Infinite Jungle

On Ep. 62 of Infinite Jungle, Christine chats with Robert Miller, Product Lead at Flashbots, and Lily Johnson, Rust Engineer at Astria Labs, about the latest developments in the MEV space. Robert presents Rollup-Boost, a new platform for enabling various features on Layer-2 rollups such as fast confirmation times and transaction ordering rules. He explains the role of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) in Rollup-Boost and how “shreds” on Solana inspired the design of Rollup-Boost. Lily presents EIP 7727, a proposal to change the Ethereum protocol to enable app-specific sequencing rights. Lily explains the purpose of the EIP is to give smart contracts on Ethereum more control over how their transactions are ordered and thereby redirect MEV value based off these transactions to app stakeholders, such as liquidity providers.

Guests:

Name: Robert Miller

Title: Product Lead at Flashbots

X: https://x.com/bertcmiller

Name: Lily Johnson

Title: Rust Engineer at Astria Labs

X: https://x.com/lobstermindset

Show note links:

Timestamps:

(00:01:32) What is Rollup Boost?

(00:07:21) How Solana Shreds Inspired the Design of Rollup-Boost

(00:10:28) The Role of TEEs in Rollup-Boost

(00:15:40) What is EIP 7727?

(00:18:46) What Stakeholders Should Capture MEV Value?

(00:26:32) Is MEV Easier to Solve on L2s than L1?

(00:31:15) The Most Pressing Challenges to Solving MEV

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 25, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.61 of Infinite Jungle, Christine talks about the main takeaways from All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call #199. On the latest call, developers reconfirmed the decision to include EIP 7742 in Pectra as a pre-requisite for a blob capacity increase. They also debated the merits of doubling the Ethereum block gas limit. Christine explains what the block gas limit is and what concern were raised by developers about changing it. She also notes that developers are recalculating costs for BLS precompiles. One of the additional concerns about these code changes aside from their pricing is their use case for application developers. One of the developers on the call said that he was unsure of the use cases for the precompile given that application developers may find it difficult to migrate existing infrastructure to rely on the new cryptographic signature scheme.

Show note links: 

• https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-execution-call-199/

Timestamps:

(00:01:04) Pectra Devnet Updates

(00:04:34) BLS Precompile Repricing Efforts

(00:13:25) What is the Block Gas Limit?

(00:19:38) Concerns About Raising the Block Gas Limit

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 25, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 60 of Infinite Jungle, Christine interviews Keone Hon, Cofounder and CEO of Monad Labs. They speak about the technology behind Monad, an alternative Layer-1 blockchain. Keone explains the four key optimizations of Monad that will enable the network to scale the transaction throughput of Ethereum by 1,000x. He also explains how Monad is pursuing higher levels of decentralization than its competitors through various design decisions impacting the network’s architecture. Finally, Keone reaffirms that Monad is on track to launch on mainnet early 2025. He talks about what users can expect from Monad post-mainnet launch.

Guests:

Keone Hon, Cofounder and CEO of Monad Labs

X: https://x.com/keoneHD

Show note links:

• https://www.monad.xyz/

Timestamps:

(00:00:54) Why scale blockchains through EVM optimizations?

(00:02:17) Challenges building support for the EVM

(00:10:06) How Ethereum upgrades impact Monad

(00:18:42) Will Monad need to adopt additional scaling techniques for mass adoption?

(00:26:36) What differentiates Monad from its other high throughput EVM competitors?

(00:31:53) When will Monad go live on mainnet?

(00:34:25) How will Monad retain users and engagement in the project post mainnet

launch?

(00:37:12) What is the roadmap for strengthening decentralization on Monad?

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 18, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.59 of Infinite Jungle, Christine talks about the main takeaways from All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call #144. On the latest call, Ethereum developers agreed to include a new EIP in Pectra, EIP 7742. This code change will enable the Consensus Layer (CL) of Ethereum to dynamically set the network’s target and maximum blob gas limit. The inclusion of this EIP in Pectra means it is likely that developers will also include a blob capacity increase in Pectra. However, developer did not agree by how much to increase blob capacity on the latest call. They will rediscuss the decision to include EIP 7742 in Pectra on the next ACD call, which is more focused on discussions about the Execution Layer (EL) of Ethereum. Christine explains why it is rare that decisions made on ACDC calls are reversed or changed on ACDE calls.

Show note links: 

Timestamps:

(00:01:04) Francis’ Case for Increasing Blob Capacity in Pectra

(00:03:23) Updates on Engine_GetBlobsV1 Method

(00:06:46) The Urgency of EIP 7742

(00:13:36) ACDC vs ACDE Calls

(00:18:55) Updates to the Pectra Timeline

(00:24:52) Who will Pectra impact in terms of Ethereum stakeholders?

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 18, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 58 of Infinite Jungle, Christine speaks with Adrian Brink, Co-founder of Anoma and Namada. Namada is a privacy-enhanced Layer-1 blockchain and Anoma is a generalized intent interface. Both projects are in development and have not yet launched on mainnet. Brink talks about the launch timeline for Anoma and Namada, as well as their respective utility in the crypto industry. Brink explains how intent-based systems represent a fundamental shift in blockchain architecture and how intents can solve key problems related to blockchains such as MEV and privacy.

Guests:

Adrian Brink, Co-founder of Anoma and Namada

https://x.com/adrianbrink

Show note links:

• https://anoma.net/

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 11, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.57 of Infinite Jungle, Christine talks about the main takeaways from All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call #198. Christine shares updates about the timeline for Pectra Devnets 3 and 4. She highlights two new EIPs that were discussed on the call for inclusion in the Pectra upgrade. EIP 7782 proposes reducing Ethereum slot times from 12 to 8 seconds to increase transaction and blob throughput. EIP 7783 creates a mechanism for client teams to gradually increase the gas target over time. They are two proposals for improving scalability that do not require any changes to blob throughput. Christine explains why this matters and the likelihood of their inclusion in Pectra.

Show note links: 

• https://www.galaxy.com/insights/research/ethereum-all-core-developers-execution-call-198/

This episode was recorded on Friday, October 11, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 56 of Infinite Jungle, Christine chats again with Galaxy Blockchain Engineer Yorick Downe and Former Executive Director of EthStaker Nixo Rokish about the latest developments in the Ethereum staking ecosystem. Nixo speaks about her new role at the Ethereum Foundation as part of the Protocol Support team. She voices her opinion about how developers should refrain from including a blob throughput increase in Pectra due to a lack of sufficient data on the impact of such an increase on the solo staking community. Yorick highlights initiatives that he is working on at EthStaker to improve the performance of validator nodes run by solo stakers.

Guests:

Nixo Rokish, Former Executive Director of EthStaker and Protocol Support Team Member at the Ethereum Foundation

https://x.com/nixorokish

Yorick Downe, Founder of Cryptomanufaktur and Blockchain Engineer at Galaxy

https://x.com/yorickdowne

Show note links:

Timestamps:

(00:02:15) Nixo’s New Role at the Ethereum Foundation

(00:04:06) Concerns about a Blob Throughput Increase in Pectra

(00:07:32) Difference Between Bandwidth Usage vs. Requirements

(00:10:34 ) Engine_getBlobsV1 and IDONTWANT Message Explained

(00:13:09) The Power of Changing Routers for Solo Stakers

(00:19:04) How Solo Stakers Could Go About Changing Routers

(00:24:26) Will Data About Blobs Inform Decisions About Pectra?

This episode was recorded on Thursday, October 4, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.55 of Infinite Jungle, Christine talks about the main takeaways from All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) call #143. Christine shares updates about the timeline for Pectra Devnets 3 and 4. She dives into how the launch of the next devnet can inform the launch of the public Pectra testnet that developers are planning for Devcon and even thereafter, the activation of Pectra on public Ethereum testnets and mainnet. She estimates that an activation of Pectra on mainnet is more likely in March or April than February. However, she highlights how this analysis is subject to change based on when developers reach important milestones in the Pectra testing process.

Show note links: 

Timestamps:

(00:01:11) Pectra 3 & 4 Devnet Updates

(00:03:59) PeerDAS Devnet Updates

(00:07:03) Engine_GetBlobsV1 Method

(00:10:22) Preliminary Analysis on Block Reorgs

(00:20:05) Plans for a Public Pectra Devnet for Devcon

(00:21:41) Pectra Mainnet Activation Timeline

This episode was recorded on Thursday, October 4, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep. 54 of Infinite Jungle, Christine chats with Mirko Schmiedl, CEO and co-founder of Staking Rewards, about important developments in the crypto staking industry at large. Mirko highlights the impressive year-over-year growth of total value staked across all proof-of-stake blockchains. He alludes to forthcoming optimizations to the Staking Rewards website that will help users easily customize information and alerts about staking activity on the site. Mirko also talks about impressive developments in the Bitcoin staking industry with the development of Bitcoin staking protocols like Babylon.

Guests:

Mirko Schmiedl, CEO and co-founder of Staking Rewards

X: https://x.com/berlincrypto

Show note links:

• https://www.stakingrewards.com/

Timestamps:

(00:00:58) Growth of the staking industry over the past year

(00:04:05) What factors influence a user’s decision to stake?

(00:08:39) Challenges to staking UX

(00:12:26) Takeaways from the inaugural Bitcoin Staking Forum

(00:16:28) Challenges to staking BTC

(00:19:02) Key innovations behind the Bitcoin staking project, Babylon

(00:22:42) Parallels between BTC staking and ETH restaking

(00:25:19) Predictions about staking industry growth in 2025

(00:29:16) The importance of incentivizing home stakers on Ethereum

This episode was recorded on Thursday, September 27, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/

On Ep.53 of Infinite Jungle, Christine talks about the main takeaways from All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call #197, where founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin voiced his support for the inclusion of additional code changes in Pectra to increase Ethereum’s blob capacity. As background, blobs are a type of transaction on Ethereum that is usually priced more cheaply than regular user transaction. Blobs are designed to temporarily store arbitrary data on the network such as batched transaction data from rollups. Developers are concerned that the introduction of blobs through the Dencun upgrade has negatively impacted the viability of home staking, that is operating validators on resource-constrained devices. They agreed to conduct a data-driven investigation into the impact of blobs and increasing the number of blobs per block on home stakers before deciding on the inclusion of additional EIPs in Pectra.

Show note links: 

Timestamps:

(00:01:18) Updates to the scope of Pectra, Fusaka, and Amsterdam

(00:07:26) A rare example of unanimous support for a decision on ACD

(00:14:26) What Vitalik said about Pectra on ACDE 197

(00:18:24) Concerns about increasing the blob capacity in Pectra

(00:21:10) Updates about Pectra Devnet 4 timeline

(00:22:30) What blob-related EIPs are in the running for Pectra inclusion?

(00:27:10) What are the minimum requirements to run an Ethereum node?

This episode was recorded on Thursday, September 27, 2024.

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Follow us on Twitter, @glxyresearch, and read our research at www.galaxy.com/research/ to learn more! This podcast, and the information contained herein, has been provided to you by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP and its affiliates (“Galaxy Digital”) solely for informational purposes. View the full disclaimer at www.galaxy.com/disclaimer-galaxy-brains-podcast/