Web3Unchained

In this episode, Gabby Dizon, Co-Founder of Yield Guild Games (YGG), shares his journey from a PC gamer to a Web3 pioneer. He discusses the challenges and future of Web3 gaming, highlighting the transformative potential of AI and the essential qualities founders need to succeed in this space.

Gabby provides insight into the evolution of YGG, including their innovative on-chain guilds, and explores what it will take for Web3 games to achieve mainstream adoption.

With over 18 years in the gaming industry, Gabby co-founded Yield Guild Games, a play-to-earn gaming guild and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). YGG empowers gamers worldwide by providing access to NFT game assets necessary to participate in blockchain games and earn crypto rewards. He is also a founding board member of the Blockchain Game Alliance.

Gabby’s mission is to onboard millions of gamers to discover new opportunities in the digital world, believing that the future of work lies within the open Metaverse.

Join hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra for an in-depth conversation about Gabby’s Web3 founder journey and the future of gaming.

In this episode, Greg Osuri, Founder and CEO of Akash Network, dives into the meaning of liberty, sovereignty, and freedom in the context of the decentralized web. He shares his founder journey, the obstacles he’s overcome, and why community remains at the heart of Web3 innovation.

Greg reflects on the experience of building in Web3, the shift from Web2 models, and the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance as a founder. He also discusses the power of open-source technology, the growing relevance of decentralized AI, and how governments may shape its development moving forward.

As the visionary behind Akash Network, Greg is helping redefine the future of cloud computing through decentralization. Before launching Akash, he founded AngelHack, the world’s largest hackathon network with over 100,000 developers across 50 cities. Earlier in his career, he worked at IBM and went on to design Kaiser Permanente’s first cloud architecture.

Enjoy this in-depth conversation with hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra, as Greg shares his perspective on the convergence of Web3 and AI—and his mission to build infrastructure that preserves freedom and access for all.

In this episode, Richard Ma, Co-Founder and CEO of Quantstamp, shares his transition from the hedge fund world to Web3, and the founding story behind one of the most prominent blockchain security firms in the space. He breaks down how Quantstamp operates, the evolving nature of its customer base, and what truly sets successful Web3 startups apart in the long term.

Quantstamp is a global leader in blockchain security, dedicated to securing the future of Web3. The company has performed over 500 audits, securing more than $200 billion in digital assets from potential exploits and vulnerabilities.

Before founding Quantstamp, Richard was a software engineer at Tower Research, where he built and tested high-performance financial systems. After personally experiencing the fallout from The DAO hack, he was inspired to launch Quantstamp to improve the standards of security auditing across blockchain ecosystems.

Join hosts Kenzi Nakamura and Diksha Mehra for an insightful conversation with Richard about the importance of security in Web3, lessons learned from early Ethereum events, and what it takes to build trust and resilience in decentralized systems.

In this episode, David Tse, Co-Founder of BabylonChain, discusses how staking can unlock a new era for Bitcoin by expanding its role in the broader decentralized ecosystem. He shares the founding story of BabylonChain and his journey from academic research to becoming a Web3 founder.

BabylonChain enables Bitcoin holders to earn yield on their idle BTC—securely and without third-party trust or bridging to other chains. By locking their Bitcoin in a self-custodial manner, users gain the ability to validate Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chains and earn rewards in return.

David Tse is a renowned professor at Stanford University, with a distinguished background in wireless communication, genomics, and blockchain technology. He is also an advisor to Bain Capital Crypto, offering strategic insights at the intersection of cryptography, protocol design, and scalable systems.

Tune in for an in-depth conversation with hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra, as David explores the future of Bitcoin staking, the design philosophy behind BabylonChain, and what it takes to bridge rigorous academic research with real-world blockchain innovation.

In this episode, Sergey Gorbunov, Co-Founder of Axelar Network, discusses the future of blockchain interoperability, the founding journey of Axelar, and what drives him to keep innovating in the Web3 space.

Axelar is a programmable Web3 interoperability platform that enables seamless cross-chain communication, aiming to scale the next generation of internet applications to billions of users.

Sergey brings a strong academic and technical background to the space. He’s also an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo, a former founding team member at Algorand, and holds a Ph.D. from MIT, where he was a Microsoft Ph.D. Fellow. His dissertation focused on developing cryptographic tools for the cloud using lattice-based cryptography.

Join hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra for a deep conversation with Sergey about interoperability as infrastructure, the role of cryptography in Web3, and the mindset required to build across chains.

In this episode, Victor Ji, Co-Founder of Manta Network, explores the power of Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs and how Manta is redefining the developer experience for ZK applications. He walks through key milestones in Manta's journey and shares what it takes to succeed as a Web3 founder.

Manta Network is focused on building a secure, interoperable future using ZK technology, with a mission to provide the best developer experience for creating and deploying zero-knowledge applications.

Before founding Manta in 2020, Victor worked as a Research Assistant at Harvard’s Belfer Center, where he developed deep expertise in international security, diplomacy, and technology policy. His unique background bridges both the academic and crypto worlds.

Join hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra for a compelling conversation about the origins of Manta Network, the practical use cases of ZK technology, and the mindset needed to build in Web3.

In this episode, Sandy Peng, Co-Founder of Scroll, dives into the world of Layer 2 scaling solutions in Web3, sharing the founding story of Scroll and her approach to building successful blockchain projects by staying focused on execution.

Scroll is a community-first, native zkEVM Layer 2 solution—an open-source initiative that operates at the cutting edge of zero-knowledge (ZK) research. Sandy brings a wealth of experience across research, business development, and strategy. With a background as both a startup founder and blockchain investor, she offers rare insights into the development, regulation, and real-world application of blockchain and open-source technologies.

Join hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra for a deep conversation with Sandy about her Web3 founder journey, the early days of building Scroll, and what it takes to innovate within the Ethereum ecosystem.

In this episode, Chris Spadafora, founder of BadgerDAO, shares insights into decentralized governance, the challenges of crypto tribalism, and his mission to bring Bitcoin into the DeFi ecosystem.

BadgerDAO is an open-source, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on enabling the use of Bitcoin as collateral across decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The platform is governed by its native token, BADGER, which empowers community members to vote on key proposals. Voting power is proportional to the amount of BADGER held, and approved proposals are implemented directly by the DAO.

Chris also reflects on the origin and evolution of BadgerDAO, and his personal journey as a Web3 founder.

Tune in for a compelling conversation with hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra

Eli Ben-Sasson, the co-founder and President of StarkWare, shares insights into his journey into the Web3 space, the challenges of blockchain scalability, and how StarkWare is working to onboard the next billion users onto the blockchain. StarkWare is pioneering the use of zero-knowledge proof technology to compress data, addressing some of the fundamental scalability issues that blockchains face today.

Before co-founding StarkWare, Eli's academic career was marked by notable achievements, including earning a Ph.D. under Abel Prize laureate Avi Wigderson. He then completed his postdoctoral work at both MIT and Harvard, focusing on probabilistically checkable proofs (PCPs). It was during the 2013 Bitcoin conference that Eli first realized how his research could contribute to solving critical problems in blockchain technology.

Today, StarkWare stands at the forefront of blockchain innovation, with three groundbreaking technologies that are reshaping the space and driving its future forward. But Eli sees one of the greatest challenges ahead: maintaining the decentralization of blockchain. "Whenever a system becomes valuable, there are always parties that benefit and seek to consolidate control. The essence of blockchain and Web3 lies in resisting that centralization and ensuring the distribution of power across society. It's a challenge we have yet to fully solve, but it's critical for the long-term future of the technology," Eli explains.

In this in-depth conversation with hosts Kenzi Nakamura, Sachi Tanaka, and Diksha Mehra, Eli delves into StarkWare's journey, the potential of zero-knowledge proofs, and his vision for the future of Web3. Join them as they explore how scaling blockchain with zero-knowledge proofs can unlock the next era of decentralized innovation.

In this episode of Web3Unchained, we sit down with Sreeram Kannan, Co-Founder and CEO of EigenLayer, as he shares his unique journey from academia to building impactful blockchain products. Sreeram delves into why he chose to leave his academic career behind and embark on an entrepreneurial journey in the Web3 space, driven by a deep belief in the power of blockchain technology to democratize innovation and empower individuals to create value.

Sreeram explains, "This idea that as an innovator, you don’t need to bring trust. You only need to bring your innovation, and that the blockchain brings the trust, is such a mind-bending idea that enables a whole new generation of people to actually come in and create systems."

Before launching EigenLayer, Sreeram developed two blockchain products, but it was EigenLayer's innovative concept of restaking that truly captured his attention. The protocol allows Ethereum stakers to make additional promises beyond the Ethereum protocol, unlocking new possibilities in the blockchain space. EigenLayer’s platform also facilitates on-chain computation for high-throughput applications, such as social media and gaming use cases, paving the way for the future of scalable decentralized applications.

Tune in to learn how EigenLayer is tackling some of the biggest challenges in the crypto ecosystem and why Sreeram believes blockchain is the key to unleashing tech innovation in the Web3 era.