits community
    • Trevor's views on the future of DAOs
    • Brud's experience with VCs as opposed to crowdfunding
    • Trevor's take on NFTs and Lil Miquela's NFT drop
    • The cultural impact of crypto to society and what the future looks like

    Episode links:

    • Brud
    • Lil Miquela
    • Friends with Benefits
    • Friends with Benefits on Twitter
    • Trevor on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    • Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    • ParaSwap: Give ParaSwap a try at paraswap.io/epicenter. This URL will allow you to claim a 50% refund on gas fees for your first swap of at least 1 Eth. This offer is available until May 1st 2021 and refunds will be made every Friday starting April 9th, 2021*Terms and conditions apply.

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/388


    Adrian Eidelman: RSK – The Bitcoin-Based Smart Contract Platform Apr 19, 2021

    Bitcoin just got smarter. This episode is brought to you by RSK, the Bitcoin-based smart contract platform leading the DeFi for Bitcoin revolution. Be part of the future while building your personal wealth with the Bitcoin you already have.

    RSK is a secure smart-contract platform that enables decentralized applications secured by the Bitcoin Network to empower people and improve the quality of life of millions. The platform incorporates a Turing Complete Virtual Machine to Bitcoin. RSK believes that new use cases are necessary in order for Bitcoin to become the leading global cryptocurrency, and that adding smart-contract capabilities is key to secure that future. It also provides other enhancements to the network such as faster transactions and better scalability, features that they also believe will enable new usage scenarios.

    We chatted to Adrian Eidelman, Co-founder of RSK, about the vision they have for the project, how it works on a technical level, and how you can become involved.

    Visit rsk.co/openfinance to find out how you can put your Bitcoin to work.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The journey of RSK since they were last on the show 5 years ago
    • The vision they have for RSK
    • The building blocks of the project
    • RSK's 2-way peg
    • How merged mining works
    • RSK's compatibility with EVM
    • Projects being built on RSK
    • How you can get involved

    Episode links:

    • Website
    • Developers Portal
    • Public Slack Workspace
    • Github
    • Public community discussions
    • RSK on Twitter
    • Adrian on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/B005


    Matt Luongo: tBTC – Bringing Trustless Bitcoin to Ethereum Apr 14, 2021

    The ability to move Bitcoin on other chains isn't a new idea, and many are trying to overcome the technical limitations which make this a technically challenging feat. The latest representation of Bitcoin on Ethereum is tBTC, a fully-backed ERC-20 token representing bitcoin collateral. tBTC is fully decentralized and relies on Keep Network, a decentralized multi-party computation which enables cross-chain bridging.
    We were joined by Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis (the team behind tBTC and Keep Network) to chat about the tBTC technology, his vision for the future of interoperability and value propositions of different chains.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - Matt's background - how he got into crypto and his experience in the space
    - The Keep Network - dencetralized multi-party computations
    - Why trustless minting of tBTC is important
    - tBTC and its security model
    - Dark DAOs and vote buying
    - The merge between Keep Network and NuCypher
    - What other mergers are being looked at for the future
    - Matt's views on the idea of BTC existing as tokenized asset on Ethereum and other chains
    Episode links:
    - [Thesis](https://thesis.co/)
    - [Keep](https://keep.network/)
    - [tBTC](https://tbtc.network/)
    - [Keep Discord](https://discord.com/invite/wYezN7v)
    - [Thesis on Twitter](https://twitter.com/thesis_co)
    - [Keep on Twitter](https://twitter.com/keep_project)
    Sponsors:
    - ParaSwap: Give ParaSwap a try at paraswap.io/epicenter. This URL will allow you to claim a 50% refund on gas fees for your first swap of at least 1 Eth. This offer is available until May 1st 2021 and refunds will be made every Friday starting April 9th, 2021 - Terms and conditions apply.
    - Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized applications. - https://solana.com/epicenter
    - Exodus: Exodus the easy-to-use crypto wallet available on all platforms and supporting over 100 different assets. - https://exodus.com/epicenter
    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/387](https://epicenter.tv/387)


    Sergej Kunz: 1inch – The DEX Aggregator Apr 07, 2021

    1inch Exchange is a DEX aggregator routing cryptocurrency purchases through different DEXs to reduce slippage and get a better conversion rate for the user compared with just using a single DEX. The platform launched its governance token, 1INCH, in December 2020.

    We were joined by Co-founder of 1inch Sergej Kunz to chat about how 1inch works, how the 1INCH token provides liquidity to their liquidity platform, its integration with platforms such as Uniswap, and the roadmap from here.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sergej's background and how he got into blockchain
    • How slippage is used in the 1inch protocol
    • The liquidity protocol used
    • The integration between Uniswap and 1inch network and the new restrictions with Uniswap v3
    • Their AMM protocol, Mooniswap
    • The aggregation that 1inch has focused on and its defensibility
    • The function of the 1inch token and where it is headed in terms of governance
    • How 1inch plan to implement DAO
    • How 1inch deal with the regulatory impacts of DEXes
    • 1inch's stance on Ethereum gas costs

    Episode links:

    • 1inch website
    • 1inch blog
    • 1inch on Twitter
    • Sergej on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/386


    Zubin Koticha: Opyn – The Release of V2 Apr 01, 2021

    Zubin Koticha, CEO & Co-founder of Opyn, joined us again on the show to give us an update on Opyn v2.

    Opyn v1 was focused on insurance. It's successor, Opyn v2, offers a more traditional options infrastructure. We discuss the problems of building trustless options infrastructure: choice of collateral, partial collateralization and efficient trading mechanisms for options.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An overview of Opyn v1 and the different options created by DeFi users
    • How options in DeFi work
    • What is new in Opyn v2
    • How the oracle specification works
    • Capital efficiency - nesting options for collateralization
    • Fungibility of different options
    • What makes Opyn different to other option platforms?
    • Options and the AMM design

    Episode links:

    • Opyn
    • Epicenter Episode 344 - Opyn
    • A beginner's guide to options: Opyn v2
    • YieldSpace
    • Opyn GitHub
    • Opyn on Twitter
    • Zubin on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io/epicenter. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices, and lowest slippage. *Terms and conditions apply.

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/385


    Kolten Bergeron & Robert Lauko: Liquity – The Decentralized Borrowing Protocol Mar 26, 2021

    Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol that allows you to draw interest-free loans against Ether used as collateral. In addition to the collateral, the loans are secured by a Stability Pool containing LUSD and by fellow borrowers collectively acting as guarantors of last resort. Liquity as a protocol is non-custodial, immutable, and governance-free.

    We were joined by Robert Lauko, CEO & Co-founder, and Kolten Bergeron, Head of Growth, of Liquity. We chatted about how the protocol is built and the mechanisms used, how to borrow, and the stability pool and liquidations.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Robert and Kolten's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • What led Robert to create Liquity
    • What Liquity is and the liquidation mechanism used
    • The function of the stability pool
    • The process of existing troves taking on the debt of undercollateralized troves
    • Liquity vs Compound & MakerDAO
    • LUSD redemptions
    • How the Recovery mode works
    • The purpose of the LQTY token
    • How the algorithmic monetary policy works

    Episode links:

    • Liquity
    • Liquity docs
    • Liquity on Medium
    • Liquity on GitHub
    • Robert on Twitter
    • Kolten on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Zubin Koticha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/384


    Joey Zacherl: KeeperDAO – The On-Chain Liquidity Underwriter Mar 19, 2021

    KeeperDao is an on-chain liquidity underwriter for DeFi that combines yield farming and profits single-block arbitrage. The mining pool for Keepers incentivizes a game theory optimal strategy for cooperation among arbitrageurs. Their goal is to capture profit opportunities and distribute them to the various participants involved.

    We were joined by Joey Zacherl, Co-founder of KeeperDAO, to chat about what the protocol does and its mission, the grim triggering strategy, the ongoing hiding game, and the roadmap for the future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Joey's background and how he got into crypto
    • An overview of VolleyFire
    • What KeeperDAO does and its mission
    • How KeeperDAO users pool funds to to profit from on-chain arbitrage and liquidation opportunities
    • The grim trigger and hiding game strategies
    • KeeperDAO integrations and gas costs
    • The KeeperDAO governance roadmap
    • The ROOK token
    • Can keepers carry out malicious attacks?

    Episode links:

    • KeeperDAO
    • KeeperDAO on Medium
    • The KeeperDAO whitepaper
    • KeeperDAO on Twitter
    • Joey Zacherl

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/383


    Alex Salnikov: Rarible – The NFT Transformation Mar 11, 2021

    NFTs are a new paradigm that opens possibilities for new types of interactions. In digital art, it has caught on like wildfire and is transforming how people think of ownership.

    Alex Salnikov has been immersed in the crypto world for many years and recognized the potential of NFTs. He created Rarible, an NFT marketplace that has seen rapid growth. But the vision of Rarible is to be more an open transaction protocol for NFTs and serve many different markets.

    He joined us to discuss the different NFT use cases and how NFTs can scale and function in a multi-chain world. It's a great conversation at the unfolding of a new paradigm.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alex's background and how he got into crypto
    • How Rarible was created and why they decided to focus on NFTs
    • What are NFTs and how are they different to other cryptocurrencies
    • What’s driving the massive growth of NFTs right now?
    • The link between owning an NFT and legal ownership
    • How does Alex see NFTs and Rarible evolving in the future
    • How NFTs work on a technical level, storing metadata securely, and the costs of minting NFTs
    • The roadmap of Rarible as a marketplace and the challenges associated with it

    Episode links:

    • Rarible
    • Rarible on Medium
    • Rarible on OpenSea
    • Rarible on Twitter
    • Alex on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/382


    Julien Bouteloup: Stake Capital/Rekt – Uncovering the Dark Side of DeFi Mar 03, 2021

    Julien Bouteloup is a serial entrepreneur, Ethereum developer and addict of crazy innovative ideas. He started his entrepreneurial career building websites and selling hardware technologies at age 14. Today he is involved with many projects including Stake Capital, Rekt, Curve Finance, and he advises several crypto companies.

    Julien strives to bring to light the dark side of crypto. As DeFi grows, so do the number of questionable projects and ethical concerns around certain practices. Julien joins us to talk about the excesses in the DeFi space and how the ecosystem should cope with them.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Julien's background, how he found crypto, and the various projects Julien is working on today
    • The Stake DAO - its purpose and vision
    • Julien's views on the state of DeFi today
    • Price arbitrage attacks in the ecosystem - Flashloans
    • Julien's involvement in Curve Finance and how this platform is pushing towards more resilient DeFi protocols
    • Julien's thoughts on NFT and Decentralized Monopoly
    • Curve's reaction to the launch of Saddle
    • The role of validators in the space

    Episode links:

    • Stake Capital
    • Rekt News
    • Rekt Capital on Twitter
    • Decentralised Monopoly
    • Julien on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Stacker Ventures: A community-run protocol for initiating and managing pooled capital on the Ethereum blockchain. Structured as a DAO, it initiates decentralized funds, accelerates portfolio investments through an involved community, and provides checks and balances to fund management - https://epicenter.rocks/stacker

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/381


    Tieshun Roquerre: Namebase – Decentralizing DNS and Certificate Authorities Feb 23, 2021

    Namebase is a top-level domain (TLD) name registrar that operates on the Handshake blockchain. It creates an ecosystem of TLDs that may be bought and sold using an on-chain auction mechanism. It takes a different approach to other decentralized domain name systems as Namebase is compatible with the ICANN namespace, the organization governs domain names globally. Users may register TLDs that don't yet exist in the ICANN namespace, like .epicenter or .ethereum, for example, creating the opportunity for new niche domain registrars to emerge.

    Tieshun Roquerre, CEO of Namebase, joins us to discuss his vision for Namebase and his ambitious goal to decentralize ICANN.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tieshun's background and how he got into crypto
    • Why and how Namebase was created and its relationship to Handshake
    • Domain name systems on blockchain
    • The history of ICANN and how it functions
    • Domain name censorship and security issues surrounding certificate authorities
    • How are they preparing for the inevitable fork between ICANN and Handshake
    • Namebase and Handshake improve on DNS and certificate authorities
    • Namebase's business model and roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Namebase
    • Handshake
    • Namebase on Twitter
    • Tieshun on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/380


    Muneeb Ali: Stacks – Building Decentralized Apps and Smart Contracts on Bitcoin Feb 16, 2021

    Stacks is an open-source network of decentralized apps and smart contracts. It is a Layer-1 blockchain that connects to Bitcoin. Stacks uses a Proof of Transfer mining mechanism with bidding and staking capabilities. Clarity is the programming language used, a Turing-incomplete language which aims to give developers a safe way to build complex smart contracts where the code itself clearly shows what the program will do when run.

    Muneeb Ali is the CEO and Co-founder of Hiro Systems, one of the companies creating Stacks. He joined us to chat about why he felt there was a need for Stacks, why he chose to build on top of Bitcoin, and the types of apps that are currently being run on Stacks 2.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Muneeb's background and how he got into crypto
    • Why Stacks was created
    • How this works being built on Bitcoin
    • Mining and bidding on blocks
    • Smart contracting on Stacks - Clarity programming language
    • Stacks vs “Bitcoin on Ethereum”
    • Stacks vs Rootstack
    • The apps that currently run on Stacks 2.0

    Episode links:

    • Stacks website
    • Stacks whitepaper
    • Stacking
    • Proof of Transfer
    • Hiro
    • Stacks on Twitter
    • Muneeb on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/379


    Alexis Sellier & Eleftherios Diakomichalis: Radicle – The Decentralized Platform for Code Collaboration Feb 10, 2021

    Radicle is a decentralized platform for code collaboration. It's built on Git and is an open-source decentralized alternative to platforms like GitHub. Tools like Radicle are an essential component of the decentralized technology stack and will enable DAOs to commit code through governance.
    Co-founders Alexis Sellier & Eleftherios Diakomichalis joined us to chat about why they felt it was important to create Radicle and how it fits into the DAO ecosystem with a more accessible governance system of code.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - What Radicle is and the vision they are pursuing
    - After both working on Soundcloud, the lessons that were carried over to this project
    - The Cathedral vs Bazaar model
    - Git usage with the tool
    - The technical architecture of Radicle
    - The other differences between Radicle and GitHub
    - Storage and replicating solutions between peers
    - How Radicle promotes open source sustainability
    - Ethereum integration with the tool
    Episode links:
    - [Radicle website](https://radicle.xyz/)
    - [Radicle docs](https://docs.radicle.xyz/docs/what-is-radicle.html)
    - [Radicle on Twitter](https://twitter.com/radicle)
    - [Alexis on Twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudhead)
    - [Eleftherios on Twitter](https://twitter.com/lftherios)
    Sponsors:
    - 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch
    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/378](https://epicenter.tv/378)


    Harsh Rajat: Ethereum Push Notification Service – The Decentralized Notification Protocol Feb 02, 2021

    Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) emerged from the Indian startup scene in 2020. It's a decentralized notification protocol that enables DApps to send push notifications to Ethereum wallet users. EPNS also provides incentives to users that opt-in for push notifications, creating the possibility for an ecosystem communities around topic-centric channels.

    We are joined by Harsh Rajat, Project Lead and Co-founder of EPNS. We chatted about why and how the protocol was built, its technical structure, the purpose of incentivizing users to receive notifications, and how they tackle spam.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Harsh's background and how he got involved in crypto
    • The beginning of Ethereum Push Notification Service
    • The design patterns considered when building EPNS
    • What is a decentralized push notification service?
    • Unique use cases that could benefit from DeFi push notifications
    • The structure of the protocol and how it actually works
    • The purpose of incentivizing users to receive notifications
    • The Spam Score - how EPNS filter spam
    • How EPNS plan to onboard and incentivize wallets to integrate

    Episode links:

    • EPNS website
    • EPNS app
    • Whitepaper
    • EPNS on Twitter
    • Harsh on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/377


    Aaron Wright: The LAO – DAOs From a Legal Perspective Jan 26, 2021

    Aaron Wright is a professor at Cardozo Law School and Co-founder of OpenLaw. Before this he was a successful entrepreneur, having sold his first company to Wikia - the for-profit version of Wikipedia. Today Aaron is a renowned thought-leader in the blockchain space at the forefront of DAOs. Last year OpenLaw launched The LAO, a DAO on Ethereum for investors looking to earn returns on Ethereum-based projects.

    Aaron joins us to share his expert legal knowledge on all things DAO, and discuss his latest projects the LAO and Flamingo DAO.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Aaron's background and how he got into blockchain and the DAO space
    • The early vision for DAOs
    • Stakeholder participation in DAOs
    • Wrapped and unwrapped DAOs
    • Proxy voting on DAOs
    • Governance mechanisms
    • The multi-token model
    • How DAOs are characterized under law and the legislation surrounding them
    • The Wyoming Blockchain Bill
    • The different categories of DAOs
    • Where does Aaron see the DAO ecosystem headed in the future

    Episode links:

    • OpenLaw website
    • The LAO
    • Mike Hearn: Autonomous agents, self driving cars and Bitcoin
    • Aaron's book - Blockchain and the Law: The Rule of Code
    • OpenLaw on Twitter
    • The LAO on Twitter
    • Aaron on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/376


    Trent Elmore: YAM Finance 🍠 – The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the OG Foodcoin Jan 19, 2021

    During the DeFi Summer of 2020, YAM Finance launched with a bang, and had its share of ups and downs within its first couple of days. It started out as an experiment to bring together some of the more innovative ideas in the space. It sparked a movement which brought massive attention to yield farming, and started the food token craze. After a bug was discovered in the v1 contract, many thought the project was dead. But no, the team and community have been working diligently to bring the protocol back to life and it's now a community-run DAO innovating at the intersection of decentralized governance and programmable finance.

    Trent Elmore is one of the creators of YAM. He joins us to talk about the incredibly swift birth of the project, the rebase mechanism, the treasury, the infamous bug and how they saved the project. He also shares some of the new upcoming products on the YAM Roadmap, and how a truly decentralized community is rebuilding its brand.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Trent's background and how he got into crypto and DeFi
    • How YAM and food tokens were born
    • The team behind YAM
    • What was the vision of the project at the beginning?
    • The proposed utility of the protocol
    • How the treasury funding works in the context of the rebasing mechanism
    • The Game Theory for YAM holders
    • How they built their communities and choose tokens
    • YAM's connection between their governance and Snapshot
    • The infamous bug in V1 and how they recovered from it
    • What plans do they have for the treasury and products going forward, including the recent UMA collaboration

    Episode links:

    • YAM on Twitter
    • YAM Finance
    • Discord
    • YAM on Medium
    • Trent on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/375


    The Great Epicenter Host Extravaganza 2021 Jan 12, 2021

    The new year has brought with it a new bull run. This is great news for crypto holders, but at what cost? Will this bring with it a number of negative implications such as regulatory push back and privacy battles? Listen as the five hosts of Epicenter come together for an in-depth chat to share their predictions for the crypto space in 2021.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Each of our hosts share how 2020 went for them
    • In-depth individual predictions on where things are headed with the current bull market
    • Public backlash to the crypto system
    • Regulatory and tax related implications to crypto
    • The battleground of privacy
    • US regulatory pressure and the effect on the US Dollar

    Episode links:

    • Omen Prediction Market - Will The Flippening happen in 2021?
    • Brian on Twitter
    • Friederike on Twitter
    • Meher on Twitter
    • Sebastien on Twitter
    • Sunny on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Meher Roy, Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/374


    Eric Wall: Arcane Assets – The Future of Digital Investments Jan 06, 2021

    Eric Wall is the Chief Investment Officer at Arcane Assets, but you may already know him from his writing and his presence on Twitter where he offers valuable insights on crypto markets. He joined us on the show to share with us his deep and timely insights into the current bull run and how this compared to 2017, where it is headed from here, and also he opens up on his normally guarded thoughts on the future of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Eric's background and how he got into crypto
    • Eric's experience working with Cinnober and Nasdaq
    • Using blockchain as an underlying substrate in the traditional finance ecosystem
    • An overview of Arcane Assets
    • Eric's thesis behind Bitcoin
    • The current Bitcoin bull run
    • How Arcane deals with transaction fee problems and solutions that may address these over the coming years
    • Using the value proposition of Ether when Bitcoin is store value
    • Eric opens up on how he thinks Ethereum will become adopted in mainstream finance
    • Why does the Bitcoin community reject tokens?
    • What is different in the current bull market compared to 2017
    • Eric's predictions on how this bull market will play out

    Episode links:

    • Arcane Assets
    • Arcane Crypto
    • Nine Bitcoin Charts Already at All-Time Highs
    • Crypto Market Structure 3.0
    • Arcane on Twitter
    • Eric on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/373


    The Path to Digital Democracy Dec 29, 2020

    In this digital age, counting ballots by hand, as recently seen in the US Presidential Election, is very analogue and behind the times. Although the US constitution is over two centuries old and hasn't had a major version update since 1992, European democracies are much more recent and utilizing the technology available today.

    This panel discussion looks at how open technologies and new systems of governance could be a path toward a future of democracy. We also hear about the avenues for improvement with modern voting techniques and liquid democracy.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Introductions to all panel members
    • The state of democratic processes in G20 countries today and which are at the forefront of innovation
    • What are the incentives for different stakeholders in liquid democracy
    • How can digital voting systems be trusted?
    • Implementing and reviewing new democratic systems
    • The journey forward for digital democracy

    Episode links:

    • An information-theoretic model of voting systems
    • Hacking Democracy with Fabric Ventures
    • Jon Nash on Twitter
    • Santiago Siri on Twitter
    • Professor Amrita Dhillon
    • Dr Grammateia Kotsialou
    • Fabric Ventures
    • CogX

    Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/372


    Rethinking the Justice System: A Digital Jurisdiction for Decentralized Organisations Dec 22, 2020

    In today's world, life and business is moving more into to a virtual space and this has of course been accelerated as a result of the Covid pandemic. Now more than ever it is important to rethink the very basis of how we organise, make decisions, and structure the world’s governance. And how can we do this in the context of crypto and Web3?

    Web3 infrastructure can provide the foundations of a digital jurisdiction. In the Web3 world rules are enforced by decentralized governance and DAOs allow for a group of stakeholders to participate in governance of an organisation that has no affiliation to a nation state. How do we treat that in the judicial system and how does it sit within existing national jurisdictions?

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What is a digital jurisdiction?
    • How Aragon is helping create decentralised autonomous organisations and communities
    • The behaviours of millennials today and how geographical borders have fallen
    • How to ensure new digital jurisdictions remain utopian
    • Some applications currently being built on Aragon
    • Where new systems sit within current judicial systems
    • Why Tim invested in the Aragon Network Token (ANT) model

    Episode links:

    • Powered By Aragon
    • Aragon Project on Twitter
    • Draper Associates
    • Luis Cuende on Twitter
    • Tim Draper on Twitter
    • Luis on Epicenter: Episode #236
    • Rethinking the Justice System: A Digital Jurisdiction for Decentralised Organisations | CogX 2020
    • Fabric Ventures
    • CogX

    Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/371


    Leonard Tan & Yong Zhen Yu: The Decentralized Key Management and Login System for Web3 Dec 18, 2020

    Torus is an open-source and universal key management system for the Web3 ecosystem. It's simple, secure and non-custodial, and suitable for anyone to manage their keys. Torus runs a Distributed Key Generation protocol built on Shamir's Secret Sharing.

    Supporting over a hundred thousand authentications a month on popular applications like AAVE, KyberSwap, Augur, GoodDollar, and MyCryptoHeroes, Torus empowers decentralised applications with seamless user onboarding flows while maintaining recoverability and high standards of security for key management.

    The Torus Wallet is the second layer to the system and allows one-click login and authentication on partners including Gmail, Facebook, or passwordless logins on Web3 applications. It is however reinforced behind the scenes by a clever distributed architecture. Notably, clever cryptography makes it possible for users to send crypto to social accounts that don't yet have crypto wallet. For example, one could send crypto to a Twitter username, which could be claimed once the recipient creates an account.
    The team also recently released a custom version of two-factor authentication (2FA), tKey.

    We were joined by Founders of Torus, Yong Zhen Yu and Leonard Tan, who gave us fascinating insight into why and how Torus was built, the recent products released, and what their aims are for the future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Zhen and Leonard's backgrounds and how they got into crypto
    • How and why Torus was formed
    • The path Torus has followed over the past year
    • Unwrapping the base layer, the Torus Network
    • How Shamir's Secret Sharing works and why Torus chose to build on it
    • The Torus Wallet and a step by step of how it works
    • Torus and account portability
    • Use cases and applications built on Torus
    • The second layer of security, tKey
    • Their plans for introducing Touch ID
    • How Torus educate their users on how to stay secure
    • The long term goal for Torus and how users are protected in the future

    Episode links:

    • Torus website
    • Torus Status
    • A beginner’s guide to Shamir’s Secret Sharing
    • Developer documentation
    • Torus on Telegram
    • Torus Charity Twitter Campaign
    • What Distributed Key Generation Is
    • Key Assignments, Resolution and Retrieval
    • How to Share a Secret in Production
    • tKey - An open standard for threshold key management - HackMD
    • Torus on Twitter
    • Zhen on Twitter
    • Leonard on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/B003


    Hasu & Kain Warwick: Diving Deep Into Liquidity Mining Dec 16, 2020

    Crypto is largely reliant on incentive mechanisms, and liquidity mining is one of the more recent cryptoeconomic incentive models to emerge. When decentralized exchanges need liquidity, they can leverage liquidity mining to incentivize users to provide it. In turn, the “miners” generate revenue, generally in the form of a native tokens, proportional to their share of liquidity in a pool. This summer saw a surge in activity surrounding this concept, with Synthetix a notable player.

    Kain Warwick is the founder of Synthetix, a company creating synthetic assets for DeFi, enabling exposure to fiat currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Hasu is a crypto researcher and writer with a focus on game theory and economics. They joined us to explain the key concepts behind liquidity mining, how and why it was created, and its increasingly important role in DeFi.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Introductions by Kain and Hasu
    • How and when liquidity mining was created
    • What they hoped to achieve with their liquidity mining programs
    • How liquidity mining works in Synthetix
    • Incentive mechanisms
    • Yield Farming and 'getting rich'
    • How Automated Market Makers (AMM) played a part in the success of liquidity mining
    • How Uniswap leverages liquidity mining
    • Projects that don't currently have liquidity mining but would benefit from it
    • Use cases in pre-blockchain systems

    Episode links:

    • Synthetix website
    • Kain on Epicenter, Episode 325
    • Uncommon Core
    • Deribit Insights
    • Synthetix on Twitter
    • Kain on Twitter
    • Hasu on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • cPanel: cPanel's WordPress Toolkit is the all in one solution that makes hosting your website easier than it's ever been - https://epicenter.rocks/cpanel
    • Algorand: Learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications - https://algorand.com/epicenter
    • 1inch: Discover the best rates and most efficient swapping routes across leading DEXes. Optimize on gas cost and execute DeFi trades faster with 1inch V2 - https://epicenter.rocks/1inch

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/370


    Sandeep Nailwal: Matic – A Scalable Layer-2 Dapp Platform for Ethereum Dec 08, 2020

    Matic Network is a Layer-2 scaling solution that provides instant, low cost, and secure transactions on Ethereum. Built on an adapted implementation of Plasma and a decentralized network of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validators, its goal is to solve the scalability and usability issues for developers building Dapps, whilst not compromising on decentralization and user experience.

    Sandeep Nailwal, COO & Co-founder of Matic, joins us to chat about how Matic works and the problems it's solving, and we also get a fascinating look into the crypto and startup community in India.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sandeep’s background and how he got involved in crypto
    • What the crypto scene looks like within Bangalore’s startup ecosystem
    • How have the Indian regulations on crypto affected Matic's business
    • What Matic is and the main problem it’s solving
    • A deep dive into Matic’s technical infrastructure and building on Tendermint
    • Why choose Matic over other off-chain scaling solutions for Ethereum
    • Matic's leveraging of hackathons in their go-to-market strategy
    • Some of the trade offs one needs to make when using Matic
    • How Matic will fit into the Ethereum 2.0 ecosystem as it develops
    • Dagger, and other tools they are planning to build
    • Learning more about Matic

    Episode links:

    • Matic website
    • What is Matic Network?
    • Episode 352 with Jack O'Holleran of SKALE Labs
    • Episode 336 with Jinglan Wang & Karl Floersch of Optimism
    • Episode 340 with Daniel Wang of Loopring
    • Matic on Twitter
    • Sandeep on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • cPanel: cPanel's WordPress Toolkit is the all in one solution that makes hosting your website easier than it's ever been - https://epicenter.rocks/cpanel
    • Algorand: Learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/369


    Juan Benet: Protocol Labs – IPFS, Filecoin and the Vision for a Decentralized Web (Part 2 of 2) Dec 01, 2020

    Filecoin is a peer-to-peer network data storage network, with built-in economic incentives for storage providers. It facilitates open-markets for storing and retrieving data, in which anyone can participate. Users can pay the network to access storage space, which can be encrypted, replicated, and highly available. After years of development and iteration, Filecoin recently launched its mainnet. The long term vision of the protocol is a fully decentralized future for the web.

    Juan Benet, Founder & CEO of Protocol Labs, returns for the second part of this 2-part episode. In this show we deep dive in to the technical aspects of Filecoin, how Juan and his team decided to design it, and the types of projects that are building on top of it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Filecoin works under the hood and the life cycle of data
    • The role of miners in the protocol
    • The bridge between Filecoin and Ethereum
    • How the economics of Filecoin were designed
    • How governance works in the Filecoin network
    • The Filecoin Foundation
    • The projects that are building on top of Filecoin
    • Juan’s views on blockchain scalability and Ethereum 2.0, and the challenges Web3 faces

    Episode links:

    • Filecoin website
    • Protocol Labs website
    • IPFS website
    • Episode #367 with Juan Benet (Part 1 in this series)
    • Episode #100 with Juan Benet
    • Filecoin on Twitter
    • Juan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • cPanel: cPanel's WordPress Toolkit is the all in one solution that makes hosting your website easier than it's ever been - https://epicenter.rocks/cpanel
    • Algorand: Learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/368


    IPFS, Filecoin and The Vision for a Decentralized Web (Part 1 of 2) Nov 26, 2020

    IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a fully decentralized distributed system for storing and accessing files, websites, applications, and data. Released just over 5 years ago by Protocol Labs, it has had a tremendous impact in the Web3 space as the standard for how blockchain projects store data. Filecoin is a complementary protocol to IPFS and was recently launched on the mainnet. Filecoin is the economic layer which powers IPFS's decentralized file storage network. It enables users to store their files at hypercompetitive prices and verify that their files are being stored and replicated correctly. And it allows storage providers to sell their storage on an open market.

    Juan Benet is the Founder & CEO of Protocol Labs, which has had a huge impact in the blockchain ecosystem, as organisation behind IPFS and Filecoin. Juan returns to the show after 5 years to give us an important update on the long-term vision to fund innovative technologies, IPFS since it was created, and Filecoin as a foundation to a new decentralized cloud.This is a 2-part series and in the next episode we deep dive in to the technical aspects of Filecoin.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An update on Protocol Labs and how it has grown on the Bell Labs model
    • How they bridge the gap between a research foundation (Bell Labs) and a company (Protocol Labs)
    • The intersection between computer science and crypto
    • How the Protocol Labs organisation is setup and how Juan has led it as a solo founder
    • An overview of IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and how it has evolved since our last interview
    • An introduction to the Filecoin blockchain and its unique design
    • How Filecoin is fundamentally different from other layer-1 blockchains
    • How hash rates and storage fees affect the Filecoin blockchain consensus system
    • The potential impacts of Filecoin on a global level

    Episode links:

    • Filecoin website
    • Protocol Labs website
    • IPFS website
    • Episode #100 with Juan Benet
    • Filecoin on Twitter
    • Juan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • cPanel: cPanel's WordPress Toolkit is the all in one solution that makes hosting your website easier than it's ever been - https://epicenter.rocks/cpanel
    • Algorand: Learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/367


    Trent McConaghy: Ocean Protocol – The Platform Making Waves in the Data Industry Nov 19, 2020

    Data is a huge industry, worth about $500 billion in Europe alone. And currently there's a fundamental misalignment between those creating data and those consuming it. There's a one direction value flow in terms of those who are providing the value (the data) and those extracting it. These are big tech platforms that typically use that data to sell signals and advertising to brands and merchants. This is referred to as a shadow data economy and it's time to flip this model on its head.

    Ocean Protocol is a platform which creates data marketplaces, providing an alternative to the current model. Data providers can sell their data to the platform to whoever wants to buy it and that data set is represented as a token. The value is a function of the usefulness of that data. This creates a much more equitable market where value flow is more cyclical than one directional.

    Trent McConaghy, Founder of Ocean Protocol, joins us to chat about the platform. They have just released V3 which has seen the introduction of the data token, the Ocean Market, and a new home on the Ethereum Mainchain.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Trent’s background and long history of building blockchain products
    • The business models built around data and the “Shadow Data Economy”
    • What Ocean Protocol is and what it achieves
    • Technical components and stakeholders in the Ocean Protocol
    • Staking and providing liquidity for datatoken markets
    • The Ocean Market and activity since the launch
    • Ocean Protocol and its compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR
    • Ocean Protocol V3 and migrating from a sidechain to the mainnet
    • The future of Ocean Protocol and the potential for data stream markets

    Episode links:

    • Ocean Protocol website
    • Ocean V3 release
    • Episode 78 - Ascribe – The Internet of Ownership
    • Episode 126 - BigchainDB – Scalable Public Distributed Databases
    • Episode 184 - IPDB – The Interplanetary Database and its Applications in AI
    • Ocean Protocol on Twitter
    • Trent on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/366


    Martin Köppelmann: Circles – Creating Universal Basic Income Economies for Everyone Nov 10, 2020

    Circles UBI is a blockchain-based Universal Basic Income created to promote local economy within communities. It was recently launched on Ethereum’s POA network.

    The idea is to create a parallel economy by forming trust lines within Circles. Anyone who joins Circles receives a basic income regularly, without conditions. And the more connected your community is, the more valuable your Circles become. Also it is fully decentralized. What makes Circles special is that it doesn't market itself to anyone specific in crypto. It positions itself as an ecosystem and protocol that can help anyone create and promote a local economy within their local community. In the current economic crisis, this is a hugely powerful tool for societies to utilise.

    Martin Köppelmann, CEO of Gnosis, joins us for his third appearance on the show. He is also the creator of Circles and chats to us about why he believes the world needs this, and how the project works.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What Universal Basic Income (UBI) is and Martin’s interest and support of it
    • Pros and cons of funding UBI through taxation
    • Explaining Circles’ decentralized UBI
    • How ‘personal tokens’ work in Circles
    • Issuance and trust connections
    • Dealing with sybil attacks
    • On throughput limits
    • Conditions attached to your account
    • How UBI keeps up with inflation
    • Getting started with Circles
    • Attracting non crypto users and driving demand
    • Can Circles move onto Layer-2 - UX Design choices
    • Learn more about Circles and get involved

    Episode links:

    • Circles UBI website
    • Circles Whitepaper
    • Martin on Epicenter - Episode 271, How the dxDAO could become the world’s largest organization
    • Martin on Epicenter - Episode 139, Gnosis – The Ethereum Prediction Market
    • Find Circles on Meetup
    • Circles Twitter
    • Martin Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/365


    Alchemy – A Powerful Developer Platform and API for Ethereum Apps Nov 03, 2020

    Alchemy is a powerful blockchain developer platform providing a suite of developer tools. Developers building apps which interact with Ethereum can use Alchemy's powerful APIs to supercharge their apps, and leverage features not available in vanilla nodes. They also provide services like analytics, monitoring, alerting, logging and debugging.

    Today, a number of the top Dapps in the Ethereum ecosystem use Alchemy, and the company recently made their API available to the general public. We chatted to Nikil Viswanathan, CEO & Co-founder about the platform, how it works and the problems it solves. We also addressed the concerns around centralization and ecosystem resiliency.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Nikil's background and how he got into crypto
    • The Blockchain infrastructure
    • Why Alchemy chose to focus Ethereum
    • On building developer tools, and what Alchemy offers
    • How it works on a technical level and how it’s different from what else is available on the market
    • What can users do with supernodes
    • Plans for expanding into validation and other services in the future
    • Concerns for user privacy
    • Adoption of Alchemy among crypto projects
    • Nikil’s views on centralization concerns and ecosystem resiliency
    • How Jay-Z become an investor/advisor and other interesting partnerships with Alchemy
    • Where to learn more and join Alchemy

    Episode links:

    • Alchemy Website
    • Get started on Alchemy
    • Alchemy Supernode
    • Alchemy on Twitter
    • Nikil on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/364


    Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX & Project Serum – The World's First Decentralized Derivatives Exchange Oct 27, 2020

    Alameda Research is a quant trading fund founded in 2017. Today it manages over $100 million in digital assets and trades $600 million to $1.5 billion per day across thousands of products: all major coins and altcoins, as well as their derivatives. Whilst running this fund, the team thought there was space for a robust crypto derivatives exchange build for traders which solves some of the issues they saw in derivatives trading. FTX is the crypto derivatives trading platform which came out of Alameda. In just under two years of existence, it has grown to become one of the top trading platforms for crypto, trading over $1B per day in derivatives.

    The FTX team are also working on Project Serum. It’s an ambitious project to create a fully decentralized and permissionless DEX and DeFi ecosystem with trustless cross-chain trading. Serum is being built on Solana to allow a centralized orderbook. This offers a much higher speed and throughput than Ethereum. The goal is to create a robust DEX ecosystem which can compete with centralized exchanges on speed, all while being fully interoperable with Ethereum.

    Today our guest is Sam Bankman-Fried, he is the CEO of FTX and Alameda Research, and co-founder of Project Serum. We hear all about his journey from Alameda, to FTX, and to his latest venture, Serum.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Sam’s background and how he became involved in crypto trading
    • Why and how FTX was created
    • How FTX works and why the big focus on derivatives
    • The cross-over between FTX and Alameda
    • What Serum is and how it fits in the long term vision of FTX
    • Sam’s view on where products on DeFi are falling short and how it can be fixed
    • What are the trade-offs on Serum?
    • The off chain Serum order book
    • How cross-chain swaps work
    • The boundaries of the Serum ecosystem in relation to Solana
    • What is the governance mechanism on Serum
    • Sam’s view on the AMM argument
    • Where Sam thinks the DeFi ecosystem is heading and what is needed for it to gain legitimacy in the traditional finance world

    Episode links:

    • FTX
    • Alameda Research
    • Project Serum
    • Epicenter episode 312 with Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-founder and CEO of Solana
    • SushiSwap Twitter thread
    • FTX on Twitter
    • Sam on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/363


    Simon Polrot: Adan – Unraveling MiCA and the New Regulations Threatening Crypto in Europe Oct 20, 2020

    Adan (Association for the Development of Digital Assets), is an organization which helps promote the development of the crypto industry in France, and more broadly in Europe. Its President, Simon Polrot, is also the Co-founder Ethereum France, which host the EthCC conference in Paris.

    The European Commission has released a regulatory proposal, MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets), which falls under The Digital Finance Package. The Adan team have been working hard to understand, dissect and establish positions with regards to this regulation. The scope of this MiCA is vast, and it covers nearly every type of activity which relates to cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, stablecoins, and security tokens in Europe. In addition to being broad, it puts enormous restrictions on the DeFi ecosystem by merely ignoring most decentralized use cases, making it nearly impossible for DeFi to continue existing as we know it. It's an important piece of regulation which would apply to almost every crypto asset company or issuer across the European continent, as well as companies who have customers or do business here.

    We chat to Simon who explains what the draft proposal means and the effects it will have on the European crypto industry. He also shares how the community can get involved in steering the regulation in favour of the industry before it's passed into law.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Simon's background and how he became involved in crypto
    • Adan's mission in France en Europe
    • The high level principles of crypto regulations in Europe and the frameworks already in place
    • The EU Commission's Digital Finance Package explained
    • What MiCA is and who falls under this regulation
    • How the Commission identifies “token issuers”
    • How MiCA affects DeFi stablecoins like DAI
    • What are Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and how they are concerned by MiCA
    • How the regulations may impact mining and staking
    • How MiCA favors financial institutions over startups in the crypto space
    • Why Simon thinks there is a positive side to this regulatory proposal
    • What Adan is doing to raise awareness and lobby to amend this proposal and repair the issues arising out of the draft proposal
    • How crypto companies can take part in the work of getting this regulation amended before it passes into law
    • The possibility for an alternative crypto finance ecosystem to emerge from this regulation

    Episode links:

    • Adan Website
    • About Adan
    • Adan Webinar: Understanding the MiCA and Pilot Regime crypto regulation
    • Become a member of Adan
    • Adan on Twitter
    • Simon on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/362


    Kyle Samani: Multicoin Capital – The Thesis-Driven Cryptoasset Investment Firm Oct 13, 2020

    Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm that invests in cryptocurrencies, tokens, and blockchain companies. They manage a hedge fund and a venture fund, investing across both public and private markets. They are extremely bullish on smart contract platforms and DeFi is one of their main areas of focus. They've invested in several projects and companies such as Algorand, Arweave, Nervos, Skale, Solana, to name a few.

    We originally had Multicoin on the show in February of 2018 when they were still reasonably new and we were in the height of the ICO bubble. Kyle Samani, Co-founder and Managing Partner, joins us back on the show to share not only how Multicoin has changed since then, but also the cryptoasset industry as a whole.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What are the Multicoin theses and have they changed since Kyle was last on the show
    • Why the most used smart contract platform will produce the winning store of value
    • The role of gold in today's economy
    • Bitcoin gaining traction in today's asset management circle
    • Other assets that will eventually displace Bitcoin
    • Which projects Multicoin are backing at the moment
    • DeFi vs CeFi and latency
    • Discussing what DeFi actually is
    • Cryptocurrency's future role in the traditional financial system and the impact of potential new regulations
    • How the cryptoasset industry has changed since Multicoin started and where it is headed
    • The underrated areas Multicoin are looking at today

    Episode links:

    • Multicoin Capital
    • Multicoin's first appearance on Epicenter
    • Multicoin blog
    • The Multicoin Thesis
    • Multicoin on Twitter
    • Kyle on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/361


    Ido Sadeh Man: Sögur – The Digital Coin Changing Global Currency for the Better (sponsored) Oct 08, 2020

    Sögur, formerly known as Saga, aims to provide a global digital currency that acts as a store of value, a unit of account, and a medium of exchange. It is not impacted by any single nation state agenda and complements national currencies. And it is governed by its holders.

    The SGR is Sögur's digital coin. It's built to provide a self-sustaining, democratic and global currency. It uses a bonding curve market maker, which is modelled to control and mitigate volatility exposure and value loss when market conditions are fast-changing and unpredictable. All whilst creating an opportunity for sustainable intrinsic value growth. SGR holders are the currency decision makers, and enjoy democratic voting rights over how SGR operates now and as it continues to evolve.

    Sögur is interesting as it starts off looking like a stablecoin, but as the market grows it departs from its peg to become a free floating currency. It is currently pegged to the SDR (Special Drawing Rights). Deposits are held in FIAT reserves and as demand for SGR increases, the reserve ratio decreases. This causes the relative price to go up.

    Ido Sadeh Man is chairman of the board and founder of Sögur. He joins us on the show to discuss the background of the project and what it is hoping to achieve, and an in depth look into the monetary policy of the SGR. He also talks about the impressive team and advisory board that is behind the project.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ido's background and how he got into crypto
    • Why the time is right for Sögur to have a positive impact
    • Centres of stability on a global scale
    • What Sögur is and what problem it solves
    • How it works as a stablecoin
    • The economics of the Sögur (SGR) currency
    • The connection to the SDR (Special Drawings Right)
    • Redeemability of reserves
    • Why Sögur was built on Ethereum and not its own blockchain
    • The effects of limitations and gas fees
    • Will SGR bridge to all networks?
    • The bonding curve model
    • The governance structure of Sögur and the smart contract itself
    • Stake-based voting vs participant-based voting
    • Where reserves are held
    • The team of investors backing Sögur
    • The effects of changing regulations on Sögur
    • The long term vision for Sögur

    Episode links:

    • Sögur Website
    • Sögur Monetary
    • The Voting Mechanism
    • Sögur on Medium
    • Sögur on Twitter
    • Ido on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. This podcast episode was sponsored by Sögur.


    Demetri Kofinas: Uncovering the Hidden Forces of Today's Society Oct 06, 2020

    Hidden Forces is a podcast devoted to exploring the underlying forces driving the most powerful changes we see in the world. Demetri Kofinas, host of the show, holds conversations with some of the most brilliant minds in technology, finance, social science, and the hard sciences. He consults blockchain and distributed ledger technology companies, and hedge funds and venture capital firms on how to invest in and around these same emerging technologies.

    We chatted to Demetri about a range of current topics from the US presidential election, the financial crisis and the role of the federal reserve and how it's reacting to the crisis. Also the role of central banks going forward in this new reality in which we live. We also discussed crypto and specifically his thoughts on the DeFi space. He has some very interesting views there. Demetri does not hold back on what he wants to say, so this was a fun and interesting conversation which we are sure you will enjoy too!

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The US presidential election
    • Demetri’s background and why he started Hidden Forces
    • Hidden Forces and how he chooses guests and topics
    • Demetri's health
    • How Demetri sees the impact of blockchain on a societal level
    • The current economic crisis
    • The fundamental difference of the handling between past crises and the current one, by financial institutions
    • Is the US on the brink of collapse?
    • What is the role of the central bank if it can no longer function how it is supposed to, and can crypto play a role
    • What are some past dApps that would contribute value to society
    • Demetri’s views on Ampleforth
    • Can a cryptocurrency become a world reserve currency?

    Episode links:

    • Hidden Forces
    • The story of Demetri's tumour
    • Demetri's website
    • Demetri on Medium
    • Hidden Forces on Twitter
    • Demetri on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/360


    The Layer-1 Data Availability and Consensus Solution Sep 29, 2020

    NB: Since the recording of this podcast LazyLedger changed their name to Celestia.

    Celestia is a scalable general-purpose data availability layer for decentralized apps and trust-minimized sidechains. It is a minimal, viable blockchain which does time stamping and block ordering.

    Think back to Bitcoin in the early days, before Ethereum. Layer-2 systems were being built on top of Bitcoin and were leveraging Bitcoin’s consensus layer. This is what Celestia is doing, although it is purpose built and scalable for the exact use case. The implementation details are a lot more complex, and the vision is to create a modular pluggable Layer-1 that does nothing but consensus and data availability. It is designed for people who want to create their blockchain without consensus.

    The project is yet to be launched, however we had Ismail Khoffi, Co-Founder and CTO, and Mustafa Al-Bassam, Co-Founder and CEO on the show to give us a deep technical overview and vision of Celestia.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ismail and Mustafa's backgrounds, and how they got into the crypto space
    • How Ismail and Mustafa met and created Celestia
    • The Data Availability paper which was co-written with Vitalik and introduction to Celestia
    • The purpose and function of Celestia
    • How data availability works and the advantages and disadvantages to their ledger
    • The purpose of Celestia
    • How transaction fees work
    • The interoperability aspect
    • Honest validators on the block
    • Non-interactive proofs on Celestia
    • The interaction between Celestia and Cosmos SDK
    • How will Celestia compete with other Layer One's, in particular Filecoin
    • When the ledger will be launched

    Episode links:

    • Celestia website
    • Celestia blog
    • GitHub
    • Celestia Twitter
    • Ismail on Twitter
    • Mustafa on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/359


    Camila Russo: The Defiant – Laying Bare the Story of Ethereum Sep 22, 2020

    Camila Russo is a financial journalist, starting her career writing for Chile's largest national newspaper. She then spent 8 years at Bloomberg covering the Argentine market from Buenos Aires, the European stocks from Madrid, and analysed macro emerging markets moves for the Markets Live blog in New York.

    She is the founder of the Defiant and recently wrote and released a book on the foundations of Ethereum, “The Infinite Machine”. This tells the story of how 19-year-old coding genius Vitalik Buterin led a “ragtag group of feuding hackers with no business plan and no live product” to pioneer a whole new way of raising money, on a platform that’s grown to a value of $27 billion. It is being hailed a complete hit and we highly recommend you give it a read.

    Camila joined us to chat about how her journey through journalism led her to crypto, and how she became a successful author.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Camila's background and how she got into the crypto space
    • Becoming involved with Bitcoin in Argentina back in 2013
    • Her move to the US and the introduction to Ethereum in 2017
    • What made her decide to write a book and the process involved
    • Some interesting stories that didn't make the final cut
    • Camila's views on the Ethereum narrative and how it has changed over time
    • Camila's view on the current DeFi situation and the risks of regulators becoming more involved
    • What is The Defiant?
    • How to follow Camila

    Episode links:

    • Camila Russo
    • The Defiant
    • The Infinite Machine
    • Excerpt from The Infinite Machine
    • “The Infinite Machine” review
    • Camila on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications, visit algorand.com/epicenter - http://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/358


    MacLane Wilkison: NuCypher – Proxy Re-Encryption for Distributed Systems Sep 15, 2020

    NuCypher is a decentralized threshold cryptography network offering interfaces and runtimes for secrets management and dynamic access control. It provides cryptographic infrastructure for privacy preserving applications and it exists as a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. They are currently in testnet but once launched you will be able to use NuCypher to carry out proxy re-encryption.
    Proxy re-encryption is a cryptographic method that allows you to delegate re-encryption of data to a third party and in this case validators in the NuCypher network. With this method you issue a re-encryption key that is assigned to a specific public key and a third party has the ability to re-encrypt data for that third party to decrypt. In this case the NuCypher network acts as the third party service. It is useful for when you want to share data, with the ability to revoke access at a later stage.
    They also have an interesting token distribution mechanism called the WorkLock. This is similar to a Lockdrop but with work required from the participants.
    MacLane Wilkison, Co-founder and CEO of NuCypher talks about how and why the protocl was created, the challenges faced with it, and the problems it solves.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - MacLane’s background and how he got into the blockchain space
    - Challenges with working with corporate entities and getting people to understand privacy preserving technologies
    - The zeroDB protocol and how that led to NuCypher
    - What was MacLane’s goal with starting NuCypher
    - What proxy re-encryption is and why it’s desirable over manual systems
    - What are threshold signatures
    - Attributability on the protocol
    - Some use cases of using FHE on NuCypher and why they have chosen this for the protocol
    - MacLane’s thoughts on trusted hardware
    - The infrastructure of NuCypher and why it is on Ethereum
    - Results from the testnet
    - WorkLock - their token distribution mechanism and how it compares to Lockdrop
    - How you can set up a node on NuCypher
    - Current gas costs and the impact of this
    - The NuCypher business model and how they make money
    - Where to learn more about NuCypher
    Episode links:
    - [NuCypher Website](nucypher.com)
    - [NuCypher Discord](https://discord.com/invite/7rmXa3S)
    - [NuCypher blog](https://blog.nucypher.com/)
    - [WorkLock](https://blog.nucypher.com/the-worklock/)
    - [NuCypher Twitter](https://twitter.com/NuCypher)
    - [MacLane's Twitter](https://twitter.com/MacLaneWilkison)
    Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/357](https://epicenter.tv/357)


    Tarun Chitra: Gauntlet – The Simulation Platform for Blockchain Protocols Sep 09, 2020

    Gauntlet is a simulation platform for building financial models of blockchain protocols and applications. Their platform uses machine learning methods to simulate different environments with various user behaviors and see how the system holds up in those conditions. They perform analysis on things like core mechanisms to test for liveness, block propagation, and at higher layers like simulating markets. Their offering is complementary to security audits as their analysis goes beyond code functionality and looks at how systems may behave in real-life conditions.

    Tarun Chitra, CEO & Founder of Gauntlet, talks about his previous life in chip manufacturing and how he built Gauntlet. He also goes deep into the machine learning and statistical analysis involved with Gauntlet. It is quite a fascinating concept and when applied to blockchain systems, there is huge potential for this to become something that is expected by users, investors, and the community for new protocols.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tarun’s background and how he got into crypto
    • Chip manufacturing in the US and its geopolitical implications
    • What sorts of things does Gauntlet model?
    • How does historical data play a part in predicting blockchain protocol behavior
    • Simulation models used by Gauntlet
    • Game design analysis
    • The parts of the crypto economic stack that would benefit from this simulation work today
    • How does Gauntlet complement a security audit for a new blockchain
    • What tools they use for simulation
    • What Gauntlet looks like as a business and what is the roadmap going forward

    Episode links:

    • Gauntlet website
    • Gauntlet on Medium
    • Tarun on Medium
    • Tarun's papers
    • Gauntlet on Twitter
    • Tarun on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications, visit algorand.com/epicenter - http://algorand.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/356


    Marek Olszewski & Rene Reinsberg: Celo – Towards Prosperity for Everyone Sep 01, 2020

    Celo has a clear mission - to build a financial system that creates the conditions for prosperity, for everyone. The Celo Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the growth and development of the open-source, decentralized Celo Platform. Its aim is to build a flexible network of applications built on a blockchain to facilitate payments and remittances to people’s phone numbers. Guided by the Celo community tenets, the Foundation contributes to education, technical research, environmental health, community engagement, and ecosystem outreach. These activities support and encourage an inclusive financial system that solves real-world problems such as lack of access to sound currency, or friction for cash-transfer programs aimed to alleviate poverty.

    They are aiming to create a new platform to connect people globally and bring financial stability to those who need it most. Rene Reinsberg and Marek Olszewski, founders of Celo, talk about how they are using blockchain technology to achieve this.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Rene and Marek’s backgrounds and how they got into blockchain
    • The history of Celo and its mission
    • Some of the friction points with the project and how they have overcome them
    • What Celo are doing differently than other networks
    • How Celo are dealing with privacy issues
    • Why they chose to build on the EVM
    • The go-to-market strategy that Celo has chosen
    • How cUSD works and how they deal with the scalability issue on the system
    • As the reserve holds Bitcoin, how does the transfer of cUSD work?
    • cUSD vs Maker
    • The issuance protocol for transferring assets
    • Host debrief

    Episode links:

    • Celo website
    • The Celo blog
    • cLabs announces acquisition of Summa
    • Rethinking Remittances with Blockchain Technology and Celo
    • Celo Dollars
    • Plumo Channel on Discord
    • Valora
    • Celo on Twitter
    • Rene on Twitter
    • Marek on Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/355


    Cory Doctorow: Reviving the Cypherpunk in All of Us Aug 25, 2020

    Republic is an investment platform that allows anyone pretty much anywhere in the world, of any income and net worth, to invest in some of the best private equity startups. It allows regular people, not just a few wealthy accredited investors, to invest in highly vetted private startups, with as little as $10 or as much as $100,000 per investment.

    In the past, accredited investors were the only ones allowed to invest in startups through equity-based incentives. However the JOBS Act of 2016 created an exemption under the federal securities laws so that crowdfunding can be used to offer and sell securities to the general public. Republic launched just after the JOBS Act was passed with a goal to create an investment platform which was truly accessible to everyone. This was around the time that companies began raising funds with ICOs, and Republic was among the first platforms to offer a framework for Security Token Offerings.

    Republic has recently innovated again with their Republic Note product. This is a profit sharing token which allows investors to receive dividends when companies who raise money on the platform make an exit. The tokens are issued by Republic which distributes a portion of the exit profits to investors in proportion to their holdings. This is a similar model to the Binance Token, which isn't surprising since Republic was the first portfolio company of Binance Labs.

    Ken Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO of Republic, explains the advantages of crowdfunding over traditional investing, the long term regulatory implications, and the opportunities this model opens up for startup funding.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ken’s background and his history with AngelList
    • The implications from the JOBS Act 2016
    • Ken’s vision for Republic and making investment more accessible for more people
    • Overview of the US Securities Law and investing
    • The interaction between Republic and crypto
    • The types of start-ups and investors using Republic
    • The importance of the community aspect within start-ups on Republic
    • The Republic Note token
    • Republic Note’s Reg A offering and what the benefits of this will be
    • Where Republic Note can be traded

    Episode links:

    • Republic website
    • Republic on Medium
    • Republic Note
    • When will the Republic Note’s Reg A offering be qualified?
    • Republic Twitter
    • Ken Nguyen Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/353


    Ken Nguyen: Republic – Bridging the Gap Between Investing and Startups Aug 18, 2020

    Republic is an investment platform that allows anyone pretty much anywhere in the world, of any income and net worth, to invest in some of the best private equity startups. It allows regular people, not just a few wealthy accredited investors, to invest in highly vetted private startups, with as little as $10 or as much as $100,000 per investment.

    In the past, accredited investors were the only ones allowed to invest in startups through equity-based incentives. However the JOBS Act of 2016 created an exemption under the federal securities laws so that crowdfunding can be used to offer and sell securities to the general public. Republic launched just after the JOBS Act was passed with a goal to create an investment platform which was truly accessible to everyone. This was around the time that companies began raising funds with ICOs, and Republic was among the first platforms to offer a framework for Security Token Offerings.

    Republic has recently innovated again with their Republic Note product. This is a profit sharing token which allows investors to receive dividends when companies who raise money on the platform make an exit. The tokens are issued by Republic which distributes a portion of the exit profits to investors in proportion to their holdings. This is a similar model to the Binance Token, which isn't surprising since Republic was the first portfolio company of Binance Labs.

    Ken Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO of Republic, explains the advantages of crowdfunding over traditional investing, the long term regulatory implications, and the opportunities this model opens up for startup funding.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ken’s background and his history with AngelList
    • The implications from the JOBS Act 2016
    • Ken’s vision for Republic and making investment more accessible for more people
    • Overview of the US Securities Law and investing
    • The interaction between Republic and crypto
    • The types of start-ups and investors using Republic
    • The importance of the community aspect within start-ups on Republic
    • The Republic Note token
    • Republic Note’s Reg A offering and what the benefits of this will be
    • Where Republic Note can be traded

    Episode links:

    • Republic website
    • Republic on Medium
    • Republic Note
    • When will the Republic Note’s Reg A offering be qualified?
    • Republic Twitter
    • Ken Nguyen Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/353


    Jack O'Holleran: SKALE Labs – An Ethereum Scaling Solution Using App Specific Blockchains Aug 11, 2020

    SKALE Network's modular protocol is one of the first of its kind to allow developers to build application specific blockchains. These are interoperable and compatible with the Ethereum mainchain, and the entire Ethereum ecosystem. They provide the benefits of decentralization without compromising on computation, storage, or security.

    The focus of SKALE Network is slightly different to other scaling solutions, many of which we have had on the show in the past. SKALE Network aims to scale smart contracts, not necessarily transaction throughput. Think of it as a highly performant Ethereum as a service side chain, where developers can deploy their own app specific blockchains. Within the scale network, their dapps will benefit from thousands of TPS with zero gas fees, and addons like file storage. In the future, it’s possible that SKALE will support other addons like machine learning.

    Jack O'Holleran, CEO and Co-Founder of SKALE Labs, talks about how they are tackling the scaling issues on Ethereum.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jack's background and how he got into cryptocurrency
    • Jack's thoughts on the problem of scaling on Ethereum
    • What is a SKALE node and how to start one
    • Comparisons to Cosmos, Polkadot and Eth 2.0 sharding
    • The SKALE Network
    • The purpose of the SKALE Manager and how it interacts with validators and nodes
    • Creating a dapp on the SKALE network
    • What is the future of access to connectors - are stores an option?
    • How security properties work on the network
    • Who are the users of SKALE and how does one onboard to the network
    • The NODE Foundation - the launch and grants available

    Episode links:

    • SKALE Labs Website
    • SKALE Whitepaper
    • SKALE Developers
    • SKALE Discord
    • The NODE Foundation
    • SKALE Labs Twitter
    • Jack Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/352


    Evan Kuo: AMPL - the Controversial Digital Currency With an Elastic Supply Aug 04, 2020

    Ampleforth is a cryptocurrency attempting to become an essential building block to an alternative financial ecosystem. The protocol’s native token, AMPL, is a non collateralized cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, but with a twist: It is supply elastic. This means the token and protocol will automatically increase or decrease the quantity of tokens held in user wallets based on 24 hour weighted volume price. AMPL operates as an ERC-20 token on top of the Ethereum blockchain.

    Some claim that the Ampleforth protocol’s implementation of “countercyclical” economic policy makes it a good complimentary collateral because they posit that this mechanism ought to give AMPL a low correlation to the likes of BTC and ETH. Others are not so sure: Does it really make a difference whether you have an inelastic supply without a target price, or an elastic supply with a target price of one? Is AMPL really not correlated to other types of collateral, and should this be so, does it even matter?

    There has been a lot of chatter about Ampleforth in recent months. Is it legit, or is it a scam, 'HEX with Stanford credentials', as one pundit commented? We spoke with the co-founder Evan Kuo, who attempts to explain how it all works and straighten out misconceptions surrounding the protocol.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Evan’s background
    • What is Ampleforth and its mission
    • What is Ampleforth’s value proposition and the rules based system it uses
    • How the rebasing works
    • Slow traders vs fast traders
    • Where profits from fast traders come from
    • Using Ampleforth as base money
    • Token distribution
    • The integration hurdles with AMPL
    • Does the community truly understand the protocol?

    Episode links:

    • Ampleforth website
    • AMPL Talk
    • AMPL Token Distribution
    • Ampleforth White Paper
    • Ampleforth Twitter
    • Evan Kuo Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/351


    Fernando Martinelli: Balancer – The Automated Market Maker Protocol for Programmable Liquidity Jul 28, 2020

    Balancer is a generalized automated market maker (AMM) protocol built on Ethereum. It allows anyone to create or add liquidity to customizable pools and earn trading fees. On one side there are liquidity providers (LPs) that generally seek to balance their holdings, and they get rewarded with trading fees. On the other side, traders that are looking for the best rate possible.

    One way to look at Balancer is as a generalization of Uniswap, however Balancer pools aren't restricted to the same 50/50 split between 2 tokens. A Balancer pool can support up to 8 tokens with any weights. It supports smart order routing which ensures trades get sent to the pools which provide the best rate possible. They can be seen as self balancing index funds which pay you for contributing liquidity to the platform. Instead of paying fees to portfolio managers to rebalance your portfolio, you collect fees from traders, who continuously rebalance your portfolio by following arbitrage opportunities.

    The inner workings are quite complex but CEO & Co-founder of Balancer, Fernando Martinelli, breaks down the token economics and governance of the protocol for us.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Fernando’s background and how he got into the space
    • Balancer's connection to Maker
    • An introduction to liquidity mining and some of the problems with this
    • The connection to the Uniswap formula
    • What Balancer is and how the protocol works
    • How does this work as a Portfolio Management tool and how dynamic are the fees
    • How smart pools wok - The network of pools and the offchain set up
    • How the weighting system works on Balancer
    • The options for users - keeping it simple and the data that is available in your Balancer account
    • Governance tokens
    • How the BAL token is designed and how it works
    • How finance for the protocol is raised
    • The future plan of dissolving Balancer
    • How they plan to attract volume
    • What’s coming up in Balancer V2

    Episode links:

    • Balancer Website
    • Balancer White Paper
    • Balancer Discord
    • Balancer Blog
    • Balancer Twitter
    • Fernando Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/350


    Allison Lu: UMA – The Open Financial Platform for Building Synthetic Assets Jul 21, 2020

    UMA, or Universal Market Access, is an open source financial contracts protocol for building synthetic assets. It allows any two counterparties to design and create their own financial contracts for derivatives. An example of these assets in the traditional finance world, are interest rate derivatives. These are used to hedge against fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Today, interest rate derivatives are commonly used and the contracts to create these are standardized. Similarly, UMA allows anyone to create a derivative on a blockchain. Enforcement of agreement will be enforced by the network and so will settlement.

    What’s unique about UMA is how it ensures proper collateralization of derivatives. Maker and other platforms based on collateralized positions use a price oracle and will automatically liquidate positions if they go below a certain threshold. UMA is ‘priceless’ and does not use an on-chain price feed as the primary means to determine proper collateralization. Rather, it incentivizes participants to identify improperly collateralized positions. UMA token holders essentially vote on the price.

    Allison Lu, co-founder of UMA, chats in-depth about the platform and provides a great introduction to the world of financial derivatives.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Allison’s background and how she got into blockchain
    • What derivatives are and how they work in the legacy financial system
    • How the UMA protocol works
    • How synthetic tokens are traded and fungibility
    • Creating put options on the framework
    • How does this compare to prediction markets
    • UMA’s liquid mechanism
    • Priceless synthetics
    • What are the incentives on the protocol
    • The importance of delayed reaction times
    • How liquidation work and minting works
    • How to prevent scamming
    • The dispute process and corruption
    • What makes the UMA protocol unique
    • The UMA roadmap

    Episode links:

    • UMA Website
    • UMA Docs
    • UMA Github
    • UMA Medium
    • UMA Twitter
    • Allison Lu Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/349


    Richard Craib: Numerai – The Crowdsourced Predictive Model Hedge Fund Jul 14, 2020

    Numerai, the "hardest data science tournament on the planet". It's a hedge fund with its own distributed research platform designed specifically for AIs. It's the first of its kind and takes a radically different approach to making market predictions. It's completely crowd-sourced and data scientists around the world compete to create the best predictions and get paid with cryptocurrencies. Users are completely blind to the data and Numerai is blind to the code, and the predictive models users generate. The result is a hedge fund which is market neutral, currency neutral, and geography neutral. It makes all decisions solely on the data.

    Richard Craib, Founder of Numerai, was first on the show 3 years ago when the project's token, Numeraire, was just launched. Since then they have released a number of additions to the network including Numerai Signals and Erasure Bay, with plenty more in the pipeline.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • An overview of what the past 3 years since the last episode
    • The Numerai staking model
    • Numerai datasets
    • What is a market neutral fund
    • Numerai’s current assets and their position in the market
    • Staking liquid NMR
    • The latest project - Numerai Signals
    • Numerai's prediction markets Erasure Bay
    • How the future looks for hedge funding on the blockchain

    Episode links:

    • Numerai website
    • Erasure Bay
    • Numerai Signals
    • Numerai Medium
    • Numerai Twitter
    • Richard Craib Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/348


    Dieter Fishbein & Joe Petrowski: Polkadot – Claiming Digital Sovereignty on Blockchain Jul 07, 2020

    Polkadot is a unique protocol connecting multiple purpose-built blockchains into one scalable network. It's using blockchain technology to make way for new markets and future decentralized economies and has many stand out features. It's a sharded multichain network enabling many transactions on several chains in parallel. It offers interoperability and cross-chain communication. Communities on Polkadot govern their own network, and hold a stake in the future of Polkadot’s network governance as a whole. It also enables forkless upgrades, allowing blockchains to evolve and adapt easily. Over 100 projects have been or are currently being built for the Polkadot ecosystem, in a wide range of services and systems.

    After being in the development stage for 3 years, Polkadot was launched earlier this year. It's the first project by Web3 Foundation, and Parity are behind the development. Dieter Fishbein, Head of Ecosystem Development at Web3 Foundation, and Joe Petrowski, Research Analyst at Parity Technologies, share an in depth overview on the economics and incentives behind the protocol.

    Polkadot is designed to take back our digital sovereignty from powerful third-parties who currently control the web. It promises to take blockchain technology to the next level, and we believe it will do just that.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dieter and Joe’s backgrounds and how they got into the crypto space
    • The Polkadot vision
    • The key components of the Polkadot protocol
    • Kusama - Polkadot's cousin
    • Scalability, Security, and Interoperability
    • The stages of the Polkadot launch and what is coming next
    • Building with Substrate
    • The parachains being developed
    • Leasing parachain slots
    • Running validators on Polkadot

    Episode links:

    • Polkadot Website
    • Kusama Website
    • The Polkadot launch
    • Polkadot Twitter
    • Dieter Fishbein Twitter
    • Joe Petrowski Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/347


    Dan Guido: Trail of Bits – The Evolution of Smart Contract Security Jun 30, 2020

    Just like all software, smart contracts on the blockchain are subject to serious security vulnerabilities and coding errors. The fact however that smart contracts are often directly in charge of assets and cannot be changed once they are on the blockchain, makes secure development and running essential. Some smart contract platforms have their own languages, for example Solidity in Ethereum. Bugs and vulnerabilities in the source code, and errors in the virtual machines used by the network, are the main reasons behind security issues in smart contracts.

    Projects using blockchain applications should expect constant changes in the security landscape. New bugs, security risks, and best practices will continue to emerge over time. Trail of Bits is a software security firm who advise in a range of industries for some top companies, including in the blockchain space. They are experts at identifying top-level risks and implementation vulnerabilities, and providing essential recommendations on best practices. Dan Guido, the CEO and Co-founder, explains all things software security in a really detailed and technical, yet easy to digest way. We also recommend you check out their exceptional blog packed with invaluable resources.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dan’s background and how he came to create Trail of Bits
    • What led Dan into the blockchain field
    • How security software has changed over the last 20 years
    • The unique challenges for security on blockchain and smart contract protocols
    • Smart contract languages and security
    • Slither - Trail of Bits’s suite of Ethereum based security tools
    • Dan’s opinion on Solidity’s future and Vyper as an alternative
    • Formally Verified Languages
    • A use case on how Trail of Bits works
    • Working with upgradeable contracts
    • Composability and security
    • Are compilers trustworthy?
    • Other security issues in the blockchain space as DeFi grows
    • The future of software security and the role of AI

    Episode links:

    • Trail of Bits Website
    • Anatomy of an Unsafe Smart Contract Programming Language
    • Slither, Github
    • Slither: The Leading Static Analyzer for Smart Contracts
    • 246 Findings From our Smart Contract Audits: An Executive Summary
    • Rapid Risk Assessment (RRA)
    • Our Full Report on the Voatz Mobile Voting Platform
    • A Guide to Post-Quantum Cryptography
    • BSides Lisbon 2016 - Keynote - The Smart Fuzzer Revolution by Dan Guido
    • The Smart Fuzzer Revolution
    • Trail of Bits Twitter
    • Dan Guido Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/346


    Hugh Karp: Nexus Mutual – The Decentralized Insurance for Ethereum Jun 23, 2020

    Nexus Mutual provides an alternative decentralized insurance solution for Ethereum. The protocol is built on the public chain and operates under a discretionary mutual structure meaning it is owned wholly by its members. It allows anyone to become a member and buy cover, and the model encourages engagement as members receive incentives for participating in Risk Assessment, Claims Assessment and Governance. At present the product offered is cover to protect against hacks in smart contract code. When Nexus Mutual is alerted to a claim, members will also be asked to vote on whether to pay out on that claim or not.

    Hugh Karp, the CEO and Founder of Nexus Mutual, has combined his insurance industry knowledge with his passion for decentralized technology to build this platform which is replacing the traditional insurance setup. They are currently looking into expanding to offer more insurance products and we are excited to see where they go next.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Hugh’s background in insurance and how he moved into the blockchain space
    • What drove Hugh to build this decentralized platform
    • Mutual insurance and the regulations involved
    • The scaling problem in mutual companies
    • The benefits this type of insurance can bring to the DeFi world
    • The claim assessment process
    • The native token, NXM
    • How Nexus tackle price discovery
    • How does Nexus manage correlation risks
    • How much has been contributed to the pool so far
    • Mutual vs other models of insurance on the DeFi space
    • The legalities behind Nexus
    • Where they are looking to expand and what the next 12 months look like

    Episode links:

    • Nexus Mutual Website
    • The White Paper
    • Nexus Mutual Use Cases
    • Nexus Mutual Discord
    • Nexus Mutual Twitter
    • Hugh Karp Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/345


    Zubin Koticha: Opyn – The Insurance Platform Which Protects Your DeFi Deposits Jun 17, 2020

    Opyn is a smart contract-based insurance platform built on a generalized (supports both put and call) options protocol called Convexity. It is intended as a platform to protect DeFi users against both technical and financial risks, and a place where ETH holders can earn substantial premiums on their holdings by providing insurance.

    Opyn uses tokenized ERC20 put options, oTokens, on ETH to allow option buyers to keep their upside while limiting their downside. If you buy Opyn protection, you are buying “the right but not the obligation to sell an asset at a pre-specified price”. Currently, you can buy insurance for DAI, ETH, and USDC deposits on Compound and it is completely noncustodial and trustless.

    Zubin Koticha, CEO & Co-founder of Opyn, is currently working on V2 of the platform with his team. Their focus for improvements are in 3 main areas; cash efficiency, trading mechanism, and network effects. They are hoping to release this within the next 6 months.

    This is a much-needed generalizable insurance solution against some attacks/ vulnerabilities within the DeFi ecosystem and it will be very interesting to see how their contribution to DeFi progresses.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Zubin’s background and how he got into crypto
    • How Opyn was created and the roles within the company
    • The evolution of the Opyn product
    • Using options as an insurance solution
    • The difference between traditional markets and Opyn
    • American vs European options
    • Improvements they are making in V2 - capital efficiency, fungibility, network effects
    • The collateral as a different asset feature
    • Trading venue
    • An overview of VegaSwap
    • Timelines for the new version

    Episode links:

    • Opyn Website
    • Opyn Whitepaper
    • What is Opyn?
    • Opyn Discord
    • Opyn Twitter
    • Zubin Koticha Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/344


    Gabriel Jiménez: Petro – The Crypto Project That Tried to Free Venezuela Jun 10, 2020

    In late 2017, Gabriel Jimenez was approached by the Venezuelan presidency and asked to create a national digital currency, the Petro. Although very much against the regime, Gabriel saw this as a chance to save his country which was on the brink of economic collapse. A new currency that would move freely over an open network, like Bitcoin. And the government would not be able to control it. So he agreed.

    Things didn’t go as Gabriel had envisioned. Months later, Gabriel almost paid with his life when he was held at gunpoint by military guards in the President’s palace. He was accused of being a traitor to the government and was forced to hand over the project, which still hasn’t taken off. Last year he fled to the US to avoid being arrested and has since been granted asylum status. He is passionate about cryptocurrency and his country, and is working on a new way to combine the two.

    From the safety of the US, Gabriel is finally able to share his side of the story and wants to set the record straight on why he did what he did.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Gabriel’s background growing up in Venezuela
    • Gabriel’s return to Venezuela from the US
    • Venezuela in the pre-Chavez days
    • Living in Venezuela during Chavez’s rule
    • The introduction of crypto to Venezuela
    • The Maduro regime and how things got worse from there
    • When the government turned on Gabriel and his team
    • Knowing the risks of this project
    • The current state of the Petro
    • How things could have gone differently so that Petro could have worked

    Episode links:

    • The Coder and the Dictator - Gabriel's first interview with the NY Times
    • The Petro Website
    • The Petro - Wikipedia
    • Gabriel signing the documents on Live TV
    • Gabriel Jimenez Twitter
    • The Social Us

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/343


    Jim Bianco: Deep Insights Into the Global Economic Crisis Jun 02, 2020

    We've heard it over and over again, Covid-19 has plunged us into a crisis like none other we’ve experienced in our lifetime. Although it is primarily a public health issue, it is also having a major impact on the global economy and financial system. Many businesses have been forced to shut down sparking debates on whether this is supply or demand shock.

    Wall Street proclaims that any increase in economic activity is a good sign. However, Jim Bianco, President and Macro Strategist at Bianco Research, says a return to 90% of pre-crisis level will still not be enough to recover. Bianco Research is a Chicago-based firm that provides research and analysis for institutional finance. Jim started to take serious notice of the Covid-19 outbreak back in January. Since then he has been sharing his views on the long- term, macroeconomic consequences of the pandemic. He brings an enormous amount of clarity and insight into this issue.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jim’s background on Wall Street and how he transitioned into research
    • Why he was so early to talk about the pandemic and the crisis
    • The lessons learned from this pandemic and what’s next
    • What long-term economic and societal trends we can expect
    • The FED: their response, the effects on the economy and where we go from here
    • Jim’s views on UBI and the legitimacy of taxes if states can just print money
    • The US debt problem caused by the slowing of international trade
    • The US dollar as a reserve currency and how it could be displaced
    • The prospect of crypto-based reserve currencies and the disruption of central banks
    • How close are we to Crypto and Bitcoin becoming an asset class in the traditional finance system
    • Jim’s visions for the post virus world

    Episode links:

    • Bianco Research
    • “Is the Fed Making it Better?” Reset Everything Talk
    • Jim Bianco Twitter
    • Bianco Research Youtube
    • WTF Happened In 1971?
    • Mainnet 2020 – Messari's Flagship Crypto Event (June 1 to 3)
    • Free tickets to Web 3.0 Forum (June 8 to 10)

    Sponsors:

    • Least Authority: Learn how Zero-Knowledge Access Passes can help you build a more privacy-minded business by disconnecting payment and user data. - http://www.leastauthority.com/zkaps

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/342


    Post-interview chat – Sam Williams of Arweave May 28, 2020

    In this inaugural post-interview chat, Friederike and Sebastien discuss their recent interview with Arweave Co-founder and CEO, Sam Williams.

    Moving forward, these conversations will be released every week on Substack. Subscribe to never miss an episode at https://epicenter.rocks/substack


    Sam Williams: Arweave – Bringing Permanence to the Web May 26, 2020

    The internet was originally created as a platform to communicate freely, but it soon became a place where people could be monitored, controlled, and censored. 98% of content on the internet is deleted every 20 years. More surprisingly, based on a Twitter study, a third of links change their content fundamentally or are removed completely, within three months of their creation.
    Arweave is a new data storage protocol that enables economically sustainable permanence for the very first time. Built on a blockchain-like structure called the blockweave, one of the applications on Arweave is what they have coined “the permaweb”. This is an array of data, websites, and decentralised applications, to which anyone can contribute and maintain. This system provides an incentive to store your data without compromising your privacy, solving one of the key issues facing the current web.
    Sam Williams, Co-founder & CEO of Arweave, talks about the technical solution they have built, the economic model around endowment, and the ethical and philosophical questions the permanence of information against concepts like “the right to be forgotten” raises.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - Sam’s background and how he got into the blockchain space
    - Breaking down BitTorrent – the first scalable decentraized file sharing system
    - Data sustainability on the web and what should be kept
    - Arweave under the hood and what is a blockweave
    - How data is stored and retrieved in blocks
    - Arweave’s economics and incentive model
    - Data replication within the infrastructure and ensuring decentralization in the future
    - The AR tokens and how the Arweave endowment works
    - Arweave vs Skynet vs IPFS
    - Does Arweave help with the data availability problem in Ethereum?
    - Arweave's business model
    - Community projects that Arweave are involved with and what’s next for the project
    Episode links:
    - [Arweave website](https://www.arweave.org/)
    - [Welcome to the Permaweb](https://medium.com/@arweave/welcome-to-the-permaweb-ce0e6c73ddfb)
    - [Arweave Whitepaper](https://www.arweave.org/files/arweave-lightpaper.pdf)
    - [Arweave on Medium](https://medium.com/@arweave)
    - [Arweave Twitter](https://twitter.com/ArweaveTeam)
    - [Sam Williams Twitter](https://twitter.com/samecwilliams)
    - [Mainnet 2020 – Messari's Flagship Crypto Event (June 1 to 3)](https://mainnet.events)
    - [Free tickets to Web 3.0 Forum (June 8 to 10)](https://ti.to/cogx/cogx-2020/discount/TPDODSFP100)
    - [Casual meetup for friends of Epicenter](https://epicenter.rocks/virtualmeetup)
    Sponsors:
    - ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/
    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/341](https://epicenter.tv/341


    David Vorick: On Skynet and Trusted Setups May 22, 2020

    Today, half of the internet is built on top of Amazon S3. Although the cloud has allowed Internet applications to scale, centralized infrastructure means less control over one's own data. And when it goes down, so does half of the internet.
    Sia CEO David Vorick is back on the podcast to talk about a new product recently released by their team: Skynet. Skynet builds on Sia and enables web applications to be developed and deployed over a decentralized data storage infrastructure. David also shares his thoughts on Trusted Setups, why he thinks they're "busted," and how the crypto industry can create better and more secure Zero-Knowledge primitives.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - What is Skynet and how it builds on Sia
    - Skynet compared to IPFS/Filecoin
    - The need for a decdentralized data marketplace
    - An example of how the Sia network works
    - What are trusted setups and how they are used
    - Threat models in trusted setups and what can happen when they break
    - The alternative to trusted setups and solutions for the future
    Episode links:
    - [Sia Website](https://sia.tech/)
    - [Sia Blog](https://blog.sia.tech/)
    - [Decentralization & Cutting-Edge Cryptography - Starkware Sessions Talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naw0HajYDxI)
    - [David Vorick on Twitter](https://twitter.com/davidvorick)
    - [Sia on Twitter](https://twitter.com/SiaTechHQ)
    - [Epicenter Virtual Meetup on May 29](https://epicenter.rocks/virtualmeetup)
    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/B005](https://epicenter.tv/B005)


    Daniel Wang: Loopring – A Scalable DEX Protocol Using ZK-Rollups May 19, 2020

    Decentralized exchanges have been around for some time, and various designs have been attempted. Although they provide a number of privacy and censorship resistance benefits, one of their pitfalls has been transaction throughput. However, recent advancements in Zero-Knowledge Proof-based scaling solutions is creating a new breed of scalable DEXes.

    Loopring is a non-custodial DEX protocol that achieves high-throughput trading. It leverages ZK-Rollups to achieve upwards of 2,000 transactions per second with on-chain settlement. As an order book-based exchange, it sets itself apart from other DEXes like Uniswap and the Gnosis Protocol. However, users should keep in mind that the orderbook is centralized. Daniel Wang, Founder & CEO of Loopring, talks about why they decided to focus on DEXes and their plans beyond the current version 3.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Daniel's background and how he became involved in crypto
    • Loopring's 2017 token sale and why they needed to return funds to investors
    • The concept of ring matching in the Loopring protocol
    • Loopring's use of ZK-Rollups
    • The current throughput and transaction cost
    • Looping vs Binance and centralized exchanges
    • Why Loopring chose to build on a centralized order book model
    • The differences between the Optimistic Rollup and the ZK-Rollup
    • The Loopring token (LRC) and how it's used in the protocol
    • Daniel’s views on the future of the DEX ecosystem

    Episode links:

    • Loopring website
    • Loopring 3.0
    • Loopring’s Frontend Vulnerability, Explained
    • Loopring Exchange frontend password bug: Postmortem
    • Loopring Twitter
    • Daniel Wang Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Learn how Zero-Knowledge Access Passes can help you build a more privacy-minded business by disconnecting payment and user data. Learn more at leastauthority.com/zkaps

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/340


    Harry Halpin & John Shipton: What Julian Assange Represents to the Crypto Movement May 12, 2020

    Julian Assange, the creator of WikiLeaks, is currently in a maximum-security prison in London facing extradition to the US for violating the Espionage Act. This charge came, among other things, from exposing US war crimes in Iraq. This has put journalists around the world under fear of being prosecuted for exposing the truth. Opinions on Julian Assange are divided, unsurprisingly. But we can assume that a conviction would set a dangerous precedent for journalism, free press, and freedom of speech.

    John Shipton, Julian's father, is seeking support from the crypto community to help fund Julian's legal defense. Harry Halpin, CEO of Nym Technologies and friend of Julian's, teams up with John to discuss how a conviction could jeopardize the values of censorship resistance, permissionless innovation, and privacy.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • John and Harry's backgrounds and their connection to Julian Assange
    • The extradition case against Julian
    • How the outcome of the orders could impact the Ethereum community
    • The negative effects of WikiLeaks
    • Making changes to journalism and legacy media
    • The effects of Social Media
    • How this case could open the gates for more prosecutions within the crypto/technology community
    • Contributing to Julian's legal fund

    Episode links:

    • Nym Technologies
    • State and Terrorist Conspiracies & Conspiracy as Governance, Julian Assange
    • WikiLeaks on Wikipedia
    • Courage Foundation
    • Harry Halpin Twitter
    • Nym Technologies Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/339


    Marco Streng: Genesis Mining – Taking Bitcoin Mining to the Cloud May 05, 2020

    Genesis Mining is a leading hash power provider offering cloud cryptocurrency mining as a service. They offer mining for Bitcoin, Zcash, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero and serve over 2 million users in 100+ countries. The company was formed in 2013 and saw tremendous growth in its seven years in operation. In the mining business, process optimization, controlling costs, and vertical integration are key. Crypto prices, difficulty adjustments, hardware availability – all can have an impact on profits.

    Co-founder & CEO Marco Streng shares how he built his company from the ground up, and is now expanding beyond crypto to address other profitable markets in cloud computing.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Marco's background and how he started Genesis Mining
    • The biggest challenges they faced in the early days
    • The company's cost structures and vertical integration
    • Why they got into cloud computing and the applications of GPUs
    • The major shifts in the mining industry since they were founded
    • The ecological footprint of mining
    • Why people would buy cloud mining and its profitability opportunities
    • The risk of mining centralization
    • Bitcoin halving and the impacts of this on the mining industry
    • Marco's views on Proof of Stake

    Episode links:

    • Genesis Mining website
    • Bitcoin Halving - What to Expect as a Miner
    • Genesis Group
    • Genesis Cloud
    • Genesis Mining Twitter
    • Marco Streng Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/338


    Marc Zeller & Stani Kulechov: Aave – Unlocking Access to Capital With Flash Loans Apr 28, 2020

    Aave is building a suite of non-custodial DeFi tools that allow users to earn interest on their deposits and borrow assets. Earlier this year, Aave released its Flash Loans feature, which is drumming up a lot of excitement in the ecosystem. Flash Loans have a number of applications like executing liquidations or refinancing and require no collateral on the part of the borrower. As we have seen since they were introduced, they have also been used by malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities in some DeFi protocols. Nevertheless, this powerful tool is an important “money lego” component that enables various new use cases. Stani Kulechov, Aave Founder & CEO, and Marc Zeller, Integrations Lead, explain their vision for the Aave protocol as an essential part of the DeFi ecosystem.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Stani and Marc's backgrounds and how they became involved in crypto
    • Marc's previous project, Variabl, and why it failed
    • How Aave came out of EthLend
    • Switching from an OTC model to a pooled model
    • Yield hacking and other DeFi use cases
    • What the Flash Loan is and why it is useful
    • How one can do DeFi refinancing with Flash Loans
    • The Flash Loans attacks which happened in February
    • Smart contract security and how the community should response to attacks
    • Why privacy is DeFi is desirable, but also hard to do

    Episode links:

    • Aave Protocol website
    • Sneak Peek at Flash Loans
    • Flash Loans - One Month In
    • Aave Twitter
    • Stani Kulechov Twitter
    • Marc Zeller Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Least Authority: Register for Security Sessions on April 30th to learn about security audits for your blockchain project - https://leastauthority.com/meetup
    • ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/337


    Jinglan Wang & Karl Floersch: Optimism – The Optimistic Approach to Ethereum Scaling Apr 21, 2020

    The Plasma Group was a not for profit research group focussing on layer-2 scaling on Ethereum. Optimism is a new Public Benefit Corporation that builds on the lessons of the Plasma research and is implementing Optimistic Rollups. This solution scales Eth 1.x and offers near-instant transaction finality on Ethereum, while providing over 100x transaction throughput. Jinglan Wang and Karl Floersch, co-founders of Optimism, explain the transition to this new entity and its goals moving forward.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jinglan and Karl's backgrounds and how they came to work together
    • How the Plasma Group and all of the Plasma research evolved into Optimism
    • Funding of Optimism through Gitcoin, and the lessons learned from donation funding
    • What are Optimistic Rollup and how they achieve scaling
    • How to make an Optimistic Rollup chain
    • Optimistic Rollups compared to other scaling solutions like Truebit, sharding and zkRollups
    • How Optimistic Rollups fit within the Eth 2.0 roadmap
    • The role of an aggregator and how to become one
    • Submitting transactions, the fees involved, and different finality levels
    • Problems that could arise from mining transactions on incorrect states
    • Who is using the OVM alpha and what's next for the project

    Episode links:

    • Optimism Website
    • Plasma Group Website
    • Introducing the OVM - Plasma Group Blog
    • ""Ethereum Smart Contracts in L2: Optimistic Rollup - Plasma Group Blog
    • A New Way to Scale - Optimized Optimistic Rollup — IDEX Blog
    • Optimism Twitter
    • Jinglan Wang Twitter
    • Karl Floersch Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Least Authority: Register for Security Sessions on April 30th to learn about security audits for your blockchain project - https://leastauthority.com/meetup

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/336


    Tom Pocock & Zac Williamson: AZTEC Protocol – Bringing Zero-Knowledge Transactions to Ethereum Apr 14, 2020

    AZTEC Protocol is a protocol that enables private transactions on Ethereum. At its core, AZTEC is an Ethereum contract, otherwise known as the AZTEC Cryptography Engine. The protocol uses a zero-knowledge proof system, allowing users to effectively create shielded representations of tokens, which can then be sent and redeemed for the underlying token. CEO and CTO, Tom Pocock and Zac Williamson have plans to build AZTEC into a fully functional DeFi stack with which all kinds of trades, swaps, and financial operations will be possible, with privacy.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Tom and Zac met and founded AZTEC Protocol
    • What AZTEC is and what problem is solves
    • How AZTEC enabled transactions work in practice from a user perspective
    • The challenges of making DeFi systems like MakerDAO fully private
    • How ERC-20 tokens could be issued as private tokens
    • The AZTEC trusted setup ignition ceremony
    • ZKPs for privacy vs scaling solutions
    • Growing the privacy ecosystem and getting people excited about privacy
    • The security guarantees of using AZTEC and other ZKP systems

    Episode links:

    • AZTEC Protocol
    • AZTEC Protocol - SDK
    • AZTEC Protocol - research papers
    • AZTEC Protocol Twitter
    • Tom Walton-Pocock Twitter
    • Zac Williamson Twitter
    • Reset Everything

    Sponsors:

    • Least Authority: Register for Security Sessions on April 30th to learn about security audits for your blockchain project - https://leastauthority.com/meetup
    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/335


    Ryan Sean Adams: Mythos Capital – On Becoming Bankless Apr 07, 2020

    Ryan Sean Adams is the Founder of Mythos Capital, a crypto fund and staking provider for “big fish” stakeholders. He also writes the popular DeFi newsletter, Bankless. In addition to providing excellent insights about the ecosystem, Bankless takes a very practical approach to leveraging DeFi. Ryan shares strategies and encourages readers to complete action items to utilize the full potential of decentralized finance and become bankless. He also hosts a podcast by the same name with David Hoffman.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ryan's background as a tech entrepreneur and how he got involved in crypto
    • Launching ​Mythos Capital and the thesis behind this fund
    • The importance of becoming “bankless” to preserve self-sovereignty
    • What good analogies we can use to describe DeFi and the use of clear terminology to describe cryptoassets
    • The power and advantage concentrated in centralized exchanges
    • Trustless nature of Ethereum vs. Bitcoin
    • The role of nation-states in the DeFi ecosystem as it continues to grow
    • The idea that “Eth is money” and Eth as a store of value asset in Ethereum
    • The impact of Covid19 on the economy and crypto markets
    • The future of Ethereum and Bitcoin

    Episode links:

    • Mythos Capital
    • Bankless newsletter
    • Bankless podcast
    • Ryan Sean Adams on Medium
    • Mythos Capital on Twitter
    • Ryan Sean Adams on Twitter
    • Reset Everything

    Sponsors:

    • Least Authority: Register for Security Sessions on April 30th to learn about security audits for your blockchain project - https://leastauthority.com/meetup

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/334


    James Dyer & Jason Goldberg: Pepo & Decrypt – New Token Models for Media Engagement Apr 02, 2020

    In another of our bonus episodes recorded at EthCC in Paris, we caught up with Jason Goldberg, CEO and Founder of Pepo and Ost, and James Dyer, Co-founder and Head of Product at Decrypt. At the time of recording Decrypt were about to announce they were launching their own token that rewards audience engagement, built on Ost technology. We chatted to Jason and James about this relationship, the problems solved by these monetization models, the link between Pepo and Decrypt tokens, and DeFi, and what the future holds for media and tokens.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Background of Jason and James
    • Decrypt's affiiation with ConsenSys
    • The issues and problems being solved with the respective monetization models
    • The levers Pepo are using to ensure users trust the platform and promote growth in the ecosystem
    • The reasons Decrypt chose Ost to build their platform on
    • The different components of the Ost toolkit and how these are leveraged
    • The technology involved with getting tokens to sponsor a 'season'
    • How Pepo and Decrypt market themselves
    • The bridges between Pepo and Decrypt tokens, and DeFi
    • How good UX standards of the wallet are reached, in particular the recovery wallet feature
    • Overcoming the challenges of civil attacks and malicious acts
    • The future of media and tokens and what the new models look like

    Episode links:

    • Pepo
    • Ost
    • Decrypt
    • Ost Powers Decrypt Token for Media Engagement
    • Pepo Twitter
    • Ost Twitter
    • Decrypt Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture.


    Albert Wenger: Union Square Ventures – Towards the Knowledge Age and the World After Capital Mar 31, 2020

    What will the World look like when capital is no longer scarce? In his book, World After Capital, Albert Wenger makes the case that technological progress throughout the ages (foraging, agrarian, industrial) brought a change in scarcities. As society transitions from the Industrial Age to the Age of Knowledge, scarcities will also shift – human attention will become our most valued scarce resource.

    Albert Wenger is a Managing Partner at the VC firm Union Square Ventures. A graduate of Harvard and MIT, he holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology. Before joining USV, he founded several companies in the aughts, and was the President of del.icio.us when the company was sold to Yahoo! in 2005.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • His motivations for writing “World After Capital”
    • How the properties of near-zero marginal cost and universality are unique to the digital age
    • Human attention as the primary scarce resource in the Knowledge Age
    • The shift towards the Knowledge Age and the role of capital in the future
    • Covid19 as a catalyst for positive societal change, and things like universal basic income
    • Potential upsides for crypto in the current economic crisis
    • The asymmetry between technological progress and privacy

    Episode links:

    • Union Square Ventures
    • World After Capital
    • Continuations by Albert Wenger
    • Putting the Economy in Suspended Animation: A Proposal
    • World After Capital: Laying a Foundation (Regulation & Self-Regulation)
    • Albert Wenger Twitter
    • Reset Everything Virtual Conference – April 29th

    Sponsors:

    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/333


    Joseph Lubin: What's Next for ConsenSys and Ethereum Mar 26, 2020

    We caught up with Joseph Lubin, Founder of ConsenSys, at this year's EthCC. It has been over a year since he last came on the show, and we wanted to get his take on what has been happening in the ecosystem since then. We talked about the ConsenSys reorganization, interoperability between public and permission blockchains and the opportunities there, government-backed stable coins and the possibilities of nation-states building their own, DeFi and the phenomenal growth in the ecosystem, his predictions for 2020, and thoughts on the challenges facing Eth2.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • A look back on the past year since we last had Joe on the show
    • The ongoing ConsenSys reorganistaion
    • Joe's views on the recent Twitter discussion that “Ether is the ConsenSys token”
    • Interoperability between public and permission blockchains and the opportunities there
    • Government-backed stable coins and the possibilities of nation-states building their own
    • The evolving naratives around Ethereum
    • Joesph's vision on how DeFi compliments the existing financial system
    • Joseph's predictions for 2020
    • The challenges ahead for Eth 2.0

    Episode links:

    • ConsenSys
    • Joe Lubin on Epicenter (episode 269)
    • EY and ConsenSys Announce Formation of Baseline Protocol Initiative to Make Ethereum Mainnet Safe and Effective for Enterprises
    • Joseph Lubin Twitter
    • ConsenSys Twitter
    • Reset Everything virtual event

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/ethcc-joe-lubin


    David Hoffman: Eth Is Money? Mar 24, 2020

    In this episode we are joined by David Hoffman, Chief of Operations at RealT, a company which tokenizes realestate assets into security tokens. He is also well known for numerous pieces he has written on Ethereum and DeFi and is co-host of the POV Crypto podcast. Hear us as we talk about his writings, how tokenizing real estate assets works, Bitcoin on Ethereum, the feedback loop problem and effects of the USD in DeFi, and a debate on whether Ether is an asset.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What RealT is and how tokenizing real estate assets works
    • Using the Uniswap protocol for trading
    • The thesis behind David's “Defining Ether as an Asset” post
    • The crypto-economics economics of Bitcoin on Ethereum (tBTC, wBTC)
    • The feedback loop problem in DeFi
    • The effects of the USD price on volatility in DeFi
    • The argument that Ether is a ”triple-point asset”
    • The utility value of Ethereum
    • Rebutting the argument the Ethereum will eat all of the world's value

    Episode links:

    • RealT
    • Defining Ether as an Asset
    • Ethereum is an Emergent Structure
    • Ether Is Equity
    • Ether: A New Model for Money
    • POV Crypto Podcast
    • Reset Everything Event
    • RealT Twitter
    • David Hoffman Twitter
    • POC Crypto Podcast Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/332


    Ryan Selkis: “Too Many Variables” – Understanding the Lasting Effects of COVID19 Mar 17, 2020

    This week we have a special episode on the entire globe's most talked about topic, the Corona Virus. We are joined by guest Ryan Selkis, CEO of Messari. Ryan was one of the first people in the space to start talking about Covid19 and has been very vocal on this subject on Twitter and his newsletter since the crisis began in January. We discuss how this virus has become so deadly and the current health and economic conditions, containment and protecting yourself, how the markets, crypto and startups have been affected, and what is yet to come.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Ryan become so interested in the Corona Virus
    • The current global health and economic impact of Covid19
    • The provisions Ryan is making personally and on a company level
    • Messari's plans for virtual events over the coming weeks
    • A deeper look into the global financial impact of Covid19
    • What does this all have in store for startups
    • The stimulus being put in place in the US and its monetary effects
    • The current state of the markets
    • The long term effects from a societal perspective
    • Ryan's prediction on what happens next

    Episode links:

    • Ryan Selkis Twitter
    • Ryan's List of Must Follow Expert Accounts on Twitter
    • TBI/Messari 2019-nCoV Tracking
    • Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
    • RIP Moon Times
    • Messari Corona Coverage & Resources
    • Mainnet Events, by Messari
    • Donald G. McNeil Jr.
    • Google Sheets - create and edit spreadsheets online, for free.
    • Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

    Sponsors:

    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/
    • ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/331


    EthCC 3 – Flash Loans and Elbow Bumps Mar 13, 2020

    This episode was recorded at the third annual Ethereum Community Conference in Paris last week and we were joined by Gonçalo Sá, Co-founder of ConsenSys Diligence, Jérôme de Tychey, President of Ethereum France, and Cassidy Daly, Token Designer at Centrifuge. We discussed the issues surrounding centralization and DeFi in token governance, the security complexities of composability attacks like the ones we saw recently which leveraged flash loans, and of course, the coronavirus.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Gonçalo and Cassidy discuss their talks at the EthCC event
    • The current points of interest around centralization in DeFi
    • Defining ecosystem decentralization guidelines
    • Issues with token governance in DAOs
    • Security complexities of comparability attacks and the recent flash loans
    • How the Ethereum community is improving response times to attacks
    • EthCC, hugs and coronavirus

    Episode links:

    • Ethereum Community Conference 3
    • EthCC - Twitter
    • Jérôme de Tychey: “Opening Speech” at EthCC
    • Jérôme de Tychey: “Closing Speech” at EthCC
    • Friederike Ernst: “Prediction Markets” at EthCC
    • Cassidy Daly & Abbey Titcomb: “Putting the 'De' back in 'DeFi'” at EthCC
    • Cassidy Daly: “The Gateway for Real-World Assets into the Blockchain Multiverse” at EthCC
    • Gonçalo Sá Twitter
    • Jérôme de Tychey Twitter
    • Cassidy Daly Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/episodes/bonus-ethcc-3


    Jacob Arluck: TQ Tezos – Meet the Independent Driving Force Behind the Growth of Tezos Mar 10, 2020

    We are joined by founder of TQ Tezos, Jacob Arluck. TQ Tezos is a company that works to advance the Tezos ecosystem by creating open source software and other public goods. It's been over two years since we last did an episode about Tezos and this was a good refresher on how that project is shaping up. We hear about the decentralized and permissionless nature of the Tezos infrastructure, the protocol development of Tezos, and how TQ is working to make Tezos more accessible.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Decentralized nature of Tezos development and the teams that make up the ecosystem
    • Who is funding Tezos protocol development
    • Permissionless nature of the Tezos architecture and governance mechanism
    • How TQ is working to make Tezos more accessible
    • The impressive number of development languages and issues around interoperability and comparability
    • Michelson – the stack-based DSL (domain-specific language) and the shift towards Michelson 2.0
    • The types of applications being built on Tezos
    • The role of the Tezos Foundation and the Breitmans today
    • A look back on Tezos governance two years in, and the future of the protocol

    Episode links:

    • Amending Tezos
    • Reflecting on Athens, the first self-amendment of Tezos
    • Jacob Arluck Medium
    • Jacob Arluck Twitter
    • TQ Tezos Twitter
    • Tezos Twitter
    • Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

    Sponsors:

    • Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/330


    Joe Lallouz: Bison Trails – Building a Better Proof of Stake Ecosystem for Everyone Mar 03, 2020

    Joe Lallouz is the CEO of Bison Trails, who provide staking infrastructure for a variety of PoS blockchains. They have built a really impressive system for deploying nodes across multiple cloud services. In light of the $25m recently raised by Bison Trails, Joe shares their vision to build a better PoS ecosystem for everyone, the types of customer they run validators for, and the cutting edge stuff they're working on in terms of deployment, redundancy and key storage. We also hear their view on infrastructure centralization in PoS, protocol improvements, and Bison Trails' role with Libra Association.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Bison Trails got started and their vision to build a better proof of stake ecosystem for everyone
    • The types of customer they run validators for and their approach to improving the product
    • The networks they support and their approach to adding new networks
    • Bison Trail’s technical infrastructure design and the cutting edge stuff they're working on in terms of deployment, redundancy and key storage
    • How the company thinks about infrastructure centralization in PoS
    • The company’s involvement in different crypto communities and discussions around protocol improvements
    • Bison Trail’s role with Libra Association and how they are participating in the technical design of the protocol

    Episode links:

    • Bison Trails Website
    • Bison Trails Raises $25M in Funding Round Led by Blockchain Capital
    • Bison Trails - Libra
    • Bison Trails - Blockchain Capital Blog
    • Bison Trails Twitter
    • Joe Lallous Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • ShapeShift: ShapeShift is the leading crypto platform offering zero-commission trading - https://shapeshift.com/
    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/329


    Clinton Donnelly: Bitcoin & Crypto Taxes – What Every US Taxpayer Needs to Know (sponsored) Feb 28, 2020

    Income tax. Not a particularly exciting topic, especially when it comes to paying them. But something we all need to deal with nevertheless. We are all (or at least should be) aware of what our personal tax returns entail. But are you fully aware of the implications holding crypto can have on your tax filing?

    Clinton Donnelly, Founder of CryptoTaxAudit has done hundreds of tax returns for US citizens, both domestic and expatriated, and is an expert when dealing with filing crypto and Bitcoin taxes. He is also an Enrolled Agent, which means he meets the requirements of the IRS to represent taxpayers. Clinton has seen it all, and there's no situation too complicated.

    In our interview with Clinton, we explored the ins and outs of crypto taxes for US citizens – it was an information-rich conversation. US taxpayers who hold crypto will learn what they need to report to the IRS, as well as the practical, concrete actions one can take to make sure they are complying with the Tax Code of the United States of America.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Your tax obligations are as a cryptocurrency holder
    • What you need to report and how you can prepare a Bullet Proof tax return
    • How to put yourself in ths shoes of a IRS tax auditor
    • What to do if you get an IRS audit letter (hint don't panic)
    • The biggest mistakes people make when filing their tax return and the risks they face
    • What to do if your crypto transaction history is messy
    • What proactive steps you can take to improve your situation

    Episode links:

    • CryptoTaxAudit
    • Donnelly Tax Law
    • IRS Refused to Clarify Its Crypto Tax Guidance Isn’t Binding, US Watchdog Says
    • IRS Explains What Crypto Owners Must Know to File Taxes This Year
    • Clinton Donnelly, Twitter
    • Clinton Donnelly, Linkedin

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. This podcast episode was sponsored by CryptoTaxAudit.com.


    Gabriel Shapiro: ZeroLaw – A Philosophy of Securities Laws for Tokenized Networks Feb 25, 2020

    Gabriel Shapiro is an independent attorney who has spent the last two years focusing on the tokens and crypto. He has published several pieces diving deep into US Securities Law, in which he shares his vision and philosophy for how Tokenized Networks should be regulated. In light of the recent “safe harbor” framework proposed by SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, Gabriel offers his thoughts and suggests how these measures could be improved in a way that would benefit the entire industry.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Gabriel’s background and how he got into the blockchain space
    • What motivated Gabriel to write his series of posts
    • Why Securities Laws in the US appear more complex than other countries
    • The classifications we give tokens - commodities, currencies
    • The Howey Test and how it applies in the crypto space
    • What the Exchange Act 1984 is and the impact this has on companies that issue securities
    • Why crypto networks not complying with the Securities Law aren’t being punished
    • What is wrong in the blockchain industry and what it has to do with Securities Law
    • Gabriel’s philosophy and how Securities Law should be applied when issuing tokens and launching networks
    • The Safe Harbor proposal - what it is, how it defines things like decentralization and network maturity
    • Gabriel’s thoughts on how things can be improved

    Episode links:

    • ZeroLaw Website
    • Tokenizing Corporate Capital Stock
    • An open letter to SEC Commissioner Peirce on token safe harbors
    • Size Does Matter — Part 1, Gabriel Shapiro
    • Size Does Matter — Part 2, Gabriel Shapiro
    • Size Does Matter — Part 3, Gabriel Shapiro
    • Size Does Matter — Part 4, Gabriel Shapiro
    • Ethereum’s ‘Bazaar’ Development Model Will Pay Off in 2020
    • Hester Peirce: Tell Me How to Improve My Safe Harbor Proposal
    • Preston Byrne: Peirce’s Safe Harbor Proposal Would Be Hilarious if It Weren’t so Serious
    • ZeroLaw Twitter
    • Gabriel Shapiro Twitter
    • Epicenter Meetup at EthCC
    • Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
    • Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/328


    Itamar Lesuisse: Argent – The Self-Custody Crypto Bank Feb 18, 2020

    Decentralized finance (DeFi) is continuing on its remarkable path to the broad adoption of permissionless financial services. While many people celebrated passing $1 billion locked in DeFi products at the start of February 2020, only a week later, an additional $200 million had entered the ecosystem.

    DeFi products thus far have proven useful to early adopters with the resilience and knowhow required to navigate the often clunky user experience of Web 3.0. Companies like Argent are building the interface and user experience essential for the masses, with a vision to bring a billion people into the future of finance.

    Itamar Lesuisse, Co-founder and CEO of Argent, joins us to discuss his vision of the future of DeFi, and the necessity to build products that enable intuitive, secure, and permissionless access to finance for anyone with a smartphone.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Itamar's background and journey to crypto
    • Creating a Web 3.0 product for mass adoption
    • Restoring a wallet with Argent Guardians
    • The DeFi products accessible in Argent today
    • Accommodating DeFi products on protocols other than Ethereum
    • Building a business model for wallet products
    • Who Argent's users are, and the DeFi products they use
    • Solving mass adoption of crypto with a frictionless on- and off-ramp
    • Itamar's vision of the future of DeFi and the role Argent will play

    Episode links:

    • Argent
    • Earning interest has never been easier - Medium
    • Itamar Lesuisse - Twitter
    • Argent - Twitter
    • Argent - Medium
    • Download Argent and skip the waitlist
    • Epicenter Meetup at EthCC
    • Epicenter 2020 Audience Survey

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/327


    Kevin Wang: Nervos – Scaling Smart Contact Blockchains With Proof of Work and Generalized UTXO Feb 11, 2020

    While recent blockchain launches seem to leverage various Proof of Stake consensus mechanisms, some believe Satoshi’s consensus mechanism is optimal for distributed protocols. As decentralized ledgers jockey to become the chain of choice for enterprises looking to leverage blockchain technology, projects are looking to offer a solution that maximizes security, decentralization, and transaction throughput.

    Kevin Wang, a Co-founder of Nervos, joins us to discuss why Proof of Work was implemented as the consensus mechanism for the network. To enable greater flexibility for application developers, Nervos created a Common Knowledge Base (CKB) to focus on the security of assets, enabling a complementary layer of Virtual Machines (VM) to scale and facilitate computation.

    Kevin also discusses the active initiatives underway with the Nervos Grants Program to foster ecosystem development and encourage developers to evolve the permissionless network.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Kevin’s background at IBM, his open source development, and journey to crypto
    • What the blockchain scene is like in Hangzhou, China
    • What’s unique about Nervos, and the importance of each layer within the network
    • Introducing Nervos’ consensus mechanism, NC-Max
    • Why Nervos decided to implement Proof of Work
    • Explaining the Common Knowledge Base (CKB), and its significance in the Nervos network
    • How developer experience is in the Nervos ecosystem
    • The economic model of CKB, Nervos’ native token
    • Progress of the network, and a call for developers to consider the recently announced Nervos Grants Program

    Episode links:

    • The Nervos Network homepage
    • Nervos Network on Twitter
    • Why We Love Nakamoto Consensus - Nervos Blog
    • Nervos CKB in a Nutshell - Nervos Blog
    • Nervos developer resources
    • Nervos Telegram channel
    • Nervos grant information

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/326


    Kain Warwick: Synthetix – Bringing the World’s Assets Into DeFi Feb 04, 2020

    Like previous crypto winters, those actually building the ecosystem have been working diligently to create applications with industry-changing potential. The year 2020 may prove to be the year of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), with many exciting projects re-creating financial products common to the world of traditional finance, in the open and permissionless blockchain space.

    Synthetic assets enable exposure to the price action of an asset without actually holding the underlying asset. Kain Warick is the Founder of Synthetix, a company creating synthetic assets for DeFi, enabling exposure to fiat currencies, commodities (gold and silver), and cryptocurrencies. They have large aspirations to create synthetic assets for many more things, including traditional equities.

    Synthetic equities in DeFi is a massive opportunity that demands everyone's attention. Once traditional equities become accessible in DeFi, anyone in the world with internet access will be able to gain exposure to financial products currently only available to the privileged few with access to markets like the Nasdaq or NYSE.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Kain’s eclectic background and his path to crypto
    • Why the world needs synthetic assets
    • Retrospection on the Synthetix crowdsale
    • How Synthetix works
    • The SNX token and its governance
    • Price stability and the collateralization ratio
    • The price oracle, and a battle with front-running bots
    • The long-term vision of Synthetix
    • How Kain believes DEXs will compete with centralized exchanges in the future

    Episode links:

    • Synthetix Website
    • Synthetix on Twitter
    • The Synthetix Blog
    • Synthetix Dashboard
    • Synthetix on Discord
    • Synthetix on ViewBase
    • Synthetix 2020 Roadmap
    • Bending Metal on Amazon (Kain's sci-fi book)

    Sponsors:

    • Nervos: If you’re a developer or project seeking funding for an innovative idea, check out the Nervos Grants Program today - https://www.nervos.org/grants
    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter
    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/325


    Yaya Fanusie: Bitcoin and Terrorism – How Compliance Will Shape Cryptocurrencies Jan 28, 2020

    Many within the cryptofinance industry have been patiently waiting for regulatory oversight to deliver the clarity required for institutional adoption. Recent updates by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which issues guidelines for 200 countries and territories, attempts to apply the same rules and regulations required of traditional finance to the world of virtual currencies.

    Yaya Fanusie's background as an intelligence analyst at the CIA, and research on the national security implications of cryptocurrencies, provide valuable insight into the necessity of regulation in the space to mitigate the risk of bad actors. Yaya discusses the history and evolution of “Know Your Customer” and where he believes the industry is heading as it faces policymakers who attempt to regulate such rapid technological change.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Yaya’s background in the CIA and how he became interested in bitcoin
    • Bitcoin from a national security perspective
    • How terrorist organizations leverage cryptocurrencies for funding
    • The evolution of AML/KYC and complicance regulation in the financial sector
    • The cost of AML/KYC on business and society
    • Trying to regulate rapid technological change
    • Privacy in communication vs. Privacy in payments
    • The travel rule and how it affects cryptofinancial companies
    • Cryptocurrencies over the next decade

    Episode links:

    • Yaya Fanusie's website
    • Yaya Fanusie on Twitter
    • FinCEN’s Regulations to Certain Business Models Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies
    • Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Podcast
    • Stronger AML Enforcement Might Actually Save Crypto (FDD)
    • Crypto Rogues (FDD)
    • Anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (European Commission)
    • Cryptocurrency AML Strategies
    • KYC in Stablecoins (Bits on Blocks)
    • Rhythm of Wisdom Podcast

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/324


    Silvio Micali & Steven Kokinos: Algorand – In Pursuit of the Blockchain Trilemma Jan 21, 2020

    The blockchain trilemma is the generally accepted concept that it's not possible to scale public and permissionless blockchains without compromising on security, decentralization, or both.

    While the industry seems focused on building Layer 2 solutions to scale the transaction capacity of public networks, Algorand believes it has solved the trilemma, offering a network that scales without compromise to security or decentralization.

    Silvio Micali, Algorand's Founder and Head of Research, as well as the company's CEO, Steven Kokinos, discuss the project's background, recent protocol upgrades, and how Algorand will create a great ecosystem for developers.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Silvio’s path from academia to blockchain entrepreneurship
    • What Algorand addresses that other blockchains don’t
    • The blockchain trilemma: security, decentralization, scalability
    • How Algorand mitigates risk present on other blockchains
    • The TEAL smart contract language and how it's unique
    • Building primitives: atomics swaps, asset issuance, and a smart contract language called TEAL
    • Applications and use-cases for Algorand
    • The Algorand Foundation
    • What’s next for Algorand

    Episode links:

    • Algorand Website
    • Whitepaper
    • Algorand on Twitter
    • Algorand on Medium
    • Algorand on YouTube
    • Algorand Year in Review (YouTube)

    Sponsors:

    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/
    • Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/
    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/323


    Dillon Chen: Edgeware – Coordinating Distributed Communities With On-Chain Governance Jan 15, 2020

    Governance within any community has been a work in progress for humanity's history. The blockchain ecosystem continues to develop and offer an alternative to today's centralized powers. With this, distributed projects and technologies will need to enact clear governance to ensure viable competition with the streamlined decision-making processes present in today's institutions.

    The absence of codified governance in Bitcoin may be one of its most significant traits, signaling to the world its predictability due to its inability to change drastically. New projects like Edgeware, however, hope to encode the rules of governance on-chain and ensure a transparent process for stakeholders wishing to participate.

    Edgeware is a smart contract platform built on Polkadot's Substrate. Focused on developing community-owned governance tools, Edgeware is a distributed project where participants use the tools themselves to vote, delegate, and fund each other to upgrade the network. While initially developed by Commonwealth Labs, Edgeware at launch will be entirely managed by the community, which holds 90% of the tokens and resulting influence.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What attracted Dillon to crypto and why he co-founded Commonwealth Labs
    • Multi-chain governance
    • How Edgeware is unique
    • Building Edgeware on Polkadot’s Substrate
    • Retrospection from the soft-launch of Edgeware
    • What a “lockdrop” is, and why Edgeware had one
    • The issues and controversy around the Edgeware launch and lockdrop
    • The zero-day fork of Edgeware, Straightedge
    • The future of Edgeware

    Episode links:

    • Edgeware Homepage
    • Commonwealth Homepage
    • Relaunch: A Clean Genesis for Edgeware
    • Edgeware White Paper
    • Edgeware blockchain launch gets hijacked by rival fork - Decrypt
    • Edgeware Participation Statistics
    • Straightedge
    • Hey Straightedge - Conspiratus episode
    • Edgeware on Twitter
    • Edgeware on Discord
    • Edgeware White Paper

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/322


    Charlie Shrem: The Untold Story of a Bitcoin Pioneer and Renegade Jan 08, 2020

    Charlie Shrem became fascinated with Bitcoin in 2011 but grew frustrated with the hassle of buying it from the leading exchange at the time, Mt. Gox. To make the process faster and more convenient, Charlie created BitInstant in 2012. BitInstant quickly grew and by 2013 became responsible for processing a third of all Bitcoin transactions. This was with the help of Roger Ver and the Winklevoss twins, who were his seed investors, and Erik Voorhees, who led their marketing efforts.

    The success of BitInstant was short-lived. In a time where Bitcoin's primary applications were price speculation and buying things on the Silk Road, Charlie spent time in prison after a lack of customer due-diligence attracted the attention of the law enforcement. Our conversation with Charlie recounts the Bitcoin industry at its beginning, his time in prison, and what he is doing now that he's able to continue his work as a Bitcoin advocate.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Learning of Bitcoin on IRC in 2011
    • The Bitcoin community in the early days
    • Collaborating with competitors to grow the ecosystem
    • Frustration with Bitcoin infrastructure in 2011
    • Why Charlie decided to create BitInstant
    • Meeting Roger Ver, Erik Voorhees, and the Winklevoss Twins
    • Charlie’s time in prison and its effect on his personal life
    • Podcasting and daily life after prison

    Episode links:

    • Untold Stories Website
    • Untold Stories on Apple Podcasts
    • Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption
    • Charlie and Best Selling Author Ben Mezrich Discuss Bitcoin's History
    • 60 Minutes Podcast - Sunday, May 19, 2019 with Charlie Shrem
    • Crypto.IQ
    • Charlie Shrem on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/
    • Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/
    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/321


    Monetary Systems in an International Context Dec 31, 2019

    With global commerce and finance continuing to digitize, the world’s borders are seemingly becoming more fluid, even as physical walls are built. How does this globalization affect the sovereignty of nation-states and their ability to democratically direct their own economic future?

    In a panel moderated by Epicenter host, Sunny Aggarwal, we explore the interpretation of monetary policy from a global context, discuss the morality of impacting other nations, and the potential for new technologies to offer alternatives in a dollar-dominated world. The conversation includes Jae Kwon, CEO of Tendermint; John P Conley, Professor at Vanderbilt University; Steve Randy Waldman, Author of Interfluidity, and Baek Kim, Senior Associate at Hashed.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • A moral perspective on making monetary policy that is beneficial to one nation, and detrimental to another
    • Who matters when determining externalities in governmental policies
    • The possibility of a fiscal union without a monetary one
    • USD stablecoins promoting the notion that the US should control the world’s monetary policy
    • Comparing the Libra to the Euro

    Episode links:

    • Dani Rodrik's Blog: The inescapable trilemma of the world economy
    • Euro and Rodrik's Trilemma
    • Interfluidity Blog - Steve Randy Waldman
    • John Conley Macro WTF Talk
    • Steve Randy Waldman Macro WTF Talk
    • Jae Kwon | Twitter
    • Steve Randy Waldman | Twitter
    • John P Conley | Twitter
    • John P. Conley Personal Website

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/320


    Increasing Wallet Usability to Decrease the Anxiety of Self-Custody Dec 24, 2019

    Managing crypto-assets can be an anxiety-inducing experience for a lot of people. While it's quite empowering to “be your own bank,” it's also scary for a lot of people who understand the risks associated with self-custody. Although cryptocurrency wallets have made tremendous progress since the days when a full-sync of the blockchain was required, there are still significant hurdles that limit broad adoption.

    This conversation on the future of wallets at SF Blockchain Week Epicenter conference includes Taylor Monahan of MyCrypto, David Gold of FIO Protocol, Dan Finlay of MetaMask, and Ouriel Ohayon of ZenGo. They discuss design, app store policies, and the evolution necessary to enable more people to send, receive, and manage their tokens confidently. The panel is moderated by Epicenter host Sebastien Couture.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Advancements in the usability of cryptocurrency wallets over the last year
    • The importance of mobile-first development
    • Frustrations with iOS and Android app stores
    • How to make developing wallets economically feasible
    • The future of wallets
    • Self-custody vs. custodial wallets
    • Regulation of self-custody wallets
    • What to look forward to in the near-term

    Episode links:

    • MetaMask
    • ZenGo - Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Wallet
    • FIO Protocol Developer Hub
    • MyCrypto
    • Taylor Monahan on Twitter
    • Dan Finlay on Twitter
    • Ouriel Ohayon on Twitter
    • FIO Protocol on Twitter
    • MetaMask on Twitter
    • MyCrypto.com on Twitter
    • ZenGo on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/
    • eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/
    • Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/319


    David Vorick: Sia – Creating a P2P Marketplace for Data Storage to Disrupt the Cloud Industry Dec 17, 2019

    Much of the digital world now operates in the cloud. A handful of companies are responsible for the massive market, and the centralization makes many people worry about censorship, privacy, and network resilience.

    David Vorick’s passion for distributed file storage had him start Sia in 2014. He’s been working fervently ever since to develop a viable competitor to the centralized solutions that are responsible for much of the content on the internet today. David aim’s to create a more private, resilient, and secure alternative to Amazon Web Services while also outperforming it.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Why David started Sia rather than taking a job in big-tech
    • The Sia launch in 2015
    • Why Sia has prioritized development over marketing in the beginning
    • The importance of decentralized storage solutions
    • How decentralized storage can be cheaper than AWS
    • Why Sia needs its own blockchain and protocol's tech stack
    • David's views on Proof of Work how that lead him to start a mining company
    • The circumstances around the Sia blockchain fork of 2018
    • Where David envisions decentralized storage in the next few years

    Episode links:

    • Sia API Documentation
    • Sia Blog
    • Decentralization & Cutting-Edge Cryptography - Starkware Sessions Talk
    • Busted Setup - MIT Bitcoin Expo 2019 Talk
    • Recovering Payment Channel Midstates Using only The User's Seed - Scaling Bitcoin Talk
    • The Sia Ethos (Sia Blog)
    • Blockchains of the Sia family
    • Obelisk
    • SiaStats
    • David Vorick on Twitter
    • Sia on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Pepo: -
    • eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/318


    Taylor Monahan: From Side Project to Center Stage – The Story of MyEtherWallet & MyCrypto Dec 10, 2019

    Many people find that the crypto-finance space is quite difficult for non-technical people to understand and interact with the technologies. Some projects and people have made tremendous progress in creating tools and interfaces that allow a broader audience to participate, speculate, and learn.

    Taylor Monahan started MyEtherWallet as a side project in 2015, only for it to grow into one of the significant pieces of software people used to participate in the 2017 ICO boom. She has since "design-forked" the codebase and created MyCrypto, an open-source tool for generating ether wallets, handling ERC-20 tokens, and interacting with the blockchain with a clean and intuitive design.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Taylor's background, and how she got into cryptocurrency
    • What her experience was with Ethereum so early in the projects lifecycle
    • How Reddit comments helped guide the feature list in the early days of MyEtherWallet
    • How the DAO hack got her working full time on MyEtherWallet
    • Building a project before “founding a company”
    • Experiencing the ICO boom as the main wallet used to participate in token generation events
    • Where MyCrypto is at today
    • How Taylor wants MyCrypto to change the user experience in cryptocurrency
    • Taylor’s view on centralized exchanges and view of the future

    Episode links:

    • MyCrypto Beta
    • #MyCryptoWinter is back! (Medium)
    • Try The New MyCrypto! (Medium)
    • MyCrypto Twitter
    • MyCrypto GitHub
    • MyCrypto Discord
    • Taylor Monahan Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/
    • eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/
    • Pepo: -

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/317


    Dr. Luka Müller: MME – The Law Firm Behind the Rise of Switzerland’s CryptoValley Dec 04, 2019

    We were joined by Luka Mueller, who played a key role in establishing Switzerland as a cryptocurrency center and in laying the legal groundwork for the ICO boom. In 2014, his law firm MME worked with the Ethereum team to set up the Ethereum Foundation and run its public fundraiser. A model that was later copied by countless other projects and led MME to work with many other leading protocols like Cosmos and Tezos.

    We also discussed his new project Sygnum, a cryptocurrency-focused bank. Nearly every company that works in the cryptocurrency space has had problems with its banking partner. Legal uncertainty, lack of knowledge, or simple unwillingness to work with cryptocurrency companies has made this a frequent nightmare for companies in this emerging sector. With a presence in both Switzerland and Singapore, Sygnum aims to fill a piece of missing infrastructure in the crypto-ecosystem: a bank that is able to receive, hold and transfer protocol tokens while offering a secure fiat gateway to easily transfer from the old world of finance to the new.

    We also discussed Switzerland’s regulatory environment and why it is able to provide more regulatory clarity.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What life was like for Luka before blockchain
    • How Luka met Vitalik and went on to set up the Ethereum Foundation and run their fundraiser
    • What protocols his law firm, MME, helped launch
    • The lessons learned over the years, and how he would do it differently
    • Why Switzerland is a great jurisdiction for crypto projects
    • What Luka thinks of asset-backed tokens
    • What is Sygum, and why did he decide to start a crypto bank
    • What Luke believes will happen when the tech giants release their own currencies
    • The difference between Sygnum and similar banks
    • What Luka's fears are in the space, and what he is hopeful for

    Episode links:

    • MME Law Firm
    • Sygnum Website
    • Institutional Custody: A Portal to the Digital Asset Economy (Sygnum Blog)
    • How Tokenization is Closing the Gap Between Public and Private Markets (Sygnum Blog)
    • Sygnum gets green light to operate in Singapore (SwissInfo)
    • Switzerland’s first crypto bank reports “overwhelming” demand (Decrypt)
    • Sygnum on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/
    • Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/316


    Viktor Radchenko: Trust Wallet – Building and Growing the Official Binance Wallet Nov 26, 2019

    As the crypto ecosystem continues to grow, wallets and exchanges are quickly evolving to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. Viktor Radchenko, CEO and founder of Trust Wallet, joins us this week to talk about why he created a noncustodial wallet solution, what makes Trust Wallet unique, and how the acquisition by Binance has allowed his team to focus on a long term vision. Viktor helps us understand what it means to be part of the Binance Ecosystem, and what he believes the future holds for wallets, key storage and custody.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Victor's bio and how he ended up moving from the Ukraine to the US
    • How hacking games got Victor into cryptocurrency
    • What Trust Wallet is and its' strengths in the wallet landscape
    • What it means for Trust Wallet to be secure, opensource, decentralized, and anonymous
    • What Vicktor believes the future holds for wallets and key storage
    • The Binance acquisition of Trust Wallet
    • Trust Wallet's policy for adding new coins and the criteria they look at

    Episode links:

    • Trust Wallet
    • Trust Wallet Blog
    • Crypto exchange Binance buys Trust Wallet in first acquisition deal (TechCrunch)
    • 7 Essential Steps to Keep Your Crypto Wallet Secure (Trust Wallet Blog)
    • Ethereum Name Service is Now Supported (Trust Wallet Blog)
    • Trust Wallet DEX is growing up, Order book and Trading History added (Trust Wallet Blog)
    • Wallet Core documentation
    • Wallet Core on GitHub

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/315


    Nishant Sharma: Bitmain – Rising to Mining Dominance Nov 19, 2019

    Bitmain is one of the most well known, and one of the most polarizing companies in the blockchain space. The largest ASIC manufacturer and operator of several mining pools, Bitmain is the center of many controversies and discussions around centralization in the space. But not only is it the subject of discussion, Bitmain breaks out of the “passive miner” stereotype and is very active in many of the discussions in the community, most notably the Great Scaling Debates.

    In this episode, we sit down with Nishant Sharma, Head of Community Relations, who is responsible for acting as a bridge between the Bitmain company and the many communities it interacts with through its mining and ASIC operations. We explore the origins of Bitmain and its founders, the economics of ASIC production, its past and current relationships with different communities, and the future of the company.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Nishant's Story in the Bitcoin mining space and how it led to joining Bitmain
    • Origin of Bitmain and its founders, notably Jihan Wu
    • Does Bitmain contribute to centralization in the blockchain space
    • How Bitmain maintains its superiority in the ASIC manufacturing space
    • Economics of ASIC production and manufacturing
    • Balancing business models of ASIC production, operating multiple mining pools, and exploring new verticals
    • Bitmain's role in blockchain debates like the scaling debate, Bitcoin Cash split, and ProgPow

    Episode links:

    • Bitmain Website
    • Nishant on Twitter
    • Bitmain on Twitter
    • Fallout: Everyone’s a loser after Bitcoin Cash split – Brave New Coin
    • Bitmain Wikipedia
    • BTC.com Pool
    • Antpool
    • Leaked Transcript Details Power Struggle Inside Bitcoin Mining Giant
      Bitmain – CoinDesk
    • Dovey Wan on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    • Cosmos: Change the future of finance at the SF Blockchain Week Defi Hackathon – $50,000 prize pool for winning teams - https://epicenter.rocks/sfcosmos

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/314


    Jesse Powell: How Kraken Accelerates Cryptocurrency Adoption Nov 13, 2019

    As the cryptocurrency space has grown, exchanges have become the dominant juggernauts of the industry. One of the earliest and most reputable exchanges is Kraken. From the company's formation in 2011, Kraken has grown to 4m users and almost 1,000 employees.
    We are joined by Kraken Founder and CEO Jesse Powell. We dove into the history of Kraken, their values and the vision that's driving them.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How selling virtual goods for games led Jesse to discover Bitcoin
    • Why cryptocurrencies will lead to a better financial system
    • How Kraken launched and ended up getting strong traction in Europe
    • The challenges and changes of the regulatory environment
    • His thoughts on DeFi and decentralized exchanges
    • Kraken's approach to listing assets on the exchange
    • How to create a strong culture in a distributed company
    • His vision for Kraken to become a general trading and investment platform

    Episode links:

    • Kraken
    • How to Grow A Decacorn | Crypto Podcast | Kraken
    • How to Trade Crypto On Kraken
    • Kraken on Wikipedia
    • Kraken Exchange Twitter
    • Jesse Powell Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Change the future of finance at the SF Blockchain Week Defi Hackathon – $50,000 prize pool for winning teams - https://epicenter.rocks/sfcosmos
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/313


    Anatoly Yakovenko: Solana - Reaching for the Limits of Blockchain Performance Nov 06, 2019

    The vision of a world computer on which anyone can deploy smart contracts has captured our imagination since the publication of the Ethereum whitepaper. But while Ethereum demonstrated the viability of the concept, its shortcomings in terms of capacity and throughput prevent it from realizing the vision. Today, throughput has become a major bottleneck for widescale adoption of decentralized technologies.

    Many projects have set out to deliver where Ethereum 1.0 falls short. Most projects, including Ethereum 2.0, aim to create some kind of sharded network with many interoperable chains. Solana may be the only project that went the other way. Through identifying every performance bottleneck for a single blockchain and developing novel ways of removing them, they target to achieve throughput of 50,000 tps.

    We were joined by Solana creator and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko to discuss Solana's approach to building a web-scale blockchain. We covered some of their novel ideas including proof-of-history and parallelizing smart contract execution.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The performance-obssessed engineering background of the Solana team
    • The arguments against sharding for scalability
    • The value of a shared sense of time in a distributed system
    • How Solana's Proof-of-History creates a global clock for the network
    • How Solana uses GPUs to parallelize smart contract execution
    • How value could be accrued for the native token if transaction throughput is abundant
    • Solana's upcoming Tour de Sol testnets and launch timeline

    Episode links:

    • Solana Website
    • Proof of History: A Clock for Blockchain
    • The World Computer Should Be Logically Centralized - Multicoin Capital
    • Multicoin Capital: The Separation of Time and State - Multicoin Capital
    • How Solana's Proof of History is a Huge Advancement for Block Time
    • Tower BFT: Solana’s High Performance Implementation of PBFT

    Sponsors:

    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/312


    Rhys Lindmark: MIT's Digital Currency Initiative – Why We Need Blockchain Ethics Oct 29, 2019

    Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have the potential to change the world in meaningful ways. And this change may drastically impact people’s lives – both for the better and for the worse. While ethics are often discussed for technologies like AI, the ethical considerations around blockchain technologies have received less focussed attention.

    We’re joined by Rhys Lindmark, Head of Community and Long-Term Societal Impact at the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative. Previously the host of the podcast “Creating a Humanist Blockchain Future,” Rhys’ approach to blockchain was always about considering its potential impact. Since joining the DCI, his podcast, now “Gray Mirror,” continues to explore these questions. He has also recently started teaching a blockchain ethics course with the DCI’s Director, Neha Narula.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Rhys’ background as a podcaster and proponent of Effective Altruism
    • His advocacy work around universal tithing and donating to charity
    • The controversy surrounding the MIT Media Lab and the resignation of their Director Joi Ito
    • The difference between ethics and morals
    • Why we need to study blockchain ethics
    • Should we have ethics committees in blockchain as there exists about AI
    • The ethical considerations for different use cases and applications of blockchain technology
    • The role of miners and should they have ethical obligations to censor certain transactions
    • The DCI’s blockchain ethics class and what students learn

    Episode links:

    • Blockchain Ethics Class
    • Blockchain Ethics Class Syllabus
    • Why it’s time to start talking about blockchain ethics (MIT Technology
      Review)
    • Jeffrey Epstein case: Federal prosecutors broke law, judge says (Miami
      Herald)
    • Director of M.I.T.’s Media Lab Resigns After Taking Money From Jeffrey
      Epstein (New York Times)
    • MIT Digital Currency Initiative
    • Rhys Lindmark on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Change the future of finance at the SF Blockchain Week Defi Hackathon – $50,000 prize pool for winning teams - https://epicenter.rocks/sfcosmos
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • B9Lab: Level up and become a Solidity smart contract auditor – 5% off the with the code EPICENTER - https://solidified.b9lab.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/311


    Eli Ben-Sasson: StarkWare – Productizing zk-STARKs to Provide Blockchain Scalability and Privacy Oct 22, 2019

    This past year, we have witnessed what some are calling a “Cambrian Explosion” in zero-knowledge proof systems. New proof systems based on a variety of cryptographic assumptions are popping up every week. And while zero-knowledge systems are known for their privacy-preserving characteristics, they have proven particularly useful for scaling blockchains through off-chain computations.

    We're joined by Eli Ben Sasson, Co-founder and Cheif Scientist in the East at Starkware. His company is developing a full proof-stack, which leverages STARKs. Pioneered by Eli, STARKs are zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs, which are succinct, transparent, and post-quantum secure. StarkWare has demonstrated how zkSTARKs may be leveraged to provide off-chain scalability by generating proofs of computational integrity which may be verified on-chain.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Eli's trajectory and transition from academia to the startup world
    • The origin story of Starkware and the founding team
    • The current explosion of zero-knowledge proof research
    • An overview of zero-knowledge proof systems and how they work
    • What are STARKs and what are their properties
    • How STARKs are different from SNARKs and Bulletproofs
    • What are zk-Rollups and how they are used by StarkWare to achieve scalability
    • The StarkDEX experiment and scalability benefits it had demonstrated
    • The issue of data availability with layer-2 scaling solutions
    • StarkWare's business model and the solutions they are building for customers

    Episode links:

    • StarkWare
    • StarkWare resources
    • StarkWare blog
    • StarkWare Twitter
    • StarkWare Sessions conference videos
    • Epicenter Podcast SFBW Week Meetup
    • DeFi Hackathon sponsored by Cosmos
    • SF Blockchain Week 2019 (use the code EPICENTER for 20% off tickets)
    • Macro.WTF

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    • B9Lab: Level up and become a Solidity smart contract auditor – 5% off the with the code EPICENTER - https://solidified.b9lab.com/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/310


    Yoni Assia: eToro – The Social Trading Platform Oct 15, 2019

    We’re joined by Yoni Assia, Founder and CEO of eToro. The concept behind this world-leading social trading platform is users invest smarter by automatically copying the top traders in the community. With over 10 million users, over a trillion dollars traded on the platform just last year alone, this fascinating approach to trading is making huge waves. A decade after its original launch, eToro entered the crypto space with eToroX, their crypto exchange. More recently, they added cryptocurrencies to the growing list of assets that users can add to “Copy Trades.” Yoni shares his long-term vision in which he sees the tokenization of all traditional asset classes eventually taking place.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Yoni's background and how he first became interested in financial trading
    • How Yoni and his brother came up with the idea for eToro
    • The background of the Bitcoin community in Israel
    • Yoni's predictions for the finance industry
    • How the power of tokenization paved the path for eToro
    • What makes eToro unique compared to other crypto trading platforms
    • eToro's blockchain wallet
    • The launch of the eToroX crypto currency exchange
    • eToro's views on custody of assets and DeFi

    Episode links:

    • eToro
    • eToro on GitHub
    • The eToro Crypto Wallet
    • eToroX
    • eToro Twitter
    • Yoni Assia Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter
    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/309


    DappCon 2019 – Tales of Governance: DAOs, Swarms and Anarchic Systems Oct 08, 2019

    As we take some time to record new interviews, we’re releasing content from DappCon which took place in Berlin in August. This week, you’ll hear a panel moderated by Sunny all about blockchain governance.

    The panelists where Ameen Soleimani of MolochDAO, Stephanie Hurder of Prysm Group, Jorge Izquierdo of Aragon One, and Sebastian Gajek of ditCraf.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Hard Governance vs. Soft Governance
    • What types of governance we should apply to different systems
    • Different approaches to governance formalization
    • How we should govern things like trademarks
    • Representing all stakeholders in a governance system
    • Building in exit mechanisms in DAOs
    • Conservatism over Liberlism in governance mechanisms
    • How to account for different value systems

    Episode links:

    • DappCon
    • Ameen Soleimani on Twitter
    • Stephanie Hurder on Twitter
    • Jorge Izquierdo on Twitter
    • Sebastian Gajek on Twitter
    • Community manager job posting
    • Epicenter Meetup at SF Blockchain Week

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/308


    DappCon 2019 – Look at My Flashy Colors 
And Rounded Corners! Oct 02, 2019

    As we take some time to record new interviews, we're releasing content from DappCon which took place in Berlin in August. This week, you'll hear a panel moderated by Sebastien on usability and user experience in blockchain-based apps and products.

    The panelists where Chriss Sugg of AirSwap, Alex Van de Sande of the Ethereum Foundation, Itamar Lesuisse or Argent and Pedro Gomez of Wallet Connect.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The state of usability in the blockchain space
    • How evolving technology inform concepts in user experience
    • Building products in Web2.0 vs. Web 3
    • Creating dialog between engineers and designers
    • Why crypto product haven't gained adoption from non-crypto savvy people
    • Adoption of crypto by the unbanked
    • Gathering usage data for the purpose of product development

    Episode links:

    • Chriss Sugg on Twitter
    • Alex Van de Sande on Twitter
    • Pedro Gomez on Twitter
    • Itamar Lesuisse on Twitter
    • Community manager job posting
    • DAPPCON

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/307


    Omer Shlomovits & Ouriel Ohayon: ZenGo – The ‘Keyless’ Crypto Wallet Sep 24, 2019

    Those who have been in crypto long enough remember the not-so-good-ol’ days when an air-gapped machine was the only way to store private keys securely. Thankfully, the wallet space has come a long way from that era. But we still live in a world where the seed phrase is the single atomic point of failure. Enter threshold signatures schemes (TSS), a multi-party computation (MPC) where different parties generate a key and are all required to create a valid signature.
    We’re joined by Omer Shlomovits and Ouriel Ohayon, Co-founders of ZenGo. Their product is a ‘keyless’ crypto wallet, which means users never need to generate or store a key which gives them access to their funds. Keys are created with an MPC, where both ZenGo and the user are required to sign a transaction. TTS opens up exciting new possibilities like social recovery, user permissions for teams, and inheritance planning schemes. The important distinction between ZenGo and existing multi-signature wallets is that they achieve this using only cryptography, and do not rely on on-chain elements like smart contracts or op_scriptSig in Bitcoin.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - Omer and Ouriel’s respective backgrounds in academia and online consumer-facing products
    - What lead them to want to build yet another crypto wallet
    - The state of custody in the crypto wallet ecosystem and the challenge which remain unaddressed
    - A quick refresh on cryptographic primitives and multi-party computations (MPC)
    - The building blocks of cryptographic signatures and threshold signature schemes (TSS)
    - How TSS is different from Bitcoin multi-sig and smart contract multi-sig
    - TSS in ECDSA vs. Schnorr signatures
    - Applications and use cases for TSS
    - ZenGo’s on-boarding, restore process and use of biometrics
    - The future of wallet interoperability in a world of proprietary cryptographic schemes
    Episode links:
    - [ZenGo: Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Wallet](https://zengo.com)
    - [‎ZenGo: Bitcoin & Crypto Wallet on the App Store](https://Zengo.com/enjoy)
    - [Threshold Signatures Explained](https://www.binance.vision/security/threshold-signatures-explained)
    - [ShareLock: Mixing for Cryptocurrencies from Multiparty ECDSA](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/563.pdf)
    - [KZen Networks on GitHub](https://github.com/KZen-networks)
    - [Zengo Research](https://zengo.com/research/)
    - [KZen Research Telegram Group](https://t.me/kzen_research)
    - [Tel Aviv Blockchain Week Recap with Anna Rose of the Zero Knowledge Podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccywXWTSFKM)
    Sponsors:
    - Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    - Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/306](https://epicenter.tv/306)


    Sharon Goldberg: Arwen – Centralized Exchange Trading Without Counterparty Risk Sep 18, 2019

    We're joined by Sharon Goldberg, CEO of Arwen, a protocol solution for non-custodial trading. From communications engineering to Internet protocol security, to then becoming a Professor at Boston University, she shares her journey into the world of cryptography. Beginning as a whitepaper on eclipse attacks, Arwen has grown into a platform enabling atomic swaps on centralized exchanges. Sharon chats about Arwen's integration with KuCoin, how it compares to ShapeShift, Interledger, and Lightning, and the exciting new release of the Layer-2 atomic swaps from Ethereum into Bitcoin.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - How Sharon became interested in blockchain technology
    - The meaning of an eclipse attack
    - Arwen's co-founder Ethan Heilman
    - The backbone of Arwen
    - The Arwen protocol and how it uses atomic swaps
    - How trading takes place on the exchange
    - Arwen vs Shapeshift and Interledger
    - Creating multiple orders using the same channel
    - Arwen vs Lightning and the use of SegWit
    - How the relationship with KuCoin was formed
    Episode links:
    - [Arwen website](https://www.arwen.io/)
    - [Arwen's first white paper on eclipse attacks](https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/263.pdf)
    - [Arwen's Trading Protocol whitepaper](https://arwen.io/whitepaper.pdf)
    - [Announcement of Arwen's partnership with KuCoin](https://medium.com/arwensecure/arwen-partners-with-kucoin-to-offer-secure-non-custodial-trading-24af298d5dbd)
    - [Arwen's Twitter](https://twitter.com/arwensecure)
    - [Sharon Goldberg on Twitter](https://twitter.com/goldbe)
    Sponsors:
    - Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter
    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/305](https://epicenter.tv/305)


    David Chaum: The Forefather of Cryptocurrencies and the Cypherpunk Movement Sep 10, 2019

    We’re pleased to be joined by the legendary cryptographer and computer scientist, David Chaum. From his early beginnings at Berkley, David pioneered many of the cryptographic techniques used in secure systems and cryptocurrencies today. Blind signatures, which are used in zero-knowledge proofs, and mix networks, used in Tor heavily rely on his work. At the dawn of the Internet, David founded DigiCash, what many believe to be a direct ancestor of Bitcoin. Today, David continues to pursue his mission to bring data privacy to all as his most recent project, Elixxir, aims to create a truly private messaging and payment app with a mass-market appeal.
    Topics covered in this episode:
    - David’s background as a Ph.D. student at Berkeley and his thesis entitled “Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups”
    - What drove him to work on cryptography and privacy systems
    - His relationship to the early cypherpunk movement
    - David’s contribution to cryptography primitives such as blind signatures, undeniable signatures, group signatures and mixers
    - The story of DigiCash and how the company was founded
    - The idea behind Cyberbucks and why the company ultimately went bankrupt
    - Cryptocurrency adoption as a chicken-and-egg problem
    - David’s personal views and practices with regards to online privacy
    - His thoughts on the blockchain space today and his views on the future of the industry
    - His current project, Elixxir, a messaging and payment app which protects users’ data and metadata
    Episode links:
    - [David Chaum’s website](https://chaum.com)
    - [DigiCash](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/digicash.asp)
    - [lists.cpunks.org Mailing Lists](https://lists.cpunks.org/mailman/listinfo)
    - [DigiCash - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigiCash)
    - [Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments](https://www.chaum.com/publications/Chaum-blind-signatures.PDF)
    - [DigiCash announcement article from 1994](https://www.chaum.com/ecash/articles/1994/05-27-94%20-%20World_s%20first%20electronic%20cash%20payment%20over%20computer%20networks.pdf)
    - [Project Page: Multiparty Computation](https://www.chaum.com/spymasters/)
    - [Security without Identification](https://www.chaum.com/publications/Security_Wthout_Identification.html)
    - [Elixxir - Home](https://elixxir.io/)
    - [Elixxir - Real Cryptography, Real Time: Precomputations in Elixxir](https://elixxir.io/blog/real-cryptography-real-time)
    - [Elixxir - Why Mark Zuckerberg wants no privacy, why he wrote his letter,
    and why it won’t help him](https://elixxir.io/blog/why-zuckerberg-wants-no-privacy)
    - [Elixxir - Point of Departure](https://elixxir.io/blog/point-of-departure)
    - [cMix white paper](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B1jv03qc8E1kx0kvGFx4blzwXrQepMyy/view)
    Sponsors:
    - Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    - Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/304](https://epicenter.tv/304)


    Ayo Akinyele: Bolt Labs – Zcash on Lightning Sep 03, 2019

    We're joined by Ayo Akinyele, CEO of Bolt Labs. Bolt is building a new privacy-focused layer-2 payment channel network design. Initially designed by Matt Green and Ian Meyers, Bolt is being commercialized by Ayo and his team. Beginning with a Zcash integration, they have plans to implement on several crypto networks. We chat with Ayo about the technical design of BOLT channels, their privacy guarantees, how they complement designs like Lightning, and their synergies with the Zcash team.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Privacy in Lightning
    • Technical design of Bolt channels
    • Architecture of Bolt channel networks
    • Integrations with existing networks
    • Synergies with Zcash project
    • Regulatory aspect of payment channel hubs

    Episode links:

    • Bolt Labs website
    • Bolt: Anonymous Payment Channels for Decentralized Currencies (white paper_
    • Bolt Zcash implementation
    • Bolt: anonymous payment channels for decentralized currencies – Part I
    • Bolt: anonymous payment channels for decentralized currencies – Part II
    • Ayo Akinyele on Twitter
    • Starkware Session: September 16th in Tel Aviv – 20% off with the code EPICENTER
    • Chain-Aviv #4: The era of new rising chains and assets – September 11th in Tel Aviv

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/303


    Anthony Sassano & Eric Conner: EthHub – Ethereum Education and the Quest for Ether Dominance Aug 27, 2019

    We’re joined by Eric Conner and Anthony Sassano, founders of EthHub. Started in January of 2019, EthHub’s goal is to provide a trusted, objective source of information for the Ethereum ecosystem. The platform is made up of an open-source documentation website, a weekly newsletter, and a podcast, “Into the Ether” hosted by Eric and Anthony. Both active and vocal members of the Ethereum community, they are known to embody what some consider to be Ethereum Maximalism.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • What is EthHub and why they decided to start the organization
    • Eric and Anthony’s view on the current state of the Ethereum community
    • The different cliques, factions, and sub-groups in Ethereum
    • The role of the Foundation and Vitalik Buterin as they see it
    • A close look into project funding in Ethereum and the emergence of DAOs for funding
    • Reflections on Anthony’s “Why Ether is Valuable” piece
    • The state of Ethereum 2.0 research and the different parties involved
    • Their views on where the crypto space is heading in the next 5 years

    Episode links:

    • EthHub website
    • Into the Ether podcast
    • EthHub Newsletter
    • Why Ether is Valuable
    • Is Ether needed for transaction fees?
    • Ethereum Project Funding
    • EthHub on Twitter
    • Anthony Sassano on Twitter
    • Eric Conner on Twitter
    • Epicenter Meetup at TelAviv Blockchain Week – Monday September 16th

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/302


    Dan Shin: Terra – The Stable Currency Tackling the Ecommerce Payments Market Aug 20, 2019

    This week we're joined by Daniel Shin. He is the Co-Founder of Terra Money and previous CEO and Co-Founder of TMON, one of Korea's largest players e-commerce platforms. Today he talks about his success in that area and how that drove him to enter the cryptocurrency and blockchain space with this new project.

    Daniel was lead to blockchain when looking for a solution to reduce transaction fees paid by online merchants. Not satisfied with just using an existing stable coin, he set about to make his own, which is how Terra was born.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Daniel's background with TMON and his need to explore new transaction cost-cutting ideas
    • How Daniel discovered that cryptocurrencies may help reduce intermediaries in the payment space
    • Terra's impressive partnerships with some of Korea's largest e-commerce players
    • The stability mechanism and the role of the Luna token
    • The role of miners in Terra and the currency's seigniorage model
    • Comparisons to other stablecoins like Maker DAI and Libra
    • The contingency plans in the event of a catastrophic plummet in demand
    • How Cosmos formed the basis on which Terra was built
    • Terra's business model and product roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Terra on GitHub
    • Terra white paper
    • Introducing the new Terra Protocol
    • Use Cases for Decentralized Money (Stablecoin)
    • Scaling Seigniorage
    • Terra Research Forum
    • Terra Twitter
    • TMON

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/301


    Erik Voorhees: ShapeShift – There's a New Fox in Town Aug 13, 2019

    We’re joined by Erik Voorhees, Founder & CEO of Shapeshift. His third appearance on the podcast is timed nicely as July marked ShapeShift’s fifth anniversary. From its early days as the “Google Translate for cryptocurrencies”, it has grown into an organization of 75 people, and Erik talks about the learning curves he has endured on his journey. Our conversation also coincides with the launch of ShapeShift’s brand new V2 platform, which includes a self-custodial asset management dashboard, hardware wallet support, and many other new features. One notable change is that ShapeShift now requires users to create an account and perform KYC, something which very much pains Erik. We also discuss Bitcoin, Libra, and the future of money, topics which are always fascinating to approach from Erik’s Libertarian viewpoint.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • ShapeShift celebrating its 5th anniversary the lessons learned since launch
    • What is ShapeShift 2.0 and the problems addressed by this product
    • ShapeShift's new features and what people can expect to come in the future
    • Why users now have to register and perform KYC
    • What is the FOX token and what is it's utility
    • ShapeShift's business model and target segment
    • Why the company chose to shut down Prism
    • Erik's views on the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems today
    • Speculations about Libra and the future of money

    Episode links:

    • ShapeShift
    • ShapeShift on GitHub
    • Building a Bridge to Financial Sovereignty (ShapeShift 2.0 announcement)
    • Erik's tweetstorm on Libra
    • KeepKey Release Notes
    • ShapeShift Twitter
    • Erik Voorhees Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter
    • StarkWare Sessions: September 16th in Tel Aviv – 20% off with the code EPICENTER - https://epicenter.rocks/starkware

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/300


    Igor Barinov: POA Network – Enabling Scaling Through Trust in Public Notaries Aug 06, 2019

    We're joined by Igor Barinov, the tech lead of the POA Network. The POA Network achieves a reduction in transaction costs by many orders of magnitude by having a set of trusted validators. All validators must be US public notaries, so their identities are known and legal recourse against them can be taken in the offchain world. We also talk about the xDai network, which enables Dai transactions on a POA chain: Dai are transferred into a smart contract on the mainnet and then become available to be transferred at much lower cost on the POA Network. Similarly, they can be transferred out of the xDai network and become available again on the mainchain. We talk about use cases, governance, and limitations.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Igor's background and how he got into blockchain
    • The POA network setup and how to become a validator
    • What informs design decisions and how to find suitable notaries
    • The consensus mechanism on the POA Network
    • The role of the POA token
    • The xDai network and its purpose
    • The role of the DPOS token
    • Use cases of POA and xDai Networks

    Episode links:

    • POA Network website
    • POA products overview
    • xDAI Chain
    • POSDAO White paper
    • Ocean Protocol releases own POA network
    • Beginners guide: What's the POA network

    Sponsors:

    • StarkWare Sessions: September 16th in Tel Aviv – 20% off with the code EPICENTER - https://epicenter.rocks/starkware
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/299


    Rune Christensen: Maker DAO – The Central Bank of Web 3.0 Jul 30, 2019

    We're joined by Rune Christensen, CEO and Co-Founder of MakerDAO. We discuss the rise of Maker DAI as an algorithmically backed stable token and get into the weeds of the new version featuring multi collateral DAI as well as the ability to natively generate interest on DAI. We also cover the current governance model and how this can be attacked. The governance will undergo an overhall for the new version of Maker, introducing an Emergency Shutdown that can be triggered through MKR holders and promises to make the system more resilient. Lastly, we venture into what Rune hopes the future will bring for MakerDAO.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Recap of how single collateral DAI is kept at peg of 1 USD
    • Why was DAI intermittently trading at < 1USD
    • Governance functions exercised by MKR holders
    • Sale of MKR tokens and MKR distribution
    • Is the current governance model satisfactory?
    • New governance mechanisms to be rolled out soon
    • Introduction of multi collateral DAI
    • Interest generating DAI: Implementation and rationale
    • Future of Maker DAO: What will be able to serve as collateral?

    Episode links:

    • MakerDAO white paper
    • MakerDAO CDP portal
    • MakerDAO Blog
    • Roadmap Multi Collateral DAI
    • DAI in numbers
    • DAI in DeFi

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/298


    Ameen Soleimani: Moloch DAO – A Simple Yet Unforgiving DAO to Fund Ethereum Development Jul 24, 2019

    We’re joined by Ameen Soleimani, Co-founder and CEO of SpankChan. From his humble beginnings at ConsenSys, he went on to create SpankChain in 2017 at the height of the ICO boom. The project aims to create a better and safer environment for sex workers by removing the intermediaries who take significant commissions on their revenues. SpankChain’s initial product, an adult cam platform, allows users to pay performers in crypto with a native asset over sophisticated payment channels. More recently, Ameen headed a project called Moloch DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization with the goal to fund Ethereum 2.0 development. Moloch has but few simple functions: making proposals, voting on proposals, and exiting. This simple design, heavily inspired on “The DAO” of 2016 has attracted funding from Vitalik Buterin, Joe Lubin and other prominent community members.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ameen’s background as an early ConsenSys employee working on payment channels
    • Why Ameen decided to found SpankChain and how the project has evolved since its inception
    • What is Moloch DAO and why he decided to launch it
    • The mechanism behind Moloch and how it compares to other DAOs
    • How one becomes a member of Moloch and participates in governance
    • The simplicity of Moloch DAO and its essential functions
    • How Moloch DAO scales and its intended lack of a smart contract upgrade mechanism
    • The attention and funding the project has already received
    • Proposals already made on Moloch, including YangDAO, and their utility to the ecosystem
    • Ameen’s views on the broader Ethereum space, his outlook on Eth 2.0 and the future of the project

    Episode links:

    • Moloch DAO
    • Moloch Ventures · GitHub
    • Moloch DAO white paper
    • Moloch Summoning Guide
    • The State of Ethereum 2.0 report
    • A Study of Libp2p and ETH2
    • A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on The DAO
    • YangDAO
    • Ameen Soleimani on Twitter
    • Moloch DAO on Twitter
    • SpankChain
    • DappCon – 20% off with the code “EpicenterDappcon2019”
    • Epicenter Meetup at Berlin Blockchain Week – Thu 22 Aug 2019
    • Berlin Blockchain Week 2019

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/297


    Jerry Brito: The Case for Electronic Cash in an Open and Free Society Jul 16, 2019

    We’re joined by Jerry Brito, Executive Director of Coin Center. Having discovered Bitcoin in 2011, Jerry was among the first lawyers to talk about crypto in the U.S. capital. In 2014, he founded Coin Center, a leading research and advocacy center focussing on cryptocurrencies.

    In this enlightening conversation, we talk to Jerry about his paper titled “The Case for Electronic Cash,” in which he articulates why private peer-to-peer payments are essential to an open society. We also discuss Libra and the possible regulatory challenges the proposed private cash system may face. Finally, Jerry explains the recent FinCEN guidance on cryptocurrencies, which broadly follows the recommendations of Coin Center.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jerry’s background as a lawyer and his crypto beginnings in D.C.
    • Coin Center, it’s mission and the primary battles which the organization is fighting
    • “The Case for Electronic Cash” paper and why cash is vital for a free and open society
    • The main dysfunctions of cashless societies
    • Jerry’s high-level views on Libra
    • How Libra is different from other cryptocurrencies and electronic payment systems
    • The backlash immediately following the announcement and how it was received by governments
    • Ways in which Libra could be regulated
    • The recent FinCEN guidance and how it affects cryptocurrency users and companies

    Episode links:

    • Coin Center
    • Jerry Brito's website
    • FinCEN’s new cryptocurrency guidance matches Coin Center recommendations
    • The Case for Electronic Cash
    • The differences between Bitcoin and Libra should matter to policymakers
    • Jerry's thoughts on Libra (tweetsorm)
    • Jerry response to Libra Association's Head of Policy on sanction's list (tweetsorm)
    • Buidl Asia
    • HackAtom Seoul
    • DappCon – 20% off with the code “EpicenterDappcon2019”
    • Announcing the Chorus One Podcast
    • Cosmology – A newsletter about the Cosmos network

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Vaultoro - Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg
    • Azure: Azure - Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/296


    Robert Leshner: Compound – An Automated Money Market for Ethereum Tokens Jul 09, 2019

    In this episode, we caught up with Robert Leshner, founder of the Compound protocol. Compound is a fascinating smart contract protocol, running atop Ethereum, that allows users to lend and borrow specific ERC-20 tokens with a duration-free interest model. The protocol acts as a central borrower and lender of user tokens and algorithmically prices the interest charged to borrowers and lenders. Compound is one of the first examples of a well-functioning lending market built using smart contracts.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Robert's background and how he came to found Compound
    • The workings of the compound protocol
    • Statistics of usage of the protocol
    • Intended plan for governance of the protocol in the future
    • Business model of the company and the protocol
    • Comparison of compound to other lending protocols on Ethereum
    • Outlook and future plans

    Episode links:

    • Compound Website
    • Compound Protocol Stats
    • Our plan to create Compound v2
    • Robert Leshner on Twitter
    • Robert Leshner on Linkedin
    • Compound Finance on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter
    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com

    This episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/295


    Rob Dawson: PegaSys – Enterprise-Grade Ethereum Protocol Engineering Jul 04, 2019

    We're joined by Rob Dawson, Head of Product at PegaSys. PegaSys is the protocol engineering spoke of ConsenSys, and the team building Pantheon, a Java implementation of the Ethereum client. The Pantheon client was built from the ground up as both a mainnet, and consortium chain client. Written in Java with an Apache 2.0 license, it benefits from being easily accessible to enterprises, who predominantly use that language. The PegaSys team has built additional features into the Pantheon client like privacy, permissioning, and the ability to deploy chains on IBFT, a consensus algorithm better suited for consortium networks of up to 40 validators. Working closely with other protocol teams (Geth and Parity), and being a founding member of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance, PegaSys is also working towards Ethereum 2.0.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Rob’s background as an enterprise Java developer and how he became involved in the blockchain space
    • The role of PegaSys in the broader ConsenSys ecosystem
    • The Pantheon client and why they chose to build a new Ethereum client
    • The case for Java and why enterprise has a preference for this language
    • Pantheon’s unique features of privacy, permissioning, and performance
    • What is Istanbul BFT and how it differs from Parity POA and Tendermint BFT
    • The types of applications which are better suited for IBFT
    • The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) and PegaSys’ work on standards
    • PegaSys’ work on Ethereum 1.x and Ethereum 2.0
    • The team's recently announced certification program

    Episode links:

    • PegaSys Website
    • Introducing Pantheon, a Mainnet Java Client - Demo & Roadmap (Devcon4)
    • Another day, another consensus algorithm. Why IBFT 2.0?
    • Scaling Consensus for Enterprise: Explaining the IBFT Algorithm
    • Blog Posts and Webinars - Pantheon
    • PegaSysEng/pantheon: An enterprise-grade Java-based, Apache 2.0
      licensed Ethereum client
    • PegaSysEng/artemis: Java Implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon
      Chain
    • Komgo

    Sponsors:

    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/294


    Stephen Palley: The Regulatory Landscape for Cryptocurrencies and the SEC's Case Against Kik Jun 25, 2019

    The complex and evolving regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies has been a topic for many years. After a long period of waiting, the SEC started pursuing fraud causes in the last 1-2 years. But the recent lawsuit against Kik is the first time that the SEC goes after a large, non-fraud case.

    We were joined by lawyer Stephen Palley to discuss the Kik case, the US regulatory landscape and recent announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency promoted by Facebook.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The SEC lawsuit against Kik
    • The potential path of the process and how it could resolve in the end
    • Why the Kik case is unlikely to provide any regulatory clarity in the next few years
    • What a settlement in the Kik case could look like
    • Whether the Howey test is still a sensible way to regulate securities
    • How US regulators will deal with decentralized exchanges
    • Stephen's thoughts on Libra

    Episode links:

    • Annotated Guide to the SEC's Complaint against KIK - Katherine Wu
    • Kik and the SEC: What’s Going On and What Does It Mean for Crypto? -
      Katie Haun
    • Kin Sets Up $5 Million DefendCrypto.org to Take on the SEC - Unchained
      Podcast
    • SEC vs. Kik: The Lawyers Speak - CoinDesk
    • Episode 135 with Stephen Palley: Lawmodynamics – How to Sue a DAO
    • Stephen Palley on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/293


    Bonus 2/2: Cosmos Validator Panel and Governance Debates – Interchain Conversations Berlin Jun 21, 2019

    This is part two of a two part bonus series. These sessions were recorded at the first Interchain Conversations conference which took place in Berlin on June 13th and 14th, 2019.

    The firs part of this bonus episode features the validator panel moderated by Brian Fabian Crain, Co-founder of Chorus One. The panel included Florian Liss of Staking Facilities, Hendrik Hofstadt of Certus One, Aurel Iancu of Dokia Capital, and Jun Soon Kim of stake.fish. The conversation goes into the role of validators beyond staking, ways in which we can avoid too much centralization, and how validators will differentiate in a market which tends towards homogeneity.

    The second part of this episode is a governance debate moderated by Sunny Aggarwal. The first topic is on plutocracy and features Jae Kwon and Rigel Rozanski. The second is about revokable governance and features Chris Goes and Jack Jampolin.

    Subscribe to Epicenter for new episodes every week.


    Bonus 1/2: “Epicenter Live” and a Chat with Jae Kwon of Cosmos – Interchain Conversations Berlin Jun 21, 2019

    This is part one of a two-part bonus series. These sessions were recorded at the first Interchain Conversations conference which took place in Berlin on June 13th and 14th, 2019.

    The first part of this episode is “Epicenter Live,” a live podcast recorded on stage at the event. It features hosts Meher Roy, Sunny Aggarwal, Brian Fabian Crain, and Sebastien Couture. In this conversation, we discuss the topic of blockchain interoperability. We look at how different projects address interoperability and seek to form a picture of how these projects might interact in a multi-blockchain future. We also discuss how these protocols address application comparability and speculate on how they will remain competitive.

    The second segment is the opening Q&A between Jae Kwon and Sebastien Couture. Among other things, Sebastien spoke with Jae about the recent Cosmos launch, the Interchain Foundation, and the future of the Tendermint company.

    Subscribe to Epicenter for new episodes every week.


    Hayden Adams: Uniswap – An Automated Decentralized Exchange for Ethereum Jun 18, 2019

    The concept of a decentralized exchange has been a holy grail in the cryptocurrency space for many years. Many attempts have been made, but most decentralized exchanges suffered from central points of failure, poor user experience and little liquidity.

    Launched during Ethereum's DevCon 2018, Uniswap is one of the first fully decentralized exchanges and managed to become the leading DEX very fast. We were joined by Uniswap Founder Hayden Adams to discuss Uniswap's unique model, the different participants in the protocol and the importance of decentralized exchanges for the blockchain space.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Hayden's exploratory project to learn smart contract development took off and became Uniswap
    • How Uniswap works and its different participants
    • The advantage of an automated exchange instead of using order books
    • The role of liquidity providers in Uniswap
    • Feedback loops that can make Uniswap markets popular or collapse
    • The challenging economics of liquidity shares
    • Addressing Arthur Hayes' criticism of decentralized exchanges
    • Why Uniswap didn't create a tokeneconomic monetization model

    Episode links:

    • Uniswap Exchange Protocol
    • Uniswap Whitepaper
    • Uniswap: Getting Started & Documentation
    • Unisocks Exchange
    • Distributed 2018: Presentation about Decentralized Exchanges by Arthur Hayes (BitMEX)
    • Buidl Asia 2019 Conference in Seoul, Korea on July 22-23
    • HackAtom Seoul on July 19-21

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter
    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/292


    Tal Moran: Spacemesh – The Space-Time Consensus Blockchain Jun 11, 2019

    We're joined by Tal Moran, Chief Scientist at Spacemesh. This new consensus protocol is designed to run on home desktop PCs, filling free space on users' hard drives to create a Proof of Space-Time. The goal of this new blockchain protocol is to solve the issues with Proof of Work and Proof of Stake, that is, energy inefficiency on the one hand, and possible centralized plutarchy of rich validators on the other.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Tal's background as an academic and researcher
    • The problems with Proof of Stake and Proof of Work
    • What is Proof of Space-Time and how it works
    • How miners use their hard drive space to establish proofs
    • How randomness is generated in Spacemesh
    • Spacemesh's DAG architecture and how blocks are added to the chain
    • The tortoise and hare protocols proposed by Spacemesh
    • The Spacemesh team and recent funding round
    • The project's business model and roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Spacemesh
    • Spacemesh white paper
    • Tal's CESC18 talk in San Fransisco
    • Spacemesh on GitHub
    • Spacemesh on Twitter
    • Spacemesh on Medium
    • Interchain Conversations Berlin event – use code EPICENTER for discounted tickets
    • Cosmos Hackatom Berlin

    Sponsors:

    • Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.com
    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/291


    Dominic Tarr: Secure Scuttlebutt – The “Localized” but Distributed Social Network Jun 04, 2019

    We’re joined by Dominic Tarr, a sailor, and the Founder of Secure Scuttlebutt. This curiously named project has a fascinating approach to creating a truly distributed social network. One might even say that Secure Scuttlebutt is “localized” as it gracefully degrades to Sneakernet, something few blockchain projects can claim. In actuality, the SSB protocol isn’t a blockchain in the traditional sense – each user’s feed acts as a sort of localized chain of posts, signed by their public key, and possibly encrypted for a friend's key to decrypt. When users meet, the system syncs their local databases using a gossip protocol and replicates the data. Encrypted data is transported from peer, to peer, to peer (or friends of friends) until it reaches its intended recipient. User may also optionally rely on public servers to sync data over the internet.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Daniels background and life living on a boat off the coast of New Zealand
    • How being at sea gave him the idea for Secure Scuttlebutt
    • What is Secure Scuttlebutt and what are the goals of the project
    • The issues with centralization and redefining decentralization as a positive statement
    • The notion that the technological singularity only serves the goals of centralized power
    • How SSB stores information and how posts get propagates from between friends, and friends of friends
    • How the network leverages “Pub” servers to sync data over the internet
    • Usage of the platform and the communities which thrive there
    • The cost of spam and how users protect against DDoS attacks
    • The project’s funding and roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Secure Scuttlebutt website
    • Scuttlebutt Protocol Guide
    • Manyverse mobile client
    • Designing a Secret Handshake: AuthenticatedKey Exchange as a Capability System
    • EfficientReconciliationandFlow ControlforAnti-Entropy Protocols
    • Scuttlebutt: an off-grid P2P social network that runs without servers and
      can fall back to sneakernet
    • The Nomad Who’s Exploding the Internet Into Pieces
    • Counter-Anti-Disintermediation
    • “The Third Web” interview with Dominic Tarr
    • Dominic Tarr on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Trail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.com
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/290


    Dan Robinson: Rainbow Network – Off-Chain Synthetics Exchange or “Multicolored Lightning” May 28, 2019

    We’re joined by Dan Robinson, a research partner at Paradigm, and the author the “Rainbow Network” paper. The paper describes an off-chain decentralized synthetics exchange which leverages payment channels. The Rainbow Network is based on the idea that “rainbows are basically just multicolored lightning,” borrowing from the concepts used in the Lightning Network. The protocol relies on trusted oracles and allows participants to trade any type of liquid asset off-chain. All that is necessary to complete a transaction is an on-chain payment channel collateralized by a single asset. Though it is still at the idea stage and has yet to be implemented, the Rainbow Network could have applications in prediction market and as a new type of decentralized exchange.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Dan’s background as a securities layer turned coder
    • His trajectory from working at Chain, to spending some time at Stellar, to joining Paradigm Fund
    • His involvement in the development of the Plasma Cash and Plasma Debit protocols
    • Thoughts and criticisms of using HTLC’s in Lightning
    • What is the idea behind Rainbow Network and how to understand it in the context of Lightning
    • What are synthetics assets and the ability to trade multiple assets in a single payment channel
    • The ability to have leverage in a Rainbow channel trade
    • Next steps in research and implementation
    • Dan’s contribution to the Ivey “smart contract” language for Bitcoin

    Episode links:

    • Rainbow Network white paper
    • Ivy Playground for Bitcoin
    • Mirror project
    • Paradigm
    • Dan Robinson on Medium
    • Dan Robinson on Twitter
    • Interchain Conversations Berlin event – use code EPICENTER for discounted tickets
    • Cosmos Hackatom Berlin

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter
    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/289


    Jill Carlson: Open Money Initiative – Free Access to Finance as a Human Right May 22, 2019

    A common meme in the cryptocurrency space is that it has the potential to help people in countries where only the rich and powerful access to global financial markets. But ten years after the Bitcoin white paper was released, just how many “unbanked” people has cryptocurrency helped? Some see crypto as a tool to empower vulnerable populations in places where hyperinflation and strict capital controls make day-to-day survival a nearly impossible challenge.

    We’re joined by Jill Carlson. Previously at Chain and Tezos, Jill has been writing about the cryptocurrency industry for several years. In 2016 she published a paper titled “Cryptocurrency and Capital Controls” which observes the use of Bitcoin in Argentina. Recently, she co-founded the Open Money Initiative, a research organization which looks into how people use money in closed economies. Their initial focus is on Venezuela where years of economic downturn and strict currency controls have created a humanitarian crisis which has political repercussions well beyond the country’s borders.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jill’s beginning working at Goldman Sachs in the Latin America market
    • Her journey from trading bonds to entering crypto space working at Chain
    • A brief history of Venezuela leading up to the current situation
    • What it’s like to experience hyperinflation
    • The Open Money Initiative and the organization’s goals
    • How cryptocurrency and specifically Bitcoin is used in Venezuela
    • The political motivations behind the Open Money Initiative
    • The story behind Venezuela’s Petro currency
    • Jill’s podcast with Meltem Demirors, What Grinds my Gears

    Episode links:

    • Jill Carlson’s website
    • Open Money Initiative
    • Petronomicon (blog post)
    • Crypto Is Not An Asset Class (blog post)
    • What Grinds my Gears podcast
    • Jill Carlson on Medium
    • Jill Carlson on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/288


    Aya Miyaguchi: The Role and Challenges of the Ethereum Foundation May 16, 2019

    The Ethereum Foundation has played a crucial role in the evolution of the blockchain ecosystem. They pioneered the Swiss foundation structure and ran one of the first token sales. They played a key role in developing the second-most valuable blockchain network and still play a key role in funding research and steering the future of Ethereum.

    At the same time, it has been frequently criticized for a lack of transparency, being too slow in funding development and poor financial risk management. Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi joined us to discuss her journey into the space, the role of the Ethereum Foundation and their plans for the future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Aya went from high school teacher to enter the crypto space
    • Joining Kraken and building their presence in Japan
    • The role of the Ethereum Foundation in the Ethereum ecosystem
    • Decision making processes and governance in the Ethereum Foundation
    • Ethereum's grant program and funding priorities
    • The Ethereum Foundation's plans to attempt to become more transparent
    • The Ethereum Foundation's approach to conflicts of interest
    • Why the EF decided to support MolochDAO
    • Whether Ethereum should be concerned about competition from other blockchain networks

    Episode links:

    • Ethereum.org
    • Ethereum Foundation to Spend $30 Million on Development Over Next Year
    • Ethereum Foundation Website
    • Ethereum Foundation Values by Aya Miyaguchi (Devcon4) - YouTube
    • Ethereum Devcon 5 Japan - Oct 30 to Nov 2
    • DappCon Berlin - August 21 to 23

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/287


    Mark Miller: Agoric and the Decades-Long Quest for Secure Smart Contracts May 07, 2019

    We were joined by Mark S. Miller, Chief Scientist at Agoric. Mark is a computer scientist who has done ground-breaking work on many topics relevant to blockchain and smart contracts going back decades.

    We discussed his visionary 1988 Agoric papers, which explored how markets could be applied to the world of software. We also covered how his view of smart contracts, which focused on secure bilateral agreements complements and converges with blockchain. Finally, we covered his new company Agoric and their conceptualization of higher order smart contracts.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Mark's effort to prevent the government from suppressing the discovery of public key cryptography in the 1970s
    • The legendary project Xanadu and its attempt to create censorship-resistant web publishing
    • Mark's Agoric papers and the vision of markets for computation
    • Why AI hasn't changed the shortcomings of central planning
    • The difference between his view of smart contracts and Nick Szabo's
    • Their decade-spanning work on making JavaScript the best language for smart contracts
    • Agoric's work on higher order smart contracting

    Episode links:

    • The Agoric Papers
    • Computer Security as the Future of Law - YouTube
    • Capability-based Financial Instruments (2000)
    • Distributed Electronic Rights in JavaScript – Google AI
    • Agoric at SF Cryptocurrency Devs - Programming Secure Smart Contracts -
      YouTube
    • The Duality of Smart Contracts and Electronic Rights by Dean Tribble at
      Web3 Summit 2018 - YouTube

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter
    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/286


    Mike Pieciak: NASAA – A “To The Moon” Approach to Regulating Crypto Apr 30, 2019

    We're joined by Mike Pieciak, President of the NASAA. Not to be confused with the space agency, the North American Securities Administrators Association brings together state, provincial, and federal securities regulators in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This relatively unknown organization helps align the financial regulation policies of over 50 agencies across North America and coordinates enforcement action in cross-border cases. In 2018, the NASAA launched “Operation Cryptosweep” in which over 200 ICOs and cryptocurrency-related investment products were investigated for potential investor fraud.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Mike's background as a lawyer and the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation
    • What is the NASAA, it's goals, members and jurisdiction
    • The story of “Operation Cryptosweep” and what came out of that action
    • Mike's thoughts on the future of blockchain regulation
    • How regulation might apply in the context of transnational projects which are nation state-invariant
    • The United State's restrictive securities laws in the context of Defi and security tokens
    • Vermont's attempt to attract blockchain projects, and the “Blockchain-Based LCC”
    • Vermont DFR's pilot project in Captive Insurance
    • What Mike hopes to achieve during his one-year term as president of the NASAA

    Episode links:

    • NASAA
    • Operation Cryptosweep
    • NASAA Reminds Investors to Approach ICOs with Caution
    • Get in the Know About ICOs (video)
    • Vermont Governor Signs Bill Clearing Way for Blockchain Companies
    • Captive Insurance Blockchain Pilot Press Release
    • Vermont Department of Financial Regulation
    • Mike Pieciak (@mspieciak) on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/285


    Griff Green: Giveth – Creating the New Economic Model of Giving Apr 23, 2019

    We're joined by Griff Green, one of the founders at Giveth. The organization, which emerged out of the ashes of the DAO, aims to create a better model for charitable work. Operating as a Dapp, Giveth aims to bring new governance models in the nonprofit space. The goal is to create better incentives for donors and charity workers, in all types of social good projects.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Griff's background as a gold-hodling digital nomad
    • His time spent at Slock.it and his involvement in the aftermath of the DAO collapse
    • How traditional charity organizations work
    • The problems these organizations face and how funds get allocated
    • The Giveth backstory and why the team chose to start the project
    • Incentive alignment in the charity space
    • The use of bonding curves and continuous organizations to fund charity projects
    • The project's roadmap and future

    Episode links:

    • Giveth website
    • Rewriting the Story of Human Collaboration
    • Griff's talk at EthCC
    • Crowdfunding the Commons
    • The Future of Giving is Crowdfunding the Commons
    • Deep Dive: Augmented Bonding Curves
    • Episode 282 with Simon de la Rouviere
    • The Giveth blog
    • Giveth on GitHub
    • Join the Giveth community

    Sponsors:

    • Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/284


    Yaniv Tal: The Graph – A Marketplace for Web3 Data Indexes Based on GraphQL Apr 16, 2019

    At the core of the Web 2.0 stack lies the REST API. It's the fiber which allows frontend applications to communicate with their backend counterparts, as well as the services on which they depend. But the API model is highly constrained and inflexible. The API is divorced from the data model, which creates a number of restrictions and inefficiencies. Most blockchain clients, including Geth, Parity and Bitcoin Core, use a JSON-RPC model which suffers from similar issues. Several Ethereum DApps maintain high-availability, centralized data indexes which sit between the client and the blockchain. Thought user experience is greatly improved, the practice means most of the ecosystem relies on centralized infrastructure.

    We're joined by Yaniv Tal, Project Lead at The Graph. The project aims to create a scalable marketplace of robust and high-availability blockchain data indexes. Relying on the modern GraphQL data query language initially developed by Facebook, The Graph allows developers to make complex queries to a robust and high-availability data infrastructure. Launched as a hosted service earlier this year, The Graph plans to move to a decentralized model in the future.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The vision of The Graph and why the team chose to work on this problem
    • The REST API client-server model in the Web 2.0 paradigm
    • The state of the Ethereum ecosystem and the challenges relating to data availability
    • How DApps work behind the scenes and their backend infrastructure
    • GraphQL as the evolution of the API model
    • How The Graph addresses the issue of data querying and availability
    • Their hosted services and plans to move to a hybrid model
    • How The Graph addresses privacy and scalability
    • The incentive mechanisms and economics related to data integrity
    • Early applications and the project's near-term roadmap

    Episode links:

    • The Graph - A Query Protocol for Blockchains
    • The Graph on Medium
    • Browse and Explore Subgraphs
    • Graph Docs
    • GraphQL Will Power the Decentralized Web
    • The Graph’s Research and Specifications are Now Open Source
    • Our Investment In The Graph - Multicoin Capital
    • GraphQL
    • Yaniv Tal on Twitter

    Sponsors:

    • Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/283


    Simon de la Rouviere: Bonding Curves, Curation Markets, Token Curated Registries… and Art Apr 10, 2019

    Human beings have a penchant for creating lists. We make lists for things like the top music artists at any given time, the best restaurants in the world, companies which people can trust, and the most wanted criminals. Lists take many forms. They can be maintained by a single authority, or curated by a crowd. But almost always, they remain in the custody of a central party. Token Curated Lists propose a model by which a) the content of lists are decentralized, and b) contributors are incentivized to curate their content according to social consensus.

    We’re joined by Simon de la Rouviere, an independent researcher and blogger. Previously, Simon was one of the first employees at ConsenSys and founded Ujo Music. He also contributed to the ERC20 token specification and has written about blockchain and token economics since 2014. In recent months, Simon’s research has focused on Token Curated Registries (or TCRs), and the economics of curation markets.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Simon’s background and interest in blockchain, music, and economics
    • Bonding curves as a mechanism for continuous token issuance
    • Curation markets and how they relate to bonding curves
    • Practical applications of curation markets
    • The connection between curation markets and cultural memes
    • Token Curated Registries and their applications
    • The role of TCRs as a crypto economic primitive
    • The economics and game theory of TCRs
    • Simon’s recent project “This Artwork is Always for Sale”

    Episode links:

    • Simon de la Rouviere – Medium
    • Bancor’s Smart Tokens vs Token Bonding Curves – Medium
    • Introducing Curation Markets: Trade Popularity of Memes & Information (with code)! – Medium
    • Ujo Music
    • This Artwork Is Always On Sale – Medium
    • This Artwork Is Always On Sale
    • Simon de la Rouviere – Twitter

    This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture and Meher Roy . Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/282


    Ethan Buchman & Sunny Aggarwal: Cosmos – Launching the Internet of Blockchains Apr 03, 2019

    The shipping container brought standardization to the way we move goods around the world. Similarly, TCP/IP packets normalized how information transits over computer networks. Today, blockchains remain siloed ecosystems and interoperability is practically non-existent. A new wave of third-generation blockchain protocols aims to change this. In this new paradigm, blockchains communicate natively and value moves seamlessly from one network to another. One of those projects is Cosmos.

    We’re joined by Ethan Buchman and Sunny Aggarwal of Cosmos. With its recent mainnet launch, we discuss how the network is running and address potential issues relating to governance and centralization of power.

    Disclaimers:

    – Cosmos (All in Bits) is a sponsor of the podcast.
    – Brian is a former employee of Tendermint (All in Bits) and founder of the Cosmos validator Chorus One.
    – Sunny, is a regular host on Epicenter and founder of the Cosmos validator Sikka.
    – All participants in this interview are Atom holders.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The Cosmos vision and how it differs from Polkadot and Ethereum 2.0
    • Building Cosmos and the “Game of Stake”
    • The Cosmos governance process and current proposals
    • Voter participation in the Cosmos governance model
    • The role of validators and the importance of decentralization of power
    • Validator market economics, related inherent issues, and centralization risks
    • The Cosmos SDK and how it differs from Substrate
    • The Cosmos Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) Protocol
    • The role of the Interchain Foundation moving forward

    Episode links:

    • Cosmos website
    • Cosmos SDK websitt
    • Cosmos SDK (GitHub)
    • Cosmos blog
    • Sunny Aggarwal on Twitter
    • Ethan Buchman on Twitter

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/281


    Jackson Palmer: Dogecoin – wow! so meme. such community. very charity. much story. Mar 27, 2019

    Dogecoin was born from the association of two browser tabs: one was an article about the popularity of the doge meme, and the other, CoinMarketCap. The idea quickly gained traction on Twitter, and before long, a new cryptocurrency was born. Dogecoin gained adoption as a tipping currency, the community took part fundraising for charities and other causes, perhaps most notably sending the Jamaican bobsled team to the Sochi Winter Olympics.

    We’re joined by Jackson Palmer, co-creator of Dogecoin. Though he has left the project, Jackson shares the story of how he created the most popular meme cryptocurrency as a joke.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jackson’s background and early interest in cryptocurrency
    • The Dogecoin origin story
    • The uniquely charitable nature of the community and The Dogecoin Foundation
    • How the currency became widely used for tipping
    • The NASCAR sponsorship and Moolah exchange scam
    • The technological choices which went into early versions of Dogecoin
    • Dogecoin’s unique monetary policy and economics
    • Jackson’s thoughts on Doge Ethereum and the state of the project
    • Why Jackson stepped away from the project and his thoughts on the crypto space
    • Jackson’s other projects and YouTube channel

    Episode links:

    • Jackson Palmer's website
    • Dogecoin Github
    • “Not actually capped at 100 billion?” GitHub issue
    • Moolah, The Divisive Startup Heavily Involved In The Dogecoin Community, Is Closing Down – TechCrunch
    • Excerpts from the Moolah Scam - YouTube
    • Complete conversation with Mintpal/Moolah's ""Alex Green"" AKA Ryan Gentle AKA Ryan Kennedy - YouTube
    • Epicenter episode 5
    • Jackson Palmer - Twitter
    • Jackson Palmer - YouTube

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.
    • Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains. Learn more at cosmos.network/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Sébastien Couture and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/280


    Brian Hoffman & Washington Sanchez: OpenBazaar – Growing a Permissionless Marketplace Mar 19, 2019

    In the early days of Bitcoin, much of the community’s focus was around payment and getting merchants to adopt cryptocurrencies. Although the technology and narratives have evolved, some projects continue to embrace that original vision of peer-to-peer business, where merchants and their customers interact directly, and if they so wish, anonymously.

    We’re joined by Brian Hoffman and Washington Sanchez of OpenBazaar. Since we last interviewed Brian in 2015, the project has grown to become a mature decentralized marketplace where people come together to buy and sell products and services anonymously with crypto. Its polished interface and reputation system gives users a similar experience to that of using eBay, but without fees or the risk of censorship.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Brian and Washington’s respective backgrounds
    • The origins of OpenBazaar as the Dark Market project
    • The history and evolution of OpenBazaar since their last appearance on episode 67
    • How OpenBazaar managed to survive all these years and how the vision has evolved over time
    • Who uses the platform and to what ends
    • How it compares to traditional dark markets like The Silk Road
    • OpenBazaar’s position on deplatforming and how it responds to pressure to censor content
    • How OpenBazaar works under the hood as a collection of decentralized technologies
    • The company’s business model and future plans

    Episode links:

    • OpenBazaar website
    • Dark Market project on GitHub
    • Episode 67 of Epicenter with Brian Hoffman
    • Trust is Risk
    • Brian Hoffman, Twitter
    • Washington Sanchez, Twitter

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains. Learn more at cosmos.network/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Sébastien Couture and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/279


    Daniel Lehnberg & Michael Cordner: Grin – Cypherpunk Mimblewimble Mar 12, 2019

    Three years ago, a mysterious txt file signed by a pseudonymous Tom Elvis Jedusor was dropped in the Bitcoin-Wizards IRC channel outlining a proposal called Mimblewimble. It proposed a novel way of combining many ideas from Bitcoin research in order to create a new blockchain protocol that will be highly scalable and increase privacy, while still using the same cryptographic assumptions as Bitcoin. A few months later this project was picked up by another pseudonymous individual who started working on an implementation he called Grin. Grin slowly began to draw attention from the Bitcoin community and got a lot of traction.

    We join Michael Cordner (Yeastplume) and Daniel Lehnberg, two of the core developers of the Grin blockchain. In this episode we discuss some topics around Grin’s cypherpunk origins, privacy and scalability features, no-premine fair start, and interesting monetary policy.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Origins of the Mimblewimble proposal and the prior work it draws upon
    • Andrew Poelstra’s contributions to improving and fixing the original proposal
    • Scalability and fast sync times achieved through mimblewimble’s UTXO set compression
    • How UTXO compression when combined with the Dandellion p2p protocol can increase privacy
    • Changes in user experience from Bitcoin to Mimblewimble
    • Beginning of the Grin project as an implementation of the Mimblewimble protocol
    • Comparision to BEAM, a competing Mimblewimble implementation
    • Innovating on fair Proof of Work through dual Cuckoo Cycle
    • Grin’s Monetary Policy and the Mining Fair Start

    Episode links:

    • MimbleWimble Origin
    • Andrew Poelstra's Improved Paper
    • Introduction to Grin
    • Grin for Bitcoiners
    • Grin Newsletter
    • Michael Cordner on Twitter
    • Daniel Lehnberg on Twitter

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/278


    Amaury Séchet: Bitcoin Cash – Part 2 Mar 05, 2019

    Amaury Séchet is the lead developer of Bitcoin ABC, the largest client for the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. Amaury first got started with Bitcoin in 2010 and closely followed the Bitcoin block size debate as it progressed through the early years of Bitcoin. Predicting the eventual failure of SegWit2x, Amaury was part of the original team that helped coordinate the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, timing it with the activation of SegWit on the main Bitcoin blockchain. We discuss with Amaury the roadmap for Bitcoin Cash, especially with regards to their approach to scalability. We cover many of the novel features the Bitcoin Cash development teams are innovating on such as Canonical Transaction Ordering and Avalanche Pre-Consensus, as well as cover some of the more juicy drama that plagued the Bitcoin Cash community in late 2018, leading to split off of Bitcoin SV.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Block Size Debates in Bitcoin
    • Origins of Bitcoin Cash and the Fork
    • Year 1 Technical Development of Bitcoin Cash
    • Bitcoin ABC vs Bitcoin SV
    • Future Roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Bitcoin Cash Roadmap
    • Graphene Whitepaper
    • Avalanche Post-Consensus
    • The Case for Canonical Transaction Ordering
    • Bitcoin ABC vs Bitcoin SV Hashwar
    • Bitcoin NG Episode
    • EthCC Meetup

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains. Learn more at cosmos.network/epicenter.
    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/277


    Amaury Séchet: Bitcoin Cash Feb 28, 2019

    Amaury Séchet is the lead developer of Bitcoin ABC, the largest client for the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. Amaury first got started with Bitcoin in 2010 and closely followed the Bitcoin block size debate as it progressed through the early years of Bitcoin. Predicting the eventual failure of SegWit2x, Amaury was part of the original team that helped coordinate the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, timing it with the activation of SegWit on the main Bitcoin blockchain. We discuss with Amaury the roadmap for Bitcoin Cash, especially with regards to their approach to scalability. We cover many of the novel features the Bitcoin Cash development teams are innovating on such as Canonical Transaction Ordering and Avalanche Pre-Consensus, as well as cover some of the more juicy drama that plagued the Bitcoin Cash community in late 2018, leading to split off of Bitcoin SV.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Block Size Debates in Bitcoin
    • Origins of Bitcoin Cash and the Fork
    • Year 1 Technical Development of Bitcoin Cash
    • Bitcoin ABC vs Bitcoin SV
    • Future Roadmap

    Episode links:

    • Bitcoin Cash Roadmap
    • Graphene Whitepaper
    • Avalanche Post-Consensus
    • The Case for Canonical Transaction Ordering
    • Bitcoin ABC vs Bitcoin SV Hashwar
    • Bitcoin NG Episode
    • EthCC Meetup

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/276


    Ben Goertzel: SingularityNET – The Global AI Network and Marketplace Feb 20, 2019

    Artificial Intelligence is often misunderstood. And much like blockchain, those who fiercely stand by the technology believe it will change the world for the better. Others fear the negative repercussions it could bring it and would rather see it disappear.

    We’re joined by Ben Goertzel. Ben’s interest in AI and robotics date back to his childhood and he has made these his life-long passion and work. He is the CEO of SingularityNET, a company building a marketplace for AIs which leverages blockchain. He is also Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics who has brought us the now famous Sophia robot. When he’s not building blockchains and robots, he leads the OpenCog open-source AI framework and is Chair of Humanity +, an organization which focuses on technology and ethics.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Ben’s background as a mathematician and his lifelong passion for AI and robotics
    • What is AI, AGI and machine learning, and how these technologies differ
    • What is the killer application for AI
    • The problem of data and power centralization as it relates to AI
    • AI safety and with what we should be most concerned when it comes to AI dominance
    • Hanson Robotics and the Sophia robot
    • How blockchains and AI are relevant to each other
    • The role of AI in blockchain governance and the potential for AI systems to compete amongst each other
    • What is SingularityNET and what the company is building

    Episode links:

    • Ben Goertzel's Website
    • SingularityNET website
    • SingularityNET whitepaper
    • Ben Goertzel portraied in Silicon Valley
    • Ben Goertzel's Website
    • Creating Internet Intelligence
    • Accelerando

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter.
    • Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains. Learn more at cosmos.network/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/275


    Alexey Akhunov: Ethereum 1.x – BUIDLing Things One Step at a Time Feb 13, 2019

    We’re joined by Alexey Akhunov, an independent Ethereum researcher. Alexey has been working on an ambitious project called TurboGeth. As the name implies, it is a version of Geth which features a number of speed and performance optimizations.

    Alexey also leads the state rent working group of the Ethereum 1.x project. Ethereum 1.x came out of Devcon when core developers began to realize that the full migration to Serenity would likely take several years. The team hopes to bring progressive improvements to Ethereum in parallel to the development of Serenity.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Alexey’s background as a computer scientist
    • The story behind TurboGeth and how it differs from the original Geth client
    • The speed and performance optimizations of TurboGeth, as well as its trade-offs
    • What is Ethereum 1.x in the context of Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity)
    • Which people and projects are part of Ethereum 1.x
    • What is state rent and why it may be beneficial to Ethereum
    • Implementing state rent in Ethereum 1.x and 2.0
    • eWASM and how it can be introduced in Ethereum 1.x and 2.0
    • The future of Ethereum and the progress towards Serenity

    Episode links:

    • Alexey Akhunov on Medium
    • TurboGeth talk at Bevcon4
    • Ethereum State rent for Eth 1.x pre-EIP
    • Ethereum state rent - rough proposal
    • State Rent proposal version 2 (rushed)
    • Ethereum state rent proposal 2
    • ETH Roadmap AMA
    • EthCC
    • EthCC Epicenter Meeup

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/274


    Christian Decker: Lightning Network – The Road to Scaling Bitcoin Feb 07, 2019

    When the Lightning Network (LN) was conceived in 2015, it was quickly embraced by the Bitcoin community as the way to dramatically scale Bitcoin’s capacity. There was an expectation of LN being available quickly. Instead, development proceed more slowly in the background with different teams contributing to a standard specification. That spec is now almost ready and last year interest and early activity on the LN increased dramatically.

    We were joined by Christian Decker, a core engineer at Blockstream, where he works on their LN client. We discussed the history and progression of the LN and what remains on the road to scaling Bitcoin.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • How Christian ended up writing the world’s first PhD on Bitcoin
    • The vision of the Lightning Network
    • How the Lightning Network evolved in the last 4 years
    • Approaching the 1.0 specification
    • The current state of the network
    • Why centralization concerns around hubs are often misguided
    • eltoo and the future of lightning network
    • The case against other chains being better layer 1 networks than Bitcoin

    Episode links:

    • Lightning Network Whitepaper
    • Christian Decker - Scaling Bitcoin with Duplex Micropayment Channels
    • Joseph Poon & Tadge Dryja - Scalability and the Lightning Network
    • Blockstream - Lightning Network
    • A Simplified Update Mechanism for Lightning and Off-Chain Contracts
    • Lightning Network Specifications on Github

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter.
    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/273


    Jameson Lopp: On Being a Professional Cypherpunk Jan 30, 2019

    We’re joined by Jameson Lopp. Jameson is the CTO of Casa, a company providing key storage solutions. Previously, he was an early engineer at BitGo. However, to most people, he is perhaps known for his Twitter presence and his excellent writing. Over the years, Jameson has written extensively about Bitcoin development, cryptocurrencies, and personal operational security. A self-proclaimed “Professional Cypherpunk,” aligns with the ideas of libertarianism and volunteerism.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Jameson’s background and how he learned about Bitcoin
    • His political view before and after discovering crypto
    • What stands out for Bitcoin in 2018
    • His writing on the decentralized nature of Bitcoin Core development
    • His views on how Bitcoin compares to Ethereum on the topic of development control
    • His thoughts on the Lightning Network and smart contracts on top of Bitcoin
    • Jameson’s approach to personal operational security
    • The tradeoffs of having air-tight personal OpSec
    • Casa and its vault offering

    Episode links:

    • Jameson Lopp's website
    • Jameson Lopp's Bitcoin Resources
    • CRYPTO 101 interview with Jameson Lopp
    • Bitcoin Full Validation Sync Performance (article)
    • Reflections Upon a SWATting (article)
    • Bitcoin By the Numbers: 2018 Recap (article)
    • Who Controls Bitcoin Core? (article)
    • Professional Cypherpunk Jameson Lopp on the Lightning Network (article)
    • Decentralized Summit 2019

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/272


    Martin Köppelmann & Matan Field: How the dxDAO could become the world’s largest organization Jan 24, 2019

    The concept of DAOs has been captivating to many in the crypto space for years. When “The DAO” was created in 2016, in the few weeks of its existence and despite obvious flaws, it gather tremendous momentum and amassed 14% of the entire ether supply. Since then the technology has matured and Martin and Matan argue that the time for DAOs has finally arrived.

    We were joined by DAOstack Founder Matan Field and Gnosis Founder Martin Köppelmann. We talked about the decentralized exchange protocol DutchX. We also talked about how the two projects together created the dxDAO, which will manage the DutchX protocol, but could go onto its own path. A path that could even lead to being the DAO for all of DeFi.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • The unifying vision behind the various Gnosis projects
    • Why Gnosis decided to build decentralized exchange protocol DutchX
    • DutchX’s usage of batch auctions to provide good prices and liquidity for any market
    • Incentivizing market makers with the Magnolia token
    • Why the DutchX needs a DAO
    • The role of Reputation in the dxDAO
    • How Reputation will be distributed
    • Why DAOs unlike companies could become more efficient as they grow
    • How the dxDAO could become the biggest organization on earth in the next 10 years
    • How one can get involved in the dxDAO

    Episode links:

    • dxDAO Website
    • Joint AMA: Martin Köppelmann & Matan Field - dxDAO
    • DAOtalk.org
    • Introducing the dxDAO
    • A brief discussion of the protocol governing the dxDAO
    • The DutchX as an Open Protocol

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/271


    Looking Back on 5 Years of Epicenter Jan 15, 2019

    Epicenter turned 5 years old this month – that’s a long time in the blockchain space! When the podcast began in January 2014, the entire ecosystem was made up of only Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins. Soon after, the Ethereum white paper was published which ushered in a new era of crypto assets and decentralized applications. Since then, we have released 270 episodes and interviewed some of the leading thinkers, entrepreneurs, and engineers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Needless to say, we have learned a lot about the blockchain industry, but also what it takes to run a successful podcast in this space.

    This week, we look back on the early days of Epicenter and how the podcast has evolved over the years. We also answer your questions in our first ever AMA. Finally, we take stock of 2018 and the trends that marked this past year.

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Sébastien Couture and Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/270


    Joseph Lubin: ConsenSys – The Distributed Incubator which Jumpstarted the Ethereum Ecosystem Jan 08, 2019

    We’re joined by Joseph Lubin, Founder and CEO of ConsenSys. Joseph founded ConsenSys as an Ethereum development studio on the heels of the Ethereum crowd sale in 2014. The company has since grown to a distributed organization of over 1,000 people. Over 50 companies and projects have emerged from ConsenSys, including Metamask, uPort, Gnosis, and GitCoin, to name only a few. Today, the company continues to invest in growing the Ethereum ecosystem by funding projects, and through consulting services for companies and institutions.

    Topics covered in this episode:

    • Joseph’s background working as a technologist in the financial industry
    • How he discovered Bitcoin in 2011
    • What lead Joseph to meet Vitalik Buterin and the founding Ethereum team
    • How he founded ConsenSys and the company’s vision
    • The company’s impressive growth and output
    • The recent round of layoffs at ConsenSys
    • How he thinks blockchain can change the world for the better
    • His advice to companies feeling the pressure of the current bear market
    • Joseph visiton for the future of ConsenSys and Ethereum

    Episode links:

    • ConsenSys website
    • The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust (The New Yorker)
    • The Uncanny Mind That Built Ethereum (WIRED)
    • ConsenSys Monthly Report — November 2018
    • A Prehistory of the Ethereum Protocol
    • Joseph Lubin on Twitter

    Thank you to our sponsors for their support:

    • Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter.
    • Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter.

    This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/269


    Andy Bromberg: CoinList – Capital Formation for the Crypto Industry Jan 01, 2019

    When token sales and ICOs took off in 2017, most projects chose to push ahead despite large regulatory risks. One of the few that went the other direction and put compliance first was CoinList. The platform made its debut by running the mas