Bell Curve

Today's episode is a bonus episode from our podcast 0xResearch, produced by the Blockworks Research team. This is one of my favorite episodes they've done, a deep dive into the future of rollups, scaling and zk-tech. The first 15 minutes is the "analyst bullpen" segment on Arbitrum's recent governance debacle, followed by an interview with Preston Evans from Sovereign Labs (use the Timestamps if you want to skip ahead). If you enjoy this episode, follow the link in the show notes below to subscribe!

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Join us on 0xResearch as we interview Preston Evans, the Chief Scientist of Sovereign Labs. Why should you care about Sovereign? Because they're building the Sovereign SDK. Like the Cosmos SDK that enables modular plug-and-play experimentation for L1s, the Sovereign SDK is a modular toolkit for building zk-rollups on any chain with seamless composability. In this episode, we discuss how Sovereign's design compares to the Cosmos SDK and IBC, smart contract vs Sovereign rollups, the role of data availability, decentralized sequencer design and more! This is my favorite 0xResearch episode yet.

And as usual, we start the episode with our analyst bullpen to discuss the recent governance drama at Arbitrum!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:45) Arbitrum's Governance Blunder

(15:04) Blockworks Research

(16:03) Interview Start: What is Sovereign?

(22:23) The Sovereign SDK vs Cosmos SDK

(23:59) Settlement on Smart Contract vs Sovereign Rollups

(28:14) The Role of Data Availability

(32:24) Decentralized Sequencers

(37:54) Optimistic Rollup Tradeoffs

(41:24) Composability and IBC

(52:22) What Is Sovereign’s X Factor?

(54:17) Building Rollups on Bitcoin

(59:11) Sovereign’s Business Model and Timeline

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Resources:

Delegate ARB to Blockworks Research

https://twitter.com/blockworksres/status/1639279479368368132

Sovereign Labs

https://www.sovereign.xyz/

https://twitter.com/sovereign_labs

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Check out Blockworks Research today! Research, data, governance, tokenomics, and models – now, all in one place

Blockworks Research: https://www.blockworksresearch.com/

Free Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on 0xResearch 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. Dan, Sam, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 4 | Episode 2

In this episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Tarun Chitra and Justin Drake to discuss how builders are navigating the complex world of MEV. One of the hottest debates is MEV precedence. What parties in the MEV value chain should accrue MEV? Tarun and Justin give their takes and explain how applications and protocols are approaching this challenge. We then explore MEV auction vs latency games, how L2s complicate MEV, various approaches to MEV reduction and on-chain privacy and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview

(02:12) Interview Start

(32:00) “Rook Ad”

(33:54) MEV Burn

(41:45) Should the Application or Protocol Layer Reduce MEV?

(48:23) MEV Auction Game Theory

(51:55) The Role of Latency

(1:04:03) How L2s Increase the Complexity of Latency

(1:10:21) Privacy in the MEV Supply Chain

(1:26:42) Recap: Post-Interview

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Follow Tarun: https://twitter.com/tarunchitra

Follow Justin: https://twitter.com/drakefjustin

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

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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:

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

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

Ethereum Foundation

https://ethereum.org/en/foundation/

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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 this episode of Bell Curve, we explore the implications of CBDCs and how governments will use CBDC efficiencies as a veneer for control. We start by discussing stablecoins, how Tether has surprisingly become the "trusted" stable of crypto (or has it...) and the heated CBDC debate. We also discuss startup treasury management, if apps will launch their own L2s or launch on an existing ecosystem, the commercial real estate disaster and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:14) Tether: The Trusted Stablecoin?

(17:05) Startup Treasury Management

(20:39) Are CBDCs Inevitable?

(33:55) Copy-Paste L2s, AppChains and ETH L1

(47:51) ETH vs BTC's Monetary Premium

(52:01) A Commercial Real Estate Disaster

(1:04:08) AI Is Taking Over

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

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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 1

Welcome to Season 4 of Bell Curve, where we will explore crypto's dark forest: MEV. Hasu is joining Mike as this season's cohost. If you don't know Hasu, he is the strategy lead at Flashbots, strategic advisor at Lido, research collaborator at Paradigm and a prolific strategist.

In this episode, we introduce the topics and our thesis for the upcoming season. We discuss the MEV value chain, order flow auctions, how MEV affects security, atomic vs statistical arbitrage, the role of latency, fair ordering protocols and more! Hit subscribe as this will be the best season yet!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:19) The MEV Value Chain

(14:24) Order Flow Auctions

(21:10) MEV in a Modular Future

(28:50) How MEV Impacts the Security of an L1

(31:52) “Rook Ad”

(33:46) Atomic Arbitrage vs Statistical Arbitrage

(42:43) The Role of Latency

(51:10) Fair Ordering Protocols

(54:11) MEV on Solana and Cosmos

(59:36) Regulation

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

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

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

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

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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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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 this episode of Bell Curve, we discuss macro and the crazy decade ahead. The Fed is on the brink of stopping rate hikes, Balaji bet Bitcoin is going to $1M in 90 days, Credit Suisse collapsed, bonds are breaking and the market is a mess. What's coming next and where does the value lie in the chaos? It's all on this episode and it's spicy hot.

We also discuss Coinbase's Wells Notice from the SEC, where value will accrue in crypto and how ChatGPT is gunning for your job. You won't want to miss this one!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:01) Interest Rate Hikes and a Macro Mess 

(11:29) Credit Suisse’s Fire Sale

(17:37) Balaji's Bet, the Long-Term Debt Cycle & Macro Cont.

(45:39) Coinbase Receives SEC Wells Notice

(54:02) Where Will Value Accrue in Crypto?

(1:03:11) ChatGPT Chat

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

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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 this episode of Bell Curve, we explore the economic fallout from the recent banking collapse, if Powell has pushed things too far and why the crypto bulls are back despite the market turmoil. We just entered a new paradigm shift, and crypto is primed to take advantage.

We also cover the implications of USDC's depeg, how to evaluate protocol business models, Arbitrums $ARB airdrop and more! This is one episode you crypto bulls (and skeptics) won't want to miss.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

00:33 Has Powell Pushed Things Too Far?

19:07 USDC Depeg and Signature’s Shady Closure

29:54 Arbitrum’s Airdrop, Fundraising and Protocol Cashflows

44:58 Orbit: Abritrum’s New L3 Infrastructure

47:52 Why Do We Need a Commercial Banking System?

53:34 Catalysts for the Next Bull Market

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

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

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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.

This S3 finale covers the top takeaways from the last seven episodes, where we put the AppChain thesis to the test. Our thesis: Apps will leverage their proximity to customers to capture outsized value, mindshare and pricing power. Did the last seven episodes validate our thesis? Tune in for our conclusion and learnings on Aggregation Theory, product vs distribution, Cosmos' biggest weakness, scaling infrastructure and more!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) S3 Finale

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

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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.

Silvergate, crypto's primary bank, is closing shop. Silicon Valley Bank, tech's primary bank, is in a downward spiral. Two bank runs caused by low-interest rates, duration mismatches and FUD. How did this all start? What do these two banks have in common? And is this a systemic risk to the financial system? We answer all of these questions and more!

If you make it to the deep end (the last ~20 min), we also explore Coinbase's new WaaS offering, Coinbase's business outlook, Voyager's big win and bullish news for GBTC.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:33) Bank Runs: Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank

(54:14) ETH Denver Narratives

(57:00) Coinbase’s Wallet-as-a-Service & Strategy

(1:07:01) Voyager’s Win, GBTC Update and Politics

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

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

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Resources:

How Banks Fail

https://jaustincampbell.substack.com/p/how-banks-fail

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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 this episode of Bell Curve, we explore how shared security will ignite the AppChain revolution. David Tse, Javed Khan and Aidan Salzmann discuss how AppChains require sovereignty, interoperability and security; Cosmos has solved sovereignty and interoperability, but security is still a moving target. Could Bitcoin be the security solution for Cosmos and the AppChain future? Tune in to find out!

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

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Resources:

Rollkit

https://rollkit.dev/

https://twitter.com/RollkitDev

Babylon

https://www.babylonchain.io/

Stride

https://stride.zone/

https://twitter.com/stride_zone

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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.

Crypto goes bankless. Silvergate - the beleaguered crypto bank - failed to file its 10K, was just ditched by Coinbase (and friends) for Signature bank, and its stock plunged 50% in the last 24 hours. We explain everything and debate what's next for crypto's off-chain payment rails!

We also explore Noble (the Cosmos USDC issuance chain) ditching ICS, Jumps counter-exploit, Bitcoin's new narrative and why we're bullish Web3 gaming!

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:11) Silvergate Crashes: We’re Going Bankless

(18:45) Jump Exploits $300M Wormhole Exploiter

(28:26) Noble Ditches ICS & the AppChain Debate

(38:36) Bitcoin’s New Move

(42:53) Unity Embraces Web3 Gaming & Predictions

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

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Resources:

Jump Executes Counter Exploit Against Wormhole Exploiter

https://www.blockworksresearch.com/research/we-do-a-little-counter-exploit

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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.