#52 – Michael Nielsen On Being A Wise Optimist About Science And Technology Into The Bytecode podcast

#Tech #Business #Sina Habibian #Ethereum #Blockchain #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #NFT

24:10

Does your AI-based interface talk to customers the way a real person would or is it tech for tech’s sake? We are here at Forrester CX in Nashville, TN and hearing all about the latest insights and ideas for brands to create better experiences for their customers. Agility is less about bolting on new features just because the tech is available and more about making tomorrow’s experiences feel intuitive and natural to the end customer using them. Today we’re diving into designing for the future of experiences with AJ Joplin, Senior Analyst at Forrester. About AJ Joplin AJ is the lead analyst for Forrester’s research on experience design (XD), design organizations, and design leadership. Helping XD and customer experience (CX) leaders develop and deliver on research-based strategy is AJ’s professional passion. She has observed that the most effective organizations combine clear purpose with the right people and leverage systems to clarify decision-making, prioritization, and workflows. AJ also has years of workshop facilitation experience in human-centered design and design thinking. Using her professional coaching skills, AJ bring clients through ambiguity and into alignment on what matters and what’s next. Resources Forrester: https://www.forrester.com https://www.forrester.com Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brands Don't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150 " Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company…

Into the Bytecode »
#52 – Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology

about a year ago 1:16:51

MP3•Episode home

This is my conversation with Michael Nielsen, scientist, author, and research fellow at the Astera Institute.

Timestamps:
- (00:00:00) intro
- (00:01:06) cultivating optimism amid existential risks
- (00:07:16) asymmetric leverage
- (00:12:09) are "unbiased" models even feasible?
- (00:18:44) AI and the scientific method
- (00:23:23) unlocking AI's full power through better interfaces
- (00:30:33) sponsor: Splits
- (00:31:18) AIs, independent agents or intelligent tools?
- (00:35:47) autonomous military and weapons
- (00:42:14) finding alignment
- (00:48:28) aiming for specific moral outcomes with AI?
- (00:54:42) freedom/progress vs safety
- (00:57:46) provable beneficiary surveillance
- (01:04:16) psychological costs
- (01:12:40) the ingenuity gap

Links:
- Michael Nielsen: https://michaelnielsen.org/
- Michael Nielsen on X: https://x.com/michael_nielsen
- Michael's essay on being a wise optimist about science and technology: https://michaelnotebook.com/optimism/
- Michael's Blog: https://michaelnotebook.com/
- The Ingenuity Gap (Tad Homer-Dixon): https://homerdixon.com/books/the-ingenuity-gap/

Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:
- Splits: https://splits.org

Into the Bytecode:
- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab
- Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab
- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

52 episodes

#52 – Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology

Into the Bytecode

20 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

This is my conversation with Michael Nielsen, scientist, author, and research fellow at the Astera Institute.

Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:
- Splits: https://splits.org

Into the Bytecode:
- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab
- Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab
- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com

52 episodes

#Tech #Business #Sina Habibian #Ethereum #Blockchain #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #NFT

All episodes

Into the Bytecode

1
#52 – Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology 1:16:51

15 weeks ago1:16:51

1:16:51

This is my conversation with Michael Nielsen, scientist, author, and research fellow at the Astera Institute. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:01:06) cultivating optimism amid existential risks - (00:07:16) asymmetric leverage - (00:12:09) are "unbiased" models even feasible? - (00:18:44) AI and the scientific method - (00:23:23) unlocking AI's full power through better interfaces - (00:30:33) sponsor: Splits - (00:31:18) AIs, independent agents or intelligent tools? - (00:35:47) autonomous military and weapons - (00:42:14) finding alignment - (00:48:28) aiming for specific moral outcomes with AI? - (00:54:42) freedom/progress vs safety - (00:57:46) provable beneficiary surveillance - (01:04:16) psychological costs - (01:12:40) the ingenuity gap Links: - Michael Nielsen: https://michaelnielsen.org/ - Michael Nielsen on X: https://x.com/michael_nielsen - Michael's essay on being a wise optimist about science and technology: https://michaelnotebook.com/optimism/ - Michael's Blog: https://michaelnotebook.com/ - The Ingenuity Gap (Tad Homer-Dixon): https://homerdixon.com/books/the-ingenuity-gap/ Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#51 – Jeffrey Quesnelle on Nous Research, large language models, and the human mind 2:05:42

16 weeks ago2:05:42

2:05:42

This is my conversation with Jeffrey Quesnelle, cofounder of Nous Research. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:01:08) working with new technologies - (00:06:15) Nous Research origin story - (00:14:08) open frontiers in research - (00:26:07) fourier transforms for gradient compression - (00:32:58) math behind distributed training - (00:38:18) sponsor: Splits - (00:39:02) neural networks history and fundamentals - (00:51:29) the human mind and AI, hyperdimensional representation - (01:01:15) intuition and reasoning - (01:15:00) parallels with reinforcement learning - (01:19:15) the cat is out of the bag - (01:47:11) deeper mysteries Links: - Jeffrey Quesnelle: https://jeffq.com/ - Jeffrey Quesnelle on X: https://x.com/theemozilla - Nous Research: https://nousresearch.com/ - Psyche: https://nousresearch.com/nous-psyche/ Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#50 – Alexander Long on Pluralis Research and protocol learning for frontier models 1:14:41

19 weeks ago1:14:41

1:14:41

This is my conversation with Alexander Long, Founder & CEO of Pluralis Research. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:00:55) collaborative training - (00:09:49) economics of training - (00:13:10) what is protocol learning? - (00:20:48) protocol learning design and politics - (00:33:39) sponsor: Splits - (00:34:22) hardware requirements - (00:41:53) adapting to the landscape - (00:49:53) open and closed models - (00:52:52) market structure with fully open models - (00:56:34) research and risks - (01:02:19) labor and national security - (01:10:58) looking to the future - (01:14:20) outro Links: - Alexander on X: https://x.com/_alexanderlong - Alexander on Github: https://github.com/AlexanderJLong - Article 2: Protocol Learning, Protocol Models and the Great Convergence: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/article-2-protocol-learning-protocol - Decentralized Training Looms: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/decentralized-ai-looms Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

1
#49 – Jim Posen on cryptographic acceleration with Binius 1:13:42

21 weeks ago1:13:42

1:13:42

This is my conversation with Jim Posen, the Cofounder and CTO at Irreducible. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:01:12) getting deeper into cryptography - (00:07:06) revisiting binary fields - (00:15:50) building the verifiable internet - (00:26:14) sponsor: Splits - (00:26:57) revival of binary fields - (00:38:55) Binius - (00:42:46) bringing Binius to production - (00:48:27) creating new hardware - (00:53:57) getting to v1 - (01:02:03) Ethereum stateless proofs and zkVMs - (01:13:21) outro Links: - Jim on X: https://x.com/jimpo_potamus - Jim on Github: https://github.com/jimpo - Irreducible: https://www.irreducible.com/ - Binius: a Hardware-Optimized SNARK: https://www.irreducible.com/posts/binius-hardware-optimized-snark - Binary Tower Fields are the Future of Verifiable Computing: https://www.irreducible.com/posts/binary-tower-fields-are-the-future-of-verifiable-computing Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#48 – Michael Bentley on Euler, credit, and natural selection 1:26:59

26 weeks ago1:26:59

1:26:59

This is my conversation with Michael Bentley, the cofounder and CEO of Euler and previously a dynamical systems postdoctoral research associate at Oxford. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:01:11) early DeFi and experiencing the 2008 crash - (00:06:52) interest rate design and PIDs - (00:20:40) risk management - (00:28:27) sponsor: Splits - (00:29:10) macro view of the world - (00:32:27) the fundamental importance of credit - (00:35:47) Euler protocol design - (00:39:08) modularity and integration - (00:54:40) network topology - (01:10:55) natural selection and dynamical systems - (01:26:33) outro Links: - Michael on X: https://x.com/euler_mab - Michael on Medium: https://medium.com/@euler-mab - Michael Bentley on the evolution of lending protocols: https://youtu.be/TW9Tv2Y0fkw - Euler: https://www.euler.finance Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#47 – Jake Chervinsky on regulations from first principles 1:19:56

28 weeks ago1:19:56

1:19:56

This is my conversation with Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant, and previously the Chief Policy Officer at Blockchain Association and General Counsel at Compound Labs. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:01:15) ELI5: how the US government works - (00:10:44) DOGE and the powers of the executive - (00:19:27) DUNAs, DAOs, and decentralized governance - (00:27:55) how the law reacts to new technology - (00:40:19) sponsor: Splits - (00:41:02) incentives and philosophies of regulators - (00:48:10) lobbying and goals for the next administration - (01:01:58) advice for crypto founders - (01:13:39) personal motivations - (01:19:30) outro Links: - Jake on X: https://x.com/jchervinsky - Variant Fund: https://variant.fund/ - DeFi Education Fund: https://www.defieducationfund.org/ - Fairshake PAC: https://www.fairshakepac.com/ - Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org/ Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#46 – Andrew Miller on TEEs, account delegation, research, and the early days in Bitcoin 1:21:48

29 weeks ago1:21:48

1:21:48

This is my conversation with Andrew Miller who is working on product at Teleport, and is also Associate Director at IC3 and Board Member at the Zcash Foundation. Timestamps: - (00:00:00) intro - (00:00:59) from bitcoin research to privacy, ZKPs, and MPC - (00:13:23) trust models and threat vectors to TEEs - (00:21:16) what is possible with trustless TEEs? - (00:38:37) TEEs-based internet agents - (00:45:41) Dstack, a p2p architecture for TEEs - (00:52:50) learnings as a researcher - (00:58:42) sponsor: Splits - (00:59:25) pathfinding in research - (01:06:11) 2011 bitcoin unboxing and the early bitcoin ecosystem - (01:17:54) vision for the future - (01:21:22) outro Links: - Andrew on X: https://x.com/socrates1024 - Andrew on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Socrates1024 - Andrew's research: https://soc1024.ece.illinois.edu - Personal site: https://soc1024.com - Zero Trust Execution Environments paper: https://writings.flashbots.net/ZTEE - Zcash Foundation: https://zfnd.org - IC3: https://www.ic3.gov Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#45 – Quintus Kilbourn on TEEs and Secure Hardware 1:33:20

31 weeks ago1:33:20

1:33:20

This is my conversation with Quintus Kilbourn, researcher at Flashbots and currently working on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). Timestamps: - (00:00:00) - intro - (00:01:06) - what is a TEE - (00:12:23) - TEE use cases: one-shot transactions, autonomous AI agents - (00:25:27) - unbreakable hardware enclaves - (00:41:14) - physical hardware access as a threat vector - (00:47:20) - sponsor: Splits - (00:48:04) - defending against physical attacks - (00:55:57) - resources focused on TEEs - (01:10:25) - defending against supply chain attacks - (01:19:34) - hardware imaging - (01:28:48) - the roadmap - (01:32:53) - outro Links: - Quintus on X: https://x.com/0xQuintus - Flashbots: https://www.flashbots.net/ - ZTEE: https://writings.flashbots.net/ZTEE Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#44 – Markus Haas on ethOS and building a crypto-native device 49:24

32 weeks ago49:24

49:24

This is my conversation with Markus Haas, the CEO of Freedom Factory and cocreator of the dGEN1. Timestamps: (00:00:00) - intro (00:00:28) - ethOS origin story (00:07:54) - the vision and values (00:09:56) - the need for an alternative to iOS and Android (00:15:30) - sponsor: Splits (00:16:14) - building on GrapheneOS (00:28:32) - dGEN1, an everyday carry device (00:37:05) - what's next for ethOS? (00:43:02) - the company, funding, profitability (00:49:00) - outro Links: - Markus on X: https://x.com/mhaas_eth - ethOS on X: https://x.com/EthereumPhone - GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/ - Freedom Factory website: https://www.freedomfactory.io/ Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#43 – Uma Roy on Succinct, STARKs, and zkVM architecture 1:11:21

37 weeks ago1:11:21

1:11:21

This is my conversation with Uma Roy, cofounder and CEO of Succinct. Timestamps: (00:00:00) - intro (00:00:57) - origin story (00:02:19) - SP1 architecture (00:09:43) - STARKs, FRI, and hash-based cryptography (00:15:09) - recursion (00:21:12) - upgrading the proof system (00:33:11) - sponsor: Splits (00:33:54) - security in ZK systems (00:37:46) - converting optimistic rollups into zk rollups (00:43:39) - zkVM vs custom circuits (00:48:48) - ZK for scaling and interoperability (01:00:24) - the lifecycle of a proof (01:06:26) - hardware (01:10:57) - outro Links - Uma on X: https://x.com/pumatheuma - Succinct on X: https://x.com/succinctlabs Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: - Splits: https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#42 – Andrew Huang on Conduit and scaling onchain compute 52:26

38 weeks ago52:26

52:26

This is my conversation with Andrew Huang, the founder and CEO of Conduit. Timestamps: (00:00:00) - intro (00:00:42) - onchain and cloud compute (00:05:20) - parallel execution (00:09:08) - the application's perspective (00:16:14) - scaling the sequencer (00:26:52) - sponsor: Splits (00:27:36) - interoperability (00:33:11) - rollup economics (00:42:33) - moving from tech to crypto (00:47:43) - Georgios Konstantopoulos (00:52:02) - outro Links: Andrew Huang: https://x.com/KAndrewHuang Conduit: https://www.conduit.xyz Conduit on X: https://x.com/conduitxyz Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: Splits - https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#41 – Georgios Konstantopoulos on Reth, engineering management, and feedback loops 1:11:14

40 weeks ago1:11:14

1:11:14

This is my conversation with Georgios Konstantopoulos, General Partner and CTO at Paradigm. Timestamps: (00:00:00) - intro (00:00:47) - iterating on rollups (00:07:52) - Reth architecture (00:25:44) - sponsor: Splits (00:26:27) - feedback loops with performance, stability, extensibility (00:36:14) - feedback loops with the team (00:49:17) - writing for thinking (00:54:47) - the big vision (01:10:49) - outro Links: Georgios Konstantopoulos on X - https://x.com/gakonst Georgios Konstantopoulos on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gakons Paradigm on X - https://x.com/paradigm Tailscale Blog: The New Internet - https://tailscale.com/blog/new-internet Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: Splits - https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: Sina Habibian on X - https://twitter.com/sinahab Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab Into the Bytecode - https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#40 – Vitalik Buterin on political philosophy in the 21st century 59:11

42 weeks ago59:11

59:11

This is my conversation with Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum. Timestamps: (00:00:00) - intro (00:00:33) - the crypto lens on political philosophy (00:15:12) - the transition from the 20th to the 21st century (00:24:29) - sponsor: Splits (00:25:12) - the dimensions of uncertainty (00:46:14) - the duality between being idealistic and effective (00:58:46) - outro Links: Vitalik Buterin on X - https://x.com/VitalikButerin Vitalik Buterin on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/vitalik.eth Vitalik Buterin on making sense in a changing world - https://www.intothebytecode.com/26-vitalik Vitalik Buterin on retroactive public goods funding - https://www.intothebytecode.com/1-vitalik-buterin-karl-floersch-retroactive-public-goods-funding Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: Splits - https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: Sina Habibian on X - https://twitter.com/sinahab Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab Into the Bytecode - https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#39 – Eric Alston on the US constitution 1:14:15

42 weeks ago1:14:15

1:14:15

This is my conversation with Eric Alston, faculty director at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder and research associate with the Comparative Constitutions Project. Timestamps: (00:00) - intro (01:29) - choice in institutions matters (08:53) - secondary rules as rules for making rules (17:41) - constitutional moments (20:41) - how the US constitution has endured (28:39) - the characteristics of the US constitution (34:18) - sponsor: Splits (35:01) - the economic balance between federal/state govts (47:24) - presidential vs parliamentary systems (01:01:13) - blockchains as experimental ground for governance (01:13:50) - outro Links: Eric Alston - https://x.com/incompleterules Eric Alston on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-alston Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible: Splits – https://splits.org Into the Bytecode: - Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab - Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab - Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.…

Into the Bytecode

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#38 – BaseCamp 001: Jesse Pollak (Base), Ben Leventhal (Blackbird), Julian Holguin (Doodles), Yele Bademosi (Onboard) 1:35:12

47 weeks ago1:35:12