In this episode, Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, dives deep into the world of Layer 3 blockchains and their potential to revolutionize Ethereum scaling. The discussion covers the benefits of building on Arbitrum's customizable L3 stack, including reduced onboarding costs and improved data availability. Steven also explores the importance of fraud proofs in ensuring the security of L2 and L3 chains, as well as Arbitrum's community-sourced approach to blockchain development. The conversation touches on the future of DeFi, the role of composability and network effects, and the potential for L3s to abstract away the complexity of the blockchain stack for end-users. Stay tuned for all of this and much more!

- -

Follow Steven: https://twitter.com/sgoldfed

Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz

Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel

Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod

Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j

Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7

Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw

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

- -

Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all. 

Get started at:

portal.arbitrum.io 

- -

Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity defi, consumer facing applications, and more generally allow crypto to scale to the masses.

If you are interested in participating in Monad's journey, follow: https://twitter.com/monad_xyz and join: https://discord.gg/monad

- -

SKALE is a modular, AppChain network that offers zero gas fee transactions and instant finality. Tailored for ease of development and onboarding, SKALE's configurable EVM chains enable next-gen use cases in gaming, AI, DePin, and others. With over 20,000,000 users having saved over $6 Billion on gas fees, SKALE is the blockchain for mass adoption.

Bridge to SKALE at portal.skale.space and stay up to date with the gasless blockchain at @skalenetwork

- -

Marinade is the leading Solana staking service that spreads your stake across 100+ top validators, distributes MEV rewards, and provides automatic downside protection with new Protected Staking Rewards. Choose to liquid stake for mSOL for use in DeFi, or delegate your stake through Marinade Native, which gives you full custody of your SOL and no smart contract risk. Max performance for you, max performance for Solana.

https://blckwrks.co/Marinade

- -

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:52 L2 State of the Union

08:07 L2 vs L3

14:00 User Acquisition Methodology

18:30 Value Accrual of L3s m

24:20 App Chain vs L3

28:46 Not Using Eth Security

36:33 Fraud Proofs

38:21 Arbitrum Ad

49:09 Monad Ad

50:07 SKALE AD

51:24 Higher Throughput Chains

58:31 Why did Coinbase pick OP

01:03:55 End Game of L3s

01:08:06 Why Not Just L1s?

01:14:57 Crypto Network Effects

- -

Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire 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. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.