Deeply Intents

Building with Agents and The Bull Case for Zcash

apriori0x@proton.me (apriori, zaki) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:02:59 +0000

Zaki Manian In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Zaki Manian [Cosmos co-founder, Bootstrap board member, and Zcash contributor]. We start with Zaki's AI-native development workflow: he's running 7-8 projects simultaneously using Claude, Codex, and Gemini in parallel, burning through 500M tokens a day. He breaks down which model is best for what and why most developers he's hired in his career are now outperformed by Opus 4.6. From there, Zaki gives the first public podcast account of the Zcash governance crisis from a board member's perspective, how the team navigated it, what role AI played in the negotiations, and why Zcash is suddenly a credible store-of-value contender this cycle. We also get into what the privacy landscape looks like by end of year. We wrap up with the state of crypto startups post-Genius Act, why agentic finance is the only exciting build direction, and Zaki's new framework: two years of building is now two weekends, so why are founders still sending decks instead of TestFlights?

Timestamps

(00:00) - Cosmos, Zcash, enterprise blockchains origins
(01:45) - Sanctuary technology
(03:41) - Spicy AI takes
(06:22) - Ideas are scarce and software is cheap
(08:38) - Finding more ai forward teams to build with
(12:41) - AI reasoning ability vs. regurgitating training set
(15:37) - Specific use cases for each model
(21:02) - AI as a strategy advisor
(22:41) - From AI to Zcash, a story
(26:19) - Non-profit organizations created
(28:10) -From Zashi to ZODL
(31:45) - Challenges with valuing revenue
(33:09) - The era of super personal software
(36:07) - Changes in whale behavior this cycle
(37:27) - Zcash is the standard for the next era
(39:11) - Encrypted Bitcoin
(43:28) - The narrative is simple
(47:17) - Credible fundamentals around quantum
(53:24) - Privacy modalities of the future
(56:21) - Intents replacing smart contracts
(58:36) - How are you going to do growth?
(1:00:46) - New ways to build startups
(1:06:04) - No more pitch decks
(1:10:59) - New generation of AI native builders
(1:12:53) - We are going to have way more startups

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Soundtracks for the Blind - Gwart

apriori0x@proton.me (apriori, Gwart) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 15:28:20 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Gwart, host of The Gwart Show. We kick off with Gwart's knack for shitposting and the art of playing the anon game, then get into reflections on this cycle, including whether VC coins are actually dead or just suffering from massive token overhang. From there, we spend time on the craft of podcasting before pivoting to the big picture: the Ethereum roadmap, whether ETH works as a store of value, Bitcoin's quantum FUD, and what actually makes crypto useful in the long run.

Timestamps

(00:00) - pure shitposting and podcasting
(01:38) - social slashing with a machete
(03:21) - the anon game
(06:32) - reflections on this cycle
(10:22) - massive token overhang
(13:24) - the trenches were cutthroat
(16:45) - the categorical imperative of tokens
(19:11) - Avalanche is not worth $15B
(20:43) - the demand might not come in the long run
(23:51) - on podcasting
(38:06) - skeptical on ETH as a store of value
(49:41) - bitcoin quantum FUD/ conviction
(56:32) - coordinating a post quantum upgrade
(59:17) - on bitcoin l2s
(1:03:52) - "anything useful will come to bitcoin"
(1:05:52) - you couldn't do it in a decentralized way
(1:12:58) - bitcoin is the cool thing
(1:20:38) - defi summer wasn't gonna last forever
(1:23:09) - this take time

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Visions of Agents Trading Options - Nick Forster

apriori0x@proton.me (Nick Foster, apriori) — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:54:31 +0000

Why are crypto options still so underdeveloped? In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Nick Foster, Co-founder of Derive (fka Lyra). We start by unpacking why options are worth pursuing in crypto and what drove Variant's recent investment in Derive. From there, we dig into Derive's institutional focus, how they think about the competitive options landscape, and what "10/10" means for the protocol. We also speed through Derive's portfolio margin and liquidation systems, plus how their tech stack shapes product decisions. We wrap up with the story behind the rebrand from Lyra to Derive and Nick's learnings from building through multiple market cycles.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Options are the most programmable financial primitive
(01:56) - Variant investment in Derive
(04:14) - The institutional focus
(09:10) - Having conversations with institutions
(10:20) - All of these ingredients fall into place
(12:53) - The competitive landscape
(14:41) - 10/10 & ADLs
(17:20) - How Portfolio Margin works
(19:09) - Liquidation system innovation
(21:57) - The Security Module
(25:07) - Derive Chain
(26:28) - Build a great product
(36:16) - Rebrand from Lyra to Derive
(40:55) - Synthetix's attempt to acquire derive
(46:43) - Learnings whilst building
(47:54) - Think carefully about incentives
(50:08) - Having a proactive mindset
(52:27) - Using AI to build
(54:44) - Encouraging side projects
(56:30) - Visions of agents trading options

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Monadvillainy - ThogardPvP

apriori0x@proton.me (apriori, ThogardPVP) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:04:07 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Alex Watts (ThogardPvP) from Fastlane. We begin the episode by discussing the concept of kingmaking in crypto ecosystems - why its important and the risks associated with king entrenching. Next we shift the conversation to the Monad central bank thesis as in the Monad Foundation using its treasury of MON to control yield via staking. Thereafter we shift the discussion towards risk curators and vaults exploring why they are popular. We finish the episode discussing enterprise adoption patterns and what is and what is not likely to work for institutions.

Timestamps

(00:00) - On Kingmakers
(03:07) - Annie are you okay?
(05:07) - VCs won't invest in 17 LSTs
(05:57) - Paradigm is the best Kingmaker in the business
(09:11) - Wealth creation event for native apps
(16:18) - The Kingmaker and application incentives
(21:29) - Preserve the ability for competition to disrupt incumbents
(27:13) - The Monad Central Bank thesis
(31:17) - This gonna sound really bad
(37:57) - Central banks are centralized
(45:02) - They're just professionals
(48:21) - Loop it and leave it
(52:24) - Programmatic interest rate policy
(54:40) - Whats up with vaults and risk curators
(57:07) - Glazing the curators
(1:02:13) - Institutional adoption
(1:03:11) - Prevailing view in crypto VC
(1:07:17) - What's important in the institutional game
(1:14:49) - Fast finality and short block times
(1:16:14) - RWAs have oracles, its nuanced
(1:22:53) - The island of misfit toys
(1:24:42) - Ethereum is the silver of crypto

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Take Me To Your Leader - Alex Watts

apriori0x@proton.me (Alex Watts, apriori, ThogardPVP) — Mon, 9 Feb 2026 15:14:59 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Alex Watts (ThogardPvP), Co-founder and CEO of Fastlane. We start by breaking down Fastlane's recent deal with Chainlink for their product Atlas—ThogardPvP walks through how it was structured and who actually got paid (spoiler: no one got rich). From there, we get into the emerging trend of acquihires and licensing deals in crypto and why they might be setting venture investing back. That leads us into a broader conversation about the two types of founders in tech: those who are genuinely mission-driven versus those treating "founder" as a career path for status and quick extraction. We also talk about why right now might be the best time for VCs to allocate to crypto, before closing out with a tour through Silicon Valley history—military-industrial spending, the case for a DARPA for crypto, and what it means to be a gardener in Ethereum's infinite garden.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Founder and CEO of Fastlane
(01:27) - Chainlink acquires Atlas
(06:32) - The way the deal was structured
(12:12) - No one got rich off the deal
(16:39) - Oppose the license and aquihire model
(21:53) - This is what regulations are for
(26:03) - Focused on Monad
(27:50) - Founders make a choice
(29:30) - A little bit of a tangent
(31:10) - Things startup founders say
(34:57) - Not all VCs are the same
(39:15) - The sociopaths are scamming in AI right now
(42:15) - Best time to allocate capital to crypto is now
(45:18) - It's difficult to not be dumb
(46:33) - Piero Scaruffi's "A History of Silicon Valley"
(49:00) - Internet Capital Markets
(51:31) - Garden Curator to King Maker

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Forbidden Controller Lore [Real] - Isaac Sheff & Christopher Goes

apriori0x@proton.me (Christopher Goes, apriori, Isaac Sheff) — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:25:38 +0000

Is interop finally solved? In this episode of Deeply Intents I chat with Isaac Sheff (Senior Research Scientist) and Christopher Goes (o-founder) of Heliax about the Anoma protocol and explore how Anoma thinks about interop. In particular we discuss Isaac's research on Controllers [the authoritative state machine that orders transactions for a resource, preventing double-spends]. We begin the episode discussing Isaac's background as a consensus researcher and his prior work on Heterogeneous Paxos. We then dive into controllers and compare them to IBC, and discuss we you need different trust models for blockchains, databases, and computers. Thereafter the episode gets quite technical as we discuss the nuances of Anoma's resource model, controller tags, and next concepts called shared & causal resource history. Next we explore how controllers utilize ZK proofs for tag reduction and attestation. Finally we discuss the novel emergency override condition which one can think of as a generalization of Plasma (Ethereum), how controllers unlock private bridging, and the affordances they provide application builders who want to build distributed applications.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Consensus researchers
(04:26) - What are controllers?
(08:50) - Product perspective and revisiting IBC
(12:52) - Why you need different trust models
(19:24) - Unbundling ordering, execution & storage
(24:30) - The Anoma state model is based on resources
(29:03) - Controller Tags and double spends
(34:34) - Shared and Causal Resource History
(36:53) - Controllers are different than IBC
(40:13) - You get interop for free
(43:05) - Controllers love ZK
(47:34) - Controllers and trust assumptions
(50:45) - Emergency override condition (EOC)
(56:10) - Generalization of Plasma
(58:50) - Controller interop with existing EVM chains
(1:03:09) - Intents in Ethereum
(1:04:22) - Private bridging
(1:06:33) - Affordances for application designers
(1:10:17) - Blockchains can be useful for more than finance

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Some Builder Musings - Dino

apriori0x@proton.me (Dino, apriori) — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:31:26 +0000

Why does crypto keep throwing money at attention instead of products? In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Dino, Co-founder of Fluent. We kick off with Dino's background and why he's learned never to bet against developer ingenuity, then get into the weeds on crypto fundraising strategies including what works, what doesn't, and where discipline matters. From there, we dissect crypto's obsession with attention and whether reputation systems can offer a real solution. We also explore Fluent's blended execution environment, touching on the history of WASM experiments and why product focus is valuable in the ecosystem. We wrap up with Dino's philosophy on building a company by exploring what an ideal idea meritocracy actually looks like and why he's chosen to build on Ethereum.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Don't bet against developer ingenuity
(04:46) - Give people skin in the game
(08:25) - Discipline in fundraising
(16:27) - One way decisions
(22:11) - Real recognizes real
(25:46) - The industry's obsession with attention
(28:19) - Reputation
(33:12) - Reputation checks and balances
(37:14) - Is reputation game-able?
(44:44) - WASM experiments
(46:23) - multi-VM products
(52:14) - Product focus in the ecosystem
(55:50) - Reflections on building a company
(58:48) - Idea meritocracy
(1:04:59) - Building on Ethereum

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Master of Puppets - Dan Gray

apriori0x@proton.me (Dan Gray, apriori) — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:10:34 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Dan Gray from Credistick. We cover a ton of ground on what venture capital actually is, how it works, and where the space is headed. We kick off by breaking down the basics of VC and the ripple effects of the low interest rate environment after the financial crisis, then move into megafund strategies (sometimes called smart beta). From there, we dig into VC compensation, fund performance metrics and incentives, and how exits actually work. We also explore how secondary transactions are changing exit liquidity for investors and employees, plus equity crowdfunding as a way to let everyday people get in on seed-stage deals. Things get really interesting when Dan explains how memes influence capital flows and why megafund strategies work so well. We wrap up by talking about the challenges facing new emerging managers and some compelling AI-related investment theses.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Finding the missing puzzle piece
(02:29) - VC is not competitive
(05:09) - What is venture capital?
(08:14) - Consequences of low interest rates
(11:49) - Concentrated bets
(16:29) - Megafund strategy - smart beta
(19:04) - VC compensation
(22:34) - Fund performance metrics and incentives
(26:49) - Fragile proposition for founders
(29:50) - One pivot is better than none
(33:17) - VC exits
(36:09) - Secondary transactions
(42:00) - Retail exit liquidity
(45:45) - Equity crowd funding
(51:14) - Memes influence the flow of capital
(55:16) - Megafund strategy is so good
(1:00:11) - Government LPs can help smaller funds
(1:02:05) - Emerging fund manager tactics
(1:05:22) - Interesting theses connected to AI

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

ACE of Trades - Ludwig Thouvenin

apriori0x@proton.me (Apriori) — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 15:30:06 +0000

Why does onchain liquidity matter, and what would it take to build a DEX that actually competes with centralized venues? In this episode, I sit down with Ludwig Thouvenin, Co-founder & CEO at Sorella Labs, to unpack Angstrom and the case for rethinking DEX design from first principles. We start with what drew Ludwig to MEV and DEX design in the first place. From there, we discuss Brontes, Sorella's open-source MEV analysis tool, and the impact it's had on the research community. We then break down Angstrom's architecture, topology, and affordances, including the nuances of how its mechanisms differ on L1 versus L2. Ludwig makes the case for why onchain liquidity matters and why lit venues are essential to healthy market structure. We close by discussing the future of ACE, the importance of privacy in onchain trading, and Ludwig's learnings as a first-time founder.

(00:00) - Solving CEX-DEX, LVR, and sandwiches
(01:32) - University days
(05:06) - MEV nerdsnipe
(09:57) - LVR
(12:44) - Toxic flow problem
(14:57) - Competing with arbitrageurs
(17:02) - Brontes learnings
(18:22) - Why people JIT
(22:28) - Spinning the cybernetic wheel
(24:28) - Angstrom & capital efficient LP strategies
(30:03) - Angstrom's architecture & topology
(33:26) - Robustness of the mechanisms
(37:36) - Inclusion gaurantees
(40:52) - Why not Angstrom L2?
(43:43) - Compossability with ACE
(45:37) - Bidding through priority fees on L2
(49:18) - Issuance and tokenization will drive volume
(51:42) - Setting the standards and dealing with forks
(53:30) - Lit venues
(56:46) - Product learnings
(1:00:18) - Highest impact upgrades for Ethereum
(1:03:32) - The future of ACE
(1:05:35) - Changes Ethereum should not make
(1:08:10) - Privacy is essential
(1:10:44) - Grit and delusional confidence
(1:14:39) - Degen Spartan

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Cross-Chain Money Legos - Orest Tarasiuk

apriori0x@proton.me (Orest Tarasiuk, apriori) — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 13:47:20 +0000

What would it actually take to make Ethereum's rollups composable like smart contracts on a single chain? In this episode, I sit down with Orest Tarasiuk, CTO at t1 Protocol, to unpack how t1 is tackling Ethereum's fragmentation problem with Real-Time Proofs and TEE-based infrastructure. We begin by discussing Orest's background as an entrepreneur across three startups, from digestive health apps to video calling. Next, we unpack his interop thesis and how t1 aims to solve Ethereum's composability and fragmentation problems. Thereafter, we discuss Real-Time Proofs, TEEs, and security, including t1's innovative value at risk counter. We then dive into encrypted mempools and solving capital efficiency for cross-chain intent solvers. We finish the episode by discussing t1's same block deposit-trade-withdraw flow and what it's been like collaborating on interoperability standards with the Ethereum community.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Freedom maxi to startup founder arc
(04:01) - Startup helping people with digestive disease [Cara Care]
(06:01) - Kraken-Mt.Gox arbitrage
(08:15) - Founding a video calling app [Knit]
(10:39) - Time at Scroll
(13:34) - Founding t1
(15:32) - Interop thesis
(17:43) - Reading L1 from L2
(26:33) - What t1 offers end users and developers
(33:15) - Security, trust assumptions, determinism
(38:53) - The VAR counter, high demand, finality
(43:57) - Inspiration for the VAR counter
(46:00) - Security budget in AVS systems
(49:53) - t1 Sequencing AVS and architecture
(54:32) - Challenges with encrypted mempools
(57:14) - Different cryptographic primitives under the hood
(1:00:45) - Solving capital efficiency for solvers
(1:04:27) - Applications that leverage t1
(1:09:23) - Same block deposit-trade-withdraw flow
(1:15:59) - Collaborating on Ethereum interop standards

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Institutions are Coming - Noah Pravecek

apriori0x@proton.me (Noah Pravecek, apriori) — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:31:22 +0000

What does real interoperability actually look like and why might the industry be solving the wrong problems? In this episode, I sit down with Noah Pravecek from ZKsync to explore the evolving landscape of L2 composability, enterprise adoption, and where crypto is actually headed. Noah shares lessons from his previous work on shared sequencing and synchronous composability, and how ZKsync's network approach differs, particularly through Prividiums and their enterprise thesis. We dig into why RWAs are commanding so much attention right now and what that signals for the future. We also swap Devconnect takeaways, discuss the L1 premium question, speculate on what Ethereum can do to improve UX and how to avoid getting nerdsniped by the wrong priorities.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Working on synchronous composability
(04:52) - Reflections on shared sequencers
(08:56) - Network of enterprise chains
(12:27) - Institutional thesis
(14:16) - Onchain capital formation
(18:27) - Scaling Ethereum's liquidity
(24:49) - RWAs as collateral
(28:48) - Different kinds of RWAs
(32:35) - Devconnect takeaways
(41:39) - Onchain credit markets
(45:31) - infoFi applications
(49:05) - L1 Premium will fade over time
(54:37) - Staying ahead of the innovation curve
(56:43) - It takes a village
(59:04) - Ethereum should focus on improving UX
(1:02:10) - Synchronous composability nerdsnipe

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

FOCIL [Minimize Power of Builders] - soispoke

apriori0x@proton.me (Apriori) — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 14:47:53 +0000

Why is censorship resistance fundamental to Ethereum and what would it take to actually achieve it? In this episode, I sit down with soispoke from the Ethereum Foundation's Robust Incentives Group (RIG) to unpack FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists), a proposal aimed at making transaction censorship significantly harder. We start from first principles: what does censorship even mean in Ethereum's context, and what's the difference between weak and strong censorship? From there, we break down how FOCIL works, address recent criticisms, and explore what it could unlock [from better UX to de-risking Ethereum's scaling roadmap]. Soispoke also reflects on the EIP process and where FOCIL currently stands in being scheduled for upcoming Ethereum hard forks within the context of governance.

Timestamps

(00:00) - From academic to applied research
(05:39) - What is censorship, and why CR?
(08:43) - Weak censorship on Ethereum
(11:57) - Brief history of inclusion lists
(17:52) - Fork-choice enforced inclusion list (FOCIL)
(20:07) - Steelmanning FOCIL
(26:06) - Committee size and trust assumption
(29:12) - Rainbow staking compatible
(30:12) - Addressing criticism
(35:15) - Improved UX for Optimistic Rollups
(37:26) - Reflections on ideating FOCIL
(40:19) - Communicating FOCIL
(43:11) - Defending Ethereum's moat
(49:03) - FOCIL improves altruism assumptions
(53:03) - Glamsterdam Headliner process
(58:46) - FOCIL + 6s slots, we can do both
(1:01:25) - Low hanging fruit and beyond

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

This is not Meta - Ceteris

apriori0x@proton.me (ceteris, apriori) — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 14:43:52 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents I chat with Ceteris, Head of Research at Delphi. We start by discussing Ceteris' beginnings on crypto twitter, then dig into 4 year cycles—are they still real? From there we cover metas, onboarding, privacy, capital formation, and infrastructure. We also explore why Solana has performed well "this cycle," including social factors and upcoming upgrades. Later we get into prediction markets, hyperfinancialization, and investing. We wrap up with Ceteris sharing his best advice for surviving this game long term.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Welcome to CT
(07:22) - Unique perspectives on infrastructure
(13:48) - Do cycles still exist?
(17:59) - Few assets do well
(23:28) - DeFi summer cycle was different
(28:02) - Early in a new meta
(29:47) - Onboarding into crypto
(33:43) - Privacy as a king maker
(37:19) - Capital formation use case
(42:24) - Too much of the wrong infra
(47:08) - New things take time to build
(49:43) - Rollup specialization
(51:16) - Why build on Solana?
(53:32) - RWA issuance is a weird narrative
(57:05) - Prop AMMs, BAM, ACE, MCP, Firedancer
(1:00:53) - You eat what you kill
(1:04:19) - Prediction markets and sports betting
(1:09:38) - The whole world is becoming financialized
(1:13:00) - Investing in bid ideas
(1:19:07) - How to survive? Don't blow up!
(1:26:12) - Try things out
(1:27:38) - Shitposting on CT

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

One CLOB to Rule them All - Markus

apriori0x@proton.me (Markus_0_, apriori) — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 18:39:46 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Markus, founder of Tplus. We begin the episode by addressing the FUD around the recent Intel TDX attack. Next, we unpack Tplus by dissecting the high-level architecture. Thereafter we discuss how Tplus can benefit traders, solvers, MEV searchers, and block builders. Later Markus breaks down the events that led to the sell-off on 10/10/25. We finish the episode by discussing Tplus' revenue model and thinking from first principles.

Timestamps

(00:00) - How the cake is made
(03:52) - Tplus etymology
(06:34) - TDX FUD
(11:58) - Tplus architecture
(16:15) - Product surface expands with DeFi
(18:44) - Breaking down cross-margin
(23:53) - Markouts
(26:06) - Everything in one box
(28:25) - Vaults
(31:04) - Orderflow on demand
(34:57) - Is the juice worth the squeeze?
(38:21) - B2C strategy
(43:14) - Compossability with onchain liquidity
(46:17) - Balancing founder priorities
(48:08) - 10/10/25
(52:00) - ADL risk
(53:27) - Adding product features
(58:14) - Specialized market making
(1:01:15) - Revenue model
(1:03:57) - Ethereum and Solana upgrades
(1:05:11) - Think from first principles

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

One Click Ethereum - Mislav

apriori0x@proton.me (Mislav, apriori) — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:28:07 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Mislav from Biconomy. We begin the episode by discussing the Biconomy Network’s one signature execution model. Next, we discuss the purpose of interoperability and chain abstraction. Thereafter, we dig our teeth into all things product, from gauging user feedback to building at the right level of abstraction to knowing who your team is. Next up, we unpack Biconomy's Supertransaction API, censorship resistance, misconceptions, and competition. We finish the conversation by reflecting on lessons learned over the years, building on the EVM, whilst speculating on potential Ethereum upgrades that would be advantageous.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Building on Ethereum
(03:14) - One signature execution
(11:24) - Why not just use the L1?
(18:06) - Delivering chain abstraction
(20:03) - Products at the right level of abstraction
(24:32) - Talking to users
(28:54) - Knowing who you are
(36:00) - SuperTransaction API
(40:42) - Zero setup for app developers
(46:23) - Landing transactions
(48:24) - Censorship resistance
(52:30) - Addressing misconceptions
(54:43) - Competition
(56:51) - Use blockchains, lessons in there
(1:00:43) - Ethereum upgrades and standardization
(1:07:00) - Apps choose trust assumptions

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Solving Interop with Intents - 0xJim

apriori0x@proton.me (0xJim, apriori) — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:07:28 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Jim Chang (0xJim), product guru from LI.FI. We begin the episode by answering the question, why do we need interop? Next we dive into the nuances of intent bridges, solvers, order flow auctions, MEV, and filler vaults. Thereafter, Jim explains the necessity of and philosophy behind Ethereum's Open Intents Framework (OIF). Directly after, we break down how the Ethereum Interop Layer (EIL), the OIF, and Ethereum governance interact. Later we discuss learnings from building products in 2025, including how to build distribution from zero and whether building a personal brand on Twitter is helpful towards these ends. We conclude by discussing Jim's passion for thrift shopping.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Building crypto products
(04:29) - Working with Alt VMs
(07:26) - Why do we need interop?
(14:12) - Intents
(20:16) - Getting pedantic about intents
(26:14) - Intent value chain
(30:33) - Intent verification
(33:47) - Orderflow auctions
(40:00) - Cross-chain MEV
(45:00) - Solvers are not market makers
(47:56) - Filler vaults
(52:27) - Popular routes
(57:25) - Open Intents Framework
(1:04:12) - OIF flywheel
(1:07:34) - Ethereum upgrades that support interop
(1:10:30) - EIL, OIF, and Ethereum governance
(1:14:17) - Product learnings in 2025
(1:19:15) - Distribution 0-1
(1:24:05) - Twitter
(1:28:00) - Thrift shopping

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Securing the Future of Ethereum Core Development - Trent Van Epps

apriori0x@proton.me (Trent Van Epps, apriori) — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 17:36:21 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Trent Van Epps from the Ethereum Foundation. In particular, we discuss Trent's work as an organizer of Protocol Guild. We begin by discussing what Protocol Guild is, why projects care, and membership. Next, we unpack the motivations for funding the Ethereum Commons, drawing lessons from Linux, and explore various funding mechanisms. Later, we break down the Compensation Insights for Ethereum Core Developers report. We conclude the episode by discussing the next 5 to 10 years of Protocol Guild and upcoming Ethereum upgrades.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Architecture to Ethereum
(03:46) - KZG Summoning ceremony
(06:33) - What is Protocol Guild?
(11:35) - Why should projects care?
(14:04) - Protocol Guild membership
(17:57) - The Ethereum Commons
(21:25) - Onchain organization
(27:56) - Learning from Linux
(34:05) - Protocol Guild Pledge
(41:07) - In protocol funding mechanisms
(46:01) - Protocol Guild FUD
(52:23) - Compensation survey
(57:23) - Survey feedback
(1:02:30) - PG in 5-10 years
(1:08:36) - Exciting Ethereum upgrades

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

A rollup that actually scales Ethereum - James Prestwich

apriori0x@proton.me (James Prestwich, Apriori) — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 12:42:31 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with James Prestwich of Signet, the team behind Signet. This episode is a masterclass on rollups. To begin the episode, James breaks down exactly what a rollup is while taking us through their history that includes Bitcoin, roll_ups, Plasmas, minimum viable merged consensus, and sovereign rollups. Thereafter we unpack Signet, including no proving system as a feature, conditional transactions, instant bridging, and application-controlled execution. We continue by discussing Signet's sequencer design featuring decentralized block building. Later we discuss unexplored rollup designs by reviewing init4's article titled "(Re)Based Rollups" which unpacks possible rollup fork-choice rules. We finish the episode by discussing building products on Ethereum, the philosophy behind building developer tools, and history repeating itself in Bitcoin.

Timestamps

(00:00) - You can build a rollup in a completely different way
(03:14) - What is a rollup?
(06:17) - History of rollups
(09:57) - Plasmas
(14:34) - Minimum viable merged consensus
(18:45) - Signet from first principles
(21:27) - No proofs
(23:01) - Conditional Transactions
(27:42) - Instant bridging
(31:15) - App-specific Conditional Transactions
(31:47) - App Controlled Execution (ACE)
(37:45) - Third party native issuance
(39:44) - A rollup that actually scales Ethereum
(41:16) - Sequencing and block building
(45:33) - More Builders than Ethereum
(48:08) - Finding the right partners
(53:45) - Benefits of an app chain and general purpose chain
(56:03) - (Re)Based Rollups
(1:00:04) - Unexplored design space for rollups
(1:03:41) - Mistakes building products on Ethereum
(1:07:39) - Making developer tools
(1:11:37) - Bitcoin repeating history

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Interop Cheat Codes - Peter Watts

apriori0x@proton.me (Peter Watts, Apriori) — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 16:29:20 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Peter Watts, founder of Relay Protocol. We begin the episode by discussing Peter's journey from music to Reservoir to Relay. Next, we spend time digging into Relay, its architecture, resource locks, vaults, DEX meta-aggregation, and MEV strategies. We finish out the episode by unpacking B2B distribution, reliability & SLAs, and product market fit.

Timestamps

(00:00) - From Music to Intents
(07:20) - Late follower advantage
(10:53) - What is Relay?
(16:57) - Layers of Relay's architecture
(23:28) - Verification without smart contracts
(25:09) - Resource Locks
(31:25) - Vaults for solvers
(37:10) - Digging into vaults
(41:15) - DEX meta-aggregation
(48:34) - MEV strategy
(53:48) - Landing transactions
(55:31) - Chain Abstraction
(1:00:14) - B2B distribution
(1:03:45) - Reliability and SLAs
(1:07:14) - Customer service strategy
(1:10:33) - Pre and post PMF
(1:16:43) - Ethereum upgrades and standards
(1:21:19) - Fast interop layer

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Philosophy of Elixir - Jeremy Ornelas

apriori0x@proton.me (Jeremy Ornelas, Apriori) — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 23:34:47 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I speak with Jeremy Ornelas of Heliax, the company behind Anoma and Namada. We begin the conversation by discussing the history of Erlang and Elixir, as well as what makes Elixir a good fit for Anoma. Next, we break down the dominion of Anoma, broadly outlining the distributed operating system vision. Thereafter, we discuss Anoma's Controller system in detail, which draws design inspiration from GenServers in Erlang. Later, we discuss the nuances of building hackable systems and shipping viable products. We conclude the conversation by discussing object systems, elegant system design, and the future impact of LLMs on developers.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Anoma loves Elixir
(05:32) - History of Erlang and Elixir
(11:29) - Phoenix
(14:47) - Make cents for your bottom line
(20:00) - Elixir is live and has actors
(26:18) - Exploring the dominion of Anoma
(32:26) - Controllers and local domains
(38:27) - Ubiquitous compute
(43:21) - Ethereum speaks Anoma
(48:37) - All of this should be hackable
(52:48) - Product focused organization
(56:49) - What's the holdup on Anoma?
(1:01:14) - Products that make sense
(1:04:28) - Objects and Anoma Level
(1:10:12) - Elegant design
(1:14:20) - LLMs and quality

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Respect the Graph - Shoaib Ahmed

apriori0x@proton.me (Shoaib Ahmed, Apriori) — Sat, 4 Oct 2025 21:44:49 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to Shoaib Ahmed, researcher and engineer for Cycles Money / Informal Systems. We begin the episode with Shoaib's background, including his time working on SlockIt. Thereafter, we begin to unpack Cycles Money, discussing the concept of bringing liabilities on-chain, examples of debt-clearing cycles, and different types of settlement. Later, we discuss QuanTEEum, a new research paper published by Shoaib. Here we discuss the notion of quantum money and a marketplace for decentralized quantum compute. We conclude the episode by discussing the Cosmos ecosystem and trade-offs between building products and protocols.

Timestamps

(00:00) - God was a protocol designer
(02:28) - SlockIT experience
(03:53) - Gödel's incompleteness theorems
(10:19) - CoFi & Speculation resistance
(16:43) - Cycles Money
(22:26) - Bringing liabilities onchain
(29:49) - Walking through a cycle example
(33:57) - Settlement
(37:00) - Atomicity and blockchains
(42:24) - Quartz, remote attestations & ZKPs
(45:28) - Product
(53:10) - QuanTEEum and One shot signatures
(58:31) - Endgame: decentralized quantum compute
(1:03:58) - Quantum Money
(1:09:55) - The Cosmos ecosystem
(1:12:23) - Protocol design vs. product

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

DeFi is the Future of Ethereum - Nikita

apriori0x@proton.me (Nikita, Apriori) — Wed, 1 Oct 2025 12:20:33 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Nikita, CEO of Barter. In this conversation, we begin by discussing Nikita's background in Ethereum DeFi. Next, we discuss how solvers work, hooks and composability, and liquidity provision. Thereafter, we discuss Superposition, which provides a fundamentally new approach to decentralized trading and liquidity provision. From there, we discuss liquidity, distribution strategies, and product philosophy. We conclude the conversation by discussing some best practices for BD and general optimism about Ethereum DeFi.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Discovering crypto
(05:05) - DeFi Summer
(06:08) - Learnings from time at 1inch
(10:50) - Building a solver and getting hacked
(16:43) - How solvers work
(18:45) - Hooks and compossability
(24:22) - Competition and acquisition
(29:49) - Market is consolidating
(34:54) - Who are the passive LPs?
(40:48) - Superposition story
(47:30) - Making AMMs outdated
(51:58) - Endgame liquidity solution
(55:42) - Passion and building teams
(1:00:42) - Distribution strategy
(1:05:38) - Cross-chain game
(1:10:09) - Product philosophy
(1:15:33) - Connect with anyone in crypto
(1:19:06) - Ethereum is the place to be
(1:20:51) - Advise for young business developers
(1:25:00) - Find synergies
(1:28:22) - WAGMI

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Stop Optimizing Blockchains - Ole Spjeldnæs

apriori0x@proton.me (Ole Spjeldnæs, Apriori) — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:48:42 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Ole Spjeldnæs, Founder and CEO of Delta Network. We begin the episode by discussing Ole's background in mathematics and what led him to blockchain. Next, we unpack Delta by discussing verifiability, shared state, and architectural affordances, including Domains. We finish up the conversation on Delta by discussing Byzantine eventual consistency, design philosophy, and credible neutrality. Thereafter, we discuss the product and go-to-market philosophy before concluding with a discussion refuting crypto dogma.

Timestamps

(00:00) - From Math to Delta
(02:33) - Category Theory
(04:56) - Finding blockchain
(09:04) - Levels to B.S.
(11:20) - Verifiability and shared state
(16:50) - Reducing friction with verifiability
(21:08) - Shared state and compossability
(27:30) - Delta architecture
(32:38) - State diff lists
(35:13) - Integrability
(41:09) - Domains, network effects, and trust
(49:01) - Byzantine eventual consistency
(53:34) - Design philosophy
(1:01:20) - Scalability is oversold
(1:05:07) - Approach to product
(1:09:05) - GTM products
(1:13:46) - Credible neutrality
(1:20:37) - Context switching
(1:22:51) - Crypto dogma
(1:29:26) - User feedback

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Zero to One - Sid Gandhi

apriori0x@proton.me (Sid Gandhi, Apriori) — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 12:54:16 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I sit down with Sid Gandhi, CEO of Payy. We begin the conversation discussing Sid's product background at Apple and how that led him to build Payy. We then discuss Private payments, proof of lineage, and the particulars of Payy wallet and network. Thereafter, we spend time discussing product strategies, including ideal customer profiles, market segments, and finding product-market fit. We conclude the conversation by outlining the trade-offs associated with adding product features and following industry narratives.

Timestamps
(00:00) - Product at Apple
(03:32) - Build for a real human
(08:55) - Private payments
(09:54) - Proof of lineage
(12:57) - Deliver value to the user
(17:52) - Finding PMF across ICP segments
(24:08) - Raising the bar on product
(28:06) - Is it 10x better?
(36:28) - Navigating trade-offs
(38:00) - Resisting industry narratives
(40:57) - Talking to users
(47:49) - Balancing the product roadmap
(54:19) - Product features, when and how
(58:13) - Product led marketing
(1:02:16) - Play long-term games

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Ethereum Is All You Need

apriori0x@proton.me (0xprincess, Apriori) — Thu, 4 Sep 2025 07:31:40 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I have a conversation with 0xprincess, founder of NuConstruct. We begin by diving into 0xprincess' journey through the world of arbitrage and the notorious dark forest, examining how MEV competition on Ethereum has evolved into today's competitive landscape. For the centerpiece of our discussion, 0xprincess breaks down TOOL (Trustless Orderflow Operations Layer), which effectively transforms Ethereum into a one second blocktime chain without requiring protocol modifications. After the TOOL deep dive, we examine ePBS (enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation), which leads to a thoughtful discussion on the EIP process itself, what works and how to improve it. Following this, we discuss the unique attributes that make Ethereum special, particularly its credibility. We close the episode with reflections on pseudoanon culture in crypto.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Nuconstruct origins
(03:14) - DEX to DEX arbitrage
(04:15) - Into the dark forest
(08:30) - MEV competition today
(13:28) - Liquidity network effects
(19:42) - Trustless Orderflow Operations Layer (TOOL)
(23:06) - Leader based consensus
(29:06) - Open auction for orderflow
(30:55) - Early confirmations and 1s bock times
(36:00) - Trust Domain Extensions (TDX)
(43:09) - Validator adoption of TOOL
(47:30) - Fundraising
(53:08) - Product mindset
(57:28) - EIP-7732: ePBS
(1:03:58) - Improving the EIP process
(1:07:08) - Product discovery
(1:16:34) - EIP Process is well polished
(1:18:03) - Ethereum ossification risks
(1:22:50) - Ethereum has credibility
(1:29:24) - Price is not correlated with tech
(1:33:00) - Anon and pseudo-anon culture
(1:40:34) - The TOOL is live! (testnet)

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Stop the Gaslighting - Josh Bowen

apriori0x@proton.me (Josh Bowen, Apriori) — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 03:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to Josh Bowen [founder of Astria]. We begin the conversation discussing Josh's background as an SWE at Google and his experience working on The Graph and Celestia before founding Astria. We discuss shared sequencers, the regulatory environment, and existential questions around use cases. Next, we move to a robust discussion on product design, application categories, vertical integration, and regulatory arbitrage. Later, we discuss live and dead players, as well as upcoming trends such as mobile apps and spend-focused adoption strategies. We conclude the conversation on MEV metagames, including the minutiae of PBS auctions.

Timestamps

(00:48) - Folding at home
(02:45) - Data Availability 101
(07:45) - Most startups are an act of desperation
(12:04) - The shared lazy sequencer
(19:00) - Scaling bottlenecks
(21:00) - Navigating regulations
(25:10) - Existential question of use cases
(29:45) - Pragmatic product design
(37:14) - The victory of the social technology
(43:00) - Perps, yield bearing stables, & reg arb
(47:49) - Equity perps and 24/7 trading
(50:49) - FX trading onchain
(54:59) - Prediction Markets
(57:48) - Payments
(1:05:39) - Orderflow and vertical integration
(1:18:28) - Venture funding game
(1:26:16) - Growth strategies
(1:32:17) - No one knows what they are doing
(1:43:00) - Live and Dead Players
(1:48:13) - Mobile apps and wearables
(1:57:43) - Airdrops and growth mechanisms
(2:05:46) - Referrals and adoption strategies
(2:18:24) - MEV Metagames
(2:25:57) - Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Credible Commitments - Murat Akdeniz

apriori0x@proton.me (Murat Akdeniz, Apriori) — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 17:02:20 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I sit down with Murat Akdeniz (founder of Primev). We begin by discussing Murat's background in tracking FX rates of the USD against the Turkish Lira. Next, we dive into MEV-Commit, including the Devcon lore, applications you can build with MEV-Commit, and application-specific sequencing. Murat then schools us on everything product. In particular, product-centric building, advocating for the user from the research process to implementation, along with some general product management best practices. Later, we discuss the MEV redistribution trade-off and design space and the impact of regulatory reform on tokens. We finish the conversation on a light note where Murat shares his experience as a dad.

(00:21) - FX origins
(01:56) - Family Ties
(04:59) - Devcon Lore
(08:30) - MEV-Commit
(13:09) - Preconfs for Bridges
(17:16) - Building with Ethereum
(20:41) - Compossability
(25:00) - Product Leadership
(30:44) - Trade-off space
(35:07) - Designing auctions
(38:33) - Native apps on MEV-Commit chain?
(41:30) - A.S.S. [App Specific Sequencing]
(44:00) - Product adoption cycle
(49:21) - Raising the bar
(54:44) - Stable coin existential risks
(1:00:11) - Endgame
(1:06:54) - MEV redistribution
(1:09:25) - Tokenized MEV
(1:16:35) - Regulatory reform
(1:21:11) - Being a Dad
(1:25:27) - Encrypted Mempools need Love

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

A Web of Our Own Making - Ellie Davidson

apriori0x@proton.me (Ellie Davidson, Apriori) — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 01:30:00 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I sit down with Ellie Davidson (Head of R&D at Espresso). We begin the episode by discussing Ellie's background working on products for Vanguard, her passion for technology, and her early time at Espresso as a consensus researcher. Next, we spend some time breaking down the different flavors of sequencing before getting into balancing Ethereum coordination with her role at Espresso. After, we spend some time on the Open Intents framework by discussing the ideal use cases for intents and solver economics. We end the episode by discussing Ellie's experience building the Compassable Podcast and how to maintain neutrality on the microphone.

(01:03) - Working at Vanguard
(02:31) - Innit for the tech
(03:58) - Espresso loves privacy
(06:03) - Shared vs Centralized Sequencing
(13:51) - Espresso and Ethereum Leadership & Coordination
(20:50) - Open Intents Framework
(26:05) - Standards and Coordination
(34:11) - Fast Finality for Ethereum
(38:12) - Rainbow Staking
(40:22) - Fast confirmations and native assets
(45:13) - Intents are perfect for that
(52:50) - High bootstrapping cost for solvers
(55:10) - Podcasting skills
(1:01:00) - Credible Neutrality
(1:08:38) - Contributing to Ethereum
(1:10:58) - Ethereum dictator for a day

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Intents, Solvers and Applications - Joshua Gunn

apriori0x@proton.me (Joshua Gunn, Apriori) — Thu, 3 Jul 2025 07:52:47 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Joshua Gunn [Co-founder of Aori]. The conversation is action-packed. We begin by discussing Josh's background in market making and then move to unpacking DEX design. Next, we spend some time understanding intents in the context of single-chain and cross-chain applications, including bridging risks, finality, and market microstructure. From there, we spice things up by deconstructing Arbitrum's Time-Boost, where Josh shares his spicy yet correct takes. Later, we discuss the challenges of shipping viable products, product philosophy, and distribution. We close the episode by examining Ethereum in the context of vibes-based analysis.

Timestamps

(00:22) - Steel and metallurgy
(02:59) - Building a Solver
(08:16) - The Evolution of DEXs
(10:00) - Value leakage in AMMs
(11:14) - Fixing deadweight loss with order books
(14:34) - Auctions are trash
(17:00) - Off-chain order book with on-chain settlement
(23:00) - Single-chain vs. cross-chain Intent platforms
(30:38) - Intents are the first real idea that can supersede Tradfi
(34:31) - Rebalancing across chains
(40:00) - Heterogeneous finality
(42:44) - Mint/Burn is a solver's dream
(46:06) - All markets are the same
(49:16) - Flash Boys, Auctions & Arbitrum
(56:27) - Time-boost was a bad decision
(1:02:00) - Sunk cost fallacy
(1:06:01) - Product development challenges
(1:12:07) - How fast can you launch a token?
(1:16:52) - Product shipping philosophy
(1:20:33) - Vibes-based distribution
(1:24:00) - The medium is the message
(1:30:55) - Ethereum lost its vibes

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Spirit of Chain Abstraction - Tabasco

apriori0x@proton.me (Tabasco, Apriori) — Thu, 29 May 2025 01:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I speak to Tabasco [COO of Particle, Chief Yapping Officer of UniversalX] about his journey in crypto, starting with mining Dogecoin and building Discord bots. After, we spend time discussing the latest in conference trends and how to do better (reflecting primarily on ETH Denver). We converse on how to survive and thrive in this market by building great products. Later, we spend time unpacking chain abstraction, standards, and disrupting incumbent service providers, including product-led growth and customer acquisition strategies. In the final segment, Tabasco discusses his personal North Star and why he continues to build in crypto.

(01:28) - 19 Years Old
(04:22) - Mining Dogecoin
(06:30) - Building a tip bot on Discord
(12:16) - Running a business
(17:17) - Conference BS and high context events
(26:57) - Watch out for FEDs and regulators
(37:39) - Survival of the fittest
(48:53) - Revenue is good
(55:35) - UniversalX and products
(1:06:23) - Lightbulb moment for Chain Abstraction
(1:12:42) - Chain Abstraction is computer
(1:26:53) - Who can build something that people want to use?
(1:37:05) - Standards & Universal Accounts
(1:46:58) - Smart accounts, 7702, 4337, Pectra
(1:54:44) - Pivot to Chain Abstraction
(2:05:00) - Disrupting incumbent wallet providers
(2:14:29) - Customer acquisition strategy
(2:19:32) - Tabasco's North Star

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Reminiscences of an MEV Operator - 0xTaker

apriori0x@proton.me (0xTaker, Apriori) — Sat, 10 May 2025 16:25:57 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to 0xTaker (MEV janitor at searcher.dev) about his journey in crypto beginning with Bitcoin, progressing to building exchanges, operating as a market maker, and co-founding Aori. 0xTaker takes us down the MEV rabbit hole. We converse on welfare maximization, ASS, and Intents. Later, we spent time discussing chain abstraction through the lens of user experience, coming out on the other side with a discussion on culture and protocol development. We also discussed tokens. In particular, their different use cases. In the final segment 0xTaker opens up about his personal philosophy of building remote startups, autonomy, and purpose.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Origins
(01:26) - Starting with gaming
(06:10) - Bitcoin solving payments in 2014
(07:21) - Building an exchange
(19:36) - Down the MEV rabbit hole
(26:50) - Welfare maxing
(29:55) - ASS Experimentation
(33:04) - Intents
(37:04) - Hyperfinancialization
(42:18) - Accelerationsim
(46:23) - Chain Abstraction
(53:36) - Chain Abstraction is inevitable
(58:18) - Protocol development & Aggregation
(1:00:41) - Culture, Product, Brand
(1:05:00) - User experience
(1:09:49) - Aggregation breakouts
(1:11:16) - Talk about tokens
(1:16:36) - Trust me bro tokens
(1:25:18) - VC backed infra tokens
(1:28:35) - Token use cases
(1:37:50) - Building remote startups
(1:42:57) - Autonomy vs. employment
(1:46:18) - Advice to a younger self

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Chain Abstraction Isn't Real - VC

apriori0x@proton.me (Vaibhav Chellani, Apriori) — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 22:59:19 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we chat with Vaibhav Chellani, co-founder of Socket, about chain abstraction. VC recounts his journey from building Polygon POS to working on Plasma and ZK rollups at the Ethereum foundation to building Socket and Bungee Exchange. The conversation illuminates misconceptions around chain abstraction and replaces them with emergent mental models. In particular, we discuss chain abstracted applications, bootstrapping marketplaces, and the role of transmitters, solvers, fillers, and market makers in counterparty discovery and settlement. We finish by discussing the future of chain abstraction and playing a win-win strategy.

Timestamps
(00:00) - Scaling Ethereum
(05:21) - Building Polygon
(06:56) - Shoutout to Cosmos
(08:29) - Experience at EF & Polygon
(12:47) - Builder recognition
(14:58) - Scaling
(20:06) - Chain Abstraction in practice
(24:16) - Chain Abstraction rants
(33:18) - Pivot from cross-chain to chain abstraction
(36:18) - Take users to a global state
(39:57) - Permissionless watchers
(42:39) - Transmitters, Solvers, Fillers, Market Makers
(47:47) - Chain Abstracted Swap Applications
(49:53) - Bungee Exchange
(52:37) - Counterparty discovery
(56:48) - Bootstrapping a marketplace
(59:29) - Magic Spend++
(1:02:54) - Ethresearch aura
(1:05:44) - Modular order flow auctions
(1:10:34) - Positive sum games
(1:14:21) - Advice for new developers

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Logic of Chain Abstraction - Ankit Chiplunkar

apriori0x@proton.me (Ankit Chiplunkar, Apriori) — Tue, 1 Apr 2025 06:06:31 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we sit down with Ankit Chiplunkar, co-founder of OneBalance. We discuss his path from aerospace engineering to resource locks. Ankit breaks down his prior research at Frontier, including MEV, order flow auctions, and the CAKE framework. Next we invest time into discussing OneBalance, resource locks, credible accounts with TEEs and the future of chain abstracted applications. Finally, Ankit shares the secret sauce of how he balances startup life and family time.

Chapters
(00:00) - Origins
(01:36) - Aerospace engineer
(06:54) - Time at Coinbase
(09:49) - EV_Signal & EV_Ordering
(14:32) - Orderflow Auctions
(19:07) - Order types and user preferences
(21:16) - Solver speed and price auctions
(26:20) - Baking CAKE
(29:12) - Different types of users
(38:12) - Users have chains
(43:25) - One Balance & Resource Locks
(52:35) - Credible Accounts with TEEs
(58:49) - New user preferences every cycle
(1:04:50) - Access to users across networks
(1:10:14) - The path for chain abstraction
(1:15:00) - Intents + Chain Abstraction
(1:20:58) - Balancing life

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

A Treatise On Multichain Settlement - Rachin Kalakheti

apriori0x@proton.me (Rachin Kalakheti, Apriori) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 03:37:53 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we sit down with Rachin Kalakheti, founder of Twine. We discuss Rachin's background, growing up in Nepal, his natural curiosity, and making his way to Stanford University. Rachin then breaks down multichain settlement — we discuss Twine's ultimate design, define settlement layer, breakdown the nuances of reorgs, decentralized sequencing, light clients, and application use cases in the multichain settlement context. Later, we discuss Rachin's end goals for Twine in the context of changing the world with stable coins and payments on crypto rails. In the final segment, we discuss the nuances of token design and open experimentation.

Timestamps
(00:00) - Origins
(05:27) - Twine origins
(08:44) - Studying CS is Nepal
(10:40) - Stanford
(16:03) - Natural Curiosity
(20:16) - Latency is business, research, and building
(24:17) - Multi-chain settlement & Twine
(27:27) - ZK Rollouts
(29:25) - Defining Settlement Layer
(36:11) - Re-orgs in multi-chain settlement systems
(39:20) - Canonical state
(43:00) - Twine's Ultimate Design
(50:52) - Decentralized sequencing
(55:39) - Ordering policies
(1:00:00) - Adding light clients
(1:01:45) - Applications and use cases
(1:04:32) - Permissionless asset creation
(1:08:15) - Replacing centralized exchanges
(1:11:11) - End goals
(1:14:57) - Changing the world
(1:20:17) - Protocol-Token unbundling
(1:24:22) - Open experimentation
(1:29:10) - Founder led communications

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Final Boss - Katia Banina

apriori0x@proton.me (Katia Banina, Apriori) — Fri, 7 Mar 2025 11:59:01 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, Katia Banina and I discuss her impressive journey from data analytics with the London Stock Exchange Group to the Final Boss at Bebop. We had a wide-ranging conversation about the current state of speculation and trading in crypto markets including pump fun, RFQs, L2s, market makers and AMMs. Later, we focus on crypto meme culture and subculture feedback loops. We finish by discussing crypto use cases and the importance of DeFi. This was a fantastic conversation.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Origins
(04:57) - Pricing FX forwards
(06:53) - Speculation vs. Fundamentals
(11:09) - Token narratives
(21:39) - Pump fun
(28:12) - L2s vs. Solana
(32:09) - Chain Abstraction
(35:03) - Where to deploy your app?
(39:48) - Onboarding application devs
(45:13) - Optimizing Telegram use
(48:56) - Bebop quotes
(50:34) - RFQ & RFS
(55:01) - Working with market makers
(1:01:00) - Intents aren't real
(1:06:00) - Semantic games
(1:10:00) - Market Makers, AMMs & MEV
(1:14:46) - Price risk
(1:19:22) - Women in crypto
(1:25:25) - Crypto meme culture
(1:33:03) - Subculture feedback loops
(1:37:55) - Crypto use cases
(1:43:00) - Closing thoughts

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Ethereum is Game Changing Technology - Drew Van der Werff

apriori0x@proton.me (Drew Van der Werff, Apriori) — Tue, 4 Mar 2025 16:51:40 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, Drew (founder of Commit-Boost & FABRIC Ethereum) discusses his journey from small-town overachiever to Ethereum public goods builder. In particular, this episode is deeply personal. We share our about our crypto journeys and experiences of working with the Ethereum community, as well as the good and bad of crypto VCs. We discuss Drew's projects Commit-Boost and FABRIC at a high level. Furthermore, we finish by discussing Ethereum's North star, public goods funding, and growing the ecosystem.

Chapters

(00:00) - Origins
(07:46) - Working at Goldman Sachs
(12:20) - Help and generosity in Ethereum
(20:43) - You can just do things
(23:50) - Reflection on VC investing
(30:24) - Don't be the sucker at the table
(34:15) - Commit-Boost
(40:44) - Translating technical details
(43:40) - Mastering Ethereum
(49:22) - FABRIC
(56:58) - Effective Coordination
(1:01:53) - Ethereum's North Star
(1:06:23) - Ossification acceleration
(1:07:58) - We need to scale blobs
(1:13:10) - Public Goods Funding
(1:20:00) - Attracting new developers
(1:22:38) - Tradfi embracing crypto
(1:27:32) - What is Ethereum winning look like?

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Alchemy of ASS - ThogardPVP

apriori0x@proton.me (ThogardPVP, Apriori) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 06:01:26 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, ThogardPVP co-founder of FastLane, and I discuss his path from Tradfi to MEV savant. In particular, we explore yapping, application-specific sequencing, throughput, reputation systems, OSS and moats, the story of Cincinnatus, More success more MEV, Intents and solvers, Solana, Monad, and FastLane's shBundler. In the last segment of the episode we discuss conflicts of interest, perceptions and chain maximalism.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro
(03:20) - Tradfi to Iron Finance
(07:38) - Assembling a team
(12:17) - Yapping MEV
(20:00) - ASS
(25:48) - Spam on Polygon
(26:57) - Flash Execution
(30:14) - Fat TXs
(35:29) - Gas costs
(39:20) - Talking to apps
(44:17) - Throughput
(52:30) - Reputation systems
(59:50) - More success, more MEV
(1:02:55) - OSS and moats
(1:12:01) - Integrated products
(1:18:49) - Story of Cincinnatus
(1:23:00) - Making money
(1:28:17) - DeFi Contagion
(1:34:41) - Stablecoin collateral
(1:40:34) - Fastlane and Monad
(1:44:37) - The shBundler
(1:52:58) - Increase quality, decrease spam
(1:56:57) - No ASS on Solana
(2:05:00) - Intents and Solvers
(2:09:12) - Bridges and MEV bubbles
(2:15:32) - Conflicts of interest
(2:23:06) - 7702 vs. 3074
(2:27:58) - Perception and honesty
(2:32:27) - Team Avengers vs. Team Thanos
(2:35:25) - Study Cosmos

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Meditations on Solving - Markus

apriori0x@proton.me (Markus, Apriori) — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 12:36:16 +0000

In this masterclass, Markus, Co-Founder and CEO of Propeller Heads, and I discuss his background in AI and journey into crypto. We spend a good deal of time unpacking Solvers, market making, role specialization, and AMMs. Markus shares key insights regarding block times and their impact on LVR, the challenges with the current trade supply chain, and Tycho, his new product which solves the integration nightmare. We finish by discussing Markus' time as a digital nomad and how it inspires his writing.

Chapters

(0:00) - Intro
(02:15) - Working in AI
(04:23) - Communication in remote team
(07:54) - MEV feedback loops
(12:43) - Crypto culture
(19:10) - Defining solver
(21:26) - What solvers do
(22:00) - Market makers
(24:57) - Relayers / Fillers
(28:25) - Role specialization
(32:24) - AMMs
(37:46) - Blocktimes & LVR
(41:30) - Onchain liquidity
(46:40) - Trade supply chain
(59:44) - Barriers to entry
(1:03:54) - Tycho
(1:07:03) - Integration nightmare
(1:13:31) - Verifiable data
(1:15:03) - Solarpunk trading
(1:20:27) - Compliance criteria
(1:23:59) - Chain agnostic design
(1:25:50) - Digital nomad reflections
(1:29:14) - Friends everywhere
(1:31:50) - Writing

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Your Favorite KOL's Favorite KOL - C-Node

apriori0x@proton.me (C-Node, Apriori) — Fri, 7 Feb 2025 22:27:02 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents C-Node and I talk about his journey through crypto from Ethereum to MPC research to Solana and eventually Cosmos (Celestia). We discuss C-Node's twitter lore, his research on based rollups and profitable censorship MEV. We talk about regulatory arbitrage, stable coins, subjectivocracy, hard forks, L2 bridge hacks, building on permissionless systems, rollup governance, and recursive proofs of consensus history.

Chapters

(00:00) - C-Node Introduction
(07:37) - Twitter lore
(15:20) - Vitalik's Trilemma
(21:25) - Celestia
(28:14) - Based rollups
(33:53) - Profitable censorship MEV
(39:33) - FOCIL + MCP
(42:02) - Favourite rollup stack
(50:22) - Flipping the bird
(52:00) - Regulatory arbitrage
(57:00) - Cash based society
(1:02:00) - Unfuckwithable money
(1:05:45) - Hypothetical hard forks
(1:15:00) - L2 bridge hacks
(1:19:40) - You can just build things
(1:26:09) - Rollup governance
(1:30:40) - Succinct residency

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

The Ecosystem is Moving - Bo Du

apriori0x@proton.me (Bo Du, Apriori) — Tue, 4 Feb 2025 11:30:00 +0000

In this episode Bo Du, co-founder of Polymer Labs, and I discuss his journey from Web 2, with a focus on database systems, to building in crypto. We discuss his time in Cosmos, the past and future of IBC, and building on Ethereum. The conversation progresses towards Polymer's approach to interop, rollup clusters, high performance infra, the best use cases for on chain liquidity, and leveraging tokens to incentive coordination. We finish by discussing Bo's time working on based sequencing (Ethereum) in Chiang Mai and his personal journey through leadership at Polymer.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:58) - DB systems to crypto
(07:00) - Cosmos
(09:03) - IBC
(16:24) - Building on Ethereum
(20:43) - State Proving
(28:37) - Polymer as Kafka
(36:00) - Rollup clusters
(41:04) - High performance infra
(46:50) - Latency
(52:25) - Building on chain
(1:00:25) - Token-Protocol seperation
(1:10:56) - Ethereum community
(1:22:00) - Leadership Journey

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Worse is Better - Jeremy Ornelas

apriori0x@proton.me (Jeremy Ornelas, Apriori) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, Jeremy traces the evolution of programming languages starting with Lisp. We explore Lisp's role in AI development, the AI winter, and why static languages like C and Rust dominate today instead of live systems like Lisp. Jeremy breaks down Anoma as a distributed OS challenging Unix's paradigms, along with the benefits of live hackable systems realized with Anoma Level. We then weave through systems design, specs driven software development, and the limitations of blockchain programming environments.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:05) - Lisp
(06:01) - The Rise of C
(09:14) - PL as Pop Culture
(11:53) - AI Winter
(17:53) - Operating Systems (OS)
(33:56) - Programming and Society
(41:20) - Intentional vs Accidental OS
(46:49) - Introducing Anoma Level
(55:02) - Applications of Anoma
(1:00:41) - Effective Executives
(1:20:29) - Limits of blockchains
(1:29:09) - Incentives in crypto
(1:35:56) - PL Innovation
(1:45:49) - Advice

References

Worse is Better - https://bit.ly/lispworseisbetter
Anoma Level - https://bit.ly/AnomaLevel

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Skin in the Game - Vishwa Naik

apriori0x@proton.me (Apriori) — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 10:34:02 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk with Vishwa, co-founder and CEO of Anera Labs. He shares insights on entrepreneurship across India and the West. We explore Intents, MEV and Solvers. We zoom in on Solvers - discussing their decomposition and Vishwa proposes a new definition. We discuss onchain liquidity, compare Solver dynamics in Solana vs. Ethereum, and examine UX and best execution for DeFi users. We finish the episode by exploring AI (Agents/LLMs), ways to close the competitive gap between centralized and decentralized exchanges, and the future of OTC markets, privacy, and counterparty discovery.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction to Vishwa and Anera

(05:59) - Challenges and Opportunities in Indian Startups

(08:54) - Regulatory Landscape in India

(11:49) - Cultural Differences in Innovation

(14:56) - Building Tools for Indian Entrepreneurs

(20:58) - Talent and Labor Dynamics in Crypto

(26:53) - User Experience and Market Fit

(30:10) - The Journey into MEV and Intents

(49:05) - Understanding Solvers: Definitions and Roles

(1:02:51) - The Future of On-Chain Liquidity

(1:06:34) - User Experience in DeFi: The Role of UX and Innovation

(1:16:46) - Challenges in AI and Blockchain Data

(1:22:06) - Decentralized vs Centralized Exchanges

(1:30:41) - Bridging Centralized and Decentralized Finance

(1:39:54) - The Future of OTC Markets and Privacy

(1:42:42) - Final Thoughts and Future Directions

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

Unbundling Anoma - Christopher Goes

apriori0x@proton.me (cwgoes, Apriori) — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 09:24:54 +0000

This episode features Christopher Goes, co-founder of Anoma. Together, we explore Anoma's architecture, intent-centric applications, the Resource Machine and how it relates to the EVM, and Anoma's north star. We had a blast recording this one.

We start by diving into Anoma as a distributed operating system, unpacking what intent-centric applications mean in the context of Anoma, Ethereum smart contracts, and app chains. Indeed, we covered practical examples like ride-sharing, crowdfunding, and mechanism design with programmable privacy. Later, we compared the Anoma Resource Machine (ARM) with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and touched on Resource Plasma for scaling. We wrapped up discussing Anoma's north star, political philosophy, and user agency in contemporary systems.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Introduction to Anoma and Christopher Goes

(03:14) - Understanding Anoma: A Distributed Operating System

(10:13) - Building Applications on Anoma vs. Traditional Blockchains

(22:32) - The ART Process: Internal Peer Review and Research

(32:20) - Affordances of Intent-Centric Applications

(38:27) - Decentralizing Ride-Sharing Protocols

(42:34) - Insurance in Decentralized Applications

(46:27) - Programmable Privacy and Financial Applications

(49:38) - Public Signal: A New Crowdfunding Approach

(54:19) - The Anoma Resource Machine Explained

(01:12:50) - Exploring Plasma as a Scaling Solution

(01:15:33) - Leveraging Anoma's Peer-to-Peer Network

(01:17:14) - The Future of Networking Protocols

(01:23:39) - Anoma's North Star: Principles and Philosophies

(01:32:50) - Addressing Regulatory Capture and User Empowerment

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.

A New Hope - mteam

apriori0x@proton.me (mteam, Apriori) — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 23:17:33 +0000

In this episode of Deeply Intents, Spire Labs co-founder mteam and Apriori explore the evolution of MEV, synchronous composability, censorship resistance, coordinated block building, and the future of Ethereum, focusing on based app chains, native rollups, ultrasound rollups, and the critical importance of creating a more welcoming environment for new developers.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:05) - mteam's Journey into Crypto and MEV
(08:46) - Competing in the MEV Space
(14:57) - Private Order Flow and Its Implications
(21:08) - The Case for Based App Chains
(23:51) - Synchronous Composability and Its Benefits
(34:40) - Exploring Decentralized Sequencing and Revenue Sharing
(37:46) - Volatility and Its Impact on Block Builders
(42:14) - Collaborative and Coordinated Block Building
(45:36) - Censorship Resistance in Blockchain
(52:28) - The Future of Ethereum as a Base Sequencer
(59:14) - Understanding Ultrasound Rollups and Native Execution
(1:05:17) - BeamChain Vision and Future Upgrades
(1:07:28) - Exploring Beam Chain and Its Components
(1:10:59) - Data Availability and Its Challenges
(1:15:46) - Consumer Applications and Financial Integration
(1:21:24) - Prediction Markets and Their Viability
(1:27:27) - Governance Models and Their Effectiveness
(1:33:35) - Fostering a Welcoming Developer Community

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.