Base Layer

Michael joins us to discuss Star Atlas, one of the most talked-about P2E, blockchain-based games coming to market. Star Atlas is a virtual gaming metaverse based in the year 2620. The metaverse introduces a unique gaming experience through the combination of both traditional core game and blockchain mechanics, which Michael discusses along the journey of building the game. Building games is challenging in conventional markets; making a play-to-earn game is even more difficult. Learn why so many are talking about this.

Pat White and Amy Kalnoki join me for a special Base Layer episode as we discuss Bitwave, a tax and accounting platform that digital asset projects are flocking to. Why? Bitwave has developed special tools to focus specifically on the implications of DeFi activity like staking, yield farming, and more. Bitwave is the first investment in our new venture fund, Endeavor, and we discuss why we invested in the team, the total addressable market, the tools they've built, and much more. To learn more about Bitwave you can go here.

Today, a big show highlights some work we have done at Arca, the firm I have helped build over the last three years. Rayne Steinberg, our CEO, joins me on the show today to navigate the news we are dropping and what it entails for the future. Fascinating stuff - I can't wait for you all to listen!

Scott, the CEO of Candy Digital, recently came on Base Layer to talk about building one of the most interesting NFT based sports collections to date. The world learned about sports NFT's via NBA Top Shot, but what Candy is building is different - adding experiences like throwing out the first pitch or being able to meet the players of the team you love, all by buying a special NFT they create. Learn more about Scott and what they are doing at Candy - if you love sports as I do, this is one for you.

Ahmed joins me on the show for a great discussion on the build-out of Biconomy, a project I was lucky enough to know about in the earliest of days. Today, Biconomy seeks to accelerate web3.0 adoption by making all its components more composable, interoperable & usable. Tomorrow, Biconomy is the foundation of how transactions and chain interaction take place seamlessly and frictionlessly. Listen in on how they are doing this and learn about next-gen tooling for Web 3.0.

Zach joins me on the show to talk about his road to helping build Mintable, a marketplace where people can find, sell and mint their own NFT's. We talk about the "mom experiment" -- creating a user interface that eliminates some of the technical complexities so more people outside the box could enjoy participating in this new world. We also talk about gaming and the idea that all IP will eventually be an NFT. Super interesting conversation with what we call an OG.

Sebastien, the co-founder of The Sandbox, joins me for a must-listen on the state of blockchain-based gaming. Over the past two years, this industry has seen exponential growth, from daily active users (DAU's) of some games eclipsing 1 million players to new metaverses that should make any diehard Minecraft or Roblox player take a look. Listen to a pioneer in the space and hear what's happening here.

Base Layer is back with Alex Svanenik from Nansen, a research platform used by professional investors in Digital Assets. With Nansen you can see where funds are moving to, identify new projects or tokens, and trace transactions down to the most granular level. Listen in on the three-year journey to build this platform and where it's going in the future.

Derek joins me on the show to talk all about Moonbeam which is a blockchain project built back in January 2020 as a way to tackle cross-chain interoperability challenges, it is an Ethereum compatible smart contract parachain (and we discuss what that means) on Polkadot. For those who are not familiar with Polkadot, it is a multi-blockchain platform where projects can have their own blockchain designed to meet their specific needs rather than use a general-purpose blockchain that might not have all they need. 

Founded in 2014, Bitso, the Mexico City-based company offers multiple cryptocurrency products and services to more than 2 million customers across Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Pablo Gonzalez, the Co-Founder of Bitso joins me to discuss their offering which includes: the Bitso App which lets users buy, sell, send, or receive bitcoin and 8 other cryptocurrencies; Bitso Alpha, a professional-grade crypto trading platform; and Bitso Business, a suite of cross-border products for local enterprises. Recently the company raised a $250M Series C led by Coatue and Tiger Global, two prominent funds in the world; we learn why in this episode.