Archebyte

Dmitriy: https://twitter.com/dberenzon

🌐 LINKS

Archetype: https://www.archetype.fund/

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DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

Crypto in 2024: What's Next?

Katherine Wu — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Another rollercoaster of a year in crypto has come and gone. To kick off 2024, we reached out to some founders and builders to get their takeaways from 2023 and perspectives on where crypto is headed in the new year.

Our guests for this episode are:

Ash Egan, Founder of Archetype
Asta Li, Co-founder of Privy
Nick Johnson, Lead Developer of ENS
Sheila Warren, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation

There’s a lot to be excited about, but some common threads formed around web3 social, onchain gaming, continued progress on the UX front, and crypto finally reaching consumers in a meaningful way.

📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2

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⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:15 Biggest crypto developments

12:03 Themes we’re excited about

14:25 Predictions for this year’s crypto apps

15:18 What keeps us excited

👋 FOLLOW US

Asta: https://twitter.com/asta_li

Nick: https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson

Sheila: https://twitter.com/sheila_warren

🌐 LINKS

Archetype: https://www.archetype.fund/

Privy: https://www.privy.io/

ENS: https://ens.domains/

CCI: https://cryptoforinnovation.org/

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Hart Lambur of Across Protocol: Intents and the Future of Interop

Katherine Wu — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte, Katherine Wu and fellow Archetype team member, Nick Pai, are joined by the CEO and co-founder of Risk Labs, Hart Lambur, to talk bridges, L2s, and interoperability.

Hart and Risk Labs are best known for creating UMA, an optimistic oracle, and Across Protocol, a crosschain bridge. In the multichain future that is quickly becoming the present, infrastructure like oracles, bridges, and sequencers play crucial roles. But, these tools that are meant to facilitate interoperability between blockchains still have plenty of room for improvement.

During our conversation, we dig into the problems that bridges currently face, how Across is designed to mitigate them, and what a safer multichain ecosystem looks like. Hart and Nick give their thoughts on centralized, decentralized, and shared sequencers, intents, and the role aggregators play in regards to bridges. They also answer the loaded question - are bridges L2s?

📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2

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⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

2:10 The bridging problem

5:30 How Across works

8:15 Making safe bridges

15:31 L2s and centralized vs decentralized sequencers

20:05 Sequencer misconceptions?

23:35 Aggregators in bridging

27:03 L2 metrics for success

👋 FOLLOW US

Hart: https://twitter.com/hal2001

Nick: https://twitter.com/mountainwaterpi

UMA: https://uma.xyz/
Across: https://across.to/

🌐 LINKS

UMA: https://uma.xyz/
Across: https://across.to/

Risk Labs: https://risklabs.foundation/

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Ismael H.R. of Lagrange: ZK Big Data

Ash Egan — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte, Ash Egan is joined by Lagrange’s founder and CEO, Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh to talk zero knowledge, storage proofs, and unlocking blockchain data.

Today, blockchains have a difficult time leveraging data from other chains, but Ismael and Lagrange are working to fix that. Leveraging ZK and storage proofs, Lagrange enables blockchains to better utilize blockchain data itself, removing the need to leverage offchain sources and the security risks that come with doing so.

Ismael walks us through using blockchains as databases, shifting trust from provers to verification layers, crosschain data access, and what all of this means for the future of crypto and onchain applications.

📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2

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⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

2:00 Crosschain data

3:05 Storage proof unlocks and limitations

6:40 Future storage proof use cases

10:34 Zero knowledge and inheriting trust

12:34 Advancements in ZK

14:45 Lagrange’s focus? State of crosschain data, block headers

18:56 How Ismael thinks around building a team

20:15 Where to learn more

👋 FOLLOW US

Ismael: https://twitter.com/Ismael_H_R

Lagrange: https://twitter.com/lagrangedev

🌐 LINKS

Lagrange Site: https://www.lagrange.dev/

Rec Proofs: lagrange.dev/recproofs

Lagrange Docs: https://lagrange-labs.gitbook.io/lagrange-labs/overview/what-is-the-lagrange-protocol

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Elias Simos of Rated: Creating Reputation for Machines

Katherine Wu — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Until now, we have had almost no way of evaluating Ethereum validator performance. This lack of accessible data around nodes and their operators has been keeping users, builders, investors, and other validators in the dark about the very health of the Ethereum network. But Elias Simos and the Rated team have created a solution.

Elias joins us today to shed light on the state of Ethereum infrastructure. He explains the importance of accessible blockchain infrastructure data, how Rated turns that data into usable performance ratings, and how the idea came about in the first place. We also discuss the challenges that come along with building a product like Rated in a multichain world, and Elias sends us off with some advice for staying sane while working in crypto.

📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2

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⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

2:39 Actors in proof of stake

9:52 Rating onchain performance

17:21 Node, validator, and operator reputation

23:08 Multichain reputation

29:18 Health of the network

32:08 Staying sane as a crypto founder

👋 FOLLOW US

Elias: https://twitter.com/eliasimos

Rated: https://twitter.com/ratedw3b

🌐 LINKS

Rated Explorer: https://www.rated.network

Elias’ Personal Site: https://eliasimos.xyz/about

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Shea Ketsdever of Flashbots: The MEV Supply Chain

Katherine Wu — Wed, 1 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to Archebyte! We’re kicking off Season 4 with a deep dive into the MEV supply chain, SAUVE, order flow auctions, and the future of programmable privacy with Shea Ketsdever from Flashbots ⚡🤖 There has been A LOT of excitement around the MEV world lately, and Flashbots is one of its biggest contributors.

Shea demystifies the MEV supply chain, walks us through each of its steps and actors, and explains just how important it has become to Ethereum (around 95% of all transactions currently pass through it).

Zooming out, Shea breaks down the MEV supply chain’s key ingredients of privacy and commitments, how they are used to create programmable privacy, and how they might be leveraged for other uses in the future.

We also talk about SUAVE, MEV centralization risks, the privacy-efficiency frontier, and more!

📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2

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⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:34 The “right” way to pronounce MEV

2:00 Shea’s background

2:32 The MEV supply chain

9:14 What is MEV?

13:30 Privacy-Efficiency Frontier

18:19 Programmable privacy

20:10 MEV-Share and Order Flow Auctions

22:53 Evolution of the MEV landscape

27:35 SUAVE

37:53 Other use cases for SUAVE

40:45 Follow Shea and Flashbots!

40:58 Outro

👋 FOLLOW US

Shea: https://twitter.com/SheaKetsdever

Flashbots: https://www.flashbots.net/

🌐 LINKS

Flashbots Docs: https://docs.flashbots.net/

Flasbots Writing: https://writings.flashbots.net/

Flashbots Protect https://docs.flashbots.net/flashbots-protect/overview

Flashbots Forum: https://collective.flashbots.net

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Rallying for Sensible Crypto Regulation with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce

katherine wu — Wed, 31 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.

Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was also a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues.

Hester joins us today to give us some insight into the SEC and the regulatory world. She explains the many challenges that come along with trying to regulate the crypto industry, including lack of time and resources, a potential desire to push the industry abroad, and navigating the US’s complicated existing financial regulations. Hester also agrees that regulatory progress is failing to keep up with crypto while reinforcing the idea that the industry requires new regulations outside of existing securities laws.

We later discuss Hester’s Token Safe Harbor proposal, which lays out a potential path for new crypto projects to gradually work towards decentralization without fearing SEC enforcement. We also touch on fostering innovation, the pros and cons of decentralization, and the best ways of communicating with the SEC and Hester herself.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Hester: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce | https://www.sec.gov/about/commissioners/hester-m-peirce

🌐 LINKS

Hester’s Token Safe Harbor Proposal - https://github.com/CommissionerPeirce/SafeHarbor2.0

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

2:10 Crypto regulation issues

6:18 Is the US falling behind?

9:20 No one wants frauds and scams

12:05 Hester’s Token Safe Harbor proposal

16:55 “Come in and register”

20:00 Communicating with the SEC

22:00 How 2022 changed the perception of crypto

24:20 Decentralization pros and cons

26:27 SEC proposals

28:20 What regulators and the crypto industry should know about each other

33:32 Reaching out to Hester

34:03 Outro

DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

Creating the Open Metaverse with Justin Melillo

Katherine Wu — Wed, 24 May 2023 06:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Justin Melillo, co-founder and CEO of Mona. Mona is an infinite network of immersive experiences with a focus on openness, decentralization, and creator/developer ownership.

A lifelong artist with a focus on computer animation, visual FX, and immersive content, Justin has worked at companies like DreamWorks and Magic Leap, designed tour sets for artists like Drake and Sia, and worked on various AR experiences. When he found blockchain and NFTs several years ago, he saw it as a real alternative for digital artists outside of design work, freelancing, or working for a studio. He then combined these worlds, alongside friend Matt Hoerl, to bring Mona to life.

During our talk, we dive into Justin’s view of the metaverse and its many challenges, opportunities, and misconceptions. Justin also tells us about building for a metaverse-native generation, we look at the future of AR and VR, and we talk about how much we love Tears of the Kingdom.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Justin: https://twitter.com/justinmmelillo

Mona: https://twitter.com/monaverse

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:48 Justin’s Background

5:20 How Justin sees the metaverse

8:41 What is Mona?

11:23 Creating unique and immersive experiences

16:35 The future of the metaverse, VR, and AR

18:03 The metaverse-native generation

20:16 Games can be art (and we nerd out over Tears of the Kingdom)

26:05 Metaverse misconceptions

26:41 Check out Mona!

27:26 Outro

DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

Harnessing Blockchain Data with Jonathan Kau

Katherine Wu — Wed, 3 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Jonathan Kau, Co-founder of Satsuma, a blockchain indexing and query platform.

We begin our conversation with Jonathan walking us through his founder journey and a 101 lesson on blockchain data. We discuss the unique challenges that web3 developers face and explore how Satsuma can ease some of those challenges.

We also touch on the challenges of selling to DAOs and navigating their unique decision making processes. We discuss the importance of giving customers a voice in shaping the product, while still maintaining a strong sense of direction and opinion about the solutions being offered.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Jonathan: https://twitter.com/jonathankau

Satsuma: https://twitter.com/satsumaxyz

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:03 Founding Satsuma

3:12 Blockchain data 101

6:46 Challenges for web3 developers

8:07 EVM compatibility

9:19 Satsuma

10:38 How Satsuma works

11:22 Centralized vs. decentralized data providers

14:57 Building Satsuma in a bear market

16:57 Satsuma’s building strategy

19:48 Doing business with DAOs

23:57 Jonathan’s advice for aspiring founders

25:24 Outro

Building Crypto Infra for Institutions with Aya Kantorovich

Katherine Wu — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Aya Kantorovich, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Fractal, to discuss crypto’s history, what it’s like to be a founder in the industry, and the importance of building institutional grade crypto infrastructure.

As a former founding member of FalconX and current Co-CEO of Fractal Clearing, Aya deeply understands the role that institutions play in the world of crypto. She begins our conversation by highlighting exactly that before giving us a quick (but fantastic) history lesson on the crypto industry as a whole.

As Aya explains, institutions have been playing a major role in the space for several years now. They bring with them not only capital and knowledge of the traditional financial world, but needs around privacy and quality assurance that require more robust tools to be created.

While we have certainly seen some less savory companies give cefi a bad rap, Aya believes that we are beginning to see a new wave of robust, institutional grade crypto tooling that will more strongly honor crypto’s fundamentals of transparency and self custody. We close out our talk by exploring how Fractal is helping bring this vision to reality, explaining the need for disintermediation, and discussing the many hats that founders wear.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Archebyte: https://twitter.com/archebyte

Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu

Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc

Aya: https://twitter.com/aya_kantor

Fractal: https://twitter.com/fractalclearing | https://www.fractalprotocol.org/

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:49 Welcome Aya

1:23 Institutional crypto adoption

3:39 Does crypto need institutions?

5:24 Bringing crypto to the mainstream user

6:47 History of crypto infrastructure

19:10 Fractal

21:40 Onboarding users

23:57 Building for institutions in a crypto-native way

26:16 Aya’s experience as a founder

The Future of Ethereum Staking with Collin Myers

Archetype, Katherine Wu — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte, we are joined by Collin Meyers, Founder of Obol Labs. The Obol Network is an ecosystem for trust minimized staking that enables people to create, test, run and coordinate distributed validators.

Collin kicks off the episode by laying some groundwork and explaining the history of staking infrastructure and how it has led us to where we are today, post Ethereum Merge. We briefly discuss withdrawals and how they affect staking dynamics before diving deep into DVT - Distributed Validator Technology. Collin breaks down what DVT is, how it works, and what it can enable for validators as well as the crypto ecosystem at large. We discuss the challenges that at home validators face and Collin shares his advice for becoming an at home validator and overcoming these challenges.

We close out our conversation as Collin looks to the future and shares what he’s excited to see develop in the crypto infrastructure space in the coming years as we acknowledge that blockchain tech is at its core one incredible use case of applied cryptography.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Collin: https://twitter.com/StakeETH

Obol Labs: https://twitter.com/obolnetwork

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:56 Welcome Collin

1:28 History of staking infrastructure

6:05 How withdrawals will affect staking dynamics

10:23 DVT: Distributed Validator Technology

11:49 How DVT works

13:45 What DVT unlocks for validators

23:07 How to become an at home validator

25:28 The future of crypto infrastructure innovation

28:12 Outro

Crypto Isn’t Waiting for U.S. Policy with TuongVy Le

Katherine Wu — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Archebyte, we are joined by TuongVy Le to discuss crypto regulation. Vy is currently a Partner at Bain Capital Crypto, Head of Regulatory & Policy at BCC, and previously worked in the enforcement division at the SEC.

Vy starts off the conversation by giving listeners an overview of crypto regulation and policy as it stands today - an enforcement only approach with lack of guidance that leaves both founders and customers vulnerable. She explains how the events of the past year have led regulators to become hostile towards the crypto industry as a whole, without fully understanding the diverse range of use cases for blockchain technology.

We discuss the dangers of innovation outpacing regulation, and we acknowledge that if U.S. policy fails to keep up with the inevitable advancement in technology, the next Google or Apple of crypto could be founded overseas. This devastating prospect is a direct implication of regulators’ failure to provide guidance.

Katherine and Vy leave listeners with advice on how to navigate the current regulation landscape, and share what you can do to help the cause. After all, it’s not too late for the U.S. to be a world leader in crypto regulation and take advantage of all blockchain technology has to offer.

Archebyte is presented by Archetype, an early-stage crypto venture firm accelerating the decentralized future. Learn more about Archetype at https://www.archetype.fund/

🔗 FOLLOW US

TuongVy Le: https://twitter.com/TuongvyLe12

Bain Capital: https://twitter.com/baincapcrypto

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:38 Welcome Vy!

1:53 Vy’s background

5:07 The value of different perspectives

10:04 The state of crypto regulation today

17:50 Why is regulation so difficult?

20:18 Speed of innovation vs. speed of regulation

25:26 The unnecessary hostility of crypto regulation

26:57 Should U.S. based crypto founders relocate?

30:53 It’s not too late for the U.S.

31:19 The Coinbase Wells Notice

32:14 Lack of regulation

36:12 What you can do to help aid crypto regulation

41:12 Outro

Looking Ahead: Crypto in 2023

katherine wu — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000

For the final episode of season 2, I’m changing things up a bit! To close out a year that has been very eventful, and a bit chaotic, I went to some of my favorite crypto founders for their words of wisdom.

I asked everyone three questions and compiled all of their answers here to help everyone decompress from the craziness of 2022 and start getting on track for 2023:

Give me one or two reasons to stay in crypto and remain optimistic on the future!
What are some big themes you’re interested in/ following now and in the next year? Any predictions?
Do you have any advice to founders who are raising or building in this bear market?

Thank you again to all of the founders who gave their time and thoughts for this episode, as well as all of the viewers who have joined me throughout season 2 of Cross-Chain Examination. See you in the new year!

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Ash Egan: https://twitter.com/AshAEgan

Lauren Stephanian: https://twitter.com/lstephanian

Jason Choi: https://twitter.com/mrjasonchoi

Min Teo: https://twitter.com/_MinTeo

Eleni Steinman: https://twitter.com/EleniThinks

Alexis Gauba: https://twitter.com/AlexisGauba

Dan Elizter: https://twitter.com/delitzer

Kevin Britz: https://twitter.com/kbrizzle_

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:02 Intro

2:51 Reasons to remain optimistic

7:57 2023 predictions

11:28 Advice for founders in the bear market

The Future of Work and Organizations with Pooja Shah from Radius

Katherine Wu — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000

We kickoff the episode by broadly discussing how Pooja thinks about the future of work and she shares how the future of work could look different in web2 and web3 settings. We analyze these topics from the perspectives of both workers and organizations, and examine how web3 offers each of them new and exciting possibilities.

Pooja predicts that the future of work will be small teams tackling big problems in a more dynamic way than we’ve ever seen before. She sees web3 as more of a means to an end and a set of ideologies to build by - privacy, transparency, and autonomy to name a few.

As Pooja gives us the inside scoop on Tephra Labs and Radius, we touch on the possibilities for things like coordination, decision making, and leadership in a web3 future.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Pooja: https://twitter.com/pooja_eth

Tephra Labs: https://twitter.com/tephralabs

Radius: https://twitter.com/joinradius

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:02 Intro

2:02 The future of work

5:48 The future of work in web2 vs. web3

10:31 Openness of work in web3

12:29 The future of companies and organizations

15:29 Leadership and decision making

19:07 Coordination within crypto

24:08 Tephra Labs and Radius

26:28 Radius Fellowship

29:11 Follow Pooja and Radius!

Uniswap Foundation: Behind the Scenes with Devin Walsh

katherine wu — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Cross-Chain Examination, we’re joined by Devin Walsh, Executive Director of the Uniswap Foundation. UF was founded this year with the goal of supporting the decentralized growth and sustainability of the Uniswap protocol and its ecosystem.

Devin and Ken Ng submitted the initial proposal to found the Uniswap Foundation during the summer of 2022. Uniswap token holders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal with an impressive 95% yes vote - a feat that took Devin months of hard work, collaboration, and implementation of feedback. To lay some groundwork, she begins the episode by sharing her process for creating the proposal and bringing the Uniswap Foundation to fruition.

We then get into the importance of foundation structures for crypto protocols, and specifically for Uniswap Protocol. We also dive into the benefits of having a non-profit label for the foundation. Devin shares the three pillars of the Uniswap Foundation (growth and innovation, governance, and advocacy and stewardship) and we discuss how UF is measuring their success and progress in these fields.

We close out our conversation with an overview of all the work UF has done so far as well as what is in the works for their short and long term future. Devin leaves us with some advice for starting a foundation and tells you where to go if you’d like to follow along the UF journey!

- Article Mentioned: https://gov.uniswap.org/t/alastor-fee-switch-report/18020/2

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Devin: https://twitter.com/devinawalsh

Uniswap Foundation: https://twitter.com/UniswapFnd

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:02 Intro

2:46 Uniswap Foundation

10:27 The importance of foundations

13:42 Non-profit foundations

14:52 The 3 pillars of Uniswap Foundation

17:52 Quarterly goals of Uniswap Foundation

21:37 Work that Uniswap Foundation is currently doing

24:54 Controversial Uniswap thesis

25:57 Advice for setting up a foundation

29:36 Follow Devin and UF!

The Institutions are (Still) Coming! with Anton and Ethan from Talos

katherine wu — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

On this episode of Cross-Chain Examination, we’re joined by our good friends and supporters, Anton and Ethan from Talos! Talos is an institutional trading platform for digital assets that was built to support the entire trade lifecycle.

With backgrounds in the institutional finance space, and a very robust crypto platform under their belts, Anton and Ethan are the perfect guests to help us sort out all of the craziness going on right now in the wake of the FTX collapse. We kick off our discussion with a breakdown of crypto as an asset class and the importance of institutional adoption. We then dive into Vitalik’s tweet where he suggested crypto is rushing into institutional and mainstream adoption too quickly.

Turning to mainstream adoption more broadly, we discuss the reliance on centralized businesses to more easily onboard new users. Anton touches on the friction between cefi and defi tools and, instead of picking a side, explains that there is a time and place for both. He then reflects on the inception of Talos, from digital asset fund to a fully integrated crypto platform made from scratch.

Later in our talk we get into the details of crypto as a unique asset class, the advantages of building financial systems on blockchains, the evolution of Talos, and effects of the FTX collapse.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Anton: https://twitter.com/KatzAnton

Ethan: https://twitter.com/ethanf

Talos: https://twitter.com/talostrading

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:02 Intro

2:20 Institutional adoption

6:57 Centralization and mainstream adoption

9:40 Talos origin story

14:42 Crypto - a unique asset class

17:00 Talos’ evolution

22:48 FTX collapse effects

28:17 Risk management and due diligence

Valuing a Social Computer with Ash and Danny from Archetype

katherine wu — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

This week on Cross-Chain Examination, we’re taking a break from our usual deep-dives and turning our attention to current events in the industry with Ash and Danny from the Archetype team. Over the course of the past week, we have watched FTX collapse, sending the entire crypto market into freefall.

At the time of this recording (11/11/22), much of the situation is still unfolding. We do our best to lay out the facts around FTX, Alameda, SBF and co, and the misappropriation of user funds. We recap everything we know so far and discuss the unfortunately long list of potential repercussions before touching on some silver linings.

In light of the current market conditions, we turn the conversation to Archetype’s thesis around Ethereum. We measure the ongoing risks and call out what we’re keeping an eye on as the space moves forward. We also discuss Ethereum's role not just as a financial ledger, but a global, social computer. At the end of the day, we’re still bullish.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Danny: https://twitter.com/DannySursock

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:03 Intro

2:20 FTX fallout

5:03 Industry repercussions

6:51 Silver linings

12:45 The difficulty in modeling the price of Ethereum

16:20 How the Archetype team evaluates Ethereum

26:35 Risks and considerations

29:58 Why Archetype is bullish on Ethereum

👀 LINKS

- Bankless: The Case for $15K ETH- https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/the-case-for-15000-eth

- NY Times: Is FTX Crypto’s Lehman Moment?- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/technology/cryptocurrency-binance-ftx.html

- Block Crunch: How FTX Collapsed- https://open.spotify.com/episode/6hpRIYyh988JE36Qno22Zx?si=5CKZ-CPfSue23NnlGp94Ew

- Trung Phan’s FTX Tweet Thread- https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1591477764640878593?s=20&t=rIsKHpbHKs8JWc5Iaxc78w

One Trust Network to Rule them All with Sreeram from EigenLayer

katherine wu — Wed, 9 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Sreeram Kannan is the founder of EigenLayer, an Ethereum staking collective leveraging trust, hyperscaling blockchains, and unleashing open innovation.

In this highly technical episode, we dive deep into proof of work vs. proof of stake, staking, restaking, Ethereum throughput, and permissionless innovation.

Sreeram kicks off the episode by introducing and explaining fragmented trust networks. One of the amazing value propositions for blockchain technology is that it allows permissionless and trustless innovation - any developer can join the ecosystem and start creating. But this trustless technology is only valuable if the core infrastructure innovators around the world decide to actually utilize it. To help them do so, Sreeram created Eigen Layer with the intention of lowering their barrier to entry into the Ethereum ecosystem.

We discuss the ways in which Eigen Layer enables restaking and Sreeram walks us through the actual process of native staking. He explains how he foresees the Eigen ecosystem growing and shares a few of the possibilities Eigen enables. We discuss the importance of increasing Ethereum’s bandwidth and Sreeram shares how Eigen Layer can help this initiative.

We also explore risk mitigation and all of the ways in which the folks over at Eigen are tackling the issue of security, with decentralization not only being a core value of the Eigen team, but its main value proposition. To close out the episode, Kathrine and Ash recap the discussion and break down some of the more intellectually challenging topics discussed.

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Sreeram: https://twitter.com/sreeramkannan

EigenLayer: https://twitter.com/eigenlayer

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Sponsors

1:02 Intro

2:15 Trustlessness in blockchain technology

3:12 Sreeram’s background

3:26 Innovation at the core infrastructure level

6:05 Proof of work vs. Proof of stake

9:13 Restaking

9:40 Native restaking

13:19 Building out the Eigen ecosystem

15:14 Increasing Ethereum’s bandwidth

18:10 Eigen - Cloud analogy

20:21 EigenLayer reducing systemic risk

24:49 Ethereum security

26:17 Preventing false slashing

29:05 Keeping Eigen decentralized

31:45 Follow Sreeram!

32:53 Recap

37:07 Outro

Enabling Autopay in Web3 with Eleni Steinman from Loop

katherine wu — Wed, 2 Nov 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Eleni Steinman is the Co-Founder of Loop, a tool enabling autopay in crypto. In this episode we dive into how Loop came to be, how Loop works, and what to expect from Loop in the future.

Loop was designed with all users in mind - not only does it have the ability to integrate with complex crypto protocols but it's also simple and easy enough for crypto novices to understand. With its B2B2C business model, Loop is a flexible tool that allows for not only crypto subscriptions but fiat subscriptions as well, and even integrates seamlessly with Stripe.

We discuss how Loop works on the backend, giving listeners some insight into the mechanics of how it uses smart contracts to allow recurring payments while still giving the user full control and ownership over their assets. Users are provided with a convenient dashboard-like interface to clearly see what they are subscribing to and make changes to those subscriptions with just a few clicks. They even have the ability to cut off recurring payments and revoke companies’ access to their funds.

Eleni shares some of the possibilities being explored in the crypto payment arenas and she shouts out some cool projects working on a “buy now pay later” function. We also discuss crypto donations and how a recurring payment option for donations would enhance contributions to charity. We close out our conversation touching on the issue of privacy for on-chain transactions and Eleni shares what she’s most excited about at Loop in the coming months.

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Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Eleni: https://twitter.com/EleniThinks

Loop: https://www.loopcrypto.xyz/

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:00 Welcome, Eleni!

3:03 Eleni’s journey to founding Loop

7:32 Autopay in crypto

9:19 What is Loop?

11:38 B2B2C

12:36 What sets Loop apart from big tech companies

13:58 Recurring payments in crypto

16:23 Subscriptions

17:06 “Buy now pay later” for crypto

18:38 Crypto donations

20:08 Privacy & on-chain transactions

21:42 Get a Loop demo!

22:53 Loop integrations

24:41 Outro

DAOs vs. Internet Communities with Jon Yan from Vector DAO

katherine wu — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Jon is the Co-Founder of VectorDAO - a collective of designers, artists & developers contributing to web3.

After working as a designer at Coinbase for several years, Jon decided to take a leap of faith, quit his job, and he began working for himself as a freelance designer. After realizing that the work he was doing was highly integral to the success of his clients, Jon began to feel that taking an hourly wage for his work was a bit old school. So, to better participate in the upside of his work and more closely align his incentives with those of his clients, he began taking a portion of his earnings in their native tokens.

After connecting with a friend who was also a great freelance designer in the space, the duo decided to pool together the tokens they were earning, invite other designers to do the same, and socialize their gains and losses. Thus, Vector DAO was born.

By aligning incentives, socializing risk, and giving independent freelancers a community to thrive in, Vector DAO became a perfect storm for success. The collective worked with over 40 organizations in their first year and grew to a point where they could no longer accept applications.

Drilling down into the details, Vector DAO actually considers itself an internet community as opposed to a DAO. Yes - there is a decentralized component to how they make decisions about their treasury, but ultimately, Vector DAO is not fully decentralized or autonomous, and that’s okay! By keeping the team relatively small (about 90 people) and creating a shallow hierarchy, Vector is extremely efficient and doesn’t face many of the coordination issues that “true” DAOs face.

In this episode we discuss the differences between a “true” DAO and an internet community, and we dive into the ins and outs of Vector DAO, how it works, and how they have attracted some of the best talent in the industry. We address the importance of great design in the crypto space, and Jon leaves listeners with some advice if you’re thinking of starting a DAO.

🔗 FOLLOW US

Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Jon: https://twitter.com/jonjyan

Vector DAO: https://twitter.com/VectorDAO

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

3:05 What is Vector DAO?

3:32 How Vector DAO started

8:58 How Vector works

10:56 Attracting talent

12:57 Internet communities

14:59 Not everything needs to be a DAO

16:49 Unexpected challenges along the Vector DAO journey

18:09 Web3 income sources

18:55 Vector DAO governance and hierarchy

21:56 Crypto UI/UX

25:53 Advice for starting a DAO

28:36 True DAO vs. Internet community

29:50 Follow Jon!

30:06 Outro

Future of Social Networks with Dan Romero from Farcaster

katherine wu — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Dan is the Co-Founder of Farcaster, a protocol for sufficiently decentralized social networking. Instead of whipping up a traditional social network, Dan decided to create Farcaster as a protocol in order to give users a more direct relationship with their audience., as well as give developers direct access to the underlying data and APIs of the ecosystem they are building in. The result is the foundation for a new, flexible social network that is truly in the hands of its user and builders.

Dan walks us through the journey from web1 to web2 to web3, setting the stage for the rest of our discussion. We dive into the user experience for web3 social, and how Farcaster creates a friendly web3 experience for people who may not be familiar with blockchain wallets. On the back end, Farcaster protocol offers developers an entirely new playground to build in and leverage the fact that all Farcaster users have a public and private key.

We talk about how Dan onboarded the first 3000 users of Farcaster and how he sees the protocol reaching critical mass. We discuss the community that resides on Farcaster today and Dan’s views on cultivating community. We also cover decentralized content moderation, Dan’s ideas of conversation liquidity, and we look to the future as Dan shares what he hopes will be built on Farcaster down the line.

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Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Dan: https://twitter.com/dwr

Farcaster: https://twitter.com/farcaster_xyz

⌛ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

2:28 Web1, Web2, Web3

9:42 Crypto-powered networks

13:45 Farcaster’s success metrics

17:12 Farcaster’s first 3000 users

20:23 Curating quality communities

24:36 Moderating a decentralized open protocol

29:44 What Dan would like to see built on Farcaster

37:27 Follow Dan!

33:21 Outro

Global Crypto Regulation and the "Rebecca Decentralization Test"

katherine wu — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Rebecca Rettig is the General Council at the Aave companies, which build open source, blockchain based software for the web3 world. She’s a respected lawyer and longtime friend of our host, Katherine Wu.

We dive right into the episode with Rebecca answering the question that’s on all of our minds - why is regulation so difficult? We discuss the negative narrative that mainstream media portrays about the crypto industry and Rebecca offers some advice on how to flip that narrative.

Because there is such a disconnect between lawmakers and crypto builders, it’s difficult for both sides to find common ground about what crypto is and how to regulate it. Blanket statements like “same risk, same regulation” need to be thought about deeply as blockchain technology, and decentralization more specifically, certainly add levels of nuance to the discussion and change how we think about risk.

At the end of the day, crypto regulation is inevitable. This conversation covers what we should do as crypto community members to help build a future where regulation can guide and help us instead of stopping and stifling us. During our talk we also touch on regulation for DAOs, DeFi, centralized web3 tools, and we get the inside scoop on The Rebecca Test.

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Cross Chain Examination: https://twitter.com/crosschainpod

Rebecca: https://twitter.com/RebeccaRettig1

Aave: https://twitter.com/AaveAave

Lens: https://twitter.com/LensProtocol