Bell Curve

Season 4 | Episode 7

Welcome to Bell Curve! In this episode, we are joined by Henry de Valence and Barry Plunkett to discuss MEV in Cosmos. Henry and Barry explain the negative implications of Ethereum's maximal extraction philosophy, the benefits of AppChain sovereignty (as demonstrated by Osmosis' ProtoRev Module), the importance of privacy in MEV, ABCI 2.0 and much more. Join us for this exciting deep dive into one of the most innovative ecosystems in crypto!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(03:03) Ethereum’s Maximal Extraction Philosophy

(06:59) Cosmos vs Ethereum Validators

(13:07) Penumbra: Public and Private State

(26:01) Osmosis’ ProtoRev Module

(36:20) “Rook Ad”

(38:12) Cross-Domain MEV

(45:11) The Tension Between Sovereignty and Interoperability

(1:00:03) What is ABCI 2.0?

(1:08:24) Threshold Encryption Challenges

(1:13:08) The Privacy Tradeoff

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Follow Henry: https://twitter.com/hdevalence

Follow Barry: https://twitter.com/BPIV400

Follow Hasu: https://twitter.com/hasufl

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

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This episode is brought to you by Rook. Close to a billion dollars has already been taken out of users’ pockets through MEV. Rook built a solution that automatically drives this value back to where it belongs: with the users and applications that create it.

If you use on-chain products, tell your wallet, favorite app and go-to node provider to use Rook; if you're a developer, message us today to find out how to integrate Rook with your product. Follow Rook on Twitter and them a message at https://twitter.com/Rook.

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Resources:

Skip

https://skip.money/

https://twitter.com/SkipProtocol

Penumbra

https://penumbra.zone/

https://twitter.com/penumbrazone

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, we discuss Coinbase's earnings beat and Blur's new NFT lending product! Coinbase crushed revenue, meme coins are pumping and NFTFi is here. Is this all noise or have markets finally turned after the wild year? Tune in as we debate our market outlook, Blur and the financialization of NFTs, Curve's new crvUSD stablecoin, LST Summer and more!

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

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Resources:

GovHub

https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1654179131171512320

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 4 | Episode 6

In this episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Eugene Chen and Lucas Bruder to discuss MEV on Solana. We compare Solana's MEV market to Ethereum's and then delve into the unique MEV challenges from Solana's high-throughput design. Our conversation then turns to Solana's missing mempool, spam reduction strategies, resource pricing, and a detailed explanation of Jito's MEV solution. Eugene and Lucas also shed light on Solana's fee markets, Firedancer, the role of latency, and the tradeoffs of CLOBS and AMMs (this one's spicy).

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview

(02:56) Solana MEV 101

(13:29) Spam: 58% of Solana's Compute is on Failed Txs

(18:13) Jito's Design

(25:06) Jito vs Flashbots Adoption

(33:40) “Rook Ad”

(35:32) Who Captures the MEV?

(38:22) The Problems with MEV in Solana Today

(41:58) Solana’s Fee Markets

(49:58) PBS on Solana?

(52:43) Co-Location Incentives

(56:13) Jump and Firedancer

(58:27) DeFi on Solana

(1:03:56) CLOBS vs AMMs

(1:14:10) The Role of Latency

(1:20:14) Recap: Post-Interview

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Follow Lucas: https://twitter.com/buffalu__

Follow Eugene: https://twitter.com/0xShitTrader

Follow Hasu: https://twitter.com/hasufl

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

This episode is brought to you by Rook. Close to a billion dollars has already been taken out of users’ pockets through MEV. Rook built a solution that automatically drives this value back to where it belongs: with the users and applications that create it.

If you use on-chain products, tell your wallet, favorite app and go-to node provider to use Rook; if you're a developer, message us today to find out how to integrate Rook with your product. Follow Rook on Twitter and them a message at https://twitter.com/Rook.

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Resources:

Jito

https://www.jito.wtf/

https://twitter.com/jito_labs

Ellipsis Labs

https://ellipsislabs.xyz/

https://twitter.com/ellipsis_labs

@0x94305

https://twitter.com/0x94305

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, we discuss why crypto's top apps will win the wallet wars. We start by exploring tech's move to profitability, why we're bullish on Coinbase and the challenges of decentralized sequencers. We then discuss how suave and account abstraction are changing the landscape of MEV and user interactions. The wallet wars are coming; who will win? We finish with a discussion on ETH's LSD market, L1 vs L2 volume, the death of NFTs and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:08) Is Big Tech Back?

(14:11) “Lightspeed Ad”

(15:03) Commercial Real Estate Repricing

(18:13) Coinbase Sues the SEC

(28:56) Decentralized Sequencers

(35:54) Suave, Account Abstraction & the Wallet Wars

(44:05) ETH’s Withdrawal Queue and LSDs

(53:53) L1 vs L2 Volume

(1:01:14) Are NFTs Dead?

(1:07:23) Solana and The Great Convergence

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

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Lightspeed Podcast Opportunity:

Click below to learn more about Blockworks' upcoming Lightspeed podcast and submit an application to be one of our hosts!

https://bit.ly/3NlQUwH

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Resources:

DeFi Llama

https://defillama.com/

Blockworks Research Newsletter

https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 4 | Episode 5

Join us on Bell Curve as we delve into the world of MEV Searchers with guests Dean Eigenman and Anish Agnihotri. We start with an introduction to the role of Searchers, today's Searcher landscape and the Searcher business model. Dean and Anish then explain how Searchers find MEV opportunities, the relationship between Searchers and Builders, atomic vs non-atomic trades, the role of latency and more. This is your chance for an inside look into the business model of an MEV Searcher!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview

(02:36) Interview Start: Guest Backgrounds

(07:31) The MEV Searcher Landscape

(12:43) MEV Strategies Across Execution Environments

(23:55) Searcher Competition

(27:03) “Rook Ad”

(28:56) Searcher Competition

(35:29) The Relationship Between Searchers and Builders

(41:10) Searcher Capital Requirements

(43:11) Atomic vs Non-Atomic Trades

(51:29) Traditional HFT and How to Win at MEV

(55:40) The Role of Latency

(59:30) Centralization Concerns

(1:02:05) Minimizing MEV vs Maximal Extraction

(1:05:27) Qualities of a Great Searcher

(1:12:45) Recap: Post-Interview

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Follow Anish: https://twitter.com/_anishagnihotri

Follow Dean: https://twitter.com/deaneigenmann

Follow Hasu: https://twitter.com/hasufl

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

This episode is brought to you by Rook. Close to a billion dollars has already been taken out of users’ pockets through MEV. Rook built a solution that automatically drives this value back to where it belongs: with the users and applications that create it.

If you use on-chain products, tell your wallet, favorite app and go-to node provider to use Rook; if you're a developer, message us today to find out how to integrate Rook with your product. Follow Rook on Twitter and them a message at https://twitter.com/Rook.

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Resources:

Interview With a Searcher (Hasu, Uncommon Core)

https://spoti.fi/43Bueyk

End Game by Vitalik

https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/12/06/endgame.html

Dialectic

https://dialectic.ch/

https://twitter.com/Dialectic_Group

Project Blanc

https://github.com/project-blanc

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, we discuss this week's regulatory updates, the MEV debate and what to expect in the next bull cycle! We've had a hectic regulatory week with Gary Gensler's committee meeting, the EU's MICA legislation and a heated stablecoin hearing. We explore where US regulation is heading, the positive implications of MICA and if companies like Coinbase will move their operations to crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

We then discuss the potential return of FTX, the MEV debate and what narratives will play out in the next bull cycle. Why would anyone buy FTX? Will MEV be democratized, or can it be reduced? Why will the best GameFi projects outperform DeFi? Tune in to find out!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:23) Asia Embraces Crypto

(11:39) The Global Crypto Regulatory Landscape

(16:48) EU’s MICA Regulation

(25:21) Coinbase Secures Bermuda License

(34:45) “Lightspeed Ad”

(35:38) FTX: Back From the Dead?

(48:09) Flashbots’ MEV Share & the MEV Debate

(59:25) The Next Bull Market: GameFi vs DeFi

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

Lightspeed Podcast Opportunity:

Click here to learn more about Blockworks' upcoming Lightspeed podcast and submit an application to be one of our hosts!

- -

Resources:

Miners, Front-Running-as-a-Service Is Theft

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/04/07/miners-front-running-as-a-service-is-theft/

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 4 | Episode 4

In this episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Jon Charbonneau and Robert Miller to discuss how Ethereum's modular roadmap impacts the future of MEV. We explore L2 MEV design, decentralized sequencer models, cross-domain MEV, latency games, and Suave. Jon and Robert are two giga brains that understand the bleeding edge of modular MEV design!

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Timestamps:

(00:55) Intro: Pre-Interview

(02:39) How Ethereum’s Modular Roadmap Impacts MEV

(08:18) The Rollup Revolution: Consensus and Latency Games

(18:35) How Sequencers Work Today

(23:43) L2 MEV Models: Optimism and Arbitrum

(29:42) Why L2s Need PBS

(32:21) Decentralized Sequencer Designs

(44:45) Cross-Domain MEV and Atomicity

(53:46) Suave: The Mechanics, Order Flow Auctions & Roadmap

(57:07) “Rook Ad”

(59:09) Suave: The Mechanics, Order Flow Auctions & Roadmap

(1:27:50) Recap: Post-Interview

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Follow Jon: https://twitter.com/jon_charb

Follow Robert: https://twitter.com/bertcmiller

Follow Hasu: https://twitter.com/hasufl

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

This episode is brought to you by Rook. Close to a billion dollars has already been taken out of users’ pockets through MEV. Rook built a solution that automatically drives this value back to where it belongs: with the users and applications that create it.

If you use on-chain products, tell your wallet, favorite app and go-to node provider to use Rook; if you're a developer, message us today to find out how to integrate Rook with your product. Follow Rook on Twitter and them a message at https://twitter.com/Rook.

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Resources:

Rollups Aren't Real by Jon

https://joncharbonneau.substack.com/p/rollups-arent-real

Hasu's Mevconomics talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xS0xMzh9Tc&ab_channel=ETHGlobal

MEV Share

https://collective.flashbots.net/t/mev-share-programmably-private-orderflow-to-share-mev-with-users/1264

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, we discuss the pros and cons of Uniswap's new mobile wallet. Can Uniswap leverage their proximity with users to acquire the next wave of retail, build horizontal products, establish moats and compete with centralized offerings? Tune in to find out!

We also discuss account abstraction, the fappening, ETH's Shapella upgrade and how the US is falling behind in crypto.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:46) Uniswap's Mobile Wallet: The Pros and Cons

(09:12) “Lightspeed Ad”

(10:04) Uniswap's Mobile Wallet: The Pros and Cons

(29:40) Account Abstraction, the Fappening and Wallet-as-a-Service

(46:36) Solana’s Saga Phone

(57:58) Shapella: ETH Unleashed

(1:02:29) The U.S. Is Losing Its Edge in Crypto

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

Lightspeed Podcast Opportunity:

Click here to learn more about Blockworks' upcoming Lightspeed podcast and submit an application to be one of our hosts!

- -

Resources:

The Fappening

https://zeeprime.capital/the-fappening

State of Crypto 2023 by a16z

https://api.a16zcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/State-of-Crypto.pdf

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 4 | Episode 3

In this episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Matt Cutler from Blocknative to discuss the economics of MEV. We dive deep into MEV value capture, incentive structures and the relayer monetization debate (p.s. there's a great debate between Matt and Hasu). We also cover order flow auctions, latency wars, account abstraction, user preferences and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview

(02:20) Interview Start

(02:58) The MEV Supply Chain

(06:01) Relays: Their Role and Monetization Debate

(34:51) “Rook Ad”

(36:44) Learnings From a $25M MEV Exploit

(46:36) Wallets, User Preferences and Order Flow Auctions

(1:00:59) Account Abstraction and Exclusive Order Flow

(1:20:06) Recap: Post-Interview

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Follow Matt: https://twitter.com/mcutler

Follow Hasu: https://twitter.com/hasufl

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

This episode is brought to you by Rook. Close to a billion dollars has already been taken out of users’ pockets through MEV. Rook built a solution that automatically drives this value back to where it belongs: with the users and applications that create it.

If you use on-chain products, tell your wallet, favorite app and go-to node provider to use Rook; if you're a developer, message us today to find out how to integrate Rook with your product. Follow Rook on Twitter and them a message at https://twitter.com/Rook.

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Resources:

$25M MEV Exploit

https://blockworks.co/news/validator-frontruns-mev-bots

Blocknative

https://www.blocknative.com/

https://twitter.com/blocknative

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In today's episode, we debate Mike's tweet that Eth L2s have every feature Alt L1s are criticized for: centralized, downtime, opaque resource allocation and wild valuations. To get close to the metal, we compare Solana vs Arbitrum based on economics, network effects and future roadmap. If you listen to one conversation this week, this is it.

We also discuss Arbitrum's governance debacle, the value of protocol BD deals, a $25M MEV exploit, Euler's $200M recovery and Shanghai predictions!

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Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_manderson

Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianism

Follow Miles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneil

Follow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9

Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmD

Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH

- -

Lightspeed Podcast Opportunity

Click here to learn more about Blockworks' upcoming Lightspeed podcast and submit an application to be one of our hosts!

- -

Resources

Mike's Eth L2 vs Alt L1 debate tweet

https://twitter.com/mikeippolito_/status/1642262306712109057

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.