Credible Commitments

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I have a conversation with 0xprincess, founder of NuConstruct. We begin by diving into 0xprincess' journey through the world of arbitrage and the notorious dark forest, examining how MEV competition on Ethereum has evolved into today's competitive landscape. For the centerpiece of our discussion, 0xprincess breaks down TOOL (Trustless Orderflow Operations Layer), which effectively transforms Ethereum into a one second blocktime chain without requiring protocol modifications. After the TOOL deep dive, we examine ePBS (enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation), which leads to a thoughtful discussion on the EIP process itself, what works and how to improve it. Following this, we discuss the unique attributes that make Ethereum special, particularly its credibility. We close the episode with reflections on pseudoanon culture in crypto.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Nuconstruct origins
(03:14) - DEX to DEX arbitrage
(04:15) - Into the dark forest
(08:30) - MEV competition today
(13:28) - Liquidity network effects
(19:42) - Trustless Orderflow Operations Layer (TOOL)
(23:06) - Leader based consensus
(29:06) - Open auction for orderflow
(30:55) - Early confirmations and 1s bock times
(36:00) - Trust Domain Extensions (TDX)
(43:09) - Validator adoption of TOOL
(47:30) - Fundraising
(53:08) - Product mindset
(57:28) - EIP-7732: ePBS
(1:03:58) - Improving the EIP process
(1:07:08) - Product discovery
(1:16:34) - EIP Process is well polished
(1:18:03) - Ethereum ossification risks
(1:22:50) - Ethereum has credibility
(1:29:24) - Price is not correlated with tech
(1:33:00) - Anon and pseudo-anon culture
(1:40:34) - The TOOL is live! (testnet)

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I speak with Jeremy Ornelas of Heliax, the company behind Anoma and Namada. We begin the conversation by discussing Jeremy's experience building an engineering team from the ground up. Next, we spend considerable time debating the affordances of Elixir and why it was chosen for the first Anoma implementation. After that, we discuss Anoma's Controller system at length, which draws some design inspiration from GenServers in Erlang. Later, we discuss the nuances of shipping viable products. We finish the conversation discussing object systems and relation to the Anoma Virtual Machine.

Timestamps

(00:40) - Boiling Frogs
(03:55) - Engineering culture
(09:40) - Weird programming languages
(12:40) - Anoma loves Elixir
(17:32) - History of Erlang and Elixir
(23:02) - Phoenix
(27:19) - Make cents for your bottom line
(32:28) - Elixir is live and has actors
(38:24) - Exploring the dominion of Anoma
(44:26) - Controllers and local domains
(50:27) - Ubiquitous compute
(55:51) - Ethereum speaks Anoma
(1:01:50) - All of this should be hackable
(1:06:22) - Product focused organization
(1:10:07) - What's the holdup on Anoma?
(1:14:14) - Products that make sense
(1:17:24) - Object system
(1:24:12) - Intents in Prolog
(1:28:05) - LLMs replacing devs
(1:34:00) - The Blub Paradox

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.  

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to Josh Bowen [founder of Astria]. We begin the conversation discussing Josh's background as an SWE at Google and his experience working on The Graph and Celestia before founding Astria. We discuss shared sequencers, the regulatory environment, and existential questions around use cases. Next, we move to a robust discussion on product design, application categories, vertical integration, and regulatory arbitrage. Later, we discuss live and dead players, as well as upcoming trends such as mobile apps and spend-focused adoption strategies. We conclude the conversation on MEV metagames, including the minutiae of PBS auctions. 

Timestamps

(00:48) - Folding at home
(02:45) - Data Availability 101
(07:45) - Most startups are an act of desperation
(12:04) - The shared lazy sequencer
(19:00) - Scaling bottlenecks
(21:00) - Navigating regulations
(25:10) - Existential question of use cases
(29:45) - Pragmatic product design
(37:14) - The victory of the social technology
(43:00) - Perps, yield bearing stables, & reg arb
(47:49) - Equity perps and 24/7 trading
(50:49) - FX trading onchain
(54:59) - Prediction Markets
(57:48) - Payments
(1:05:39) - Orderflow and vertical integration
(1:18:28) - Venture funding game
(1:26:16) - Growth strategies
(1:32:17) - No one knows what they are doing
(1:43:00) - Live and Dead Players
(1:48:13) - Mobile apps and wearables
(1:57:43) - Airdrops and growth mechanisms
(2:05:46) - Referrals and adoption strategies
(2:18:24) - MEV Metagames
(2:25:57) - Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I sit down with Murat Akdeniz (founder of Primev). We begin by discussing Murat's background in tracking FX rates of the USD against the Turkish Lira. Next, we dive into MEV-Commit, including the Devcon lore, applications you can build with MEV-Commit, and application-specific sequencing. Murat then schools us on everything product. In particular, product-centric building, advocating for the user from the research process to implementation, along with some general product management best practices. Later, we discuss the MEV redistribution trade-off and design space and the impact of regulatory reform on tokens. We finish the conversation on a light note where Murat shares his experience as a dad.

(00:21) - FX origins
(01:56) - Family Ties
(04:59) - Devcon Lore
(08:30) - MEV-Commit
(13:09) - Preconfs for Bridges
(17:16) - Building with Ethereum
(20:41) - Compossability
(25:00) - Product Leadership
(30:44) - Trade-off space
(35:07) - Designing auctions 
(38:33) - Native apps on MEV-Commit chain?
(41:30) - A.S.S. [App Specific Sequencing]
(44:00) - Product adoption cycle
(49:21) - Raising the bar
(54:44) - Stable coin existential risks
(1:00:11) - Endgame
(1:06:54) - MEV redistribution
(1:09:25) - Tokenized MEV
(1:16:35) - Regulatory reform
(1:21:11) - Being a Dad
(1:25:27) - Encrypted Mempools need Love

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I sit down with Ellie Davidson (Head of R&D at Espresso). We begin the episode by discussing Ellie's background working on products for Vanguard, her passion for technology, and her early time at Espresso as a consensus researcher. Next, we spend some time breaking down the different flavors of sequencing before getting into balancing Ethereum coordination with her role at Espresso. After, we spend some time on the Open Intents framework by discussing the ideal use cases for intents and solver economics. We end the episode by discussing Ellie's experience building the Compassable Podcast and how to maintain neutrality on the microphone. 

(01:03) - Working at Vanguard
(02:31) - Innit for the tech
(03:58) - Espresso loves privacy
(06:03) - Shared vs Centralized Sequencing
(13:51) - Espresso and Ethereum Leadership & Coordination
(20:50) - Open Intents Framework
(26:05) - Standards and Coordination
(34:11) - Fast Finality for Ethereum
(38:12) - Rainbow Staking
(40:22) - Fast confirmations and native assets
(45:13) - Intents are perfect for that
(52:50) - High bootstrapping cost for solvers
(55:10) - Podcasting skills
(1:01:00) - Credible Neutrality
(1:08:38) - Contributing to Ethereum
(1:10:58) - Ethereum dictator for a day

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I chat with Joshua Gunn [Co-founder of Aori]. The conversation is action-packed. We begin by discussing Josh's background in market making and then move to unpacking DEX design. Next, we spend some time understanding intents in the context of single-chain and cross-chain applications, including bridging risks, finality, and market microstructure. From there, we spice things up by deconstructing Arbitrum's Time-Boost, where Josh shares his spicy yet correct takes. Later, we discuss the challenges of shipping viable products, product philosophy, and distribution. We close the episode by examining Ethereum in the context of vibes-based analysis. 

Timestamps

(00:22) - Steel and metallurgy 
(02:59) - Building a Solver
(08:16) - The Evolution of DEXs
(10:00) - Value leakage in AMMs
(11:14) - Fixing deadweight loss with order books
(14:34) - Auctions are trash
(17:00) - Off-chain order book with on-chain settlement
(23:00) - Single-chain vs. cross-chain Intent platforms
(30:38) - Intents are the first real idea that can supersede Tradfi
(34:31) - Rebalancing across chains
(40:00) - Heterogeneous finality
(42:44) - Mint/Burn is a solver's dream
(46:06) - All markets are the same
(49:16) - Flash Boys, Auctions & Arbitrum
(56:27) - Time-boost was a bad decision
(1:02:00) - Sunk cost fallacy
(1:06:01) - Product development challenges
(1:12:07) - How fast can you launch a token?
(1:16:52) - Product shipping philosophy
(1:20:33) - Vibes-based distribution
(1:24:00) - The medium is the message
(1:30:55) - Ethereum lost its vibes

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I speak to Tabasco [COO of Particle, Chief Yapping Officer of UniversalX] about his journey in crypto, starting with mining Dogecoin and building Discord bots. After, we spend time discussing the latest in conference trends and how to do better (reflecting primarily on ETH Denver). We converse on how to survive and thrive in this market by building great products. Later, we spend time unpacking chain abstraction, standards, and disrupting incumbent service providers, including product-led growth and customer acquisition strategies. In the final segment, Tabasco discusses his personal North Star and why he continues to build in crypto.

(01:28) - 19 Years Old
(04:22) - Mining Dogecoin
(06:30) - Building a tip bot on Discord
(12:16) - Running a business
(17:17) - Conference BS and high context events
(26:57) - Watch out for FEDs and regulators
(37:39) - Survival of the fittest
(48:53) - Revenue is good
(55:35) - UniversalX and products
(1:06:23) - Lightbulb moment for Chain Abstraction
(1:12:42) - Chain Abstraction is computer
(1:26:53) - Who can build something that people want to use?
(1:37:05) - Standards & Universal Accounts
(1:46:58) - Smart accounts, 7702, 4337, Pectra
(1:54:44) - Pivot to Chain Abstraction
(2:05:00) - Disrupting incumbent wallet providers
(2:14:29) - Customer acquisition strategy
(2:19:32) - Tabasco's North Star 

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to 0xTaker (MEV janitor at searcher.dev) about his journey in crypto beginning with Bitcoin, progressing to building exchanges, operating as a market maker, and co-founding Aori. 0xTaker takes us down the MEV rabbit hole. We converse on welfare maximization, ASS, and Intents. Later, we spent time discussing chain abstraction through the lens of user experience, coming out on the other side with a discussion on culture and protocol development. We also discussed tokens. In particular, their different use cases. In the final segment 0xTaker opens up about his personal philosophy of building remote startups, autonomy, and purpose.

Timestamps

(00:00) - Origins
(01:26) - Starting with gaming
(06:10) - Bitcoin solving payments in 2014
(07:21) - Building an exchange
(19:36) - Down the MEV rabbit hole
(26:50) - Welfare maxing
(29:55) - ASS Experimentation
(33:04) - Intents
(37:04) - Hyperfinancialization
(42:18) - Accelerationsim
(46:23) - Chain Abstraction
(53:36) - Chain Abstraction is inevitable
(58:18) - Protocol development & Aggregation
(1:00:41) - Culture, Product, Brand
(1:05:00) - User experience
(1:09:49) - Aggregation breakouts
(1:11:16) - Talk about tokens
(1:16:36) - Trust me bro tokens
(1:25:18) - VC backed infra tokens
(1:28:35) - Token use cases
(1:37:50) - Building remote startups
(1:42:57) - Autonomy vs. employment
(1:46:18) - Advice to a younger self

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we chat with Vaibhav Chellani, co-founder of Socket, about chain abstraction. VC recounts his journey from building Polygon POS to working on Plasma and ZK rollups at the Ethereum foundation to building Socket and Bungee Exchange. The conversation illuminates misconceptions around chain abstraction and replaces them with emergent mental models. In particular, we discuss chain abstracted applications, bootstrapping marketplaces, and the role of transmitters, solvers, fillers, and market makers in counterparty discovery and settlement. We finish by discussing the future of chain abstraction and playing a win-win strategy. 

Timestamps
(00:00) - Scaling Ethereum
(05:21) - Building Polygon
(06:56) - Shoutout to Cosmos
(08:29) - Experience at EF & Polygon
(12:47) - Builder recognition
(14:58) - Scaling
(20:06) - Chain Abstraction in practice
(24:16) - Chain Abstraction rants
(33:18) - Pivot from cross-chain to chain abstraction
(36:18) - Take users to a global state
(39:57) - Permissionless watchers
(42:39) - Transmitters, Solvers, Fillers, Market Makers
(47:47) - Chain Abstracted Swap Applications
(49:53) - Bungee Exchange
(52:37) - Counterparty discovery
(56:48) - Bootstrapping a marketplace
(59:29) - Magic Spend++
(1:02:54) - Ethresearch aura  
(1:05:44) - Modular order flow auctions
(1:10:34) - Positive sum games
(1:14:21) - Advice for new developers

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.

In this episode of Deeply Intents, we sit down with Ankit Chiplunkar, co-founder of OneBalance. We discuss his path from aerospace engineering to resource locks. Ankit breaks down his prior research at Frontier, including MEV, order flow auctions, and the CAKE framework. Next we invest time into discussing OneBalance, resource locks, credible accounts with TEEs and the future of chain abstracted applications. Finally, Ankit shares the secret sauce of how he balances startup life and family time.

Chapters
(00:00) - Origins
(01:36) - Aerospace engineer
(06:54) - Time at Coinbase
(09:49) - EV_Signal & EV_Ordering
(14:32) - Orderflow Auctions
(19:07) - Order types and user preferences
(21:16) - Solver speed and price auctions
(26:20) - Baking CAKE
(29:12) - Different types of users
(38:12) - Users have chains
(43:25) - One Balance & Resource Locks
(52:35) - Credible Accounts with TEEs
(58:49) - New user preferences every cycle
(1:04:50) - Access to users across networks
(1:10:14) - The path for chain abstraction
(1:15:00) - Intents + Chain Abstraction
(1:20:58) - Balancing life

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice.