Base Layer

Alex joins us on Base Layer to talk more about zero knowledge proofs and what they are doing at Matter Labs. Initially found by a tweet from Ari @ BlockTower, Matter Labs recently revealed their vision for ZK Sync: a trustless scaling and privacy solution for Ethereum based on ZK Rollup". We discussed that in heavy detail, including tx receipts but also addressed Matter Labs mission which they discussed in their blog: "A successful solution to the scaling problem in public blockchains is not only a matter of high transaction throughput. It must also be defined as the ability of the system to meet the demands of millions of users without sacrificing decentralization. The prerequisites of mass crypto adoption  include high speed, low cost, smooth UX, and privacy." All this and more with Alex from Matter Labs.    

Zhuoxun joins us on Base Layer to tell us all about dydx. dydx is building a decentralized exchange for margin trading and eventually derivatives. With dYdX users can trade, borrow, and lend any supported asset. dYdX is powered by smart contracts on the Ethereum Blockchain, which eliminates the need to trust a central exchange while trading. We discuss the overall maturation of DEX's and also spend time discussing how smart contracts & oracles factor in this very exciting aspect of DeFi. Capital markets are also maturing in digital assets; powerful financial products like margin and derivatives are essential. They empower traders to better manage risk, more efficiently allocate capital, and express more complex opinions on price and volatility. 

Bart joins us for the 100th episode of Base Layer and it's truly an amazing conversation to listen to. Bart has a storied career following early stage technology and he talks about how he and his brother, both gamers, found themselves in Bitcoin and blockchains about 7 years ago. Via their family office they wanted to invest via funds that were following the technology but when they couldn't find the right one they started Blockchain Capital. After 80+ investments in the space we had a detailed conversation about the change in narratives, the technology, the people coming in, valuation and much more. Also we discussed Blockchain Capital's 2020 predictions which include the beginnings of what could be some sizable M&A. The predictions can be found here

Alan joins us on Base Layer to give us a great in-depth overview of the happenings at Radar; going from Relay which the team believes is the most secure way to trade ERC20 tokens directly from your Ethereum wallet; to Ion and Redshift which allows users to trustlessly swap assets between chains to Deploy which the team says is the easiest way to spin up and maintain blockchain infrastructure so you can ship faster with less. This was a great chat about the entire ecosystem Radar and the team are working on and you'll learn a lot! 

Angela joins us on Base Layer today and it's one not to miss! We talk a lot about gaming, esports and this thesis about how over 2B people who play games could be the next wave of adopters of digital assets. We discuss the current state of the state of blockchain games, what they are working to build and why it's an important narrative. 

What a show! The founder of Docusign, Tom Gonser, joins Sergey Nazarov for a follow up to our podcast about 2 months ago to further discuss smart contracts, the oracle problem and how Chainlink is addressing it, how enterprises large and small are looking at distributed & decentralized networks and so much more. This is a very special show - hearing from Tom who is an Advisor to Chainlink was amazing. 

Harry joins us on Base Layer for a fun and interesting conversation about everything relating to Bitcoin mining and the work they are doing at Griid; we talk about next generation equipment, valuation and modeling, energy consumption and prices and most importantly the Bitcoin halving and what effect it could have on the mining community. 

A great episode with Eli and Uri from Starkware! This is a special project focusing on cryptographic proofs using zero-knowledge, succinct, transparent and post-quantum secure processes. We had a really interesting conversation about zk's -- furthering helping listeners understand their impact. We also discussed quantum -- in light of Google's recent announcement - the cause and effect of quantum on encryption in blockchains. Lastly we discussed StarkPay vs Lightning. Must listen! 

Max and Vadym join us from Geo Protocol who's mission is to empower the Internet of Value by creating a universal value transfer ecosystem. GEO Protocol is an open-source base layer protocol for cost-efficient, lightweight and infinitely scalable value transfer, merging blockchain and traditional finance worlds together. We talked about this notion of merging blockchain based assets with non-blockchain based assets, atomic swaps and this ability to coordinate among different exchanges in a new way without a lot of the friction from the past iterations. This one gets a bit technical but the team is creating some tech that is very exciting. 

Benny & Brian stop by Base Layer to have a great discussion on gaming to digital collectibles in the blockchain space. We touch on the popular rise of Cryptokitties to some digital collectibles going for $1M. Dapper Labs is building out some news games, one especially with the NBA that looks very exciting, so we talked extensively about gaming as it relates to blockchains and how it could be the portal to broad based adoption of digital assets. 

Dave, the CEO of Flipside Crypto, joins us on Base Layer to tell us all about what Flipside Crypto does. For those not familiar, Flipside provides analysis on project health (on protocols like Ethereum, Tezos, etc) and created a rating system called FCAS. We also discuss how behavioral analysis goes into something called Chainwalkers and much more. Dave has done 7 different start up's and has successfully sold some of them - amazing hearing such a successful founder talk about his entry into digital assets and build key infrastructure in it. 

Luis, the co-founder of Aragon, joins us on Base Layer to talk all about Governance. Aragon is a project that many in the digital asset ecosystem are starting to look at for their unique governance tools -- a subject area that has show itself to be very difficult for some protocols to see through successfully. We also discussed the ability to create your own organization in 5 minutes and 2020 being the year of the DAO (question mark there). So much good stuff in this chat - def check it out! 

Will joins us on Base Layer to give you great overview of 0x. When I began thinking about starting Base Layer over a year ago 0x was one of the projects that inspired me - helping build key infrastructure for blockchains to interoperate, exchange value and much more. We discuss the 4 product lines they've embarked on esp Governance which is a key feature we will be highlighting on Base Layer going into 2020. We also find interesting metaphors between traditional markets & the world we live in to explain how some of the functionality in 0x works. Must listen!! 

Roneil joins us again to bring us up to speed on the beta launch of Audius over the last two months and the numbers they are seeing are very exciting! Thousands of artists joining the platform like Deadmau5 and others; tens of thousands of users on the platform - real usage and adoption!! We talk about that all and also sprinkle in some chats about Taylor Swift and some of the recent narratives of artists and their labels. 

Guido joined us on Base Layer during San Francisco Blockchain Week to discuss the confluence of economics and differing models and blockchains. We discuss token economics and the differing socioeconomic theories associated with the adoption of different blockchains and protocols. Super interesting conversations with someone with such an amazing background in econ. 

Tomer from Spacemesh joins us today to give a great overview of the project. There are 3 problems Spacemesh is trying to solve:to be a fairly mined, permissionless and race free open source" programmable cryptocurrency that has a low barrier to entry. We also discuss what Proof of Space is and how is it different than what people are becoming more familiar with like Proof of Work or Proof of Stake? Additionally we also unpack this: "Spacemesh is designed to be run by home desktop PC owners from around the world. There are tens of millions of such people with sufficient system and internet connectivity who can join the platform, form a global decentralized computer and cryptocurrency and provide security for it." A great chat and one not to miss! 

Jake, project lead for community directed digital asset Decred, joins us for a special Friday episode to discuss why the crypto ecosystem was afire this past week with privacy talk in the wake of the massive exposure on Grin’s Mimblewimble privacy implementation. According to an investor in the ecosystem who performed some testing, a group of users can be identified with a $60/wk spend on AWS, thus there’s no privacy guarantee. The crypto space needs a renewed approach to privacy to avoid this exposure of user addresses. We discuss this and how Decred is addressing the issue of privacy. Check out Jake's writing about privacy projects & there differences here 

Galen from Mousebelt joins us on Base Layer on a live recording during San Francisco Blockchain Week. MouseBelt is the world’s first full-service blockchain accelerator that goes beyond just seed capital, connections, and mentorship. The accelerator is uniquely equipped with more than 25 experienced blockchain developers, project managers, business developers, marketers, and lawyers. We had a great conversation about the world of early stage development and funding of projects and what themes they see prevalent in the space right now. 

The CEO of Ledger, Pascal Gauthier, joins us on Base Layer to discuss some breaking news and a general overview of the last 5 years of their existence. Pascal discusses the news that the Ledger Vault platform now has a customized crime insurance program insuring crypto assets for up to USD 150 million that was obtained with working with two financial institutions. We also discuss Ledger's 5 year anniversary, the evolution of wallets and how investors custody their assets. A great discussion for those aware of Ledger and not in addition to the big news they discuss.  

An honor to have Haseeb, recorded live from San Francisco Blockchain Week; Haseeb is a highly respected investor in digital assets - we hone in on his past as a professional poker player, how his ability to discern risk and reward from those experiences and the ability to find "tells"; how his experience as AirBnB furthered his interest in distributed and decentralized systems and much more. We delve into what Dragonfly is doing in the space as an investor and what the future looks like in the "protocol wars" and much more.