The Delphi Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Terra Autumn Series Ep. 3: Anchor Protocol Is Building the “Stripe for Savings” Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

Jose Maria Macedo sits down with Matthew J Cantieri, General Manager of Anchor Protocol, a money market on the Terra blockchain that offers an attractive stable yield for depositors. The two discuss Anchor’s yield mechanisms and sustainability, bringing Anchor to traditional finance, the impacts of the Columbus-5 upgrade and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

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Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:41) – Matt’s background.

(00:04:46) – The Ethereum Labs at Microsoft.

(00:08:15) – Why Matt decided to go full-time crypto.

(00:11:45) – The early days of Terra.

(00:15:20) – Introduction to Anchor.

(00:21:48) – Anchor’s strategy for targeting the markets.

(00:27:38) – The infrastructure needed to make Anchor compelling to traditional finance.

(00:34:00) – Matt’s thoughts on building from the bottom-up.

(00:40:24) – Most exciting applications build on top of Anchor.

(00:43:00) – The sustainability of the 20% savings rate.

(00:48:53) – The approach to increasing borrowers.

(00:53:21) – What the Col-5 upgrade means for the Terra ecosystem.

(00:56:56) – Anchor’s role in the future of finance.

(00:59:36) – Matt’s experience of working in crypto.

(01:03:08) – How people can get involved with Anchor.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

EnterDAO: Building Critical Market Infrastructure for the Metaverse Economy Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Zhivko Todorov, co-founder of EnterDAO, a DAO focused on building products to enable new markets within the Web3 metaverse economy. The two discuss Landworks’ potential as a metaverse land rental marketplace, the utility of MetaPortal as a single entry point across the metaverse, the benefits of going DAO-first, and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:40) – Zhivko’s background.

(00:04:00) – The problem EnterDAO is solving.

(00:07:32) – What users are getting when they buy metaverse land.

(00:09:00) – Introduction to LandWorks.

(00:10:13) – What the LandWorks experience looks like.

(00:10:58) – The security of LandWorks.

(00:12:12) – Zhivko’s thoughts on whether people are ready for metaverse land renting.

(00:15:11) – The LandWorks timeline.

(00:16:10) – Balancing speed and security when building.

(00:17:03) – The market for LandWorks.

(00:17:53) – The possibility of group land rentals.

(00:18:37) – Introduction to MetaPortal.

(00:20:00) – What the MetaPortal experience looks like.

(00:21:52) – MetaPortal competitors.

(00:22:46) – The direction of EnterDAO.

(00:25:41) – The decision to go DAO-first and its benefits.

(00:29:44) – The risks of code forks.

(00:31:59) – Drawing parallels between LandWorks and Airbnb.

(00:33:46) – Biggest lessons from LimeChain days.

(00:36:19) – $ENTR token.

(00:37:54) – EnterDAO’s call for community members.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q

Gabriel Shapiro: Demystifying Crypto Legalities, the Motivations of Regulatory Bodies, and Stablecoin Regulation Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Gabriel Shapiro, General Counsel at Delphi Labs, Delphi’s very own project incubator. The two discuss legal differences between traditional businesses and crypto, the motivations of regulatory bodies, regulation on centralized and decentralized stablecoins and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:35) – Gabriel’s background.

(00:04:17) – War stories from Gabriel’s VC days.

(00:06:17) – Biggest legal differences between projects in crypto and the traditional world.

(00:11:23) – Regulatory bodies that have the most impact on crypto.

(00:15:23) – How motivations to support innovation and regulatory turf wars can coexist.

(00:18:56) – Gabriel’s thoughts on pushing the boundaries of regulation.

(00:22:07) – What Gabriel would say to Gary Gensler.

(00:27:00) – What a regulatory attack on a big DeFi project could look like.

(00:32:05) – Regulation on decentralized teams.

(00:35:39) – Governments and fair launches.

(00:39:03) – How much Americans’ voices matter.

(00:42:13) – What regulators really care about.

(00:44:13) – Personal liability and why it's important.

(00:48:43) – Regulation and stablecoins.

(00:51:51) – How regulating $USDC would affect DeFi.

(00:54:13) – The regulatory resistance of $UST.

(00:57:06) – The optimal formation for a crypto project.

(01:01:41) – The ways other lawyers can get up to speed on crypto regulation.

(01:04:44) – How crypto is disrupting the traditional legal model.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q

Alex Salnikov: Rarible Protocol’s Open Source Tools for NFT Projects, $RARI Token, and Community Governance Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Alex Salnikov, co-founder and CPO at Rarible, the first community-owned NFT marketplace. The two discuss open-sourcing the Rarible Protocol stack, the benefits of having marketplace features on-chain, the $RARI token distribution and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:30) – Alex’s journey in crypto.

(00:05:05) – Rarible’s storefront vs. competitors.

(00:07:37) – The focus of Rarible’s design.

(00:09:12) – Rarible on multiple chains.

(00:10:04) – Overview of Rarible Protocol.

(00:13:59) – Rarible’s on-chain features.

(00:16:39) –The benefits of having features on-chain.

(00:20:32) – The risks for developers on closed APIs.

(00:24:53) – The reason other teams close off their indexer.

(00:25:55) – How royalties are handled on Rarible.

(00:28:17) – Alex’s thoughts on scaling Rarible.

(00:31:53) – NFTs and security on layer-2s.

(00:34:08) – Projects using Rarible Protocol to build.

(00:38:28) – The $RARI token.

(00:41:11) – Alex’s thoughts on Rarible being completely decentralized.

(00:42:45) – What the team did well/poorly with the $RARI token drop.

(00:45:00) – NFT projects that Alex is excited about.

(00:45:51) – What Alex would say to NFT bears.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to bu

Haseeb Qureshi: Discussing Decentralization’s Core Purpose, Trade-Offs, Declining Marginal Utility and DAO Decision-Making Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Haseeb Querishi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, a cross-border crypto venture fund. The two have a philosophical discussion on the topic of decentralization, covering its core purpose, the costly trade-offs, the declining marginal utility of pursuing decentralization and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:03:32) – Overview of Dragonfly Capital.

(00:04:05) – Inspiration for the post “Why Decentralization Isn't as Important as You Think”.

(00:06:07) – Haseeb’s stance on decentralization.

(00:08:37) – Haseeb’s thoughts on progressive decentralization.

(00:11:02) – The purpose of decentralization.

(00:13:00) – Haseeb’s thoughts on quantifying decentralization.

(00:15:46) – What if Vitalik kept control of Ethereum.

(00:18:50) – The decentralization trade-off for layer-1s.

(00:25:04) – Why projects cannot compete on being decentralized.

(00:29:18) – Censorship on layer-1s.

(00:31.01) – Adverse situations with nation-states.

(00:37:21) – The declining marginal utility of being decentralized.

(00:41:09) – Haseeb’s thoughts on decentralization bringing in more human capital.

(00:43:44) – Helping a team navigate decentralization as a VC.

(00:46:15) – The part incentives play in decentralization.

(00:49:37) – How Haseeb would structure a DAO.

(00:53:33) – Haseeb’s thoughts on mass governance.

(00:57:07) – Judging founders as an investor.

(01:01:13) – What Tom disagrees with in Haseeb’s post.

(01:03:09) – Imagining decentralization in a world without governments.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here:

Terra Autumn Series Ep. 2: Leverage Any Asset With Levana Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

Jose Maria Macedo sits down with Jonathan Caras, Head of Communications at Levana, a protocol on the Terra blockchain that allows any asset to be leveraged. The two discuss decentralizing perpetual swaps, leveraged tokens versus margin trading, the Levana Lore and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:35) – Jonathan’s background.

(00:09:46) – Why Jonathan took the leap to build Levana.

(00:13:16) – Why Jonathan chose to build on Terra.

(00:20:24) – What is Levana?

(00:25:00) – The possibilities on Levana.

(00:28:50) – How the leveraged tokens work.

(00:33:59) – Liquidation risk of leveraged tokens.

(00:38:16) – Choosing leveraged tokens over margin trading infrastructure.

(00:44:14) – Differences between perps and leverage trading.

(00:50:30) – Approaching perp decentralization.

(00:59:55) – Role of the Levana token.

(01:04:01) – The story behind Levana’s lore.

(01:10:09) – Easter eggs in Levana’s lore / Levana NFTs.

(01:14:51) – How NFTs will be incorporated on Levana.

(01:21:00) – Closing thoughts on Levana.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The host and members at Delphi Digital may personally own tokens or art that are mentioned on the podcast. Our current show features paid sponsorships

Aaron and David McDonald: Altered State Machine is Enabling AI Ownership via NFTs, Hereditary AI and Minting Brains Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Aaron and David McDonald, founders of Altered State Machine (ASM), a world-first decentralized platform for developers and NFT owners to create, train and own intelligent NFTs. They discuss integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into NFTs and gaming, use cases for AI in DeFi, the infrastructure of ASM brains and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:20) – Aaron and David’s background.

(00:04:15) – Elevator pitch for Altered State Machine (ASM).

(00:07:00) – The issues with NFTs today.

(00:09:42) – Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with NFTs.

(00:11:07) – Overview of AI in games.

(00:20:17) – The experience of gaming against an intelligent AI.

(00:31:09) – Use cases for AI in DeFi.

(00:36:19) – The ASM brain infrastructure.

(00:44:30) – The interoperability of brains.

(00:51:45) – Preventing getting the “perfect” brain.

(00:54:29) – How brain training works.

(00:59:14) – The opportunity for miners with ASM.

(01:02:31) – Data management for the brains.

(01:08:35) – The process behind ASM’s launch.

(01:13:58) – The sci-fi angle on ASM.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

Disclosures: This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial

Terra Autumn Series Ep. 1: Kickstarting Terra Autumn with Do Kwon Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Jose Maria Macedo sits down with Do Kwon, Co-Founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, the team behind the Terra blockchain, a fully decentralized and programmable money for the internet. The two discuss decentralized stablecoin mechanisms and pitfalls, Terra’s core ethos, regulatory risk for Terra, and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:03:04) – Do’s background.

(00:05:40) – The importance of stablecoins.

(00:08:26) – An overview of stablecoins.

(00:13:09) – Overcoming the challenges of an algorithmic stablecoin.

(00:18:01) – Making $UST the most useful form of money.

(00:22:12) – Terra’s DeFi ecosystem.

(00:26:40) – The metaverse on Terra.

(00:29:21) – Terra’s scalability.

(00:32:22) – Terra’s main goal / Getting $UST on other chains.

(00:35:40) – Using $UST for payments / CHAI payments.

(00:41:45) – Regulatory risk for Terra.

(00:47:14) – Terraform Lab’s plan for their treasury.

(00:48:53) – Sustainability of the Terra ecosystem without incentives.

(00:52:08) – Managing the concentrated liquidity trade-off.

(00:53:34) – Do’s biggest concerns for Terra.

(00:55:20) – Closing thoughts from Do.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

Jeremy Allaire: Leading Multiple IPOs, The Circle Turnaround Story, Growing USDC to $31B and Crypto Regulations Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder and CEO of Circle, a payments and treasury infrastructure for the internet and issuer of USD Coin (USDC). The two discuss building successful companies in new technologies, the regulatory climate for stablecoins, the future of Circle and much more.

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:27) – Jeremy’s background.

(00:09:31) – How to scale companies in new technologies quickly.

(00:14:26) – Remaining flexible on the product and business plan.

(00:17:01) – Biggest lessons from Jeremy’s first two companies.

(00:20:01) – Time management as an industry leader.

(00:23:12) – Deciding to double-down on USDC.

(00:32:36) – Making the call to drop losing business divisions.

(00:36:54) – Team involvement in making key business decisions.

(00:38:36) – The future of Circle.

(00:47:32) – Regulatory concerns for USDC.

(00:56:05) – Chances of complete government crackdown.

(01:00:09) – Are government crackdowns bullish for Bitcoin and Ethereum?

(01:02:26) – Regulation in the early internet days.

(01:07:58) – Jeremy’s thoughts on competition from decentralized stablecoins.

Resources:

Our Video interviews Can Be Viewed Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q
Access Delphi's Research Here: https://www.delphidigital.io/

GEN.ART DAO: Shaping the Future of Generative Art Through A Community-Centric Membership Model Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Notion, also known as Adam, Lead at GEN.ART, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on shaping the future of generative art. The two discuss GEN.ART’s membership model, community involvement in projects, curating artists and much more!

We would like to thank our sponsors for making this podcast possible.

Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as an audio interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to get our interviews, first.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) – Introduction.

(00:02:31) – Elevator pitch for GEN.ART.

(00:03:15) – Adam’s background.

(00:04:40) – Why Adam is passionate about generative art.

(00:07:31) – Why people should be interested in generative art.

(00:10:10) – Use cases for NFTs beyond the art.

(00:12:10) – GEN.ART’s membership model for drops.

(00:17:33) – Why GEN.ART is a DAO.

(00:21:48) – Effects of a few owning a large percentage of memberships.

(00:27:18) – GEN.ART as a collective DAO across collections.

(00:31:03) – Why artists choose GEN.ART.