In this week's Roundup, the crew dives into the growing intersection of AI and crypto, and the debate over AI agents transacting onchain. They explore the viability of zkAI, VC interest in crypto amid an AI-driven funding landscape, and the growing divergence between the OP Stack and Arbitrum. Finally, they tackle on-chain governance struggles, the fixation on block times, and why, despite bearish sentiment, the long-term future of crypto has never looked brighter. Enjoy!

Resources

OP Stack & Arbitrum Stack diverging: https://x.com/pumatheuma/status/1897746210351726883

Funding Rounds in Crypto: https://defillama.com/raises

Mert’s SIMD-228 Post: https://x.com/0xMert_/status/1900172113287565754

–

L2s and L3s are history. Supra Containers give you dedicated, customizable AppSpace on Supra’s Layer-1 to rescue you from the costs, complexities, and fragmentation of L2s and L3s. 

Containers help you build with better customization and control than appchains at a fraction of the cost. Use your own token as the gas token, create local fee markets with custom gas amounts or just go gasless, and scale on demand whenever you need to.

Supra Containers are secured by Supra’s L1 nodes and get access to Supra’s 500k TPS throughput, sub-second consensus latency, and all their built-in services like oracle price feeds and onchain randomness without any overhead. Supra is also MultiVM compatible so you can easily deploy your EVM, Move, and SVM smart contracts here.

Get all the freedom, control, and tools you need to build super dApps and bring the world onchain. To learn more, visit www.supra.com/blockworks

- -

Follow Jill: https://x.com/jillrgunter

Follow Nick: https://x.com/nickwh8te

Follow Uma: https://x.com/pumatheuma

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

Follow Expansion: https://x.com/ExpansionPod_

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

Subscribe on Apple: http://apple.co/4bGKYYM

Subscribe on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3Vaubq1

Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/

--

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:57) Why Would AI Agents Transact Onchain?

(07:17) Is zkAI Viable?

(10:45) Supra Pre-Roll

(11:10) Does Grok Suck?

(12:59) VC Interest in Crypto

(15:30) OP Stack and Arbitrum Orbit Stack Diverging

(27:02) Are Regulatory Pressures Impacting L2 Models?

(34:16) Supra Mid-Roll

(35:00) The Fixation on Block Times

(40:11) Onchain Governance Struggles

(55:57) Optimism For Crypto's Future

- -

Disclaimer

Expansion was kickstarted by a grant from the Celestia Foundation.

Nothing said on Expansion 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. Michael, Nick, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.