Base Layer

Amrit joins me on Base Layer to provide insight into Zilliqa, a high-throughput public blockchain platform designed to scale to thousands of transactions per second. Zilliqa aims to drive the blockchain industry forward by developing the highest quality technology infrastructure which can create measurable and real-world impact. To that end, we have sought to establish partnerships across industry verticals that have emerged as clear beneficiaries to innovative, decentralised technologies, with participation across digital advertising, financial services, payments, gaming, as well as digital entertainment. More info here: https://www.zilliqa.com/

Artur joins me on the show from Somnium Space, an open and social virtual reality world built on the Ethereum blockchain. You can buy land, build or import objects, and instantly enjoy or monetize assets. Somnium space is a universe shaped entirely by its community of users. This world continues to fascinate me as what our potential future may be (or is becoming already) so enjoy! Check it out here: https://somniumspace.com/

Devin, the co-founder of Opensea, joins me on Base Layer for a great review of how they are building what I am calling the Amazon of NFT's. OpenSea is a marketplace for digital goods, including collectibles, gaming items, digital art, and other digital assets that are backed by a blockchain like Ethereum. On OpenSea, you can buy, sell, and trade any of these items with anyone in the world. OpenSea is currently the largest general marketplace for user-owned digital goods, with the broadest set of categories (200 and growing), the most items (over 4 million), and the best prices for new categories of items. We discuss this massive growth and what the future looks like in this exciting sector of digital assets.

Matthew joins me on Base Layer for a great conversation about the furthering of the institutionalization of Digital Assets. Matthew spent a large percentage of his career at GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset management firm started in 2971 that currently has around $55 billion in assets. We talk about his transition to Digital Assets, especially the 'why'. You will also hear a great conversation around: Active versus Passive investing, why a FOF approach makes sense for digital assets, the differences between traditional hedge fund due diligence & the digital asset version and much more.

JP joins me for an excellent show in which we delve deep into the state of the state of Bitcoin mining, hitting on the health of mining here in the United States and also on the technological aspects associated with it. For those learning about digital assets, Bitcoin and this ecosystem we also give a primer on hash rate, discuss the use of renewal energy associated with mining and discuss where in the technology curve the equipment associated with mining is.

Andrew, the Managing Partner at Sfermion, joins me for a comprehensive discussion on the entire world of NFT's and the "Metaverse". There has been a shift from all things DeFi to the world of NFT's where art and gaming is taking a whole new shape. For anyone trying to understand what is happening in this sub sector of Ethereum based platforms this is a must listen. Also check out Andrew's blog: https://andrewsteinwold.substack.com/people/1809735-andrew-steinwold

Alex joins me on Base Layer for what I can describe as a master class in NFT's. What is an NFT and why is everyone talking about it? Alex answers that and much more and tells us what Rarible is; one of the best marketplaces today for this world of art, gaming and more intersecting. It allows people with no experience create NFT's and really experience this world. Must listen to episode!

Tor rejoins us on Base Layer to discuss Secret Network, the first blockchain to allow privacy-preserving smart contracts. That means applications built on Secret can utilize encrypted data without revealing it to anyone, even the nodes in the network. By supporting encrypted inputs, encrypted outputs, and encrypted state for smart contracts, Secret Network allows for new kinds of powerful decentralized applications to be built. This can unlock substantial value across multiple verticals and industries, including the following: 1) Decentralized Finance: support for privacy-preserving asset transfers, lending, and more; 2) Data Sharing: sharing and monetizing data while keeping it secure, 3) Machine Learning: discovering powerful insights while protecting underlying data; 4) Healthcare: allowing research over encrypted data, driving innovation; 5) Gaming: enabling more open and more usable gaming experiences.

Rich joins me on Base Layer for a great conversation about some of the macro trends in Digital Assets throughout the summer; we discussed Bitcoin and spent a good amount of time on DeFi, what's happening in that world and the opportunity set. We discussed some of the solutions GSR provides investors such as growing the size of your balance sheet with customized yield enhancing strategies such as lending and call overwriting. Great overview and discussion from a team with years of experience from traditional markets that crossed the chasm to digital assets.

Tegan joins me for a great episode of Base Layer to discuss all the things The Graph are working on. The Graph Network is core infrastructure for Web3—a necessary component for delivering decentralized applications with consumer-grade performance. The Graph is a decentralized protocol for indexing and querying data from blockchains, starting with Ethereum. We discuss the complexity of completely re-inventing the web as we know it using distributed & decentralized layers and busting some of the myths that have delayed dApp/Web3 development.