🎙️ METACAST: Top Crypto Podcasts of July 2023

Hello, everyone!

Check a quick overview of what we’ve been listening to last month!

TL;DR

• Vitalik Buterin discusses hot topics from the Ethereum ecosystem: MEV, staking derivatives, privacy, decentralization, and future interoperability.
• Despite the doom and gloom, Placeholder VC partners Chris Burniske and Joel Monegro are highly bullish on the present moment. They cut their teeth on Bitcoin, they grew up with Ethereum; hear what they think is next.
• If the SEC wants to appeal last week’s judgment in the Ripple case, it better act fast. So says Bill Hughes, regulatory chief at Ethereum booster ConsenSys and one of the many crypto policy pros assessing the ramifications of U.S. district judge Analisa Torres’ decision.
• Benny Giang and Jayden Windle, cofounder and founding developer of Future Primitive, respectively, delve into the transformative potential of ERC-6551, a standard that allows every NFT to have a smart contract wallet associated with it.
• Jesse Pollak, the senior director of engineering for retail products at Coinbase who’s played a critical role in the development of Base — Coinbase’s Layer 2 protocol, answers if Base can be the spark that kicks off “Layer 2 Summer”?
• Sandeep and Mihalo, the Co-Founders of Polygon, answer the criticism of Polygon in the past, that it’s “just a sidechain.”
• Linea is a new ZK Rollup from Consensys — but how is it different from the others? with Nicolas Liochon, the Global Lead for Linea.
• Worldcoin’s Sam Altman & Alex Blania answers why scan the eye? Is it safe? How is data stored? And what’s Worldcoin’s crypto token distribution plan?
• Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, reveals the ins and outs of Uniswap X.
• How the world’s first web3 company ConsenSys is catalyzing Ethereum’s growth with Neal Gorevic, the Chief Marketing Officer at ConsenSys.
• Zero Knowledge host Anna Rose and co-host Tarun Chitra catch up with Chris Goes from Heliax, the team behind Anoma and Namada.
• Avril Dutheil of Neutron discusses Neutron’s smart contract platform and how it leverages replicated security (ICS) and interchain accounts (ICA).
• Ethereum is “Terrifyingly” centralized but there’s a way out, Mike Silagadze, ether .fi founder says
• Is a Bitcoin ETF really possible? with James Seyffart, a research analyst at Bloomberg.
• Is crypto’s bear market almost over? Raoul Pal, the Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision, a financial media and education platform focused on macro, investing, and crypto.
• EthCC 2023 video recordings.
• And much more!

Unchained

• Two VCs on Why This Is the Perfect Time to Invest in Crypto: Despite the doom and gloom, Placeholder VC partners Chris Burniske and Joel Monegro are highly bullish on the present moment. “We’re all going to look back on this period and remember it as fondly as we remember ’18 and ‘19,” Monegro tells Laura Shin. The two long-term investors explain why the confluence of macroeconomic factors and crypto-native (and AI) innovations make this the ideal time to invest in a Web3 future. They cut their teeth on Bitcoin, they grew up with Ethereum; hear what they think is next.

• Why the SEC Doesn’t Want the Ripple Case to Go to the Supreme Court: If the SEC wants to appeal last week’s judgment in the Ripple case, it better act fast. So says Bill Hughes, regulatory chief at Ethereum booster ConsenSys and one of the many crypto policy pros assessing the ramifications of U.S. district judge Analisa Torres’ decision. The regulatory agency’s decision to appeal hinges on a number of factors, Hughes says, including that this Supreme Court will likely be unkind to SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s interpretation of how to regulate crypto. But of course, a political calculus is also in play, and suddenly U.S. lawmakers have a slew of crypto bills and amendments to choose from. How will it play out?

• Why the SEC vs. Ripple Order Is Now About 2 Things: Coinbase and Congress: XRP isn’t itself a security; it depends on how it’s sold. So said a federal judge last Thursday in the SEC vs. Ripple case and the implications are significant. Jake Chervinsky, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association, and lawyer Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block, join the show to discuss two major ramifications. One: U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres dealt a major blow to the legal theory underpinning the SEC’s case against Coinbase. Two: This order really “lights a fire” under U.S. lawmakers to act on a pair of crypto bills in Congress.
• New Order in SEC vs. Ripple Over XRP Is a Win for Crypto: What Happens?: The SEC and Ripple have been locked in a legal tug-of-war for years, stirring up waves of controversy and debate in the crypto community. Finally, Judge Analisa Torres has given an order establishing that XRP buyers trading on exchanges were not, in fact, engaging in a securities transaction, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for the industry. Lewis Cohen, co-founder of DLx Law, unpacks the details of this pivotal case and what it might mean for the future of cryptocurrency regulation.
• When AI and Blockchain Meet, How Can Each Technology Benefit?: The SEC and Ripple have been locked in a legal tug-of-war for years, stirring up waves of controversy and debate in the crypto community. Finally, Judge Analisa Torres has given an order establishing that XRP buyers trading on exchanges were not, in fact, engaging in a securities transaction, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for the industry. Lewis Cohen, co-founder of DLx Law, unpacks the details of this pivotal case and what it might mean for the future of cryptocurrency regulation.

• Circuit Breakers: Is ERC-7265 the Solution dApps Were Waiting For?: In 2022, crypto crime hit an all-time high. A staggering $3.8 billion in crypto was stolen, with DeFi protocols bearing the brunt of these thefts, accounting for 82% of the total losses. Amid this alarming scenario, has a beacon of hope emerged in ERC-7265? The proposal aims to create a ‘circuit breaker’ safety layer for DeFi contracts, potentially revolutionizing security measures in the crypto space. Could this be the key to bolstering security and paving the way for mass adoption of DeFi? Will it essentially centralize protocols? Tune in to find out.

• ERC-6551: Is This the Next Big Leap in NFT Innovation? The ERC-721 token standard on Ethereum ignited the frenzied world of NFTs. Yet, as the dust settled, their limitations became apparent. Enter ERC-6551, a new standard designed to overcome these challenges. Benny Giang and Jayden Windle, cofounder and founding developer of Future Primitive, respectively, delve into the transformative potential of ERC-6551, a standard that allows every NFT to have a smart contract wallet associated with it. They discuss the exciting new possibilities it unlocks in the spheres of gaming, the metaverse, identity, messaging, and more.

The Chopping Block:

• The Chopping Block: NFA for Founders, Worldcoin and UniswapX Launch, Hamster Racing

The Chopping Block: NFA for Founders, Worldcoin and UniswapX Launch, Hamster Racing

Bankless

• The Coinbase Chain Powering Layer 2 Summer: Jesse Pollak is the senior director of engineering for retail products at Coinbase who’s played a critical role in the development of Base — Coinbase’s Layer 2 protocol. Base plays the important role of trailblazing the future of Layer 2’s and doesn’t let its centralized parent get in the way of innovation. Can Base be the spark that kicks off “Layer 2 Summer”?

• Polygon’s Endgame: Polygon 2.0 with Sandeep Nailwal & Mihailo Bjelic: Sandeep and Mihalo are the Co-Founders of Polygon. Polygon is one of the most used chains in crypto. That in itself is a massive accomplishment. However, there’s been criticism of Polygon in the past, that it’s “just a sidechain.” That it’s not “Ethereum aligned.” The release of Polygon 2.0 will silence these critics. Tune in to understand why.

• Afropolitan’s Grand Plan To Start A Country: What would it look like to create a new country using crypto as a coordination technology? Join the Bankless as Chika and Eche from Afropolitan detail their plan, to begin with an NFT PFP project and end up with a country.

• Worldcoin’s Sam Altman & Alex Blania on Crypto’s Most Ambitious Project: David is joined by Worldcoin Co-Founders, Alex Blania and Sam Altman. Alex is Worldcoin’s CEO and Sam is CEO of OpenAI. Both Co-founded Worldcoin in 2020. Why scan the eye? Is it safe? How is data stored? What’s Worldcoin’s crypto token distribution plan? All of these questions and much more were answered in the episode.

• DEBRIEF — Worldcoin
• Revolutionizing AI: Tackling the Alignment Problem | Zuzalu #3: In this episode, the hosts delve into the frontier of AI and the challenges surrounding AI alignment. The AI / Crypto overlap at Zuzalu sparked discussions on topics like ZKML, MEV bots, and the integration of AI agents into the Ethereum landscape. However, the focal point was the alignment conversation, which showcased both pessimistic and resigned optimistic perspectives. Nate Sores of MIRI offers a downstream view on AI risk, and Deger Turan emphasizes the importance of human alignment as a prerequisite for aligning AI. Their discussions touch on epistemology, individual preferences, and the potential of AI to assist in personal and societal growth.

• UniswapX Revealed: A Game-Changer for DeFi: Ahead of the EthCC conference, Uniswap Labs released their latest protocol, Uniswap X, a game-changing addition to the Uniswap ecosystem. Uniswap X is the missing piece that makes Uniswap the ultimate destination for token swappers. In this episode, the hosts talk to Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, revealing the ins and outs of Uniswap X. This protocol ensures competitive order execution in DeFi, safeguarding swappers from MEV extractors, arbitrageurs, and front runners, so that everyday users can secure the best possible deals. Discover how Uniswap X employs a Dutch auction to maximize returns while reducing bridge risks and enhancing efficiency in DeFi trading.
• Top 5 Bear Market Bets with Avichal Garg & Sanjay Shah of Electric Capital: Nothing tests your conviction like a bear market. This is an opportunity to test what you think you know, refine your thesis, and make your bets for the next leg up. Avichal and Sanjay are long-time crypto investors and at VC fund electric capital. What are they betting on during the bear market?
• How Ripple’s Win Reshapes Crypto with Paul Grewal & Mike Selig: Paul Grewal and Mike Selig, both experts in their respective fields are here to help walk us through the implications of this court decision and what it means for the crypto industry as a whole.
• Expert’s Take: Is a Bitcoin ETF Really Possible? with James Seyffart: James Seyffart, a research analyst at Bloomberg who’s the perfect person to answer the questions regarding the convergence of crypto and ETFs.
• The Bankless Origin Story — Raoul Pal: The tables are turned as Raoul Pal interviews David and Ryan on all things Bankless. They share respective origin stories of how they got into crypto, meeting each other for the first time, how Bankless got started and where the future frontiers of Bankless are headed.
• Zero-Knowledge AI: The Frontier of Cryptography | Zuzalu #2: In this 8-episode series, the team is exploring some new frontiers. New frontiers in new technologies, all of which are poised to completely revolutionize the world and change everything about the operating system that society is currently running. This video features two conversations with big-brain builders Daniel Shorr of ZKML and Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation. Although cryptography quickly falls down a technical rabbit hole, it looks like we’re entering a new golden age of cryptography. Keep an eye out as we roll out the rest of these boundary-pushing episodes!
• From Lab to Life: Exploring Synthetic Biology with Drew Endy, John Cumbers, and Jennifer Holmgren: In this video, you’ll hear from three leaders in the synthetic biology industry — Drew Endy, John Cumbers, and Jennifer Holmgren — who will expand our understanding and imagination of this exciting field.

• Can We Fire Gary Gensler? with Rep. Warren Davidson: This episode is with Representative Warren Davidson, an outspoken member of the U.S. Congress and an advocate for cryptocurrency. They cover: 1) Why is Rep. Warren Davidson trying to fire Gary Gensler? 2) What is the “SEC Stabilization Act?” 3) Is the U.S. losing ground to Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong? And more!
• Is Crypto’s Bear Market Almost Over? with Raoul Pal: Are we entering Crypto’s Spring? Raoul Pal is the Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision, a financial media and education platform focused on Macro, Investing, and Crypto. In this episode, they cover:1) The Aftermath of the 2022 Meltdown.2) How to Invest in the face of the current liquidity and external Indicators. And more!
• EthCC 2023: Everything You Missed: The signal from EthCC this year was particularly strong!

Rollups:

• ROLLUP: Worldcoin Launch | New Crypto Bills | Twitter X | Layer 2 Wars
• ROLLUP: Celsius CEO Arrested & ETH CC Conference Recap
• ROLLUP: Ripple (XRP) Wins Big in the SEC Lawsuit | Google Play NFTs | Layer 3 Summer
• ROLLUP: Why BlackRock CEO is Bullish Bitcoin

Zero Knowledge

• Episode 286: Paris 2023 Recap with Uma, Zaki and Tarun: Join Zero Knowledge host Anna Rose and guests Uma Roy, Zaki Manian and Tarun Chitra as they recap all things EthCC Paris. This impromptu chat takes a look back at the topics, talks, parties and events of the Paris week and what really caught their attention. Expect some spicy takes, offtopic rambles, inside scoops and more.

Episode 286: Paris 2023 Recap with Uma, Zaki and Tarun - ZK Podcast

• Episode 285: Intents with Chris Goes from Anoma: Zero Knowledge host Anna Rose and co-host Tarun Chitra catch up with Chris Goes from Heliax, the team behind Anoma and Namada. They dive into the concept of ‘intents’, exploring their origin, evolution, and discuss the intent-based systems that exist today. They then chat about the architectures enabled by a generalized intent-based infrastructure, the potential impacts on user experience, and the inherent trade-offs, particularly when zero-knowledge or privacy aspects are added to the mix.
• Episode 284: Using Formal Verification on ZK Systems with Jon Stephens: Anna Rose chats with Jon Stephens, Computer Science Ph.D. student in the UToPiA group at UT Austin and co-founder of Veridise. Veridise is a blockchain auditing firm that audits smart contracts and ZK systems. They discuss what led Jon to work on system security, what tools are available to test the security of ZK systems and the process of performing formal verification on ZK systems. They also cover general ZK security, why this topic matters and ways we can incentivise ethical disclosures when bugs and vulnerabilities are found.
• Episode 283: BabyAGI, Agents and Cutting-edge AI with Yohei: Zero Knowledge host Anna Rose and co-host Kobi Gurkan chat with Yohei Nakajima, General Partner at Untapped Capital and creator of BabyAGI. They cover a wide variety of topics from the world of AGIs and agents to building no-code software in public. They kick-off with a chat about how Yohei’s interest in NFTs led him down the AI ‘rabbit hole’ and how he started to build out experiments in public that have inspired a new group of AI tools and projects. They then discuss the possible impacts of some of this AI tech, how ZK may help mediate the challenges it introduces and more.

Episode 283: BabyAGI, Agents and Cutting-edge AI with Yohei - ZK Podcast

Epicenter

• Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum — MEV, Staking Derivatives and Privacy (EthCC 6) #505: Vitalik Buterin discusses hot topics from the Ethereum ecosystem: MEV, staking derivatives, privacy, decentralization and future interoperability. Ethereum’s merge to proof-of-stake brought with it the emergence of liquid staking derivatives (LSD). Similarly to mining pools in proof-of-work consensus models, staking pools could pose a risk to Ethereum’s decentralization. In terms of privacy-preserving solutions, the advances in zero knowledge research were a big breakthrough, especially as EVM-compatibility became possible. Maximal extractable value (MEV) remains a pressing matter, but hopes are that the upcoming proposer-builder separation (PBS) will alleviate it.

• Patrick O’Grady: Avalanche — Building High Performance VMs With HyperSDK #506: The recent history of L2s has shown that there doesn’t need to be ‘one chain to rule them all’ or an ‘ETH killer’. Instead, a healthier approach would be to find the best solution for a specific need, taking into consideration any potential tradeoffs. Avalanche has done just that, focusing from the get-go on delivering high transaction throughput, using their unique subnet architecture, consensus protocol and warp messaging. HyperSDK continues this conviction, offering a framework for developers to spin up customisable, high performance virtual machines. Patrick O’Grady, VP of Engineering at Ava Labs, discusses HyperSDK and how it enables building customisable, high performance VMs on Avalanche subnets.
• Avril Dutheil: Neutron — Interchain Smart Contracts on Cosmos #504: Blockchains are secured through the economic incentives offered to their validators/miners. The more robust the network effect among validators, the more difficult it is for that blockchain to be compromised. However, building a truly decentralized and reliable validator set is not a trivial task. As a result, hub and spoke ecosystem designs like Cosmos’ (and even Polkadot’s), aim to share the main hub’s validator set and security to their ‘consumer’ chains (parachains in Polkadot’s case). Neutron relies on interchain queries, interchain accounts and interchain (replicated) security to deliver the most secure CosmWasm smart contract platform in the Cosmos ecosystem. Avril Dutheil, GM at Neutron discusses Neutron’s smart contract platform and how it leverages replicated security (ICS) and interchain accounts (ICA).

• Sveinn Valfells: Monerium — Regulated On-Chain Euro (EURe): Stablecoins represent the backbone of DeFi, allowing complex financial applications to be protected from external volatility. From fiat-backed to algorithmic, there are multiple approaches to issuing and backing stablecoins. While US regulations are looming over the crypto industry, Monerium released a fully regulated on-chain euro stablecoin, the EURe, enabling direct SEPA transfers, on- and off-ramp. Sveinn Valfells, CEO of Monerium, discusses the European E-Money Directive and how it set the ground for fully regulated on-chain currencies (EURe) built on top of SEPA.

Blockcrunch

• Will BTC ETFs Kickstart the Next Bull Run? — Ram Ahluwalia, Lumida, Ep. 245: Recently, we have had a few asset managers, including some of the largest in the world like Blackrock apply to create Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States. This sparked a lot of speculation about whether this could herald the institutional adoption of crypto and kickstart a bull market. Ram Ahluwalia, CEO of Lumida and previous Head of Crypto & Digital Assets at Cross River, a crypto-friendly bank discusses, implications of BTC ETF on markets, odds of SEC approval, reasons for previous rejections, and more!
• Arkham Intelligence and Ethics of Privacy on Blockchain — Miguel Morel, Arkham Intelligence, Ep. 244: Arkham Intelligence is a blockchain data analytics platform that recently started a huge debate on Twitter due to its Intel-to-Earn model, which pays users to deanonymize blockchain wallets. There are also discussions on whether Arkham collects off-chain data on its users, and whether Arkham is actually a government project used to spy on crypto users.

The Defiant

• Linea is a new ZK Rollup from Consensys — but how is it different from the others? Nicolas Liochon is the Global Lead for Linea, which is a new zkEVM rollup by Consensys. Rollups play a crucial role in scaling Ethereum as they reduce computational load on the main network by processing transactions off-chain. The two prominent rollups currently available on Ethereum are ZK Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, and Linea is the latest ZK Rollup to launch.

• Ethereum is “Terrifyingly” Centralized but there’s a way out, ether.fi founder says: Mike Silagadze is the founder and CEO of ether.fi, which is a new player in ethereum liquid staking that enables stakers to control their keys while delegating. Ethereum liquid staking has been one of the hottest themes of crypto in 2023. The Shapella upgrade introduced unstaking Ether, Liquid Stakking Tokens grew in popularity, and concerns of centralization of staking was a highlight of this year so far.

• How The World’s First Web3 Company ConsenSys Is Catalyzing Ethereum’s Growth: Neal Gorevic is the Chief Marketing Officer at ConsenSys, which drives Ethereum ecosystem development. ConsenSys is behind key pieces of Ethereum infrastructure, including Metamask and Infura. In this episode, Neal discusses his transition from web2 marketing at Spotify, to web3 marketing. He goes into why ConsenSys is rebranding and he provides insights into the strategic vision for the company.
• Wall Street Veteran Explains How US Regulators Are Protecting Incumbents: Caitlin Long is the founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, which provides payment rails and custody for digital assets. In this podcast, they explore the recent surge of institutional interest in crypto, regulatory pressure in the US, and whether US regulators are prioritizing investor protection or incumbent interest.

The DeSci Podcast

• Law & Disorder: The IP Token Revolution: The DeSci Podcast hosts were joined by Jesse Hudson, the Chief Legal Architect at Molecule, Chris Byrnes, an IP Legal Advisor also representing Molecule, and Benji Leibowitz, Product Manager at Molecule. The existing intellectual property (IP) system faces several challenges that hinder its effectiveness and innovation potential. Patent trolls, the system’s lack of efficiency, and the high transaction costs associated with acquiring and enforcing IP rights further burden inventors, researchers, and scientific enterprises. In this episode, they explore the groundbreaking concept of IP Tokens and how they can help solve the issues plaguing the current IP system. They explain what IP Tokens are and how they differentiate from IP-NFTs. They also discuss how IP tokens could facilitate scientific entrepreneurship and how they open up decentralization in science by enabling a system where the community can partake in the governance processes.

• Reforming Science Funding Through Better Grants Programs | Ben Reinhardt: The hosts were joined by Ben Reinhardt, founder of Speculative Technologies, a nonprofit research organization that runs coordinated research programs to unlock groundbreaking innovations. In this episode, they explore the qualities that make funders exceptional and the key factors that contribute to successful startup grants. They also shed light on the social and financial asymmetries between grantor and grantee, highlighting their negative impact on the funding process. Other topics we they discussed are the differences between small and large grants, limitations of grant-making programs, common misconceptions between the public and private sector, and many more.

MISC

• EthCC 2023 video recordings.
• Vitalik Buterin — a history of account abstraction
• Sergey Nazarov Keynote at the Chainlink CCIP Launch Event

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