Technology

The Rollup

Where digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Latest Episodes:

The Biggest Shift In Crypto Investing Since ICOs with Anil Lulla & Fabrizio Giabardo Nov 28, 2024

Show notes

For today's episode, a thanksgiving day special, we are breaking down an evolving model in the crypto space that looks beyond traditional VC funding.

Legion, a platform built from the ground up to address issues with token launches, is reshaping how communities and projects interact with each other.

We are teaming up with Legion to bring early stage opportunities to our community of amazing listeners and readers.

In this conversation with Anil Lulla, CEO of Delphi Digital and Fabrizio Giobardo, co-founder of Legion, we explore why Legion is poised to explode in traction as market participants and power users are more eager than ever for an era of fair token distribution.

ICOs are back (kinda).

The need for change is clear: traditional launches with high fully diluted valuations (FDVs) and low circulating supply have left many retail participants with little access and less opportunity than before. This broken model often leads to initial surges in value but rarely fosters long-term, engaged communities that sustain projects.

Legion, however, has a different vision. By focusing on distribution to contributors with a range of assets—whether it's social capital, technical skill, or financial backing—the platform is giving projects tools to create robust, community-driven ecosystems from day one.

The best part? They are just starting now with an influx of new teams coming to the platform. Looking forward, Legion has ambitious plans...

By adding reputation-driven incentives and achievements, Legion aims to continue rewarding meaningful participation, allowing contributors to build influence over time. With a clear focus on sustainable growth and quality community-building, Legion is setting the stage for a new standard in crypto token launches—one that’s based on value and resilience.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥: 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘍𝘪 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.

Tarun Chitra and Jon Charbonneau on Solana vs. Ethereum Valuation Outlook Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

For today's episode, we were joined by Tarun & Jon to take a closer look at one of the most compelling debates in crypto: The valuation, 'moneyness', collateral asset viability, and onchain usage of ETH vs. SOL.

Is there a real chance that Solana could flip Ethereum in the next several years?

Ethereum, with its ETF advantage and rollup-centric focus, is standing strong but may face hurdles in maintaining its lead. Solana, on the other hand, is rapidly onboarding builders and capturing liquidity, though challenges like token inflation and VC token distribution are posing strong headwinds.

We’ll also touch on the bigger picture: how collateral utility, tokenomics, and market behavior influence the monetary premium of these assets.

This episode was particularly interesting because of the dynamic of Tarun from his math background and Jon with his research and venture background.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Infinex's Vampire Attack on CEXs with Kain Warwick and Jed Watson Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

Today, we're exploring a project that has its sights set on making onchain DeFi just as approachable as traditional exchanges and brokerages.

Infinex, led by Kain and Jed, brings a fresh take to the DeFi landscape by prioritizing user experience and easing the transition for those who are familiar with centralized platforms like Binance but hesitant to fully dive into DeFi due to the UX complexities.

For context, Kain Warwick is an early DeFi adopter from his time with Synthetix, and Jed brings a deep technical background to Infinex as CTO. Together, they’re focused on simplifying the complexities of onchain interactions—things like bridging, multi-chain transactions, and wallet compatibility—by wrapping these in an easy to use website.

What's interesting here, is we believe Infinex is a really clear app idea which can illustrate the true power of chain abstracted onboarding and onchain experiences. Infinex’s unique signup process, using face ID and passkeys is vital to the success of the app by non-onchain natives.

With $65 million raised and a growing base of 40,000 patrons, Infinex is trying to pioneer an era of great onchain UX.

Enjoy today's talk.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Anthony Sassano on The Past, Present, And Future of Ethereum Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Today, we’re diving into the story of Ethereum—its past, its present, and its ambitious path forward with a core leader of the community, and founder of The Daily Gwei, Anthony Sassano.

Ethereum’s evolution is a tale of resilience and innovation. From surviving brutal bear markets to leading the charge with decentralized applications and L2 solutions, this ecosystem has seen it all. During the relatively quiet 'onchain' years of 2018-2019, a core group of believers kept the flame alive, laying the foundation for the explosive growth that followed. DeFi summer in 2020 validated Ethereum’s use cases and silenced doubters, showcasing the power of DeFi and onchain speculation.

Now, Ethereum is in a peculiar spot. Different takes are flying around about the long-term future of Ethereum's roadmap left and right.

Where do we go from here?

Ethereum’s narrative is more than market cycles—it’s about scalability, usability, and vision. The rollup-centric roadmap has become the centerpiece of its scaling strategy, enabling L2s to contribute back to the ecosystem while extending Ethereum’s reach. At the same time, the importance of improving the L1, scaling danksharding and fixing interoperability has sparked deeper conversations around aligning incentives and building standards that will sustain long-term growth.

During the pod, we also discuss the next frontier: AI agents. These are poised to dominate onchain activity, demanding exponential blockspace scaling and driving Ethereum’s evolution into a global value layer.

In today’s piece, we’ll explore what it takes to onboard the next billion users, how Ethereum aligns the efforts of its community and L2s, and what the rise of AI means for the future of blockchains. Along the way, we’ll reflect on how Ethereum has managed to balance technical innovation with cultural staying power.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Andre Cronje on DeFi, Sonic Network, and His New Apps Nov 20, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to a blast from the past.

Imagine this:

You're on your laptop in summer 2020, when you see a message from a friend "new yield farm just opened called Yearn, you can only farm it for one week with DAI."

You ape in. The rest is history, and DeFi was (more or less) born.

That was the early stages of Andre's journey into DeFi. For his latest reappearance, we will take you on a deep dive into his journey, what he feels about DeFi today, the new apps, and of course Sonic - a revamped approach to Fantom that brings high throughput, developer-first incentives, and a unique fee redistribution model to the DeFi space.

At the core of Sonic’s approach is a shift in value distribution. Rather than centralizing fees with validators or sequencers, Sonic redirects 90% of fees back to the DApps that generate them. This means developers can capture more value, and users benefit from a faster, lower-cost environment.

We argued whether or not this was bullish for appchains or not, following his written piece "to appchain or not".

Moreover, Andre introduced Carmen, an EVM-compatible database built to optimize performance across L1 and L2 ecosystems. We also talked about some of his new app ideas, such asWitnessNet, a ZK-powered Oracle network that aims to bring data verification to new levels by authenticating HTTPS data origins onchain, undercollateralized lending, onchain credit, and a new gamified DeFi protocol.

Today's pod was one for the books. Enjoy.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Is Beam Chain Good For Ethereum? With Justin Drake Nov 19, 2024

Show notes

Today, we’re unpacking Beam Chain, a proposal by Justin Drake that’s sparked wide-ranging discussions in the Ethereum community.

Andy and Robbie sat down with Justin in Bangkok to discuss this in person, just one day after his presentation.

Beam chain aims to accelerate Ethereum’s roadmap by introducing a massive hard fork specifically aimed at the consensus layer. Whether you’ve heard about the buzz surrounding single-slot finality, programmable execution sharding, or the ambitious plans for full snarkification, this explainer is for you.

(Especially if you have questions about the length of time this may take, as many of you were wondering why it would take 4+ years).

At its core, Beam Chain is a proposal to improve the consensus layer of the L1 with snarkification, lower slot times, more usage of ZK VMs, higher gas limits and more.

Of course, every ambitious proposal brings challenges. Some in the community see Beam Chain as a bold leap forward, while others question whether it’s ambitious enough in the timeframe presented. Feedback has ranged from requests for faster timelines to discussions about the balance between ossification—Ethereum entering a “maintenance mode”—and the need for continued innovation to compete with other L1s.

By the end of this pod, you’ll have a deeper understanding of how Beam Chain fits into Ethereum’s long-term plans, its implications for L1 and rollup-centric development, and why Justin Drake sees this as a pivotal step toward completing Ethereum’s roadmap by the end of the decade.

Whether you’re here to evaluate its technical merits or simply to see what the future of Ethereum might hold, this a pod you won't want to miss.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Devcon Soundbites: Espresso Mainnet Exclusive with Ellie Davidson Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

In this conversation, Ellie discusses the launch of Espresso on Mainnet, focusing on the significance of the Global Confirmation Layer for decentralized sequencing and interoperability among rollups.

The discussion covers the benefits of fast and safe bridging, the potential for cross-rollup transactions, and the positive reception from the community. Ellie emphasizes the importance of composability in the ecosystem and the future prospects for rollups opting into Espresso.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Devcon Soundbites: How EtherFi Plans To Generate $250M+ In Revenue in 2025 Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

In this conversation, Mike from EtherFi discusses the vision and differentiation of EtherFi as a DeFi protocol, its product suite, business model, and strategies for onboarding new users.

He emphasizes the importance of building user-friendly products that allow individuals to manage their finances without traditional banks, while also addressing the tokenomics and community engagement aspects of the protocol.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Memecoins, Macro, And AI with Crypto Billionaire Arthur Hayes & Murad Mahmudov Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

Memecoins are absolutely dominating mindshare in today's crypto economy. While they might be easy to dismiss as passing fads, there appears to be something bigger happening here which we wanted to explore.

So, we sat down with Arthur Hayes and Murad Mahmudov to discuss the unique structure of memecoins as a new asset class designed for a generation deeply immersed in social media and digital interaction: Zoomers themselves.

We started discussing the recent Trump victory and the idea of a DeFi renaissance, with revenue generating cryptoassets being potentially favorable. However, both Murad and Arthur had thoughts which suggested this isn't exactly the case...for now. We went on to discuss how memecoins bypass the technical complexity of DeFi, focusing instead on creating spaces where online communities gather, trade, and rally around shared ideals. As macro forces like money printing and inflation reshape global markets, memecoins have been one of the largest beneficiaries in terms of growth.

We asked Murad how he plans to exit, why Arthur is an ETH maxi vs. Murad's BTC maximalism, the Ethereum vs. Solana discourse, as well as the speculation on AI memecoins.

From Murad's take on the potential for memecoins to sustain multiple market cycles to his bold predictions on AI’s role in DeFi’s future, this discussion was very straight-to-the-point, no BS.

- X - https://x.com/MustStopMurad

- X - https://twitter.com/CryptoHayes

- Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/arthur__hayes

- Newsletter - https://cryptohayes.substack.com

- Website - https://maelstrom.fund

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

How Camp Is Bridging The Gap With Social Data Nov 06, 2024

Show notes

We're live again from the studio from Singapore for EigenLayer Unlocked, this time for episode 21 with Nirav Murthy about Camp Network.

Today’s piece dives into a unique approach to building lasting connections in Web3, using pre-exisiting data from prominent social media platforms. With Camp, we’re looking at a shift from single-transaction incentives to real, ongoing rewards that invite users to share their data, all while staying flexible with user privacy.

Camp takes a different path, aiming to let users own and even monetize their online identities by bridging Web2 data with Web3 experiences. For those who’ve seen Web3 apps struggle with retaining users, this could be the key to bringing in and keeping the next wave of on-chain activity.

Through their collaboration with EigenDA, Camp's L2 will be highly perfomant and also will be joining the superchain.

We touched deeper on personalized data feeds to retention-based models for building better onchain experiences. Camp’s vision is to add depth to onchain user flows – a layer many Web3 applications still lack due to restrictions of blockchains.

Let’s get into the details and explore how Camp is paving the way for a more connected, data-rich crypto ecosystem.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

Follow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandy

Join our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl