Shows
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesBlockworks: The Future of Crypto = AI, Memecoins and DePIN - Jason Yanowitz Live @PermissionlessFrom a cross-platform media company, to launching their own conference and, more recently, an advisory branch, Blockworks has seen and done it all. We couldn’t miss Permissionless III, one of the largest crypto conferences in the US, where we sat down with Jason Yanowitz to discuss emerging trends in the industry and where the attention might shift over the coming months.Topics covered in this episode:Blockworks’ evolutionThe crypto conference landscapeBlockworks advisoryApps & infrastructureRegulationsZK & AIStablecoinsPodcastingEpisode links:Jason Yanowitz on TwitterBlockworks on TwitterPermissionless on TwitterEmpire Podcast on TwitterSponsors:Gnosis: Gnosis builds dece...2024-10-1459 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter - 10-Year Anniversary Livestream10 years ago, Adam B Levine, the host of ‘Let’s Talk Bitcoin!’, decided that it was time to encourage other voices to step onto the crypto podcast scene. Among many applicants, Sebastien and Brian were the only 2 Europeans, so Adam suggested that they teamed up in order to record the pilot episode. On December 20th 2013, Sebastien and Brian released ‘Regulation and the Future of Bitcoin’, which marked the beginning of a 10-year (and counting) long journey. The rest is history.On this anniversary episode, our hosts were joined by special guests and friends of Epicenter, to share their favo...2023-12-232h 25
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter – Looking Back on 10 Years of Crypto. AI Doom & Gloom? SPECIALAs Epicenter hits the 500 episode milestone, our hosts look back on almost 10 years of crypto developments, analysing the good, the bad and the ugly. What projects & narratives have surprised our hosts? Has Bitcoin failed in becoming a reliable store of value? Will ZK proofs provide the much needed solution to AI’s alignment problem? Last but not least, are we still early? Get ready for a fascinating discussion, albeit gloomy for this special occasion.Thank you for being part of this amazing journey! We wouldn’t have made it so far without your continuous support! Looking forward to t...2023-06-161h 21
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesGuy Zyskind: Secret Network – Bringing Privacy to BlockchainFormerly Enigma, Secret Network is a blockchain-based, open-source protocol built using the Cosmos SDK. It uses Trusted Execution Environments on nodes to marry privacy-by-default with smart contracts.We welcomed Guy Zyskind, Founder & CEO of Secret Network, back on the show to chat about the progression of the project into the new protocol and why this is now built on Cosmos, advantages and drawbacks in using Trusted Execution Environments and SGX technology over cryptography only, and why people might want to keep NFTs private.Topics covered in this episode:Guy's background and how he got...2022-01-091h 01
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter – The Hosts Look Back on 20212021 was an exciting year for the crypto space. We've seen all time market highs, dramatic regulatory shifts, and some use cases hit the main stream. 4 of our hosts got together to dissect the standout events of this year, and share their predictions for what is coming next.Topics covered in this episode:The NFT explosion of 2021The DeFi bluechip declineLayer 1 wars & bridgesDAO proliferation, tooling, and emergence of new organization paradigmsReturn of DogecoinBitcoin in El SalvadorLooking ahead - crypto and its tax implicationsThe future of MEVUrbitEpisode links:Episode 374 - The Great Epicenter Host Extravaganza 2021...2021-12-101h 32
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesChris Spadafora: BadgerDAO – Bridging Bitcoin and DeFiBadger is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with a single purpose: To build the products and infrastructure necessary to accelerate Bitcoin as collateral across other blockchains. BadgerDAO is extremely community focused and has succeeded in creating a seamlessly operating DAO out of a group of random people with a shared set of values and a mission.BadgerDAO's founder, Chris Spadafora, joined us to talk about how he built this decentralized community, why Bitcoin & DeFi, and the products they have created including Sett and Digg.Topics covered in this episode:Chris' background and how BadgerDAO...2021-08-101h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesSunny Aggarwal: Osmosis – The AMM Protocol Built for Liquidity ProvidersRecently launched Osmosis is a Cosmos based and IBC enabled AMM protocol that allows for a high level of customization by liquidity providers. As the main dex on the Cosmos network, Osmosis provides liquidity for IBC-enabled Cosmos assets like AKT and ATOM for the first time.Head of the Osmosis development team, Sunny Aggarwal, joined us for a chat about why the protocol was built and the problem it solves, the wider Cosmos ecosystem, and the roadmap for the protocol.Topics covered in this episode:Why the Osmosis project was builtHow Osmosis works on...2021-07-161h 01
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesTim Roughgarden: EIP-1559 – Tackling the Gas Fee Problem on EthereumEthereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-1559 is a proposal to make several tightly coupled additions to Ethereum’s transaction fee mechanism. Central to the design is a base fee, which plays the role of a reserve price and is meant to match supply and demand. Every transaction included in a block must pay that block’s base fee (per unit of gas), and this payment is burnt rather than transferred to the block’s miner. The base fee is adjusted after every block, with larger-than-target blocks increasing it and smaller-than-target blocks decreasing it.Tim Roughgarden is a Professor of Com...2021-05-081h 37
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesPhil Daian & Stephane Gosselin: Flashbots – The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MEVFlashbots is a research and development company focussed on Miner Extractable Value (MEV). MEV is the profit a miner can make through their ability to arbitrarily include, exclude, or re-order transactions from the blocks they produce. Flashbots has created a fork of the ethereum geth client, MEV-geth, to allow miners to exploit MEV, currently run by 80% of miners.Co-founders of Flashbots, Stephane Gosselin and Phil Daian, recently joined us to chat about the protocol and to deep dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of MEV.Topics covered in this episode:Stephane...2021-04-281h 38
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesTrevor McFedries: Brud – Using AI to Bridge Real and Virtual WorldsTrevor McFedries joined us for a fascinating chat about his background in the football and music industries, and how this led him into crypto. Trevor is the cofounder of Brud, a technology startup specializing in artificial intelligence and media. At Brud, they create social media personas with the help of CGI technology, the most well known being Lil Miquela. Lil Miquela is a sentient robot navigating life in LA -- and has millions of followers on instagram.Trevor also started Friends With Benefits, a gated online community on a private discord server with a community token. We...2021-04-221h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesZubin Koticha: Opyn – The Release of V2Zubin Koticha, CEO & Co-founder of Opyn, joined us again on the show to give us an update on Opyn v2.Opyn v1 was focused on insurance. It's successor, Opyn v2, offers a more traditional options infrastructure. We discuss the problems of building trustless options infrastructure: choice of collateral, partial collateralization and efficient trading mechanisms for options.Topics covered in this episode:An overview of Opyn v1 and the different options created by DeFi usersHow options in DeFi workWhat is new in Opyn v2How the oracle specification worksCapital efficiency - nesting options for collateralizationFungibility...2021-04-011h 12
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMuneeb Ali: Stacks – Building Decentralized Apps and Smart Contracts on BitcoinStacks is an open-source network of decentralized apps and smart contracts. It is a Layer-1 blockchain that connects to Bitcoin. Stacks uses a Proof of Transfer mining mechanism with bidding and staking capabilities. Clarity is the programming language used, a Turing-incomplete language which aims to give developers a safe way to build complex smart contracts where the code itself clearly shows what the program will do when run. Muneeb Ali is the CEO and Co-founder of Hiro Systems, one of the companies creating Stacks. He joined us to chat about why he felt there was a need...2021-02-171h 11
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesTrent Elmore: YAM Finance 🍠 – The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the OG FoodcoinDuring the DeFi Summer of 2020, YAM Finance launched with a bang, and had its share of ups and downs within its first couple of days. It started out as an experiment to bring together some of the more innovative ideas in the space. It sparked a movement which brought massive attention to yield farming, and started the food token craze. After a bug was discovered in the v1 contract, many thought the project was dead. But no, the team and community have been working diligently to bring the protocol back to life and it's now a community-run DAO innovating...2021-01-191h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesThe Great Epicenter Host Extravaganza 2021The new year has brought with it a new bull run. This is great news for crypto holders, but at what cost? Will this bring with it a number of negative implications such as regulatory push back and privacy battles? Listen as the five hosts of Epicenter come together for an in-depth chat to share their predictions for the crypto space in 2021.Topics covered in this episode:Each of our hosts share how 2020 went for themIn-depth individual predictions on where things are headed with the current bull marketPublic backlash to the crypto systemRegulatory and tax related...2021-01-121h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesHasu & Kain Warwick: Diving Deep Into Liquidity MiningCrypto is largely reliant on incentive mechanisms, and liquidity mining is one of the more recent cryptoeconomic incentive models to emerge. When decentralized exchanges need liquidity, they can leverage liquidity mining to incentivize users to provide it. In turn, the “miners” generate revenue, generally in the form of a native tokens, proportional to their share of liquidity in a pool. This summer saw a surge in activity surrounding this concept, with Synthetix a notable player.Kain Warwick is the founder of Synthetix, a company creating synthetic assets for DeFi, enabling exposure to fiat currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Hasu...2020-12-161h 18
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEvan Kuo: AMPL - the Controversial Digital Currency With an Elastic SupplyAmpleforth is a cryptocurrency attempting to become an essential building block to an alternative financial ecosystem. The protocol’s native token, AMPL, is a non collateralized cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, but with a twist: It is supply elastic. This means the token and protocol will automatically increase or decrease the quantity of tokens held in user wallets based on 24 hour weighted volume price. AMPL operates as an ERC-20 token on top of the Ethereum blockchain. Some claim that the Ampleforth protocol’s implementation of “countercyclical” economic policy makes it a good complimentary collateral because they posit that this mechanis...2020-08-041h 13
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAllison Lu: UMA – The Open Financial Platform for Building Synthetic AssetsUMA, or Universal Market Access, is an open source financial contracts protocol for building synthetic assets. It allows any two counterparties to design and create their own financial contracts for derivatives. An example of these assets in the traditional finance world, are interest rate derivatives. These are used to hedge against fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Today, interest rate derivatives are commonly used and the contracts to create these are standardized. Similarly, UMA allows anyone to create a derivative on a blockchain. Enforcement of agreement will be enforced by the network and so will settlement.What’s un...2020-07-211h 20
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesZubin Koticha: Opyn – The Insurance Platform Which Protects Your DeFi DepositsOpyn is a smart contract-based insurance platform built on a generalized (supports both put and call) options protocol called Convexity. It is intended as a platform to protect DeFi users against both technical and financial risks, and a place where ETH holders can earn substantial premiums on their holdings by providing insurance.Opyn uses tokenized ERC20 put options, oTokens, on ETH to allow option buyers to keep their upside while limiting their downside. If you buy Opyn protection, you are buying “the right but not the obligation to sell an asset at a pre-specified price”. Currently, you can...2020-06-171h 22
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesDaniel Wang: Loopring – A Scalable DEX Protocol Using ZK-RollupsDecentralized exchanges have been around for some time, and various designs have been attempted. Although they provide a number of privacy and censorship resistance benefits, one of their pitfalls has been transaction throughput. However, recent advancements in Zero-Knowledge Proof-based scaling solutions is creating a new breed of scalable DEXes.Loopring is a non-custodial DEX protocol that achieves high-throughput trading. It leverages ZK-Rollups to achieve upwards of 2,000 transactions per second with on-chain settlement. As an order book-based exchange, it sets itself apart from other DEXes like Uniswap and the Gnosis Protocol. However, users should keep in mind that...2020-05-191h 16
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesJinglan Wang & Karl Floersch: Optimism – The Optimistic Approach to Ethereum ScalingThe Plasma Group was a not for profit research group focussing on layer-2 scaling on Ethereum. Optimism is a new Public Benefit Corporation that builds on the lessons of the Plasma research and is implementing Optimistic Rollups. This solution scales Eth 1.x and offers near-instant transaction finality on Ethereum, while providing over 100x transaction throughput. Jinglan Wang and Karl Floersch, co-founders of Optimism, explain the transition to this new entity and its goals moving forward.Topics covered in this episode:Jinglan and Karl's backgrounds and how they came to work togetherHow the Plasma Group and all...2020-04-211h 00
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesSharon Goldberg: Arwen – Centralized Exchange Trading Without Counterparty RiskWe're joined by Sharon Goldberg, CEO of Arwen, a protocol solution for non-custodial trading. From communications engineering to Internet protocol security, to then becoming a Professor at Boston University, she shares her journey into the world of cryptography. Beginning as a whitepaper on eclipse attacks, Arwen has grown into a platform enabling atomic swaps on centralized exchanges. Sharon chats about Arwen's integration with KuCoin, how it compares to ShapeShift, Interledger, and Lightning, and the exciting new release of the Layer-2 atomic swaps from Ethereum into Bitcoin.Topics covered in this episode:- How Sharon became...2019-09-181h 11
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRune Christensen: Maker DAO – The Central Bank of Web 3.0We're joined by Rune Christensen, CEO and Co-Founder of MakerDAO. We discuss the rise of Maker DAI as an algorithmically backed stable token and get into the weeds of the new version featuring multi collateral DAI as well as the ability to natively generate interest on DAI. We also cover the current governance model and how this can be attacked. The governance will undergo an overhall for the new version of Maker, introducing an Emergency Shutdown that can be triggered through MKR holders and promises to make the system more resilient. Lastly, we venture into what Rune hopes the...2019-07-301h 25
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesDaniel Lehnberg & Michael Cordner: Grin – Cypherpunk MimblewimbleThree years ago, a mysterious txt file signed by a pseudonymous Tom Elvis Jedusor was dropped in the Bitcoin-Wizards IRC channel outlining a proposal called Mimblewimble. It proposed a novel way of combining many ideas from Bitcoin research in order to create a new blockchain protocol that will be highly scalable and increase privacy, while still using the same cryptographic assumptions as Bitcoin. A few months later this project was picked up by another pseudonymous individual who started working on an implementation he called Grin. Grin slowly began to draw attention from the Bitcoin community and got a lot...2019-03-121h 21
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesLooking Back on 5 Years of EpicenterEpicenter turned 5 years old this month – that’s a long time in the blockchain space! When the podcast began in January 2014, the entire ecosystem was made up of only Bitcoin and a handful of altcoins. Soon after, the Ethereum white paper was published which ushered in a new era of crypto assets and decentralized applications. Since then, we have released 270 episodes and interviewed some of the leading thinkers, entrepreneurs, and engineers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Needless to say, we have learned a lot about the blockchain industry, but also what it takes to run a successful podcast in t...2019-01-1555 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesJames Prestwich: Summa One – Cross-chain Financial Instruments and ContractsWhile trustless interactions on Ethereum are native to the protocol, trustless interactions between the Ethereum blockchain and other blockchains are difficult to implement. Interoperability protocols heavily rely on atomic swaps, which typically come with a free option problem.
For this episode we’re joined by James Prestwich, CEO at Summa. Summa designs and implements cross-chain financial contracts and instruments such as swaps, options, futures, and auctions. Summa recently conducted a dutch auction spanning the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains: Ethereum NFTs were auctioned off trustlessly to bidders on the Bitcoin network. We also discuss Riemann, a framework for de...2018-12-121h 07