James joined the blockchain universe from traditional publishing having spent time at both Bloomberg and Time. But his experience there prepared him to truly address the reality of digital transformation.

James discusses the difference between the fundamental application of a cross-chain "bridge" and what Axelar is capable of and how it goes above and beyond the standard transfer of assets. Axelar is able to pass granular messages back and forth from different chains even if those chains are using non-compatible languages. The traditional model of bridging assets means a locking, wrapping and a mint/burn mechanism. James identifies this correctly as a solution that leads to greater and greater fragmentation of assets and liquidity as well as a growing attack surface for hackers.

Axelar deploys a delegated proof-of-stake method where a decentralized network of validators secures the balance of the ledger. This solves a historic venerability where locked assets would reside in a smart contract that was secured by a simple 2-of-2 or 3-of-5 multi-sig wallet.

To learn more about the options that Axelar provides, visit them at https://axelar.network/.

You can follow James Friel on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/James__Friel

You can follow Axelar Network on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/axelarcore

Follow Sam Harrison as he tweets... occasionally at: https://twitter.com/samuelpharrison

Follow the pod at: https://twitter.com/ProofOfPrivacy

And learn more about what Findora is doing by following them at: https://twitter.com/Findora

Sam and Jamie from Saddle Finance set the Way Back Machine to the early days of the blockchain universe. They bond over the mechanism of Web3 to allow new entrants into the world where they don't have to be experts, they don't have to have degrees, all they need is passion. Sam points out that the blockchain market tends to invent new terminology especially when it comes to defi. Jamie gives a good overview on Automated Market Makers, constant product market makers vs constant sum market makers and how Saddle will help the users minimize the slippage in their trades.

The entire conversation is terrific. Load in and check it out.

Follow LowPolyDuck at: https://twitter.com/lowpolyduck

Follow Saddle Finance at: https://twitter.com/saddlefinance

Follow Sam at: https://twitter.com/samuelpharrison

Follow Findora at: https://twitter.com/Findora

Follow the pod at: https://twitter.com/ProofOfPrivacy

John and Sam talk about the origin of Opolis and the growth of EthDenver.

John entered into the blockchain space at the very beginning of Ethereum. He took the local meet-ups in Denver in 2017 and turned the community from just shy of 200 people into a conference that registered over 25,000 people in 2023 -- all at zero-cost to the attendees.

Leveraging 15 years in the HR space, John also built the largest payroll service custom built for the independent contractor. Self-employed, independent workers choose the way they want to work, when they want to work and who they want to work for. They get to choose how to express their unique creativity. Opolis represents a new paradigm for employment - one where mutualistic outcomes prevail for workers and the projects they serve.

With hours upon hours of talks, panels, work-shops and keynotes - EthDenver is one of the most influential conferences in the blockchain space. You can visit their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ETHDenver and catch up with the latest in the industry.

If you are an independent worker or if you employ a number of self-employed vendors - visit https://www.opolis.co to learn more about what they offer.

You can follow John on his twitter at: https://twitter.com/PallerJohn

Follow EthDenver at: https://twitter.com/ethereumdenver

Follow Opolis at: https://twitter.com/opolis

Follow Sam at: https://twitter.com/samuelpharrison

Follow Findora at: https://twitter.com/Findora

Follow the pod at: https://twitter.com/ProofOfPrivacy

Kyle Gordon is Director of Business Development  of Wagyu Games, the publisher of Undead Blocks.

Follow the pod: @proofofprivacy 

Sam sat down with Matthew Gould, co-founder of Unstoppable Domains, as one of the first interviews for this podcast. Sam was still the VP of Growth for Discreet Labs and the podcast didn't yet have a name. Listen in as Sam and Matthew discuss how Unstoppable Domains recently reached a "unicorn" status and why Matthew is building in a space that has 20 to 30 years of development still to be done. The discussion kicks off with commentary on how NFTs are effecting the economics of being a content creator but very quickly moves to ideas of reputation and identity. 

Matthew breaks down the importance of centralized vs decentralized identity and how individuals can retain their AUTHORITY over their own identity. He walks through the process of having identity being determined by a centralized entity like Twitter Corporate, to having it be determined by "coin voting" (or paying for a blue check mark) to where we are now where identity systems can be build on bottom-up reputation scores from a variety of crowd-sourced sources. A major challenge to digital identity is who acts as the custodian for privileged personal identifying information (PII). Matthew discusses the application of zero knowledge proofs to serve as a technological answer to this problem - allowing someone to verify that information is accurate without needed to see the information itself.

Follow Sam Harrison on Twitter at @samuelpharrison and follow the podcast at @proofofprivacy.

Sam sits down with two of the founders of SAN Sound -- a music discovery platform that combines next-gen crowdsourcing with Web3-enabled hardware -- Jon Kaku and Devin Marty. They chat about the impact of the pandemic on musicians, DJs and all forms of content creators and how blockchain-based technology helped many in the space continue to connect with their fans and earn a living. Kaku talks about the interesting struggles that a hardware startup can face and a few of the aces he had up his sleeve. After a ELI5 explanation of what SAN is, Kaku talks about how it is important to bring the recommendation engine back into the hands of the listeners, rather than a centralized entity. At its soul, SAN is focused on making a personal interaction between artists and fans. By applying ZK Proofs to their revocable soul-bound tokens, SAN is combining web3 and ticketing technology that will allow artist to identify their superfans in a privacy preserving manner.

Discreet Labs' CEO, Sam Harrison puts his soapbox on the ground and talks to you about some of the things he has been thinking about. Why is privacy important? Why is it fundamental to our shared human existence? What is happening to our privacy and what can we do about it?  Because, make no bones about it, our privacy is facing an apocalyptic threat. Fortunately, we are used to these. We have ALWAYS been facing apocalyptic threats and, to date, we have always figured out a way to overcome them. 

With the rise of weapons of mass surveillance comes a tool of individual ownership. Using blockchain technology as it's platform, there are privacy solutions just around the corner - some already launched - that will help us combat the threat of mass surveillance and reclaim our ability to chose what information to share. But the work isn't done and each of us has to do our part. Each of us has to learn to #ExpectPrivacy.