Inflection Points

Cosmos, Institutional Infrastructure, and the Multi-Chain Future: A Conversation with Magmar (Interchain Labs)


Listen Later

The multi-chain future isn't coming—it's here. But winning it requires more than just technology.

In this episode of Inflection Points, host Jack Purdy sits down with Magmar, co-CEO of the Interchain Foundation, to explore how Cosmos is evolving from crypto-native adoption to institutional infrastructure—and why that shift changes everything about blockchain growth strategy.

From early Litecoin mining to co-founding NFT platform Cent (which sold Jack Dorsey's famous $2M tweet) to now leading the Interchain Foundation, Magmar shares hard-won lessons about building for the long-term vision while navigating short-term market realities:

  • Why the 2019 multi-chain thesis proved prophetic—and what institutional adoption looks like in practice
  • How to measure real-world value creation beyond TVL and other gameable DeFi metrics
  • The sovereignty premium: why enterprises choose L1s over smart contracts or L2s
  • Revenue models that work: from cross-chain transaction fees to chain-as-a-service offerings
  • Why they walked away from the EVM compatibility race—and doubled down on institutional sales instead
  • Real case studies: Ondo's tokenized assets, XRP sidechains, and Provenance's $40B in on-chain enterprise assets
  • The regulatory clarity driving this wave—and how it creates competitive moats

Drawing on seven years of organic adoption across 500+ chains, Magmar outlines a vision where every business eventually operates its own blockchain—with Cosmos providing the infrastructure that connects them all.

👋 0:00 – Magmar's journey: from 2012 Litecoin mining to leading Cosmos
 🌐 3:46 – Multi-chain evolution: how the 2019 vision became reality
 🏢 9:11 – Enterprise adoption: why institutions want sovereignty over smart contracts
 📊 14:42 – Beyond TVL: measuring real business value in a multi-chain world
 💰 23:37 – Revenue models: monetizing infrastructure without compromising open source ideals
📈 30:45 – Incentives: using grants and incentives to drive growth well using governance-controlled community pools
 🎯 33:30 – Strategic focus: how positioning influences developer activity
 ⚖️ 41:20 – Risk management: regulatory setbacks vs. competitive threats
 🔮 45:10 – The long view: betting on business blockchain adoption over the next decade

Inflection Points is a podcast by Flipside that surfaces the pivotal choices, data-backed frameworks, and long-view builders creating resilient blockchain ecosystems.

Want to learn more about Cosmos?
 👉 Follow @Cosmos on X for ecosystem updates

Want to learn more about Flipside Crypto?
📊 Learn and try out the FlipsideAI Blockchain Intelligence Platform
👉 Read the Intelligence-Driven Growth Playbook
🐦 Follow Flipside on X for more intelligence @flipsidecrypto

Want to dig deeper into the principles of Intelligence-Driven Growth?

👉 Read the Intelligence-Driven Growth Playbook
📊 Learn about Flipside's ecosystem growth engine
🐦 Follow Flipside on X for more intelligence @flipsidecrypto

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Inflection PointsBy Flipside