Skip Protocol: The API For Seamless Cross-Chain Experiences On Cosmos & Beyond - Sam Hart Epicenter - Learn About Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin And Distributed Technologies podcast

1:02:08

Blockchain architecture is constantly being forced to adapt to new technologies, as well as to meet new demands from users and builders. While the idea of apps building their own chains was first explored by Cosmos, it lacked the support and tooling to see it succeed. Later on, rollups also took the centerstage of Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, but due to their general purpose design, it led to a cannibalistic ecosystem. Initia learned from these 2 models and combined the best of both worlds: it built a full-stack framework for a seamless DevEx from the get-go and, more importantly, it designed its tokenomics in order to ensure maximum incentive alignment for its appchains. While the former decision removed the need for each separate chain to reinvent the wheel and risk ending up ‘a jack of all trades, master of none’, the latter ensured that appchains would not extract value away from the L1. Topics covered in this episode: Ezaan’s background From building on Terra to Initia How Initia is rewriting the appchain thesis Initia’s enshrined liquidity & vested interest program (VIP) Metrics & Initia’s bet on crypto innovation Solving liquidity fragmentation Delphi’s involvement in Initia Future roadmap Episode links: Ezaan Mangalji on X Jose Maria Macedo on X Anil Lulla on X Initia on X Delphi Digital on X Delphi report on Initia Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

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Ethereum Foundation: Humanity’s Shared World Computer - Hsiao-Wei Wang & Tomasz Stańczak 1:10:21

6 days ago1:10:21

1:10:21

As society evolves, so do its values and principles, but is that desirable for technology that seeks to build the most reliable, trustless and censorship resistant global settlement layer? Ever since the rise in popularity of Solana with its inflow of retail capital in a memecoin gold rush, Ethereum became even more criticized for sticking true to its core values despite the completely divergent demands of market participants. Moreover, the rollup centric scaling roadmap seemed to further silo attention and cause liquidity fragmentation, driving away value from Ethereum mainnet. As institutional demand is expected to grow with the introduction of staking ETFs, a new executive leadership took charge of Ethereum foundation to help steer the protocol’s narrative at the intersection between community demands and Ethereum’s ethos. Topics covered in this episode: Hsiao-Wei’s & Tomasz’ backgrounds How they became co-executive directors of Ethereum Foundation Ethereum Foundation’s role moving forward Decision making in Ethereum Foundation Shaping Ethereum’s narrative The layer 2 landscape Scaling Ethereum as the global settlement layer Sharding Rollup scalability & their trade-offs What values drive adoption L2 interoperability Future goals Episode links: Hsiao-Wei Wang on X Tomasz Stanczak on X Ethereum Foundation on X Ethereum on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Taiko: Scaling Ethereum in a Decentralised Manner - Joaquin Mendes 1:08:05

9 days ago1:08:05

1:08:05

Taiko is a decentralized, Ethereum-equivalent (type I) rollup scaling solution which uses ZK technology. Taiko's goal is to scale Ethereum efficiently while maintaining security and decentralization. Being a type I zkEVM, Taiko retains full Ethereum equivalence, which creates a seamless DevEx, although this comes at the expense of UX as slower proof generation is the main trade-off. Moreover, in order to stay true to its decentralised ethos, Taiko operates as a based rollup, meaning that transaction sequencing is performed by L1 validators. Topics covered in this episode: Joaquin’s background Loopring and Taiko’s beginnings The 4 types of zkEVMs Taiko's zk circuits vs. Polygon’s Based sequencing Data availability and blob commitment Ethereum’s role in the future The L2 landscape and its compromises Sequencer security model Dealing with MEV Based preconfirmations & Taiko ecosystem UX Episode links: Joaquin Mendes on X Taiko on X Loopring on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Mysten Labs: How Sui Leverages Move to Build the Composable Web3nternet - Adeniyi Abiodun 1:03:09

18 days ago1:03:09

1:03:09

Founded by former Meta Diem team members, Sui is a high-performance, layer-1 blockchain designed for horizontal scaling and low-latency transactions. It uses an object-centric data model and the Move programming language to enable transaction parallelization which can handle >200,000 txs/s. Sui’s goal is to combine the benefits of blockchains with Web2’s security & frictionless UX. From account abstraction & ZKLogin, to on-chain storage & data availability solutions like Walrus, Sui rebuilds the Google/AWS stack, fully on-chain and composable. Topics covered in this episode: Adeniyi’s background, from Libra to Sui Sui’s long-term vision The tech stack of Sui & its primitives ZKLogin & account abstraction Object-based approach Transaction processing & parallelization DevEx on Move vs. EVM vs. SVM Consensus & scalability MEV Gaming & SuiPlay DeFi on Sui Walrus data storage Nautilus Future roadmap Episode links: Adeniyi Abiodun on X Mysten Labs on X Sui on X Walrus on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

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Maple Finance: On-Chain Institutional Yield & Lending Markets - Sidney Powell 54:49

22 days ago54:49

54:49

With an extensive experience in traditional money markets, Maple Finance was envisioned as an institutional capital marketplace which combines the transparency & capital efficiency of blockchains with the regulatory framework of TradFi. Unlike many DeFi protocols that require over-collateralized loans (e.g. Aave), Maple also specializes in under-collateralized lending, enabling greater capital efficiency for institutional borrowers. With over $6b in loans since its inception, Maple plans to further expand its offerings by including RWAs as collateral assets. Topics covered in this episode: Sid’s background The vision behind Maple Finance Maple’s tech stack Deciding risk profiles Over-collateralized vs. under-collateralized loans Assets accepted as collateral Deploying to other blockchains Institutional appeal Managing defaults RWA Converging DeFi & TradFi Biggest challenges Exciting upcoming trends Future roadmap Crypto correlation or decoupling? Episode links: Sid Powell on X Maple Finance on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Tally: The Software Layer for Tokenized Organizations - Dennison Bertram 1:01:21

30 days ago1:01:21

1:01:21

Tally is a software platform designed to support tokenized organizations, particularly Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and crypto communities. It provides tools for launching tokens, governing protocols, and enabling staking to foster community participation and growth. Tally facilitates onchain governance, allowing transparent and decentralized decision-making for managing funds, grants, and protocol upgrades. It powers major blockchain ecosystems like Arbitrum, ZKsync, Uniswap DAO and Wormhole DAO by providing interfaces for proposal creation, voting, and staking. The Tally Protocol further enhances this by offering a liquidity layer for governance tokens, that allow token holders to earn staking rewards while retaining voting rights and participating in DeFi. Topics covered in this episode: Dennison’s background Has crypto won? Does privacy still matter? The vision behind Tally The evolution of DAOs Are grassroots DAOs viable? Corporate vs. DAO PMF How developer activity & contributors evolved Tally’s roadmap ICO vs. IPO Episode links: Dennison Bertram on X Tally on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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ENS V2 Cross-Chain Domains & Namechain - Nick Johnson 48:42

5 weeks ago48:42

48:42

Namechain is an L2 developed by ENS Labs, to enhance the scalability and efficiency of managing decentralized identities on Ethereum. It is designed to work in tandem with ENS V2, which introduced a hierarchical registry system for more efficient subdomain management and custom resolvers. A key vision for Namechain is to unify multi-chain user identities, creating a "digital identity chain" that simplifies how users interact with the broader blockchain ecosystem. This is achieved through features like L2-to-L2 bridging, which allows users to initiate ENS-related activities from various Ethereum Layer 2 networks, not just Namechain itself. Topics covered in this episode: High level overview of ENS Crosschain functionality through CCIP Read Domain squatting Onboarding ENS users via Paypal and Venmo Google & GoDaddy integrations ENS V2 upgrade & Namechain Transferring tokens from Namechain to L1 Sequencer security assumptions Scalability New features & use cases ENS roadmap & metrics Ethereum ecosystem status Episode links: Nick Johnson on X ENS on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Lido V3: Ushering in Institutional Staking Through stVaults - Hasu 1:19:32

7 weeks ago1:19:32

1:19:32

Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake created a unique set of conditions (i.e. lack of protocol-level delegation, 32 ETH requirement, long exit queues, etc.) that led to Lido’s liquid staking model to gain huge traction, significantly eclipsing other LSD providers on native PoS chains. stETH added on-demand liquidity, bypassing withdrawal windows, while also increasing DeFi utilization and increasing yields. Moreover, by allowing users to stake any amount of ETH in pools, it removed the requirement for 32 ETH increments, ultimately improving decentralisation through long tail distribution of individual stakers. Lido V3 introduces modular stVaults which enable staking customization. This allows professional actors, such as institutional stakers, to have granular control over validators, MEV and other parameters, diversifying their investment strategies. Topics covered in this episode: Hasu’s background Discovering Lido Liquid staking and the early days of Lido Why liquid staking gained traction on Ethereum The evolution of Lido Initial decentralisation concerns and the importance of dual governance Restaking Lido V3 and vaults Institutional staking & ETFs Ethereum’s ‘crisis’ and its values Episode links: Hasu on X Lido on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

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Ronin: How Axie Infinity Kickstarted the Blockchain Gaming Revolution - Jeff Zirlin 54:34

7 weeks ago54:34

54:34

While DeFi’s ultimate goal is to provide an alternative for TradFi, blockchain gaming caters to retail masses, onboarding millions of users to crypto through incentives and fun gameplay. The greatest success story in Web3 gaming thus far has been, without a doubt, Axie Infinity. Apart from creating an engaged community whose early adopters also experienced rags-to-riches stories, it kickstarted an entire movement around play-to-earn gaming. Many have tried copying it, yet most of them failed. Axie Infinity managed to design a sustainable economy that combined NFTs and fungible tokens. The result was the first gamified crypto mining event, at scale. In order to accommodate such a massive demand, in a time when L2 rollups were still in R&D, Sky Mavis founded Ronin, a gaming-oriented Ethereum sidechain. The community that formed around Axie Infinity created a tremendous network effect, solidifying Ronin’s PMF as a gaming powerhouse. Before long, many up-and-coming titles migrated to Ronin, and the growth effects in all their key metrics (i.e. DAUs, transactions, revenue, etc.) further fuelled the flywheel. Topics covered in this episode: Jeff’s background Cryptokitties Joining Axie Infinity and how it evolved Monetizing Axie’s economy The recipe for successful blockchain games Building Ronin, the gaming L1 On-chain vs. off-chain game elements Community building Ronin’s economy & composability Most suitable gaming genre for Web3 AI x gaming Crypto gaming investments Ronin’s current state and future roadmap Axie’s upcoming MMO Episode links: Jeff Zirlin on X Axie Infinity on X Ronin on X Sky Mavis on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

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Solana: From On-Chain Nasdaq to the Pump Fun Craze - Anatoly Yakovenko 1:18:28

9 weeks ago1:18:28

1:18:28

Solana needs no introduction. Ever since its inception, it pushed throughput scaling on a single chain, without the need of sharding or rollups. Despite its ups and downs that culminated at the bottom of the bear market after the FTX crash, it managed to not only survive, but build a vibrant community around crypto's (arguably) most prominent PMF (thus far). Join us for a fascinating discussion and learn about Anatoly's take on controversial topics such as MEV, concurrent block leaders (the equivalent of Ethereum's PBS proposal), L2 rollups, Solana economics, how to tackle potential exploits and more. Topics covered in this episode: How the original Solana vision turned out What makes blockchains valuable MEV & program writable accounts Concurrent block proposers Current bottlenecks for scaling Solana Mainnet vs. L2 rollups Firedancer upgrade Halting the network vs. rollbacks Solana’s scaling roadmap DoubleZero Worst hacks on Solana UI exploits, Bybit hack and smart contract security Solana economics and the SIMD-0228 proposal Future improvements Use cases for blockchains Solana mobile Episode links: Anatoly Yakovenko on X Solana on X Solana Mobile on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Martin Köppelmann.…

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

1
Build on Bitcoin: Combining Bitcoin's Security With Ethereum's Versatility - Alexei Zamyatin 1:10:10

10 weeks ago1:10:10

1:10:10

Bitcoin’s security and reliability as a store of value are undeniable. However, its liquidity remained untapped for too long due to a lack of trustless bridges and native smart contract capabilities. As BTC is only native to Bitcoin’s L1, any attempt to include it in DeFi relies on the trust assumptions of third party custodians that wrap it. Build On Bitcoin (BOB) aims to expand Bitcoin’s functionality by integrating it with Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities. BOB operates as an OP Stack L2 with a hybrid design incorporating ZKPs, Bitcoin staking, and Ethereum for data availability. By functioning as a rollup, BOB processes transactions off-chain and batches them for settlement on Bitcoin and Ethereum, significantly improving transaction speed and reducing costs compared to Bitcoin’s base layer. Topics covered in this episode: Alexei’s background Setbacks for Bitcoin DeFi Bitcoin bridges BitVM BOB operators and trust assumptions BOB architecture & Bitcoin staking Bitcoin LSTs The future of Bitcoin DeFi Episode links: Alexei Zamyatin on X Build on Bitcoin on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

1
Puja Ohlhaver: Why Community Currencies Are Crucial for Governance in DeSoc 1:04:42

11 weeks ago1:04:42

1:04:42

In the digital networked age, people’s attention often overlooks local problems in favour of global ones, which don’t necessarily impact them in their daily lives, or over which they don’t have a say due to the skewed Pareto distribution of power in modern day societies. Puja Ohlhaver, in her recent research paper ‘Community currencies’, proposes a dual-currency model that prices attention and influence in each community, with the ultimate goal of creating a Gaussian distribution of power, either locally, or globally through the dynamic interaction of multiple local communities. This model allows community members to stake their currency to earn non-transferable governance rights, creating a substrate for decentralised societal coordination that favours social innovation. Topics covered in this episode: Puja’s background Web3 research ‘Community currencies’ Pareto vs. Gaussian distributions Global vs. local power distributions The community currencies model Meritocracy vs. influence Quadratic funding Governance, bribery and the crisis of legitimacy Experimenting with community currencies Episode links: Puja Ohlhaver on X 'Community Currencies' Research Paper 'Decentralized Society' Research Paper Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Nevermined: Payment System for the AI Agentic Economy - Don Gossen 1:04:38

12 weeks ago1:04:38

1:04:38

Even though current LLM providers usually charge flat rates regardless if the subscriber is a ‘power user’ or not, as AI agents become the workhorses of the online economy, a dynamic AI-to-AI payments infrastructure would prove crucial for proper remuneration. Nevermined proposes a blockchain-agnostic, AI-agnostic credit system, that each builder can use to implement custom pricing strategies for their users. As the next trillion transactions will be mostly performed by AI agents, a universal payment system would help streamline integrations and economic interactions. Topics covered in this episode: Don’s background Integrating payment systems in the agentic economy Marketplaces vs. payment systems AI agentic economy Fixed vs. variable pricing strategies License tokenization Settlement and payment for AI agents Estimating price and avoiding overcharges Nevermined’s tech stack and integrations Value prop Nevermined metrics Episode links: Don Gossen on X Nevermined on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.…

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

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Turtle Club: Helping Web3 Users Monetize Their On-Chain Activity - Esfandiar Lagevardi 1:09:25

13 weeks ago1:09:25

1:09:25

As more and more protocols compete for marketshare, user acquisition represents one of the most important elements of the GTM strategy. Web3 projects, through their governance tokens, can incentivise users directly to participate in meaningful activities for each protocol, subsidising their revenue generation through vested upside in the project. Turtle Club built the first distribution protocol of Web3, helping its users maximise their rewards they get for meaningful on-chain activities that help bootstrap projects. Topics covered in this episode: Esfandiar’s background The evolution of DeFi Yield sustainability in DeFi DeFi vs. TradFi Quantifying risk Main blockers for DeFi adoption On-chain transparency or privacy? What is missing in DeFi? Genesis story of Turtle Club How Turtle Club users accrue rewards Episode links: Esfandiar Lagevardi on LinkedIn Turtle Club on X Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io Chorus One: Chorus One is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.one This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.…

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

1
Story Protocol: Tokenizing Intelligence Into Programmable IP Assets - Jason Zhao 58:54

14 weeks ago58:54