We couldn’t miss the Avalanche Summit where we sat down with Emin Gün Sirer, co-founder & CEO of Ava Labs, to discuss the evolution of Avalanche’s ecosystem and how HyperSDK ushers in a scalable, interoperable, multi-chain future. Join us for a fascinating discussion on Avalanche’s approach to decentralisation, scalability & interoperability, and learn why real-world applicability relies heavily on bespoke blockchain solutions.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Gün x Epicenter bromance
• How the Avalanche ecosystem & community evolved
• The future vision for Avalanche
• Scaling Avalanche and the HyperSDK
• Interoperability and the multi-chain future
• Decentralising Avalanche L1s
• Use cases and institutional adoption
• On-chain privacy
• AvaCloud
• The impact of AI in crypto
• Gün’s focus in the near future

Episode links:

• Emin Gun Sirer on X
• Avalanche on X
• Ava Labs on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

Blockchain architecture is constantly being forced to adapt to new technologies, as well as to meet new demands from users and builders. While the idea of apps building their own chains was first explored by Cosmos, it lacked the support and tooling to see it succeed. Later on, rollups also took the centerstage of Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, but due to their general purpose design, it led to a cannibalistic ecosystem. Initia learned from these 2 models and combined the best of both worlds: it built a full-stack framework for a seamless DevEx from the get-go and, more importantly, it designed its tokenomics in order to ensure maximum incentive alignment for its appchains. While the former decision removed the need for each separate chain to reinvent the wheel and risk ending up ‘a jack of all trades, master of none’, the latter ensured that appchains would not extract value away from the L1.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Ezaan’s background
• From building on Terra to Initia
• How Initia is rewriting the appchain thesis
• Initia’s enshrined liquidity & vested interest program (VIP)
• Metrics & Initia’s bet on crypto innovation
• Solving liquidity fragmentation
• Delphi’s involvement in Initia
• Future roadmap

Episode links:

• Ezaan Mangalji on X
• Jose Maria Macedo on X
• Anil Lulla on X
• Initia on X
• Delphi Digital on X
• Delphi report on Initia

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

As society evolves, so do its values and principles, but is that desirable for technology that seeks to build the most reliable, trustless and censorship resistant global settlement layer? Ever since the rise in popularity of Solana with its inflow of retail capital in a memecoin gold rush, Ethereum became even more criticized for sticking true to its core values despite the completely divergent demands of market participants. Moreover, the rollup centric scaling roadmap seemed to further silo attention and cause liquidity fragmentation, driving away value from Ethereum mainnet. As institutional demand is expected to grow with the introduction of staking ETFs, a new executive leadership took charge of Ethereum foundation to help steer the protocol’s narrative at the intersection between community demands and Ethereum’s ethos.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Hsiao-Wei’s & Tomasz’ backgrounds
• How they became co-executive directors of Ethereum Foundation
• Ethereum Foundation’s role moving forward
• Decision making in Ethereum Foundation
• Shaping Ethereum’s narrative
• The layer 2 landscape
• Scaling Ethereum as the global settlement layer
• Sharding
• Rollup scalability & their trade-offs
• What values drive adoption
• L2 interoperability
• Future goals

Episode links:

• Hsiao-Wei Wang on X
• Tomasz Stanczak on X
• Ethereum Foundation on X
• Ethereum on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Taiko is a decentralized, Ethereum-equivalent (type I) rollup scaling solution which uses ZK technology. Taiko's goal is to scale Ethereum efficiently while maintaining security and decentralization. Being a type I zkEVM, Taiko retains full Ethereum equivalence, which creates a seamless DevEx, although this comes at the expense of UX as slower proof generation is the main trade-off. Moreover, in order to stay true to its decentralised ethos, Taiko operates as a based rollup, meaning that transaction sequencing is performed by L1 validators.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Joaquin’s background
• Loopring and Taiko’s beginnings
• The 4 types of zkEVMs
• Taiko's zk circuits vs. Polygon’s
• Based sequencing
• Data availability and blob commitment
• Ethereum’s role in the future
• The L2 landscape and its compromises
• Sequencer security model
• Dealing with MEV
• Based preconfirmations & Taiko ecosystem UX

Episode links:

• Joaquin Mendes on X
• Taiko on X
• Loopring on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Founded by former Meta Diem team members, Sui is a high-performance, layer-1 blockchain designed for horizontal scaling and low-latency transactions. It uses an object-centric data model and the Move programming language to enable transaction parallelization which can handle >200,000 txs/s. Sui’s goal is to combine the benefits of blockchains with Web2’s security & frictionless UX. From account abstraction & ZKLogin, to on-chain storage & data availability solutions like Walrus, Sui rebuilds the Google/AWS stack, fully on-chain and composable.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Adeniyi’s background, from Libra to Sui
• Sui’s long-term vision
• The tech stack of Sui & its primitives
• ZKLogin & account abstraction
• Object-based approach
• Transaction processing & parallelization
• DevEx on Move vs. EVM vs. SVM
• Consensus & scalability
• MEV
• Gaming & SuiPlay
• DeFi on Sui
• Walrus data storage
• Nautilus
• Future roadmap

Episode links:

• Adeniyi Abiodun on X
• Mysten Labs on X
• Sui on X
• Walrus on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

With an extensive experience in traditional money markets, Maple Finance was envisioned as an institutional capital marketplace which combines the transparency & capital efficiency of blockchains with the regulatory framework of TradFi. Unlike many DeFi protocols that require over-collateralized loans (e.g. Aave), Maple also specializes in under-collateralized lending, enabling greater capital efficiency for institutional borrowers. With over $6b in loans since its inception, Maple plans to further expand its offerings by including RWAs as collateral assets.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Sid’s background
• The vision behind Maple Finance
• Maple’s tech stack
• Deciding risk profiles
• Over-collateralized vs. under-collateralized loans
• Assets accepted as collateral
• Deploying to other blockchains
• Institutional appeal
• Managing defaults
• RWA
• Converging DeFi & TradFi
• Biggest challenges
• Exciting upcoming trends
• Future roadmap
• Crypto correlation or decoupling?

Episode links:

• Sid Powell on X
• Maple Finance on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Tally is a software platform designed to support tokenized organizations, particularly Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and crypto communities. It provides tools for launching tokens, governing protocols, and enabling staking to foster community participation and growth. Tally facilitates onchain governance, allowing transparent and decentralized decision-making for managing funds, grants, and protocol upgrades. It powers major blockchain ecosystems like Arbitrum, ZKsync, Uniswap DAO and Wormhole DAO by providing interfaces for proposal creation, voting, and staking. The Tally Protocol further enhances this by offering a liquidity layer for governance tokens, that allow token holders to earn staking rewards while retaining voting rights and participating in DeFi.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Dennison’s background
• Has crypto won?
• Does privacy still matter?
• The vision behind Tally
• The evolution of DAOs
• Are grassroots DAOs viable?
• Corporate vs. DAO PMF
• How developer activity & contributors evolved
• Tally’s roadmap
• ICO vs. IPO

Episode links:

• Dennison Bertram on X
• Tally on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Namechain is an L2 developed by ENS Labs, to enhance the scalability and efficiency of managing decentralized identities on Ethereum. It is designed to work in tandem with ENS V2, which introduced a hierarchical registry system for more efficient subdomain management and custom resolvers. A key vision for Namechain is to unify multi-chain user identities, creating a "digital identity chain" that simplifies how users interact with the broader blockchain ecosystem. This is achieved through features like L2-to-L2 bridging, which allows users to initiate ENS-related activities from various Ethereum Layer 2 networks, not just Namechain itself.

Topics covered in this episode:

• High level overview of ENS
• Crosschain functionality through CCIP Read
• Domain squatting
• Onboarding ENS users via Paypal and Venmo
• Google & GoDaddy integrations
• ENS V2 upgrade & Namechain
• Transferring tokens from Namechain to L1
• Sequencer security assumptions
• Scalability
• New features & use cases
• ENS roadmap & metrics
• Ethereum ecosystem status

Episode links:

• Nick Johnson on X
• ENS on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.

Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake created a unique set of conditions (i.e. lack of protocol-level delegation, 32 ETH requirement, long exit queues, etc.) that led to Lido’s liquid staking model to gain huge traction, significantly eclipsing other LSD providers on native PoS chains. stETH added on-demand liquidity, bypassing withdrawal windows, while also increasing DeFi utilization and increasing yields. Moreover, by allowing users to stake any amount of ETH in pools, it removed the requirement for 32 ETH increments, ultimately improving decentralisation through long tail distribution of individual stakers. Lido V3 introduces modular stVaults which enable staking customization. This allows professional actors, such as institutional stakers, to have granular control over validators, MEV and other parameters, diversifying their investment strategies.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Hasu’s background
• Discovering Lido
• Liquid staking and the early days of Lido
• Why liquid staking gained traction on Ethereum
• The evolution of Lido
• Initial decentralisation concerns and the importance of dual governance
• Restaking
• Lido V3 and vaults
• Institutional staking & ETFs
• Ethereum’s ‘crisis’ and its values

Episode links:

• Hasu on X
• Lido on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

While DeFi’s ultimate goal is to provide an alternative for TradFi, blockchain gaming caters to retail masses, onboarding millions of users to crypto through incentives and fun gameplay. The greatest success story in Web3 gaming thus far has been, without a doubt, Axie Infinity. Apart from creating an engaged community whose early adopters also experienced rags-to-riches stories, it kickstarted an entire movement around play-to-earn gaming. Many have tried copying it, yet most of them failed. Axie Infinity managed to design a sustainable economy that combined NFTs and fungible tokens. The result was the first gamified crypto mining event, at scale. In order to accommodate such a massive demand, in a time when L2 rollups were still in R&D, Sky Mavis founded Ronin, a gaming-oriented Ethereum sidechain. The community that formed around Axie Infinity created a tremendous network effect, solidifying Ronin’s PMF as a gaming powerhouse. Before long, many up-and-coming titles migrated to Ronin, and the growth effects in all their key metrics (i.e. DAUs, transactions, revenue, etc.) further fuelled the flywheel.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Jeff’s background
• Cryptokitties
• Joining Axie Infinity and how it evolved
• Monetizing Axie’s economy
• The recipe for successful blockchain games
• Building Ronin, the gaming L1
• On-chain vs. off-chain game elements
• Community building
• Ronin’s economy & composability
• Most suitable gaming genre for Web3
• AI x gaming
• Crypto gaming investments
• Ronin’s current state and future roadmap
• Axie’s upcoming MMO

Episode links:

• Jeff Zirlin on X
• Axie Infinity on X
• Ronin on X
• Sky Mavis on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus One: one of the largest node operators worldwide, trusted by 175,000+ accounts across more than 60 networks, Chorus One combines institutional-grade security with the highest yields at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.