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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Chris Bradbury, CEO of SummerFi. They discuss Chris's journey from MakerDAO to SummerFi, and the development of user-friendly financial tools and innovative features aimed at making DeFi more accessible to a wider audience by automating complex financial strategies.

Summary

SummerFi curates the best dApps in DeFi to provide the simplest and easiest way to borrow and earn crypto. SummerFi currently manages over $4.5 billion in crypto assets across various DeFi protocols, and in the last 30 days, it has completed $663 million in lend/borrow volume and automated over $275 million in loan positions.

Chris talks about his transition from MakerDAO's product manager to CEO of Oasis.app, which rebranded as SummerFi and focuses on trusted, curated DeFi protocols. Chris discusses SummerFi’s recent advancements and strategic vision, he elaborates on how SummerFi plans to simplify DeFi for a broader audience, and also highlights their goal of integrating DeFi with traditional financial systems to make these advanced tools accessible to everyday users, without requiring them to have deep technical knowledge or actively manage their assets.

Key takeaways

• SummerFi integrates key DeFi protocols such as Maker, Aave, Morpho, and Ajna, with a focus on security and usability. It offers features like Multiply, which allows users to leverage assets in a single transaction, enhancing efficiency and safety.
• SummerFi's automations, such as stop loss, are designed to protect users by managing risky positions and reducing potential losses during market volatility. Automations are non-custodial smart contracts that trigger actions based on predefined conditions, such as closing a position when the loan-to-value ratio exceeds a set threshold. While automations mitigate risks, they are not risk-free and cannot guarantee optimal prices due to potential market slippage, oracle inaccuracies, or network congestion.
• SummerFi's launch of the $RAYS point system aims to incentivize user engagement and reward active management, paving the way toward broader adoption.
• SummerFi plans to expand and achieve mainstream adoption by also developing a new Summer Earn protocol that simplifies DeFi participation, offering users automatic yield optimization similar to traditional wealth management products.

Chapters

• 01:27 — Chris's background and how he got into crypto
• 02:27 — Insights gained from MakerDAO and Dai
• 07:16 — Why was Oasis created & how it became SummerFi
• 14:23 — Protocols SummerFi currently supports
• 15:39 — The split of crypto assets under SummerFi
• 18:24 — Automations addressing volatility in leveraged products
• 22:21 — What is an automation and why is it powerful
• 25:21 — What stop-loss is for
• 29:23 — SummerFi's growth plans and the point-based system
• 32:07 — What does the product that 100 million people can use look like?
• 35:09 — What makes SummerFi Earn more viable than Yearn
• 39:58 — Find out more about SummerFi

Further resources

• Website: summer.fi
• Twitter: @summerfinance_
• Discord: discord.com/invite/summerfi

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard talks with Nikita Ovchinnik, Co-Founder of Barter, a smart router for DeFi swap routes. They delve into Nikita's foray into crypto, the inner workings of Barter, the MEV problem and its possible solutions, and the importance of market makers.

Summary

Nikita describes his journey into crypto, which began in 2017 after initial scepticism. He eventually joined 1inch as their first outsider employee. Nikita describes 1inch's explosive growth during the DeFi Summer, as well as its focus on integrating with wallets and navigating the fundraising landscape until eventually securing investment from FTX.

The conversation between Nikita and Piers dives next into Barter, exploring its role as a smart router program in the DeFi ecosystem. Barter is a decentralized protocol that provides transparent trade routes across liquidity providers like CoW Swap and UniswapX, minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency. Barter has over $4 billion processed on Ethereum.

Key takeaways

• Understanding MEV: MEV stands for "Miner Extractable Value" and refers to the profit that miners can extract from the reordering of transactions and other manipulations in DeFi protocols. It occurs due to the way transactions are processed and confirmed, which can lead to arbitrage opportunities that benefit miners at the expense of regular users and liquidity providers. MEV has become a significant concern in Ethereum and other blockchain networks where DeFi activities are prevalent.
• Efforts to Mitigate MEV: Platforms like CoW Swap and UniswapX aim to reduce MEV by implementing strategies such as MEV blockers. These blockers prevent transaction details from being visible in public mempools, thereby limiting the ability of miners to front-run transactions or exploit price discrepancies for profit. By managing how transaction orders are processed and confirmed, these platforms attempt to minimize the negative impact of MEV on users and liquidity providers.
• Challenges and Future Directions: While MEV blockers represent a step towards mitigating MEV, the challenge remains complex and ongoing. Solutions such as batching and matching user orders across different DEX platforms without tapping directly into AMM liquidity provide users with better rates and lower gas costs, thereby making DeFi more efficient and less susceptible to MEV exploits. However, achieving these goals in a decentralized and efficient manner without reliance on centralized systems remains a significant hurdle.
• The Critical Role of Market Makers: While the transparency and fairness of traditional market makers on centralized exchanges is under question, advancements in DeFi and AMMs like those on Uniswap are improving liquidity provision to cryptocurrency markets. Despite the fact that market makers are necessary for efficient trading, newer DeFi protocols are offering competitive liquidity solutions, potentially reducing reliance on traditional market makers.

Chapters

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 01:33 — Nikita's background and journey into crypto
• 04:40 — Nikita's role and experiences at 1inch
• 09:22 — FTX's investment in 1inch
• 11:49 — What is a Smart Router program
• 13:47 — Barter swaps: Who submits the transaction?
• 17:02 — The journey from 1inch to Barter
• 21:57 — MEV: How CoW Swap and UniswapX reduce it
• 34:22 — Are Market Makers essential?
• 41:07 — Where to find out more about Barter

Further resources

• Website: barterswap.xyz
• Twitter: @BarterDeFi

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis and Gnosis Pay. They cover Gnosis's evolution from foundational blockchain infrastructure like Gnosis Safe and CoW Swap, to user-friendly apps such as Metri and Gnosis Pay. They also discuss blockchain's potential to transform financial infrastructure with projects such as Circles, a blockchain-based UBI protocol.

Summary

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Friederike Ernst, the co-founder of Gnosis and Gnosis Pay. Gnosis is a group of projects centred around the Gnosis token, with a mission to bring all financial rails on-chain. They started with the highly successful Gnosis Safe, a multi-signature wallet that has now been spun out as Safe, securing over $100 billion in crypto assets. Additionally, their decentralized exchange, CoW Swap, has achieved a remarkable total volume of $45 billion.

Friederike shares insights into these groundbreaking projects and discusses the future of decentralized finance. A physicist by training, she talks about the programmability of Ethereum that drew her into crypto technology, what prompted her to co-found Gnosis, and the strategies her team applies to expand distribution and adoption of their product and network.

Key takeaways

• Gnosis was founded to create decentralized payment solutions and other infrastructure that provide tangible value and improve user applications within the Web3 ecosystem.
• Gnosis initially focused on developing internal-driven products such as Gnosis Safe, CoW Swap, MEV Blocker, and Gnosis Guild, building foundational blockchain infrastructure. They subsequently shifted to creating user-friendly applications like Metri and Gnosis Pay, aiming to offer a neobank-like experience to a wide audience new to blockchain.
• Blockchain technology can revolutionize financial infrastructure by cutting intermediaries, lowering costs, and improving access, similarly to how VoIP transformed telecommunications.
• Gnosis is a veteran in blockchain infrastructure with a strong emphasis on decentralization and scalability. Gnosis Chain, a decentralized Ethereum sister protocol boasting over 200,000 validators, offers robust security and scalability advantages over Ethereum's Layer 2 solutions, making it a promising choice for future-proof financial applications.
• Circles is a blockchain-based UBI (Universal Basic Income) protocol operating on a decentralized web of trust. It combines Bitcoin's algorithmic money issuance with a focus on equitable distribution, unlike Bitcoin's concentration among a minority of the global population, which would exacerbate inequality if widely adopted today. Circles, in contrast, empowers local economies and fosters community-driven adoption over time.

Chapters

• 01:27 Friederike's journey from doctorate to DeFi
• 05:14 From prediction markets to multi-sig wallets
• 08:27 Keys to successful product development
• 13:34 Building products, from MVP to customer delight
• 15:41 Beyond a neobank-like experience
• 24:01 How Gnosis could leapfrog financial infrastructure
• 28:32 Towards a decentralized financial future
• 30:04 Ensuring global distribution of Metri
• 35:56 Introduction to Circles
• 36:44 The drive behind Bitcoin and the case for UBI
• 39:20 The Impact of Circles
• 45:43 Key takeaways and finding more about Gnosis

Further resources

• Website: gnosis.io
• Twitter: @gnosischain
• Discord: discord.gg/xW3X5EreBM

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard speaks with Noah Litvin, a Core Contributor at Synthetix. They talk about Synthetix's vision of revolutionizing derivatives trading in the crypto space by providing innovative solutions.

Summary

Synthetix tackles the challenge of trading derivatives in a crypto-native way, expanding beyond spot trading. Picture it as the derivative equivalent of Uniswap. Synthetix stands as one of the original crypto projects since 2018, playing a pivotal role in the early days of DeFi. It pioneered functionalities that are now commonplace in crypto and pushed the boundaries of what was achievable on public ledgers at the time.

Noah Litvin has been actively working with the project for some time. He is currently a Core Contributor at Synthetix, having started as a community member and gradually progressed to become more involved.

Noah and Piers explore the evolution of Synthetix, from its origin as Haven to Synthetix v3 and perpetual futures. They cover the challenges earlier versions of Synthetix encountered and the notable enhancements of v3. They also discuss Synthetix's future, its deployment on Base, and cross-chain interoperability.

Key takeaways

• Synthetix aims to revolutionize derivatives trading in the crypto space, similar to how Uniswap revolutionized decentralized exchanges. It focuses on creating synthetic assets and perpetual futures markets on the public ledger.
• Synthetix addresses issues such as scalability limitations and asset price fluctuations by introducing perpetual futures, which allow for long or short positions without exposing liquidity providers to asset prices. Mechanisms such as funding rates incentivize market equilibrium, enhancing scalability.
• Synthetix considers itself as a liquidity protocol first, with the overarching goal of creating collateralized stable coins backed by decentralized collateral, supporting multiple liquidity pools with isolated risks.
• Synthetix aims to offer a diverse range of financial products and opportunities by bringing complexity to the blockchain as transparent tools, similar to the complexity seen in traditional finance managed by large hedge funds.

Chapters

01:39 — Noah's journey with Synthetix

03:07 — A basic orientation on Synthetix

04:45 — Tokenized derivatives trading obstacles

08:53 — Improvements in Synthetix v3

10:43 — Perpetuals in DeFi

13:02 — Synthetix V3 user acquisition

18:19 — Synthetix perpetuals vs. competitors

19:44 — Why Synthetix deployed on Base

21:08 — Synthetix's Base vs. Optimism experience

21:50 — Coinbase's role in driving adoption

23:34 — Next steps for Synthetix v3 and project

24:37 — Stability, liquidity, and scalability

27:05 — Synthetix liquidity and TVL

28:05 — Synthetix's liquidity-protocol-first approach

30:19 — Leveraging collateral diversity

33:22 — Learn more about Synthetix

Further resources

• Website: synthetix.io
• Twitter: @synthetix_io
• Discord: discord.com/invite/KVeCZe6ahW

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard speaks with Ramon Recuero, Co-Founder and CEO of Mamori Labs, which is developing Kinto. Tune in to learn how Kinto bridges TradFi to DeFi and paves the way for institutional adoption by introducing the first Layer 2 solution with chain-level KYC and addressing concerns about scams, hacks, and traditional financial institutions' perception of cryptocurrency as the "Wild West.

Summary

Join Piers Ridyard and Ramon Recuero as they explore the inner workings of Kinto, a groundbreaking platform that seeks to bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Kinto's innovative approach addresses the longstanding issue of security in the crypto space by introducing the first Layer 2 (L2) solution with KYC at the chain level, revolutionizing user protection and trust within the ecosystem. Kinto's native account abstraction enhances security by requiring users to utilize account-abstracted wallets, preventing common scams seen on other chains.

Ramon recounts his journey from the gaming industry to crypto and from the traditional finance sector to the realm of DeFi, fuelled by the realization of the disruptive potential of crypto. From his involvement in ventures like OpenSea, to founding Babylon Finance and recently Mamori Labs and Kinto, Ramon's experiences underscore the critical need for trust, security, and regulatory compliance in the crypto space.

Discover why Kinto is gaining traction among major financial institutions like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock, indicating a significant shift towards institutional adoption. With a focus on crypto-native RWA protocols and diverse capital inflows from traditional funds like Skybridge and networks like Solana, Kinto is poised to revolutionize the DeFi landscape, catering to both seasoned investors and newcomers with enhanced asset accessibility and streamlined user experiences.

Key takeaways

• Systemic Insurance Integration: Learn how Kinto integrates insurance directly into its system to address vulnerabilities highlighted by past hacks.
• Revolutionary KYC Approach: Explore Kinto's innovative permissionless KYC system.
• Chain-Level KYC Enhances Composability: Understand how implementing KYC at the chain level simplifies composability.
• Increased Institutional Confidence: Discover why institutions find it more secure to deploy capital within a chain-level-KYC Layer 2 like Kinto.

Chapters

• 00:00 — Introduction to Ramon Recuero
• 01:06 — Ramon's journey to creating Kinto
• 07:17 — From game developer to crypto enthusiast
• 09:31 — Why Ramon built Babylon Finance
• 12:47 — Kinto's systemic insurance
• 17:48 — Revolutionary Ethereum L2 with on-chain KYC
• 20:42 — Why KYC at the chain level
• 22:28 — Kinto's strategy for institutional adoption
• 23:51 — Addressing regulatory issues & RWA Liquidity
• 24:57 — Kinto's advantages over existing providers
• 26:16 — Kinto's capital inflow source
• 27:47 — Natively-built account abstraction
• 28:58 — Institutional adoption possibilities
• 30:22 — Kinto's KYC: Threat to digital commons?
• 34:19 — Dealing with KYC & AML complexities
• 38:20 — Counterparty guarantees in tokenized assets
• 40:12 — Kinto's NFT and proof interoperability
• 41:28 — Kinto's unique edge
• 42:57 — How to get involved with Kinto

Further resources

• Website: kinto.xyz
• Twitter: @KintoXYZ
• Ramon's Twitter: @ramonrecuero

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Summary

Willy Woo is managing partner at Crest and SyzCrest, a fund that builds financial products to give higher yield than T-bills by harvesting the volatility in crypto.

Willy Woo and Piers discuss various aspects of trading, covering topics like price predictions, the balance between intuition and data when building predictive models, and the social value inherent in trading activities. Their conversation extends to exploring the dynamics of DeFi and altcoin markets, drawing comparisons with TradFi, examining market manipulation, and emphasizing the crucial role of transparency in the crypto space. They weigh the pros and cons of transaction privacy in creating a fairer market and touch upon the impact of MEV, DeFi’s high-frequency trading.

They explore the three forms of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), hodling versus directional trading, and the fundamental concepts that are necessary for successful trading. They also examine the concept of purpose, discussing how it motivates individuals in their pursuits.

Segueing into Radix, their conversation highlights the Radix team's dedication to their vision and integrity, rather than rushing launch and compromising for easy wins. They talk about compounding games and underscore the need for adopting a long-term view for achieving meaningful, lasting change.

Chapters

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 01:01 — Willy’s predictions about Bitcoin
• 03:05 — Intuition and data analysis in predictive models
• 09:00 — Short-term vs long-term trading
• 13:33 — Social value of trading
• 19:47 — Transparency in crypto transactions
• 21:40 — Transaction privacy in DeFi?
• 27:12 — The 3 forms of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis
• 33:04 — Hodling as a strategy against volatility
• 37:15 — What to prioritise learning as a new trader
• 38:52 — Finding your purpose
• 46:46 — The vision and integrity of Radix

Further resources

• Twitter: @woonomic
• Crest Fund: crest.fund

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Summary

The Boson Protocol is a Web3 decentralized commerce layer that allows anyone to tokenize and exchange any physical thing as an NFT. Currently deployed on Ethereum and Polygon, they have recently signed a strategic partnership with WooCommerce, WordPress's eCommerce arm.

Justin's journey into the DeFi ecosystem began with him wondering what happens when you transition from paper to digital to blockchain, what digitized physical assets look like on a blockchain, and what properties they have. He discusses his experiences revolutionizing digital transformation at Priority Pass while studying for a master's degree in digital innovation, digitizing physical products that significantly increased turnover, combining his interests in the physics of business and the blockchain, and developing the Boson Protocol.

Key takeaways

• Platform Dilemma: Piers and Justin delve into the complexities of platforms like Amazon, and they question whether they truly benefit consumers or create walled gardens.
• Boson's Mission: Justin analyses how Boson removes the counterparty risk and builds an optimistic fair exchange protocol, solving two fundamental challenges – the fair exchange problem and the physical asset oracle problem.
• Techno-Legal Innovation: Justin describes the part of Boson's core innovation that allows the prescription of elements of variability.
• Configurability: Justin unveils how the Boson Protocol is designed for configurability, serving as a bridge between WooCommerce and the world of Web3.

Chapters

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:11 - Justin's background
• 03:45 - The specific problems Boson Protocol addresses
• 07:42 - Solving the problem of discovery
• 12:19 - Efficiently matching buyers and sellers
• 15:41 - Trust-minimizing representation of physical assets on the blockchain
• 25:36 - Escrow, dispute resolution process, and game-theory-based incentives
• 27:56 - Boson's partnership with WooCommerce
• 34:31 - WooCommerce's Priorities
• 38:06 - Addressing the capital inefficiency in escrow
• 41:45 - More About Boson

Further resources

• Website: bosonprotocol.io
• Twitter: @BosonProtocol

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This episode of the DeFi Download with host Piers Ridyard features Robert Lauko, founder and head of research at Liquity. Tune in to discover how Liquity is addressing the stablecoin trilemma and reshaping the crypto space with game-changing innovations ranging from principal protection to improved peg stability.

Summary

Liquity is a pioneering DeFi protocol that is reshaping the DeFi and stablecoin landscape with its innovative approach. At its core, it prioritizes stability and scalability while maintaining decentralization. It achieves this through groundbreaking features such as principal protection, which ensures users can confidently redeem their assets at or above their principal value, and a tighter peg to minimize deviations from the dollar value. A hybrid stability pool, a ground-breaking feature that not only supports the loans but also acts as a backup for the reserve, highlights Liquity's commitment to stability even further.

Robert Lauko takes us on a deep dive into Liquity's mechanics, shedding light on its inner workings, from its liquidation mechanism to its impressive growth, including the endorsement of Justin Sun, who injected over a billion dollars into the nascent protocol.

Robert and Piers delve into Liquity's unwavering commitment to decentralization and transparency, alongside its reliance on ETH as collateral in its V1 version. Additionally, they explore the formidable challenges faced within the stablecoin landscape and the ingenious strategies Liquity has employed to overcome them.

Looking forward, Liquity V2 takes center stage. Robert introduces the concept of a decentralized reserve mechanism and emphasizes the vital role of a decentralized Peg-Stability Module (PSM) in maintaining a stablecoin's peg. Liquity V2 sets out to redefine the stablecoin trilemma by demonstrating that resilience, scalability, and decentralization can harmoniously coexist.

Tune into this episode to find out how Liquity offers stability and leveraged upside, potentially revolutionizing lending. You'll also gain an understanding of principal protection and learn about Liquity's stability pool, which uses staked ETH to deliver attractive yields and security.

Key takeaways

• Liquity balances the stablecoin trilemma by addressing stability, scalability, and decentralization by introducing a strong arbitrage mechanism and a hedging product with principal protection and a tighter peg.
• Liquity V2 targets a tighter peg and more attractive borrowing through potential collateralization ratio reductions.
• Principal protection fosters trust, enabling users to redeem assets at or above the principal value, while Liquity V1 and V2 offer choices for varied risk profiles alongside the liquidity-boosting stability pool.

Chapters

[01:15] Introduction to Liquity and its unique approach to loan-to-value ratios

[04:32] Liquity's efficient liquidation mechanism and incentives

[08:29] Liquity's meteoric rise: A billion dollars in 10 days to 2.5 billion in two weeks

[10:28] Lessons from Liquity: How its launch attracted whales and big players

[12:01] ETH-exclusive V1: Exploring the early design decision and future considerations

[12:41] How Liquity ensures a liquid and useful stablecoin

[15:19] Liquity's strategies for establishing partnerships and integration

[17:48] The stablecoin trilemma and Liquity's approach to resilience, scalability, and decentralization

[20:17] Innovation in action: The vision behind Liquity V2

[22:35] Rebalancing stablecoin supply and demand: The role of a decentralized Peg Stability Module (PSM)

[26:27] Liquity V2's strategy for tightening stablecoin bands and reducing volatility risk

[33:13] Navigating ETH volatility: Liquity V2's strategy with principal pr

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Ben Hart, CTO, and Amir, blossoming Scrypto developer at MLabs. Ben and Amir share their experience with different programming languages and platforms, such as Haskell, Plutus, Rust, and Scrypto.

Summary

MLabs is a Haskell, Rust, and Blockchain AI consultancy working with various industries, such as fintech and blockchain. MLabs is also the developer of the Plutonomicon library, a major contributor to it, and one of the main contributors to the Plutarch eDSL version of the Plutus smart contract language.

Key takeaways

• Ben came across Radix at Consensus 2023 and was impressed with the thoughtfulness and organization of the Radix team and builders. He found it easy to jump into Scrypto because of his previous experience with Rust.
• Amir found Scrypto to be easier to learn and use than Plutus because it abstracts away some of the lower-level details and has well-named concepts and design patterns. Amir was able to quickly understand and experiment with Scrypto by reading the documentation and the community examples that are available.
• Radix’s guardrails and intent-based transactions make programming and building applications easier and safer, unlike Ethereum’s state-based transactions. It is difficult to explain Radix’s advantages to someone who has not faced Ethereum’s challenges.

Chapters

[01:01] The story of MLabs' founding

[03:33] What are Haskell and Plutus, and how did MLabs get their team up to speed with these languages?

[08:04] Advantages and challenges of using Plutus for building applications

[10:18] Haskell's reputation as a secure language and the difficulty in finding and training new Haskell developers—has MLabs encountered this?

[11:32] The philosophical and principles-based approach of Haskell and Rust advocates who are willing to change careers to write production code in these languages

[12:40] How and why did MLabs expand to Rust, a language that is ideologically similar to Haskell?

[13:42] How did the MLabs team learn about Radix and Scrypto, and how has their experience been so far?

[16:03] When and how did MLabs begin developing on Radix with clients from other communities, such as Cardano, and bringing that functionality to the Radix network?

[18:38] From Haskell and Plutus to Scrypto: Amir’s journey and insights

[20:03] Amir's favourite aspect of Scrypto and what he has built up to this point

[22:06] The need for critical tooling in an ecosystem: how DAO tooling enables governance features for DeFi applications

[23:20] Amir’s insights on building governance functionality in Scrypto and the benefits of the platform

[26:30] What are Amir’s timelines for testing and deploying the governance tooling, and when can people start using it?

[27:42] How does Ben, as CTO, use Scrypto to plan and implement MLabs' application architecture?

[31:35] The inverse relationship between speed of development and security

[33:09] What new Scrypto developers or those considering a move to the Radix ecosystem need to know

[35:42] How open-source repositories can aid in learning Scrypto, despite being outdated

[37:35] Radix’s goal to have the best crypto documentation and match Web2 standards

Further resources

• Website: mlabs.city
• Twitter: @MLabs10

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Cyrille Pastour, co-founder of Swaap. Cyrille and Piers discuss the inner workings of the automated market maker that is designed to protect liquidity providers by dynamically responding to the market.

Summary

Swaap provides yield to liquidity providers by utilising cutting-edge market-making models developed in collaboration with mathematicians. They use oracles and dynamic spread to ensure real and long-term yields.

Swaap's algorithm determines what pricing it will provide to the market on a per-swap basis and includes safeguards to limit damage in the event of a hack. It is designed to safeguard liquidity providers against impermanent loss and ensure that returns are greater than hodling.

During their discussion, Piers and Cyrille clarify the difference between exchanges and market makers. They analyse the problem Swaap seeks to address and the role of market makers in mature versus immature markets in determining price. They also touch on issues with Uniswap v2, in which liquidity providers are perpetually behind the information curve and unable to rebalance themselves, whereas arbitrageurs can make risk-free profits by manipulating the market price.

Key takeaways

• Swaap v2 is a new iteration in terms of infrastructure that aims to be more flexible and have better performance than Swaap v1.
• Swaap v2 has a hybrid infrastructure consisting of both on-chain and off-chain components. The off-chain module operates the quotation system to provide faster price information, and the on-chain verification module prevents extreme events and ensures a trust-minimized environment.
• Swaap is available on both Ethereum and Polygon, with Polygon being a preferable option for smaller portfolios due to its lower gas fees.
• The Swaap protocol enables DAOs to create liquidity against volatile assets, and the team is working on establishing partnerships with a number of DAOs.

Chapters

[01:05] What is the problem that Swaap is looking to solve as an automated market maker in the DeFi space, and why is it important to separate exchanges and market makers when considering liquidity providers and users?

[03:59] The Uniswap conundrum: How inexperienced traders create risk-free profits for arbitrageurs

[05:49] The role of market makers in mature vs. immature markets for determining price

[08:38] Uniswap v2 liquidity providers are behind the information curve, while arbitrageurs make risk-free profits

[12:02] The roles of exchange venues and market makers in financial market liquidity and market-making success factors

[14:54] How Swaap differs from other market makers

[18:54] Swaap's solution to sophisticated market actors exploiting liquidity providers

[28:25] How Swaap's algorithm guards liquidity providers against hacks and impermanent loss

[31:29] What's next on Swaap's roadmap and what to get excited about after V2

[33:43] Where can people find out more about Swaap, and should they start on Ethereum or Polygon?

Further resources

• Website: swaap.finance
• Twitter: @SwaapFinance
• Discord: discord.com/invite/vMNHgz7bMU

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Tommy Johnson, Core Contributor of PsyFi, joins Piers Ridyard to discuss their two-sided DeFi marketplace for structured products, which allows users to earn yield on their assets and traders to hedge or leverage their portfolio.

Summary

PsyFi offers products such as covered calls, secured puts, and spread structured products, which PsyFi wraps up and tokenizes. The PsyFi team is developing a market-making vault product where users can deposit two-sided liquidity and earn fees based on participating in and providing liquidity for trades.

Piers and Tommy explain what a structured product is and use covered calls as an example to discuss how the PsyFi platform works. They discuss the risks and rewards of PsyFi's covered call options compared to over-collateralized borrow-lending products like Aave. They also discuss the market need for a riskier product like PsyFi and the usefulness of buying covered calls or secured puts for market actors who have a directional view or want to hedge their positions.

Key takeaways

• PsyFi is a decentralised finance platform that allows users to trade options on Solana.
• A covered call is a selling strategy in which the user sells calls week-to-week, taking the position that the price of the underlying asset will not cross the strike price by the expiration date of the call.
• PsyFi's covered call options provide a 0.35% weekly return and 12% APY but can result in users making lots of money or suddenly losing money depending on the volatility of the asset. They are riskier than over-collateralized borrow-lending products like Aave.
• PsyFi's structured products provide an opportunity for people to earn impressive yields on their assets, but they require a directional view and are not a leave-it-and-see-what-happens kind of product.
• Buyers of PsyFi's structured products include speculators with market opinions and more institutional market makers who may be hedging across their book.

Chapters

[01:07] The definition of structured products

[02:15] How a covered call works on the PsyFi platform

[04:42] Does the trader's profit from a PsyFi covered call come from the user's Solana?

[05:22] Selling volatility and making money through covered calls on PsyFi

[06:21] What is the expected return on a two-week covered call on Solana?

[06:50] The risks and rewards of PsyFi's covered call options compared to Aave's over-collateralized borrow-lending products

[08:02] Why does the market need a riskier product like PsyFi?

[09:20] What functionalities do buyers of covered calls or secured puts need, and why are these products necessary?

[10:50] Using covered call options for asset exposure and risk hedging in DeFi

[14:03] Are people primarily using the PsyFi protocol for hedging or speculation?

[15:41] How does collateralization work in PsyFi's covered call scenario, even if a portion of assets have been sold?

[17:20] Capital efficiency in options markets and borrow-lend protocols

[20:12] How a high-interest rate environment has affected the market for structured products in decentralised finance

[21:34] How has PsyFi responded to the higher yield environment created by the Fed?

[24:23] Democratising market maker returns in DeFi with a delta-neutral vault

[26:11] How does PsyFi evaluate market makers before granting access to capital?

[27:43] PsyFi’s launch date

[28:03] Where to find out more about PsyFi

Further resources

• Website: psyfi.io
• Twitter: @PsyOptions
• Documentation: docs.psyfi.io

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In this DeFi Download podcast episode, Piers Ridyard interviews David Garai, founder of Raft. Raft is a stablecoin protocol similar to MakerDAO, but it is backed by liquid staking tokens. Piers and David talk about the potential of liquid staking and its role in DeFi, as well as concerns about centralization.

Summary

Raft is a decentralised stablecoin protocol that uses liquid staking tokens (LSTs), such as staked ETH, as collateral. Raft requires a collateralization ratio of 120% compared to MakerDAO’s 175% and charges a one-time fee rather than an ongoing APY.

The protocol manages risks associated with using fewer liquid tokens as collateral through its liquidation mechanism and position and protocol level caps. Raft also employs a redistribution mechanism to socialise losses and ensure that the protocol remains overcollateralized.

Raft charges a variety of fees, including liquidation fees and flash minting fees, and is integrating with other DeFi protocols to create use cases for R stablecoins. The potential use cases for Raft stablecoins include spending and short-term trading, and the possibility of onboarding other stablecoins as collateral in the future.

Key takeaways

• Raft is an LSDFi protocol. LSDs (liquid staking derivatives) are ERC20 tokens issued by liquid staking platforms to represent the staking share in that particular platform. They are also referred to as liquid staking tokens.
• Raft’s lower collateralization ratio and one-time fee differentiate it from MakerDAO.
• Raft aims to create an even playing field for users to select their preferred staking provider and encourages competition in the market.

Chapters

[00:00] Introduction

[03:02] Raft's motives to enter the market for decentralised stablecoins backed by liquid staking tokens

[05:08] Does the use of LSTs in DeFi applications accelerate Ethereum centralization and increase risks?

[08:23] What differentiates Raft from MakerDAO

[11:35] Managing risk while using less liquid underlying assets and reducing the collateral requirements

[18:46] Raft's second tier of defence

[26:35] Raft's strategies for integrating its stablecoin with other DeFi protocols

[30:39] Raft's focus on spending as a growth market for its stablecoin

[36:41] Where to learn more about Raft

Further resources

• Website: raft.fi
• Twitter: @raft_fi
• Discord: discord.com/invite/raft-fi
• Documentation: docs.raft.fi

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard talks with Lasha Antadze, co-founder of Rarify Labs. They explore the growing value of identity across digital ecosystems, the challenges of portable identity in the crypto space, and the benefits of Rarimo's interoperability protocol for application builders.

Summary

Rarify Labs focuses on creating and implementing interoperability protocols for identity and reputation. Their goal is to make identity portable across ecosystems and layer-1 protocols, allowing users to carry their reputation with them when they move between different applications. To accomplish this, they developed Rarimo, an interoperability protocol that provides identity primitives supported by the ecosystem, enabling users to transfer their reputation across different chains and dApps.

Rarimo enables the movement of reputation and identity components across different ecosystems. It integrates with various identity providers, making it easier for developers to incorporate identity and reputation standards into their dApps. The protocol emphasizes the need for end-to-end flow and demonstrates how it tangibly improves the user experience. Developers are expected to start building on top of Rarimo by the end of the summer.

Key takeaways

• The concept of portable identity is difficult to solve because identity evolves and is not just a token, but a token with history associated with it.
• Rarimo aggregates various identity components that exist across different forms and allows for full control and management of this entire interaction on-chain via smart contracts.
• Rarimo is expected to launch with partnerships with the ten largest identity providers, and a beta mainnet will be available by the end of the summer.
• The best place to get started with Rarimo is to read through the documentation available on their website, docs.rarimo.com.
• The development of identity space and standardization will require time and upbuilding, but Rarify Labs is committed to delivering tangible and user-centric demos to address these challenges.

Chapters

[01:08] Why is identity becoming an increasingly important topic in the Web3 and DeFi space?

[03:14] Is identity interoperability the missing Holy Grail in the crypto space?

[04:00] Managing multiple identities across different platforms in the digital space using blockchain and Web3

[06:28] What is Lasha Antadze's background in identity and what makes him interested in identity today?

[10:47] COVID-19's impact on digital identity in the crypto and Web3 space, changes making identity more portable and creatable on ledger, and how this applies to businesses in the crypto ecosystem

[14:41] What is Rarimo doing in the identity space?

[18:46] The challenge of portable identity in the crypto space

[21:38] What benefits does Rarimo integration provide for application developers, and when should they consider using Rarimo's tools?

[24:43] What identity providers is Rarimo integrated with?

[26:58] What is the expected launch date for Rarimo and how can people get involved?

Further resources

• Website: http://rarimo.com/
• Discord: https://discord.gg/Bzjm5MDXrU

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With Oliver Linch, CEO

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard talks with Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global, about the advantages and disadvantages of centralised and decentralised exchanges, the company's history of operating in the cryptocurrency market, and its legal challenges with the SEC.

Summary

Bittrex Global is a successful cryptocurrency exchange that grants global users access to over 650 tokens. However, the company is currently facing legal challenges from the SEC, despite being regulated in Liechtenstein and Bermuda.

During the discussion, Linch and Piers talk about the future of the crypto industry and its regulation. They argue that a balance between regulation, security, and innovation is necessary. Both centralised and decentralised exchanges have a role to play. They also touch on the challenges of verifying smart contracts and the significance of trust in both systems.

Key takeaways

• Despite being regulated in Liechtenstein and Bermuda, Bittrex Global is facing legal challenges from the SEC.
• Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global, believes that a legal framework is required to ensure that people can engage in commercial activities with confidence and that regulation is critical when things go wrong.
• Centralised and decentralised products can collaborate to create something more productive than destructive, and there will always be a place for both centralised and decentralised products in the crypto industry.
• Regulation will have an impact on the crypto industry's future, and the next ten years will be crucial in determining how the industry will evolve.
• Bittrex Global is primarily focused on regulation, security, and innovation, with a particular interest in the tokenization of real-world assets.

Chapters

[01:18] Oliver Linch’s unusual for a crypto exchange CEO background as a lawyer

[02:08] The story behind Oliver Linch's journey to becoming CEO of Bittrex Global

[03:49] How is Bittrex Global handling the SEC's lawsuit while building its business? How are they considering the US regulator while operating globally?

[07:42] Why is Bittrex Global being sued by the SEC despite providing services to non-US citizens from a regulated jurisdiction?

[10:36] The implications of the SEC's lawsuit against Bittrex Global for the crypto industry

[11:39] What is Oliver's opinion, from a jurisprudential perspective, on the impact of regulation? Is regulation entirely beneficial or only partially so?

[13:15] The necessity of a legal framework in facilitating interactions between people

[15:18] Is regulation in crypto necessary only when something goes wrong?

[17:19] Trust-minimization and transparency in DeFi: Are decentralised finance (DeFi) and decentralised exchanges (DEXs) a threat to centralised exchanges?

[20:01] How does trusting a regulated process differ from trusting a coder for an exchange regulated in a different country than the user's residence?

[23:14] The risk of internal fraud in regulated crypto exchanges

[24:08] The trustworthiness of banks regulated in different countries

[24:30] Verifying entities in the crypto industry: Smart contract audits and auditor reputation

[25:29] The importance of validation and auditing in both centralised and decentralised exchanges

[29:05] The future of the crypto industry and Bittrex Global's next steps

Further resources

• Website: global.bittrex.com
• Twitter: @BittrexGlobal
• Oliver Linch’s Twitter: @OliverLinch

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Mark Richardson, the project lead at Bancor, joins Piers Ridyard to discuss Carbon, the next stage in DEX evolution, in this episode of the DeFi Download. Carbon provides order book-like functionality on-chain and has already seen over 100 strategies created since its launch on April 20th.

Summary

From Bancor V1 to Uniswap, the evolution of cryptocurrency liquidity provision has been characterised by significant innovations that sparked DeFi Summer. Although the Automated Market Maker (AMM) was a game-changer, Bancor is turning away from the AMM, recognising the complexities involved in providing liquidity.

Carbon, as an on-chain order book functionality provider, offers greater flexibility and control over liquidity provision than traditional AMMs. Carbon's app runs in the user's browser using an open-source software development kit (SDK), which is lightweight enough to run smoothly on a smartphone.

Key takeaways

• Carbon is a gas-efficient, lightweight DEX that prioritises efficiency while still executing swaps trustlessly.
• In retrospect, some of the most significant innovations appear obvious, but until an innovation is defined and described, it may not be immediately apparent. The irony of invention is that it is only apparent after it has been discovered. Previously, it may have been unclear why others were not in the right frame of mind to make the discovery themselves.
• Carbon's development priorities include identifying the demographic that uses Carbon, exploring other blockchain ecosystems, and supporting features that did not make the critical path for the MVP but still need support.

Chapters

[01:12] What killed the AMM, and what comes next in the world of DeFi liquidity provision?

[07:05] How providing liquidity can align incentives and create a social basis for market making in DeFi

[10:45] What is the simplest way to describe impermanent loss to someone in the context of AMMs?

[13:37] Impermanent loss in liquidity provision and missed profit opportunities

[16:02] What are Mark Richardson's thoughts on how Bancor's Carbon can contribute to the concentrated liquidity pools model, and what is the next step in liquidity provision?

[18:21] What is a short gamma option, and why is it called that?

[23:53] The rise of constant function AMMs and the naive phase of decentralised finance and crypto

[26:50] What are the limitations of the Automated Market Maker (AMM), and why is it not the ideal financial instrument for liquidity provision in DeFi? How does Carbon solve these limitations, and what does it do differently?

[29:20] Carbon's customizable "buy low, sell high" strategy execution

[33:39] Is it possible that CLOBs lack statefulness and a concept of time, resulting in only valid or invalid orders and no if-then statements?

[35:27] How does Carbon solve the challenge of creating order book-like functionality and making it easy for users to buy within a certain range without having to pick specific orders, while still maintaining the ability to put trades on in microseconds or nanoseconds and avoiding potential performance issues with state-based logic in order matching engines?

[38:59] The genius of Carbon: a simple on-ledger solution for order routing

[43:29] Does using the SDK in Carbon for executing positions trustlessly while still submitting the execution to the ledger raise concerns among decentralisation maximalists?

[46:37] What are Carbon’s plans for the next 6–12 months?

Further resources

• Website: bancor.network
• Twitter: @Bancor
• Discord: discord.com/invite/CAm3Ncyrxk

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Michael Videtto, co-founder of Astrolescent, a decentralised exchange aggregator, is Piers Ridyard's guest on this week's episode of the DeFi Download Podcast. Piers and Michael discuss the launch of USDA, the first fully collateralized stablecoin on Radix.

Summary

Michael Videtto, Astrolescent's co-founder, has a background in physics and electrical engineering, as well as 15 years of investing experience in both crypto and traditional finance. He has an interest in macroeconomics and aims to further his knowledge in the field.

Astrolescent intends to bring Radix into the mainstream by combining DeFi and traditional finance through four financial products. Their first product is a decentralised exchange aggregator, which will be followed by other products that will use the aggregator to provide users with more options and flexibility. Astrolescent seeks to mitigate risk by looking into partnering with multiple banks rather than just one. In July 2023, they plan to launch USDA, an audited and fully-backed stablecoin issued in the US on Radix, along with other products.

During the discussion, Michael emphasised the importance of crypto industry regulation to prevent scams and build trust. He also discussed the stability of stablecoins such as USDC, as well as how well-regulated and diversified companies like Circle can recover from losses and continue offering stablecoins. Michael also highlighted the importance of transparency and proof of reserves in stablecoins. Astrolescent will use a KYC verification token to ensure the security of their DeFi products and to track token ownership on the network.

Chapters

[01:05] Michael’s view on the impact of the Silicon Valley Bank USDC wobble on stablecoins

[02:28] Are decentralised stablecoins the future of DeFi in light of the recent events?

[03:39] The importance of stablecoins for DeFi and public ledgers

[04:39] The founding of Astrolescent and their first product

[06:23] Michael’s background and interest in crypto and finance

[07:09] Did Michael initially become interested in crypto through his interest in finance and macroeconomics?

[08:39] The challenges of launching a stablecoin in a mature market issued out of the USA: Astrolescent's approach with USDA

[10:38] Launching the first stablecoin on Radix

[11:45] Using Radix-specific features for USDA launch

[12:59] A new emerging narrative in DeFi: Is building on-ledger applications that are transparent, leverage smart contracts, and are also compliant becoming a big growth area for DeFi?

[14:10] Astrolescent's plans for the liquidity around their first product, the USDA stablecoin

[16:03] Astrolescent's challenge with state-by-state banking regulations in the US

[16:59] The global availability of USDA and who can use it

[17:54] Can USDA be freely transferred after purchase or is it subject to restrictions?

[18:42] Astrolescent leverages the powerful rule set associated with tokens in the Radix engine to future-proof their stablecoin and build a product that works for both DeFi and traditional finance.

[21:04] Hybrid permissioned and permissionless systems, regulation, and innovation in DeFi

[24:45] What is the most useful thing that the Radix community can do for Astrolescent right now?

Further resources

• Website: astrolescent.com
• Twitter: @astrolescent

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Summary

On this episode of the podcast, Piers talks with Will Jones, founder of Paper Street Capital, about his experiences with Scrypto and the future of decentralised development.

Paper Street Capital is a crypto investor who came from TradFi and follows the same fundamental principles that worked in the traditional space, but now in Web3, betting on people.

From his admiration for Radix to his experiences with Solidity and Scrypto, Will shares his insights into the challenges and opportunities facing developers in the crypto space.

During the discussion, Will and Piers talk in detail about Scrypto, a Rust-based programming language for Web3 development. They discuss the importance of asset handling and security, the user-friendliness of Scrypto, and the challenges of code reusability in public ledger code. They also explore the potential for blueprints and components to incentivize creativity and reward developers with royalties.

Key takeaways

• Scrypto is a Rust-based programming language for Web3 development that emphasises asset handling and security, user-friendliness, and code reusability through blueprints and components.
• Radix has implemented a system of micropayments for useful actions on the ledger, with delegated fees allowing third parties to pay transaction fees on behalf of users.
• Scrypto is intuitive and rewarding, with the use of polished blueprints and components lowering the bar for entry-level developers.
• The transaction manifest simplifies the process of composing smart contracts and allows for greater composability.
• A blueprint is a piece of functionality that you want to instantiate on the Radix ledger, while a component is the functioning smart contract on top of the ledger. They allow for safer and cheaper instantiation of code and easier code reusability for building more complicated applications.

Chapters

[01:09] How Radix's presentation and focus on pain points in the crypto industry impressed Will Jones

[03:08] Scrypto's technical features: a bowling alley with gutter guards down

[04:48] Radix's story of creating Scrypto, the secure and user-friendly Rust-based programming language for Web3 development

[12:00] Will Jones's experience learning blockchain programming: Solidity vs Scrypto, and blueprints as Lego pieces for Web3 development

[14:25] Radix's blueprint and component system: safer and cheaper instantiation of code and easier code reusability in public ledger development

[23:05] How blueprints and components in Scrypto can incentivize creativity and reward DeFi developers with royalties

[24:30] Incentivizing useful code: how Radix is using micropayments and delegated fees to accelerate their ecosystem

[28:42] The benefits of Scrypto: lowering the bar for entry-level developers, saving time and stress in Web3 development with components and blueprints

[30:52] Avoiding Ethereum's risks: the benefits of Radix and Scrypto

[35:03] Efficient development using the tools and components of the Radix marketplace

[36:09] The power of coordination layers: standardised building blocks for innovation

[38:06] The role of components in the Radix ecosystem

[40:11] Building dApps with ease and efficiency, low barrier to entry, and polished, easy-to-use components and blueprints

[43:12] The benefits of Radix's transaction manifest for smart contract development

[48:38] Simplifying DeFi: how Radix is improving user experience

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In this episode of the DeFi Download podcast, Piers Ridyard and Bruno Škvorc, the founder of RMRK, delve into the RMRK NFT 2.0 standard and the Singular marketplace, which is designed to showcase the possibilities of NFT 2.0s. They also talk about marketing challenges and Bruno’s hope for widespread technology adoption.

Summary

RMRK (pronounced “remark”) is a collection of smart contract standards and building blocks that allows NFTs to be infinitely extended and exist as NFT2.0s. It runs on the Kusama blockchain, Polkadot's canary network, without requiring parachains or smart contracts, and aims to elevate NFTs beyond just monkey pictures.

Key takeaways

• RMRK is a protocol created by a team of developers who are working to establish a new standard for NFTs. This new standard enables more complex data structures to be used.
• The RMRK team has created a marketplace called Singular that showcases the possibilities of the NFT 2.0 standard and allows artists and collectors to trade NFTs 2.0. Singular is very much like the OpenSea of NFTs 2.0.
• NFTs can be used to represent anything from music tracks to financial instruments.
• Adopting a new idea, even if it's a really good one, can be difficult. To capture the popular imagination, it's important to create a narrative around a new technology.
• The RMRK team has struggled with marketing their technology, but they recognise that it is necessary to build familiarity through exposure.

Chapters

[01:06] The origin story of RMRK

[02:52] The journey of RMRK: from hacking NFTs on layer 1 to building robust cross-platform standards

[06:46] Game equipables and the power of NFTs owning NFTs and equipables

[10:35] Examples of combining fungible tokens with non-fungible tokens to experiment with data structures in a decentralised way

[13:01] Exploring the boundaries of NFTs: Should chat history be an NFT?

[14:06] Is the creation of identity and reputation as on-ledger objects leading to lighter front ends?

[15:52] NFTs owning NFTs and fungible tokens: how does it differ from a wallet?

[18:02] Social media and finance are converging on Web3 and DeFi, but there may also be a convergence with gaming. Will game skill sets be the next big thing in DeFi?

[24:24] Does a large number of generative arts need to be involved in making two pieces of artwork together in NFTs and making a new collection compatible with equipables?

[27:20] Younger generations have grown up with digital gaming and missions, which can be applied to the DAO economy and lead to interesting developments. What are some examples of groups understanding and using the RMRK standard?

[28:39] The value of reputation in building successful Web3 communities: lessons from Web2 communities like Reddit

[30:23] What is the new marketplace that Bruno is building besides RMRK?

[32:57] What defines success for Singular? Is it having many RMRK-standard marketplaces or becoming the main NFT2.0 trading platform?

[34:29] Overcoming the challenges of introducing a good idea to the world and the road ahead for RMRK

[36:03] The importance of narrative in NFT 2.0 adoption — RMRK's nestable NFTs and Radix compatibility

[38:00] Navigating the RMRK and Singular ecosystems: where to start?

Further resources

• RMRK Website: rmrk.app
• Singular App: singular.app
• Twitter: @RmrkApp
• Bruno’s Twitter: @bitfalls

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard and Evgeny Yurtaev, CEO and co-founder of Zerion, discuss the importance of smart wallets that help users avoid mistakes, the upcoming Zerion extension release, and the challenges of designing a user-friendly onboarding process for Web3.

Summary

Zerion is a Web3 non-custodial crypto wallet and asset management platform. It is designed to provide users with a seamless and secure experience when managing their digital assets. The Zerion Wallet has gained over 100,000 users and facilitated more than 600,000 transactions with over $1.5 billion in volume since June 2022.

With the upcoming release of the Zerion browser extension, users can expect even more features and functionalities that will enhance their experience. For instance, the extension will offer transparency during transaction signing and website validation. Zerion has a large and active Discord community and an API for Web3 developers.

Key takeaways

• Seed phrase-based wallets are currently the most accessible and easiest to use, and Zerion is researching account abstraction and multi-party computation for better user experience and security.
• The upcoming Zerion browser extension will offer transparency during transaction signing and phishing website checks.
• Web3 can enhance finance and internet user experience by focusing on the user's data. Wallets must provide a good user experience to promote free competition and enable users to choose the best wallet interfaces.

Chapters

[01:25] The user experience of crypto wallets and recent hacks, as well as the idea behind Zerion and why it was built

[03:35] Zerion’s key insights and unique selling proposition in the crypto wallet market

[06:21] The reasons behind the poor user experience of crypto wallets and the importance of fixing it

[08:14] Web3’s role in enabling flexible user experiences for crypto wallets, Evgeny’s views on its impact on business opportunities, and Zerion’s competitive advantage

[11:07] The future of crypto wallet user experience, according to Evgeny: specialisation and personalization, similar to operating systems

[12:51] The role of crypto wallets in the industry compared to messaging, decentralised social media, and file storage and their potential expansion to include such services

[15:57] Current availability of the best possible public-private key infrastructure, the bifurcation of the crypto wallets between authentication and asset control vs. all-in-one services, and the thin versus fat stack debate

[18:25] How Zerion helps users avoid losing assets through blind signing mistakes

[20:09] The problem of seed phrases: the anti-seed-phrase movement, Zerion's standard form using private keys, and their plans for social recovery

[22:26] The benefits of account abstraction, its integration into the Radix ledger, and the challenges of user onboarding

[25:04] The challenge of being backwards compatible with past technologies and the advantages of a new ledger like Radix

[25:38] Zerion's goals for 2023

[27:23] The Zerion Browser Extension

[28:48] The best place to get started with Zerion

[29:32] The first thing to do after downloading the Zerion Wallet

Further resources

• Website: zerion.io
• Twitter: @zerion
• Evgeny’s Twitter: @evgeth_
• Discord: https://zerion.io/discord

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This week’s DeFi Download Podcast features Juan-David Mendieta, co-founder of Keyrock. Piers Ridyard and Juan-David discuss Keyrock's market-making services and the potential of DeFi to create a more equitable and accessible financial system.

Summary

Keyrock is a market maker that facilitates the adoption of tokenized economies. It trades on over 85 exchanges and in 500 markets, with a trading volume of billions of dollars. Juan David Mendieta is Keyrock's co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer.

Key takeaways

• Juan-David questions the traditional economic model and how it relates to Bitcoin, suggesting that Bitcoin could be a viable alternative to the traditional economic model.
• Piers and Juan-David discuss the differences between a store of value and fiat currency, as well as the impact of a deflationary asset such as Bitcoin on debt and interest rates.
• Because rising asset values might result in higher interest rates, the deflationary nature of Bitcoin can have an impact on debt.
• Juan-David suggests that in the future, we could live in a world where all value is held in digital assets, and we would no longer need a separate exchange asset. He uses an example of headphones with an NFT (non-fungible token) to illustrate how this could work.

Chapters

[01:14] The source of Juan-David’s passion for cryptocurrency

[02:51] The unique perspective of a central banker on Bitcoin's potential value

[05:30] Differences between fiat currency and store of value: impact on debt and interest rates in a Bitcoin-based hard money system

[08:55] Piers' thoughts on Juan-David's thesis that all value can be held in digital assets without the need for a separate exchange asset and blockchain's potential to facilitate value exchange with a time component

[12:55] Piers and Juan-David discuss a universal method for exchanging cryptocurrency, mentioning Bancor's ICO and expressing admiration for Carbon, an AMM developed by Bancor DAO contributors.

[14:35] Juan-David's idea that everything has a value and can be traded for everything else — Keyrock's role and thoughts on the current and future importance of token liquidity and market making

[19:37] The differences between market making and the Uniswap model — When should a project move from a bootstrap liquidity model to a market maker?

[25:54] The Keyrock DeFi team and its unique approach to market making, focusing on both centralised and decentralised exchanges

[28:48] The Keyrock team's research findings on up-and-coming DeFi companies, specifically GMX

[32:52] The GMX protocol for advanced capital providers allows for selective positioning and efficient price discovery.

[35:13] Upcoming developments in the DeFi space, such as Carbon

[37:41] The potential of derivatives on decentralised exchanges: incorporating pricing models into derivatives

[41:43] How projects looking for a market maker can get in touch with Keyrock

Further resources

• Website: keyrock.eu
• Twitter: @KeyrockTrading
• Juan-David’s Twitter: @JuanDMendieta
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/keyrock/

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In the latest episode of the DeFi Download podcast, the CEO and co-founder of DappRadar, Skirmantas Januškas, was interviewed by Piers about the origins of his platform and the challenges of tracking dApps in the ever-changing landscape of the blockchain industry.

Summary

In recent years, the industry of Web3 decentralised applications (dApps) has exploded, reaching a tipping point of mass adoption with millions of users and hundreds of billions of dollars locked up in DeFi protocols. DappRadar pioneered reliable on-chain metrics and became the primary dApp discovery destination. DappRadar is evolving into the World's Dapp Store and introducing the RADAR token to reward user participation and contributions.

Key takeaways

1. DappRadar is a comprehensive source of information on dApps across multiple platforms (and will soon include Radix). This is a crucial feature as it allows users to have a one-stop shop for information on different dApps available on different blockchain platforms and saves them time and effort in searching for information on different platforms.
2. DappRadar is a significant player in the DeFi space, with ambitious goals and a community-driven approach.
3. DappRadar has ambitious goals and is constantly striving to grow its user base. Its goal is to have millions of owners and billions of users, and there are currently half a million monthly active users on the platform.

Chapters

[01:14] When was DappRadar founded?

[03:04] Skirmantas was captivated not only by CryptoKitties but also by the idea of using blockchain technology for purposes other than simply storing value in Bitcoin. He was particularly intrigued by the concept of smart contracts, which enable trustless logic execution. He also saw how blockchain technology could aid in the prevention of scams in activities like online poker.

[04:26] Why Skirmantas chose to build DappRadar

[06:27] The challenges of keeping data up to date in the DeFi space

[09:09] Major trends for 2023 based on DappRadar’s experience as a comprehensive gateway to Blockchain information

[12:22] Speculations for the future of play-to-earn (P2E) games in the year 2023

[14:09] The shift in focus in the Web3 games space from speculation on assets to user-focused services, the challenges of building a successful game economy, and the experimentation that is taking place in this area

[15:48] Gamification of non-gaming activities such as CrossFit and the potential for creating economies

[18:09] Skirmantas’ hardest lessons in building a business and user base

[20:48] Linking audience engagement, dApp tracking, and the RADAR token

[22:56] While some dApps are simple to track on the DappRadar platform, others necessitate more effort and communication with developers. The platform relies on community contributors to assist with this process and to strengthen the overall dApp store. What role does the RADAR token play in this process?

[24:04] Using the RADAR token to incentivize community contributions

[27:37] DappRadar's monthly active users and token holders, as well as its strategy for reaching millions of owners and billions of users

[30:32] The number of DappRadar contributors

[30:53] How to participate in the DappRadar community

Further resources

• Website: dappradar.com
• Forum: forum.dappradar.com
• Discord: discord.gg/4ybbssrHkm
• GitHub: github.com/dappradar
• Twitter: @DappRadar

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In this episode of the DeFi Download podcast, Piers talks with Pol Lanski, Project Lead of Dappnode, about the benefits of running a validator node in a decentralised network like Ethereum or Bitcoin, and how Dappnode makes it simple for anyone to do so.

Summary

Dappnode is a platform that allows users to run validator nodes and participate in decentralised networks without needing technical expertise. It promotes network security and decentralisation while supporting economic accessibility through its liquid staking derivative (LSD) networks and other tools.

Key takeaways

1. Running nodes in decentralised networks is critical for ensuring decentralisation and contributing to network security. There is a push toward economic accessibility, which Dappnode's liquid staking derivative networks and other tools can help with.
2. Users can drop their ETH into liquid staking derivative (LSD) networks and receive a derivative of that ETH, which can then be deployed into validators on Dappnode.
3. Dappnode is a platform that allows users to easily run their own nodes as an alternative to relying on third-party services. It also enables users without technical knowledge to participate in these networks and manage their validators.
4. Monitoring staking performance is vital for users, and Dappnode provides integrated open-source dashboarding tools for this purpose.
5. Dappnode is an open ecosystem, which means that anyone can contribute to and build on it. It provides solutions for people who cannot afford the 32 ETH required to run an Ethereum validator to participate in the decentralised revolution.

Chapters

[01:09] Why is it important that anyone be able to run a validator node?

[04:15] What is the intellectual leap from using IPFS for file storage and website hosting to running nodes on Ethereum?

[09:10] Piers highlights the importance of syncing up with consensus in decentralised networks and explains how Infura offers a useful solution in this context.

[15:18] Piers discusses Ethereum's shift from proof of work to proof of stake, emphasising the importance of decentralisation in Ethereum's design and mentioning that running a validator node with at least 32 ETH can earn fees and contribute to the security of the network. Dappnode is a way to make running a node easier. What was involved in running an Ethereum node before Dappnode came along?

[24:25] What kind of guarantees are there around the software being up to date and running once installed?

[25:40] Within what timeframe does Dappnode typically do the updates?

[26:47] Piers emphasises the importance of users being able to monitor the performance of their staking. Has Dappnode developed any dashboarding solutions for this purpose?

[30:36] The staking amount required for Ethereum's validator software has decreased from 10,000 ETH to 32 ETH. While this is a significant reduction, 32 ETH remains a considerable amount of money. Are there any solutions provided by Dappnode for individuals who wish to participate in the decentralised revolution but cannot afford 32 ETH?

[34:50] Piers mentions the debates surrounding the use of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) versus Proof of Stake (PoS) in blockchain technology. When can we expect Dappnode to make this technology available for those who want to get involved but don't have a large amount of capital to invest?

[39:39] Where can you find out more about Dappnode and how to get involved?

Further resources

• Website: https://dappnode.com/
• Discord: https://discord.gg/dappnode
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DAppNode

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Ahmed Wael Ismail, Founder and CEO of FLUID, an AI-based liquidity aggregator for CeFi and DeFi. In the interview, Ahmed discusses FLUID's liquidity aggregation platform and how it works to solve the problem of highly fragmented liquidity in the crypto market.

Summary

FLUID is an AI-based liquidity aggregator for CeFi and DeFi. The platform provides a seamless and efficient solution for users to access multiple liquidity pools and execute trades at the best available prices. FLUID offers transparency and security. In addition, the FLUID team is working to expand the range of supported assets and liquidity sources, so that users can benefit from an ever-growing ecosystem of financial opportunities.

FLUID is primarily focused on institutional clients and exchanges, but also has a B2C strategy in place. The company plans to launch a token for retail users and expand into futures, options, and tokenized markets.

Key takeaways

• Liquidity refers to the availability of tokens to purchase on exchanges.
• Liquidity aggregation solves the problem of highly fragmented liquidity in the crypto market, leading to market inefficiencies and high costs for buying and selling crypto assets.
• Smart order routing looks at all the order books to get the best possible price and the least slippage.
• FLUID uses AI to predict market latency and provide optimal execution by analysing complex and unstructured data.
• Best execution is a concept in financial markets that focuses on getting the best possible price for the investor.
• The accuracy of FLUID's AI-based strategies can predict BTC and ETH in up to 8 seconds with 99.5% accuracy and up to 30 seconds with 95% accuracy using hybrid models.
• FLUID's target users include institutions, exchanges, and retail markets.

Chapters

[01:03] What is a liquidity aggregator and why do we need one?

[03:53] How does FLUID's liquidity aggregator work?

[08:38] Why does FLUID use AI in its liquidity aggregation?

[12:17] Why doesn't the FLUID team trade on it themselves?

[13:56] Why FLUID's type of liquidity aggregator is needed in the market

[15:21] Liquidity in decentralised vs. centralised exchanges and the role of liquidity aggregation in making execution more efficient

[19:09] The potential problem of liquidity aggregation in tier 3 and 4 exchanges: Liquidity mirroring and circular reasoning

[25:10] Who takes the execution risk when a price is quoted on FLUID? Is the exchange obligated to fill an order or is it just an offer that they will do their best to fulfil?

[27:23] Potential issues with executing transactions on decentralised exchanges: Delays due to Ethereum finality and the possibility of front running

[30:07] Status of development and launch timeline for FLUID

[31:50] FLUID's vision for the future of liquidity aggregators

[34:36] FLUID's customer base and how retail fits into the company’s vision

[36:55] Piers' closing remarks and expression of excitement for FLUID's potential value for the industry

[37:33] Where to find more information about FLUID

Further resources

• Website: fluid.finance
• Twitter: @FLUID_liquidity
• Ahmed’s Twitter: @AhmedWIsmail
• Telegram: t.me/FLUID_liquidity

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With Omar Yehia

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard discusses investing with applied mathematician Omar Yehia. They explore issues in academia, the importance of trust in crypto, and how to approach investing by examining personal assumptions and moving away from biases, while considering the trade-offs of decentralisation and the concepts of ease of use, robustness, and elegance in systems.

Summary

Omar Yehia has a background in science and applied mathematics. He is an expert on building successful primitives while avoiding common mistakes.

Omar has done extensive research in the field of rocket science and photonics. Fascinated by the mathematical principles behind these fields, Omar became drawn to a reductionist approach to life and eventually went on to study applied mathematics.

Key takeaways

• Academic institutions and government bureaucracies share parallels. The current academic system is inefficient and misallocates resources.
• The private market for distributed ledgers and blockchains has contributed to a recent acceleration in cryptography, with more breakthroughs in the past four years.
• The majority of individuals are uninterested in decentralisation despite its evident advantages.
• At the heart of almost every financial crisis is misplaced trust.
• Constantly examining hypotheses is vital, especially for concepts that have never been tested in the wild and that you got from someone else.
• In order to fulfil their obligation to their investors, capital allocators must abandon their personal biases and be patient as they refresh their information and worldview.

Chapters

[00:53] Omar’s background

[03:50] Omar's response to Piers' thesis on misaligned incentives in academia and their resemblance to communism.

[10:32] Philosophical and practical issues pertaining to the crypto industry's balancing of long-term incentives

[13:17] Benefits and limitations of the private market

[14:48] Examining Omar's foray into crypto

[20:56] Omar’s journey from the Ethereum yellow paper to investing

[22:03] Omar's key insights from the evolution of cryptocurrencies from 2017 to the present day

[23:26] The Faustian pact of Web2, sacrificing privacy for ease, and the Faustian pact of Web3, centralization in exchange for convenience.

[26:26] Innumeracy regarding the law of statistics

[27:21] Fundamentally misplaced trust as the root cause of the FTX, Three Arrows, and Celsius tragedies

[29:22] The most crucial next steps for crypto and Omar's investments

[32:34] Decentralisation, usability, and robust elegance

[38:55] Omar’s investing philosophy: Investing in what you believe will be most profitable vs the future you wish to see

Further resources:

Omar’s Twitter: @0xomaryehia

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With Mohamed Fouda, Alliance DAO Contributor

In this special edition of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Mohamed Fouda, the head of research at Alliance DAO and co-founder of Volt Capital, as well as Matthew Hines, Chief Product Officer of RDX Works. The focus of the discussion is parallel execution within the realm of decentralised finance.

Summary

In today's episode, Piers, Matt, and guest Mohamed Fouda talk about parallel execution in blockchain and smart contracts. They discuss methods for identifying independent blockchain transactions and analyse their benefits and drawbacks, offering examples in AMMs and Ethereum. They cover Radix's parallel execution design, system design layers of abstraction in Cerberus and Babylon, and the drawbacks and implementation complexity of parallel execution. They also discuss the state bloat problem, ways to reduce blockchain history and the pros and cons of horizontal scaling in blockchain technology.

Alliance DAO is a blockchain-based platform that aims to support and invest in promising projects and entrepreneurs in the space. It runs a cohort program for founders and is always looking for smart and passionate individuals who have a long-term commitment to the space.

Key takeaways

• Ethereum, the most well-known blockchain for smart contracts, operates using a single-threaded processor. The limitations of single-thread execution in Ethereum have opened opportunities for other protocols to offer better solutions.
• There are two main approaches to identifying independent transactions in the blockchain. The first approach, where the smart contract defines the state and identifies which transactions have access to which part of the state, was implemented in Solana and the Sealevel execution environment and in Sui (object). The second approach is called "optimistic execution" and is adopted by Aptos.
• It may be necessary to use Optimistic Execution in certain circumstances, but it has its limitations. A benefit of Optimistic Execution is that it pushes the problem to the validator and away from the developer, and hides the complexity from the developer.
• The Radix approach is a hybrid solution that starts with the idea of assets as important and fundamental to the network, with everything represented as resources.
• Parallel Execution can remove the bottleneck of serialisation but can lead to centralisation.

Chapters

[01:53] Mohamed describes parallel execution in the context of blockchain and smart contracts.

[05:14] Single pipeline in Ethereum: A dramatic design choice with compatibility Implications

[08:07] Identifying independent transactions in Blockchain: An overview of two approaches

[13:56] Optimistic model: Advantages, trade-offs, and examples in AMMs and Ethereum

[16:05] Analysis of public ledger usage on Ethereum: Interactions with smart contracts and critique of Optimistic Execution

[20:54] Radix’s design philosophy for parallel execution

[28:36] Layers of abstraction in the system design of Cerberus and the Babylon network

[31:12] Disadvantages of Parallel Execution

[35:14] Implementation complexity

[37:26] The state bloat problem in Blockchain technology

[40:47] Techniques for reducing the size of the Blockchain history

[42:52] Advantages and disadvantages of horizontal scaling in the network

[46:56] Information on Alliance DAO and Mohamed Fouda

Further resources

• Alliance DAO Website: alliance.xyz
• Mohamed’s Twitter: @MohamedFFouda
• Mohamed’s Medium: @fouda

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Matthew Graham, founder, and CEO of Sino Global Capital, to discuss macrotrends, the significance of the Chinese market for cryptocurrencies, the repercussions of GitHub's ban on the Tornado Cash code, and the struggles and opportunities arising from de-globalization.

Chapters

[01:03] How did the Matty Sino story begin?

[02:55] What was it about Ethereum that convinced Matthew that it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity?

[05:10] When was Sino Global Capital established?

[05:44] How and why did Sino Capital choose to focus on China?

[07:52] According to Matthew's experience, how has China changed in terms of foreigners working there and establishing a successful foreign enterprise in the Chinese market?

[09:30] What does Matthew recommend to his portfolio companies in terms of entering the China markets, which most people find terrifying?

[11:40] What is the company's general thesis?

[13:19] What distinguishes Matthew from other crypto fund managers?

[14:16] What are the recurring macrotrends from previous historical periods that Matthew believes will be important in the next 5-10 years?

[16:33] What Matthew sees as likely bright spots for the next wave of DeFi applications

[19:17] Browsers, a piece of software that people had never used before and had to be taught how to use in order to access the internet, were required for the internet’s widespread adoption. Are we going to need something similar for crypto?

[20:39] What is Matthew's general outlook on the current events in the market and how they are affecting crypto?

[22:11] Many people are concerned about China's shadow banking system and the potential collapse of its property markets, which could have repercussions elsewhere. Is Matthew concerned about a China collapse in the property or financial markets in the next two years?

[24:15] Why should the crypto industry care about de-globalization?

[25:17] An example of internet balkanization, the Great Firewall of China being primarily a trade rather than an information barrier, the effect such barriers have on the survivability of local businesses and the birth of local innovation, and how a global business would benefit from internet balkanization.

[28:13] The information barrier as experienced by the average Chinese person and the middle-class, and the decline in interest in using foreign services as a result of the proliferation of domestic alternatives

[31:01] What does Matthew think about Tornado Cash's censorship in terms of government intervention in markets?

[32:43] What action should the US government have taken instead, and what should be done in response to people removing Tornado Cash code from GitHub?

[33:43] The Napster example of file sharing and copyright infringement facilitation: Are we transferring the same concept to a new platform?

[37:27] The crypto industry's failure to engage regulators

[39:01] What impact will the Terra Luna collapse have on the regulatory response?

[40:54] What, if any, good can come from Terra Luna's collapse?

[43:16] Will there be a self-regulator for the cryptocurrency industry, like there is for the pharmaceuticals industry?

[44:03] Is there a future and a place for centralised finance (CeFi)?

[45:29] Where can you learn more about Matthew and Sino Global Capital?

Further resources

• Website: Sino Global Capital
• Twitter: @SinoGlobalCap
• Matthew’s Twitter: @mattysino

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard chats with Aleksander Larsen, co-founder of Sky Mavis, makers of Axie Infinity, the largest blockchain game to date, which at its peak had over 2.7 million daily active users. Discussion topics include the criticality of the social aspect of gaming, the challenges of creating an interoperable world within the same IP, and the revolutionary potential of NFTs.

Chapters

[02:33] The backstory of Axie Infinity and Smooth Love Potion

[05:09] Aleksander's background

[06:31] If everything had already been made and discovered in the gaming industry, why would Aleksander want to get involved? Just what was it about making video games that still interested him?

[07:18] A consumer's natural tendency is to look for faults rather than the things that make a product great. You can't fully appreciate the effort and ingenuity that goes into building something until you switch roles from consumer to creator. Was Aleksander's experience as a game developer reflective of his prior sentiments toward games as a gamer?

[10:48] In what ways did Aleksander find CryptoKitties to be flawed?

[16:02] What changes have occurred in Axie Infinity’s vision as time has progressed? How similar is the current artwork to the original?

[17:52] How does Axie Infinity's approach differ from something like Flow Blockchain?

[21:46] How did Aleksander maintain his optimism and motivation through Axie Infinity's low points, when the company had only a month's runway, the market was in the middle of a bear run, and members of the community were leaving in droves?

[25:28] Why, in Aleksander's opinion, will the introduction of NFTs and the ability to own digital property have such a profound effect on society at large?

[27:48] Web 3.0, DeFi, the NFT space, and the gaming industry all place a greater emphasis on achieving community product fit before product market fit. How did Axie Infinity achieve it, and what is the formula, according to Aleksander's knowledge?

[30:01] Beyond not being present, what are the most common causes of failure when organising a new community?

[33:48] How did Axie Infinity find product market fit, and what factors were instrumental in turning it from an interesting concept into a viable product?

[37:31] What happened internally when their own blockchain Ronin was launched, and the number of daily users increased by the thousands?

[41:45] How did Aleksander and his team decide what to prioritise when they first started scaling?

[45:41] Important lessons

[48:33] Aleksander's top tips for entrepreneurs considering developing an NFT-based game

Further resources

• Website: axieinfinity.com
• Twitter: @AxieInfinity
• Aleksander’s Twitter: @psycheout86
• Discord: discord.com/invite/axie

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In this week's episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard talks with Lane Kasselman, the president of Blockchain.com. They talk about Lane's experiences leading a rapidly expanding multi-services platform, the reasoning behind Blockchain.com's focus on user-friendliness, and the differences in cryptocurrency adoption across the world.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
[01:15] Lane Kasselman as President of Blockchain.com and the company's growth under his direction
[01:56] How does Lane describe Blockchain.com and who its ideal user is?
[05:20] What was unique about the DNA of Blockchain.com, and what did it do differently to remain in the space when many other wallet companies have vanished?
[08:05] Are exchange products and institutional products on Blockchain.com custodial? What was the internal narrative behind the company’s current offering of easier-to-use services for consumers and businesses, given the early decentralisation maximalism basis of "not your keys, not your crypto" that drove the company's early success?
[10:35] Numerous markets in regions with troubled financial systems have adopted cryptocurrencies as a replacement for their failing monetary structures. What factors contribute to its relative lack of popularity in the Western world?
[11:45] As a result of lagging behind in digitalising its banking system, Europe is now at the forefront of fintech, which will likely slow the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. China's slow adoption of cryptocurrency is a result of the country's widespread use of QR-code-based payment systems. By contrast, people in parts of Africa and South America are turning to cryptocurrency because of the region's inadequate banking infrastructure.
[14:59] Neobanks were instrumental in laying the groundwork for new technology finance.
[17:20] Most people would rather play it safe with their money than take any chances with it. However, the crypto community tends to attract those with a high-risk tolerance.
[18:28] A challenge to the Blockchain.com model: Because decentralised finance is still in its early stages, we have tended to provide a safe-feeling consumer experience, such as Blockchain.com's customer support. MetaMask and Uniswap, on the other hand, provide no such help. Will there ever come a time when users are knowledgeable and comfortable enough with decentralised platforms to abandon centralised ones?
[24:22] Will Blockchain.com's super wallet strategy additionally include providing users with an intuitive interface for accessing services like Aave, SushiSwap, and Uniswap?
[26:14] The entire consumer model is all about value-add and an appealing interface, both of which crypto lacks. Another hot topic is regulation. Where does regulation fit into the development of better interfaces for services built on top of public ledgers that provide yield, liquidity opportunities, borrowing and lending, and are packaged into consumer-friendly products?
[29:25] Reasons why the American government and regulators cannot make cryptocurrency illegal
[33:49] One of the most serious issues in the regulatory sphere right now is the delay in thinking. The majority of regulatory enforcement actions have focused on obvious scams. Demonstrating the value of the cryptocurrency industry has become more urgent and necessary.
[39:41] Where to follow Blockchain.com

Further resources
Website: blockchain.com
Twitter: @blockchain
Lane Kasselman’s Twitter: @kasselman
Peter Smith’s (CEO) Twitter: @OneMorePeter

Learn more about Radix:
Website: https://www.radixdlt.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RadixDLT
Telegram: https://t.me/radix_dlt

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What can we learn from the experience of a Web3 incubator and advisory firm? Find out in this episode of the DeFi Download podcast, in which Piers Ridyard interviews Gaurav Dubey, the CEO of TDeFi, a Web3 metaverse and crypto services incubator and consulting company.

TDeFi is a subsidiary of a larger ecosystem, TradeDog. TradeDog is an institutional grade financial services firm in crypto that offers services such as research and advisory, as well as token and treasury management.

The TDeFi platform has incubated over 50 firms in the Web3 industry, including Vulcan Forged, an NFT gaming studio. A couple of those projects have reached a market cap of more than a billion dollars.

Gaurav’s experience with crypto began in 2015 with mining, building collocations, and investing in the DAO. He now has 15 years of expertise in traditional investing, angel investing, and running a tech start-up incubator for the past 14 years.

TDeFi originated as an abandoned TradeDog initiative that Gaurav resolved to rescue.

Key takeaways

• If you stumble across an issue that you know will be solved only if you solve it, you have found your business idea.
• The builder's dilemma is one of the most fatal flaws in any project. Tech entrepreneurs frequently believe solely in the strength of the technology, or the product. Marketing and sales are more prevalent in the equities market, whereas crypto merely adds to the complexity.
• "Token engineering" is a better term for what is now referred to as "tokenomics."

Chapters

[01:12] When did TDeFi first begin, and how long has it been in existence?

[02:52] What is Gaurav's most important takeaway from the DAO saga?

[06:25] What was the opportunity that inspired the team to create TDeFi?

[11:39] What sets TDeFi apart from other advisors who take a portion of your tokens in exchange for placing their face on your website and guaranteeing you a plethora of introductions?

[15:51] What are the most common mistakes made by cryptocurrency start-ups that TDeFi assists their clients in avoiding?

[20:13] In the way that Gaurav defines product market fit, has anything in the cryptocurrency industry attained it?

[28:03] In the crypto space there are a lot of questions around generational infrastructure, like how the digital mobile network evolution went from GSM to 5G, and the transformational changes that happened in the user experience, as in the case of the evolution of the mobile phone from the early consumer handsets with digital displays to smartphones with touchscreens. Is crypto still like the internet in the early 1990s in this regard?

[29:31] Has Ethereum ever been hacked?

[32:49] Solidity and the architecture of smart contracts in Ethereum and other ledgers is problematic

[34:04] TDeFi's unique perspective on token economics

[41:01] A fine example of well-executed token engineering, according to Gaurav

[43:51] Examples of apps built on top of public ledgers with solid token models

Further resources

• Website: tde.fi
• Twitter: @Tde_Fi
• Gaurav’s Twitter: @GauravDubeyLive

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CoinFund is a crypto-native investment firm and registered investment advisor. The team specialises in portfolio management, token design, decentralised networks, as well as research, trading, market structure, engineerings, brand strategy, law, and regulation. CoinFund has made investments in a number of different projects, some of which include Dapper Labs, Upshot, The Graph, Balancer, and Fuel Labs.

Chapters

[01:23] Why Jake decided to start CoinFund and how he got his start in the investment industry

[04:16] The more complicated aspects of being an investor

[05:56] Where did CoinFund obtain its first round of funding?

[06:57] What was the amount of CoinFund's initial financing round and what was the return on investment?

[07:20] Investment and capital allocation mindsets may be shifted via foresight, conviction, and the support of others (including those closest to you in life).

[09:32] When looking back on the infancy of the cryptocurrency market, what trends does Jake observe that the CoinFund team looks for in addition to the three things a traditional investor looks for (team, technology, and traction)?

[10:03] Blog article by Jake detailing the 9 core value propositions of crypto networks

[12:14] What does Jake see as the insight that will make the overlap between crypto and AI succeed in terms of deep value delivery?

[19:01] How do we move from open development to guaranteeing that the original investors monetise the output of the final model and receive a return on their investment?

[23:10] The desktop of the future will be little more than a text command prompt, and all software will be built from scratch

[24:01] Generative and creative artificial intelligence systems and algorithms hold great promise for the creation of valuable assets. What does Jake think of NFTs as an asset class, and how does he anticipate that this category of assets will continue to expand and become increasingly financialised in the future?

[26:44] Is there a difference in the liquidity of fungible and non-fungible assets?

[28:57] Blog post by Jake: "Appraisal Games and the NFT Liquidity Problem"

[30:00] Upshot.xyz: a pricing mechanism using machine learning

[31:08] Is Jake of the opinion that private investors, mindful of the idiosyncratic risk associated with individual assets, will increasingly choose basket assets that have been transparently rated using AI?

[35:09] For every asset or token, the early stages are the most challenging.

[36:20] The NFT financialization process was pioneered by the arts. Jake names the next three things he predicts will become NFTs.

[39:50] Jake writes on his blog that “all digital content is going on-chain”

[40:43] Is it going to take longer than anticipated to get real-world assets on-ledger?

[42:02] What is CoinFund's perspective on the next phase of public ledger scalability?

[48:16] The value of keeping an open mind as to the potential outcomes of the future of blockchains

Further resources

• CoinFund's Website
• Jake Brukhman's Website
• CoinFund on Twitter: @coinfund_io
• Jake Brukhman on Twitter: @jbrukh

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The CEO and founder of ShareRing, Tim Bos, is the guest on this episode of the DeFi Download with host Piers Ridyard. Some of the subjects covered include how blockchain technology may benefit identity verification, how ShareRing manages the storing of personal information, and what the future holds for digital ID.

ShareRing is a digital identity blockchain system with features that enable its users to utilise their digital ID in the real world.

The ShareRing platform does this by providing users with a highly secure Personal Information Vault where they may securely store encrypted personal information.

[01:03] The ShareRing experience, viewed from the user's perspective

[03:38] How can ShareRing enhance the user experience of possessing a digital identity and utilising it to attend an event?

[06:39] How difficult is it for the events industry to ensure that no one under the age of 18 is permitted entrance to an event and to verify an individual's identity?

[08:20] How does ShareRing handle user-generated friction, such as the need that tickets be downloaded and shown at the event entrance?

[10:17] How might blockchain technology aid in the management of verifiable identities?

[12:53] How does eKYC work?

[17:21] Does ShareRing intend to handle anti-money laundering from the standpoint of the source of wealth and funds, as well as the regulatory requirements that must be met in order to deposit funds in a financial marketplace?

[18:41] How does the process of exchanging data between institutions like banks work?

[22:52] How are digital documents stored and managed within the ShareRing Vault?

[24:00] Can ShareRing do PEP and sanctions checks?

[25:38] From the perspective of having verifiable credentials, a large portion of ShareRing's work is structured in accordance with the W3C's standards for decentralised identifiers (DIDs)

[26:38] What hurdles did ShareRing need to overcome in order to design credentials compliant with W3C specifications?

[28:28] The process of integrating standards and overcoming the issue of coping with continuously emerging ones

[30:10] From a philosophical standpoint, doesn't ShareRing's work contradict the ideals of public ledgers, complete pseudonymity, and the ability to transact without identifying oneself? Why is it important to have an actual identity when you can have things like soulbound tokens (SBTs) and reputation that don't have to relate to a real-world identity?

[32:02] Does a soulbound token offer a reference to an on-ledger zero-knowledge proof about a person, or is each soulbound token a unique issuance that depends on what you wish to prove?

[33:59] What is ShareRing's primary business growth strategy?

[38:41] What is ShareRing's approach to doing business?

[39:32] What is the definition of a transaction in the ShareRing ledger?

[41:11] How can ShareRing and the institutions with whom it partners ensure that the method of document verification is accurate?

[44:12] Hackathons hosted by ShareRing

Further resources

• Website: sharering.network
• Twitter: @ShareRingGlobal, @TheRealTimBos

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard speaks with John Chen, Senior Advisor of Umbrella Network, and Philippe Engels, Partnerships and BD Manager. What sets Umbrella apart from other oracles, how it functions, and what the future has in store for it are some of the topics of their conversation.

Umbrella Network is a community-owned decentralized data oracle that powers anything from DeFi to decentralized applications more broadly. Umbrella accomplishes this on a massive scale at an incredibly low cost.

To alleviate the friction involved in extracting and verifying data, the Umbrella team developed Passport. Passport, an optimized, pre-built, and cost-effective solution, enables dApps to receive Umbrella’s Layer 2 data straight into their smart contracts without the need for proof verification.

[01:15] Chainlink is already a market-leading oracle. Why does the market require a new oracle? What are the limitations of Chainlink?

[4:04] How does a developer think about integrating data from Layer 2 into their Ethereum, Radix, or other Layer 1 application?

[7:03] Unpacking the core operating principles of Umbrella Network's Passport solution

[9:36] Adding the data feed in the first place is a common problem in the blockchain industry. How does a smart contract developer go about getting data added to Umbrella? How does that process work?

[13:11] How does the Umbrella oracle ensure that the data it gets is accurate?

[14:55] What types of projects are using the Umbrella protocol?

[19:41] The entire crypto space is, in some ways, boring backend technology, but what it provides in terms of potential is exciting. What are some of the broader possibilities of data on ledger that John finds intriguing?

[25:01] Where would John place his bets for the next bull market on what he believes will be the primary uses of Umbrella's technology in apps built on top of public ledgers?

[29:30] Philippe's thoughts on sports betting and Web 2.0 platforms in general, possibly increasing their availability on ledgers

Further resources

• Website: Umbrella Network
• Twitter: @umbnetwork
• Telegram: t.me/umbrellanet
• Medium: medium.com/umbrella-network

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In this episode of the DeFi Download podcast, listen to Piers Ridyard and Justin Trollip discuss the development of the first DEX on Avalanche, Pangolin Exchange, the project’s mission, and the challenges the team encountered.

Piers Ridyard interviews Justin Trollip, Chief Herder of Pangolin. Pangolin is a multichain Decentralised Exchange (DEX) in the Avalanche Multiverse and has an intriguing backstory.

Pangolin currently has a volume of about $16 billion and a total liquidity of over $37 million. There are several trading opportunities where one may earn more than 116% of their investment per year.

[1:31] Justin discusses how he came to hold the position of Chief Herder at Pangolin.

[4:12] Pangolin had an unusual development process. What are Justin’s thoughts on this process? What, in his view, were the key takeaways from this experience?

[7:02] Pangolin was the first DEX to be launched on Avalanche. Following Pangolin's initial debut, several competitors emerged. How much, if at all, have the difficulties in getting things done affected Pangolin's team's early competitiveness?

[9:09] Everyone in the cryptocurrency industry appreciates a good bit of gossip and people's worries that their money might not be secure motivate them to spread bad news, even if it is unverified.

[11:30] What are Pangolin's long-term multichain vision and end goal? Is Justin envisioning a broader function for the DEX, or is it based on the idea that we don't need centralised institutions to accomplish these tasks, we can do it all via a smart contract, so let's just develop the best method to do that?

[13:58] There is more to the NFT obsession than just the art.

[16:43] Pangolin is expanding into the DeFi-As-A-Service area.

[18:10] How does the Pangolin team see regulation, especially in light of upcoming initiatives like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)?

[20:33] The lack of viable exchange venues for securities, especially security tokens, is one of the most intriguing future challenges that has received little attention.

[28:37] The hubris of the DeFi industry is that everyone thinks we can simply forget everything from the past and reinvent everything from scratch.

[31:22] According to Piers, one of the most difficult aspects of being a founder in the DeFi space is the constant involvement with the community and the community's need to have a voice in nearly everything.

[34:07] How has Justin handled the psychological impact of what goes on behind the scenes of Pangolin's development?

[35:31] What has Justin done to create space for himself? What words of wisdom would he impart to his younger self and anyone else contemplating joining a project or becoming involved in its formation?

[37:43] Justin's tips to DeFi founders and leaders on how to manage the stress that comes with creating a new project

[39:17] The value of taking breaks, trusting oneself, and having faith in your decisions

Further resources

• Website: Pangolin Exchange
• Twitter: @pangolindex
• Justin’s Twitter: @jtrollip
• Discord: discord.gg/pangolindex
• Telegram: t.me/pangolindexV2

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Zaki Manian, co-founder of Sommelier and Iqlusion. They talk about his path from Cosmos to Sommelier, DeFi's revolutions and end state, and what sets this new system apart from TradFi.

Zaki Manian is co-founder of Sommelier and Iqlusion. Using Cosmos technology, Sommelier makes it possible for decentralised actively managed DeFi strategies to be used throughout the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

Sommelier is developed on the Cosmos SDK to optimise interoperability with other blockchains. It employs one of the top-performing Ethereum bridges and is currently expanding its access to other chains to ensure that strategies are not only dependent on high-gas ETH markets.

[1:50] Dave’s journey into the Ethereum ecosystem, Cosmos, and Sommelier

[12:09] What are the properties of Cosmos that made it preferable to build Sommelier there rather than in Solidity on Ethereum?

[13:46] Bridging Ethereum and Sommelier while maintaining trust

[18:55] Government’s purpose is to slow down rapid change. This is an intriguing notion because two things are colliding in DeFi. On the one hand, people desire the ability to move swiftly, innovate, construct new things, and experiment. On the other hand, we are dealing with significant sums of money, and checks and balances must be in place. Piers predicts that DeFi will go down the growth path of Sommelier. However, what aspects of TradFi are we not emulating? What features of the new system will make it superior to the previous one?

[27:29] Decentralised communities as quasi-nations and the governance system of Cosmos and its structure

[31:50] Censorship resistance at the heart of a potential future political crisis in Ethereum that might fracture the community

[34:33] What is the end state for DeFi according to Zaki? What direction is the industry taking?

[37:59] DeFi’s ability to create liquidity for assets with high trading volumes, as well as the enormous amount of innovation it can unleash

[41:35] The next wave of DeFi will involve increased complexity and sophistication of financial products, as well as increased complexity in their management. The next revolution will most likely be the abstraction of all of that to something relatively basic and user-friendly. Is Sommelier's eventual goal to turn to a simple user state, or will it always focus on the institutional rather than the retail?

Further resources

• Website: sommelier.finance
• Twitter: @sommfinance
• Zaki’s Twitter: @zmanian
• Discord: discord.com/invite/ZcAYgSBxvY
• Telegram: t.me/getsomm

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Brian Pellegrino, co-founder, and CEO of LayerZero Labs, the team behind LayerZero, a generalised cross-chain messaging protocol, as well as Stargate, a cross-chain liquidity transfer layer.

LayerZero is an omni-chain interoperability protocol. It is intended for lightweight message transmission across chains. It provides authentic and guaranteed message delivery with trustlessness that may be configured.

Stargate launched on top of LayerZero and quickly became the fastest-growing Defi application of all time. Stargate aspires to resolve the Bridging Trilemma and to provide omni-chain routing as well as pooling and staking options across multiple chains.

[1:03] What exactly is a generalised cross-chain messaging protocol and why does it matter?

[5:56] How do gas fees work on LayerZero?

[10:38] What is a Relayer, how does the Relayer network function, and what safeguards honesty among ledgers?

[13:03] Dissecting the LayerZero omni-chain interoperability function and its two core mechanisms: the Oracle and the Relayer

[20:28] What is Stargate by LayerZero Labs?

[25:30] How does liquidity emerge in the protocol, and what incentives are offered to those who provide liquidity?

[29:35] How is the Stargate token different from wrapped assets?

[31:02] Why is the LayerZero Stargate implementation combination more secure than all of the other bridges currently under attack?

[35:41] How Pre-Crime keeps bridges safe from hackers

[39:26] Many of the issues observed in these hacks are related to things like permission escalation and other similar issues. How does what LayerZero Labs is doing prevent those types of attacks?

Further resources

• LayerZero Website: layerzero.network
• Stargate: stargate.finance
• Twitter: @LayerZero_Labs
• Bryan’s Twitter: @PrimordialAA
• Documentation: LayerZero Docs
• Medium: medium.com/layerzero-official

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Florian and Lukas, co-founders of Ociswap. Ociswap is the first Radix native decentralised exchange going live with Babylon with a focus on concentrated liquidity, capital efficiency and protocol-owned liquidity.

For exchanging your preferred cryptocurrencies on RadixDLT, Ociswap will offer a secure, trustless, and self-custodial environment. On the very first day of the Babylon update, it will debut as the first pairwise DEX that is native to Radix.

The Ociswap team is looking towards protocol-owned liquidity and ways to lessen the effects of impermanent loss in addition to providing capital-efficient Automated Market Maker capabilities.

[01:07] Lukas and Florian discuss their crypto experience and how they discovered Radix.

[06:58] The Ociswap team is waiting for Radix to launch Babylon, at which point smart contracts will be available. However, Ociswap is already live on Olympia.

[10:37] Lucas discusses what they've learned in the two or three weeks of running an exchange that they didn't know previously.

[12:38] What advice would Florian and Lukas offer to anyone thinking about building their own project on top of Radix in terms of community development?

[16:25] Florian discusses the three objectives—concentrated liquidity, capital efficiency, and protocol-owned liquidity—that they want to accomplish with Ociswap v1, which will debut on Babylon.

[19:05] The definition of capital efficiency

[21:14] How does Ociswap manage liquidity on behalf of the user such that the protocol does not bear all of the risk?

[29:19] Florian's experiences building using Scrypto thus far, and how they vary from his previous experiences. What kinds of things has he learned while building Ociswap towards Babylon?

[32:30] The members of the current Ociswap team

[35:10] How far has the team progressed in terms of achieving all of the capabilities mentioned in terms of protocol-owned liquidity and concentrated liquidity?

[39:24] What does Florian love most about building with Scrypto, given that he has been tackling genuine challenges as one of the most experienced, production Scrypto developers in the Radix community at the moment?

[42:23] Lukas goes over some of the milestones they have reached thus far, as well as what they hope to accomplish in the coming months.

Further resources

• Website: ociswap.com
• Documentation: Ociswap Docs
• Twitter: @ociswap, Lukas: @lu5st, Florian: @f_pieper
• Discord: Ociswap – Radix DEX
• Telegram: Ociswap - The Radix DEX
• Reddit: r/Ociswap

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Professor Campbell Harvey, Professor of Finance at Duke University, and co-author of DeFi and the future of finance.

Campbell R. Harvey graduated from the University of Chicago with a PhD in finance. He held the position of Editor of The Journal of Finance, one of the most prestigious journals in the field of economics, from 2006 to 2012. He presided over the American Finance Association in 2016.

More than 150 scholarly articles by Professor Campbell Harvey have been published on subjects as diverse as investment finance, emerging markets, corporate finance, behavioural finance, financial econometrics, and computer science.

Professor Harvey has been teaching "Innovation and Cryptoventures" at Duke University for the past few years. This course focuses on the workings and uses of blockchain technology as well as decentralised finance. You can find his DeFi-related online courses on Coursera.

[1:00] How Campbell Harvey came to be a finance professor and write about DeFi and the future of finance

[12:46] What is the purpose of the financial system?

[19:48] What makes DeFi special? Why does this technological application differ from other digital service approaches?

[24:00] The Internet's peer-to-peer nature as a network of services, providers, and users, its current degree of centralisation, the differences between Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, and the significance of DeFi

[27:47] Web 3.0's powerful advancements

[31:28] Regulatory issues in the United States and globally

Further resources

• Website: people.duke.edu/~charvey/
• Book on Amazon: DeFi and the Future of Finance
• Coursera Courses
• Twitter: @camharvey
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camharvey

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Piers Ridyard is joined by Chris Zhu of Mirror World, in this episode of the DeFi Download. Piers and Chris examine interoperable gaming through the use of blockchain technology.

Chris Zhu is the founder and CEO of Mirror World. Mirror World is a game matrix powered by a mobile SDK layer that accelerates Web3 game development. Mirror World essentially functions as a Web3 overlay to game engines, making it easier for developers to bring interesting Web3 games to market.

[1:06] Mirror World is a game matrix. What does that mean?

[2:17] Creating game assets as NFTs represented on ledger

[3:20] Why does Mirror World make use of a mobile SDK? What is the significance of this?

[6:37] Examining the next level of the problem, the user onboarding issue

[9:11] What has the Mirror World team discovered along the way? What have they identified as a better way to do things? What have they recognized is difficult? And how do they feel about things like fiat on-ramps or the ability to accept payments?

[12:36] Custodial and non-custodial options that are available on Mirror World’s in-app wallet

[13:36] The fundamental idea and issues around cross-game assets

[19:14] Would Mario Kart have been as successful if Nintendo had released it with the same game dynamics but none of the characters?

[20:17] Is it true that user ownership of a gaming asset reduces a game studio's ability to commercialise its intellectual property?

[24:40] Is it feasible to design balanced gameplay in cross-game worlds? How much data should interoperability support?

[29:42] Rarity is built into games to encourage players to spend time playing them. Interoperability, on the other hand, reduces the incentive to devote a significant amount of time to another game. So, why would a game developer want to go through the trouble of creating cross-game interoperable assets?

[33:07] Sources of monetization for Mirror World

Further resources

• Website: Mirrorworld.fun
• Twitter: @joinmirrorworld and @Chrizhuu

Discord: discord.gg/mirrorworld

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With Julien Bouteloup, Founder of Stake Capital Group, Stake DAO, BlackPool Finance, rekt.news, and Curve core team member

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard of RDX Works and Julien Bouteloup of Stake Capital and Rekt News discuss his background and experience in the crypto space and analyse the current threats to DeFi governance, such as bribery and lobbying.

Julien Bouteloup is the creator of the first ever flash loan. He is also the founder and CEO of Stake Capital Group, a member of the Curve Finance core team, and the creator and founder of Rekt News.

Julien has a background in physics and mathematics. He has a Master's degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and has worked in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

[1:04] Julien’s experience during the early crypto years

[2:55] Into the mind of Julien: His approach to meeting teams and getting involved in projects, as well as his path to where he is now

[6:27] Looking back on his time in the crypto space, what were Julien's opinions or beliefs that he still holds as strongly as he did when he first got into it, and what has he changed his mind about?

[10:18] The Hopium Diaries, from Julien’s Twitter feed

[11:23] Bribes and Governance: What's happening in the governance token space today?

[19:01] Examples of emerging phenomena that are opposed to how we want the DeFi system to function

[24:47] The solution to the above problem, according to Julien

[30:09] What led to the formation of Rekt? Why did Julien create it? What was lacking in the market at the time?

[34:09] What criteria are used to choose the content for Rekt?

[37:03] Are NFTs dead?

Further resources

• Stake Capital: stake.capital
• Julien’s Twitter: @bneiluj
• Rekt News: rekt.news

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Josh is one of Radix’s most senior and longest-standing developers. Piers sits down with him for a chat, just like they did at South by Southwest in Texas, only this time in the studio.

[0:47] Where did Josh go to university and what did he study there?

[3:47] What courses or subjects stand out the most in terms of teaching Josh principles that he has applied throughout his career?

[6:19] The cost of rushing the manufacturing process

[13:00] Josh's experience at his first job after graduating from university, which was at Nvidia

[15:58] What were the key areas of personal growth that Josh experienced while at Nvidia?

[17:39] What did Josh discover that aided in the tractability of systems? How did he begin to learn to think about systems in such a way that developing systems became tractable?

[23:42] Josh's formative experience at the repubHub start-up following his departure from Nvidia – What he learned from building at a higher level

[27:30] Did Josh have any preconceived notions regarding the difficulty or ease of developing web applications versus low-level systems? Was there anything he learned on his journey that made him think he wasn't completely right about those things?

[29:15] What else did Josh learn at repubHub that influenced his approach to building?

[30:38] What was the first design conversation around building the language that is now Scrypto when Josh and the team picked up Scrypto and identified what was crucial about the language?

[33:44] The early decision to begin with the syntax rather than attempting to build the underlying implementation

[35:16] Design philosophy, functionality, and fundamental design constraints

[40:21] What did Josh learn from Scrypto's initial ideas and the testing process of first getting the team to build with Scrypto, and subsequently the developer community? And what are the most significant modifications that have resulted from those discoveries in the Radix Engine v2?

[44:26] There is a significant difference between the Radix Engine v1 and the Radix Engine v2. How much of the Scrypto development process influenced the Radix Engine v2 design?

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard and Reggie Middleton debate the concept of patents and how they fit into the ethos of open source in the world of DeFi.

Reggie Middleton is Disruptor in Chief, 2013 founder of DeFi, holding active patents in bothJapan and the USA. He is also a predictor of booms and busts and an inventor of P2P capital markets and self-sovereign finance.

[00:43] Reggie talks about his background in investment and projects he has been involved with, such as UltraCoin

[10:20] Reggie’s reasons and the process for filing his first patent in 2014

[13:26] Open-source software is designed around the concept of giving away ideas as the fastest way to build human innovation and is one of the greatest pieces of human cooperation that ever has existed. Are patents antithetical to the ethos of open source?

[16:24] What exactly is intellectual property?

[20:19] Is the concept of ownership of something tangible and separable the same as the concept of ownership of an idea?

[21:07] Intellectual property as legal fiction and patent law jurisdictional discrepancies

[31:47] Reasons why people dislike patents

[38:30] The moral divide: charging rent to those who have independently developed an idea and established it into a business.

[41:45] Multiple people can own an idea or come up with an idea independently.

[45:44] The patent test: demonstrating that the idea is innovative enough to support the patent's validity.

[47:29] The monetary incentive of owning a patent versus open-source and free exchange of ideas, which results in faster innovation

[56:33] Someone using someone else's idea; could they have done it without knowing about that person's idea?

Further resources

Twitter: @ReggieMiddleton

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Tascha Che, macroeconomist and founder of Soundwise. They discuss the enormous potential of Web3 from a macroeconomic standpoint.

Tascha holds a PhD in macroeconomics and has extensive experience in macroeconomic consultancy. She advises countries on their economic policies as part of her job. She is also a technology investor and a founder of a start-up. She is the creator of Soundwise, which can be accessed at mysoundwise.com.

Tascha is a deep thinker when it comes to DeFi and cryptocurrency. The Web3 space brings together two of her greatest loves: economics and technology.

[0:41] Tascha's journey from a PhD in macroeconomics to cryptocurrency and spending a significant amount of time studying Web3 is remarkable. What is it about crypto, Web3, and public ledgers that Tascha finds so exciting for the world, the global economy, and humanity in general at this time?

[3:55] The labour-capital divide, according to Tascha, is one of the most important markers of inequality or social unrest. What exactly does that imply?

[7:20] Can transaction fees be considered a form of tax, if the money does not go into a budget for social good?

[10:42] Piers adds to Tascha's comparison of public ledgers to nation-states by pointing out that one of the major determining factors in the success of societies throughout history is whether or not they were dogmatic or flexible societies. Tascha responds.

[16:30] When there are many stakeholders, how can you develop a system that works well? Does Tascha have any ideas on what that would entail?

[20:50] Tascha believes that public ledgers and Web3 will improve people's access to capital. The cynical counter-argument is that Web3 is merely a more convenient way to make programmatic finance and that capital owners will come in and dominate the Web3 market in the same manner that they have dominated the existing financial industry. What does Tascha say to those who aren't a part of the crypto bubble and believe it will simply create a new group of insiders or that the old insiders will simply come in and dominate here as well?

[25:06] There are two current trends, according to Piers. The first is a long-term trend that indicates an impending societal crisis. The other is the industrial revolution's short-term trends. Web3 will accelerate the capital-labour divide, increasing inequality. What can these new systems accomplish in terms of welfare, universal basic income, or even considering redistribution?

[32:37] Piers inquires about Tascha's thoughts on the following: The larger macro issue that concerns him is the trend toward automation or the increase in the number of ways in which a small group of people may essentially create large amounts of value. Piers cannot envision a scenario in which, without some form of a collective sense of what we want the end state to look like, we don't wind up with a small number of individuals holding a large amount of capital and everyone else not owning nearly as much. There has to be a point where we consider the concept of redistribution itself.

[39:20] Tascha proposes that modern ledgers and blockchain governance serve as a counterbalance to nation-states. She goes into greater detail about what she means by that.

[40:04] Is Tascha not of the opinion that the entire economy will eventually be subsumed by public decentralised ledgers, in which every single economic activity that we undertake will effectively be done via a public ledger?

[43:24] Once blockchain becomes a Metaverse economy it becomes a significant element of the entire economy. How does Tascha think it will be organised? Will it have the appearance of a government? Is, eventually, a government the least bad approach to construct a stakeholder management system to manage a public good?

[45:59] Tascha’s closing remarks to the Radix community

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In this special edition of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius, about what's going on in the market today. Alex addresses everyone's concerns and interest in learning more about why things are happening the way they are, what people believe will happen in the future, and what lessons we can learn.

Alex Mashinsky talks about his experience at Permissionless 2022, a DeFi conference in the United States, as well as his thoughts on the recent Terra Luna collapse, and the key lessons the DeFi development community can take away from it.

[0:34] Alex has just returned from Permissionless. What did he hope to gain from attending the conference and what exactly is he seeing right now?

[2:09] What was the nature of Celsius' first relationship with Terra Luna, and how did it begin? What prompted them to decide that was something they wanted to support? What happened to that over the course of Luna's rise and fall?

[4:56] What is Alex's personal takeaway from the Luna collapse, and what does he believe the DeFi market as a whole should learn from it? What pain, if any, does he believe is yet to come? What else is going to happen from here on out?

[7:43] What should you take away as a lesson for how to build in the future if you're a DeFi protocol developer working in this space, a founder or founding team?

[9:49] Innovation during bear market cycles, the secondary market as the most important market to consider when developing DeFi protocols, and liquidation risk versus market capitalization

[15:09] Alex's thoughts on the potential regulatory response

[16:51] What can the industry do to help prevent the imposition of draconian regulations by regulators in the future?

[18:16] What does Alex believe the market will do next? What are his forecasts for the next six, nine, or twelve months?

[20:40] Uncertainty and the threat of a global recession. Is Alex of the opinion that this would be beneficial or detrimental to the cryptocurrency market?

[23:48] Alex's closing remarks and rallying cry for the community

Further resources

• Twitter: @Mashinsky

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Piers Ridyard is joined by Jordi and Guillem, the founders and CEO and CTO of Potion.Finance, in this episode of the DeFi Download. They talk about automated risk management, the Kelly criterion, and how an automated strategy can be embedded into the bonding curve.

Potion.Finance is democratizing risk management. Potion safeguards the DeFi ecosystem from risk and ensures its sustainability. It is simple to access, open and transparent.

In a previous DeFi Download episode, Piers spoke to Jordi and Guillem about Potion’s approach to risk management when it comes to things like options and derivatives and other similar things, and about the really interesting approach they have taken with the Kelly criterion, versus the traditional Black-Scholes model.

[0:52] What is Potion Unlock and why should people care? What role and purpose will Potion fulfil after it's deployed, and how long will it last?

[8:14] What can the code do, and what can we expect the first users to accomplish with the Potion protocol once it's up and running?

[11:39] The Potion team has focused on the user experience by developing visualisation tools that can assist in decoding the complexities of selling option risk management. To illustrate, Piers and Guillem take us on a simple journey, beginning with someone wanting to purchase a put option on Bitcoin and describing both sides of the transaction, first the buyer journey and then the LP route, and how those two things look.

[17:35] To represent positions, Uniswap v3 chose NFTs over ERC-20s. Why did Potion decide instead to use fungible tokens rather than non-fungible tokens to indicate a specific bet?

[20:08] How do Jordi and Guillem envision the emergence of a secondary market? How will they go about establishing a tradable market for their community?

[26:07] What is the obstacle that has prevented the Potion team from progressing so far?

[28:05] Piers discusses two types of end states from the perspective of a liquidity provider. How is Potion performing in terms of liquidity, and how has the Kelly criterion aided in this situation?

[39:44] What does a liquidity provider require, and how foolproof is the starting point?

[44:50] What drives Jordi and Guillem to be Web3 developers and founders, and specifically to build Potion?

Further resources

• Website: https://www.ntropika.io/
• Twitter:
  • @PotionLabs
  • @NtropikaLabs
• Discord: discord.ntropika.io

Medium: https://potion-protocol.medium.com/

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Josh Tobkin, CEO of SupraOracles. SupraOracles is supercharging oracles for a better, decentralised future by building better, faster, more accurate, and more secure on-chain sources of off-chain data.

Josh's background in supply chains and start-ups, as well as his blockchain research, prompted him to speculate on how to make it possible to securely get external data on-chain.

As a result, Josh and his team devised a novel cross-chain interoperability approach that is both secure (using innovative cryptography) and fast (with a finality time of 3-5 seconds).

[0:46] Background on SupraOracles and what Josh believes was the missing market gap that inspired them to build what they are building.

[4:08] Josh explains how SupraOracles would solve a couple of exploits that occurred during the early days of DeFi summer.

[8:46] Piers’ first example of betting on the future price of Bitcoin and how SupraOracles would solve the issue of a faulty data source

[14:19] Is SupraOracles performing all of the integration point calculations and then pushing the aggregated data to the ledger?

[16:10] How does data get from an off-ledger state to an on-ledger state if anyone can submit it?

[17:22] Do you have to be integrated into all of the data sources or a subset of the data sources to run a SupraOracles node?

[20:04] How does the SupraOracles network's consensus-based answer get from SupraOracles to another network?

[24:13] Piers' second example of Ethereum cross-chain communication and how the SupraOracles node network is aware of Ethereum events. How is data transferred from the SupraOracles network to Ethereum?

[28:58] Who is responsible for paying the transaction fee?

[31:47] Oracles frequently appear to suffer from the tragedy of the commons, as once data is on-ledger, anyone can access and use it. But who pays for that data to be on Ledger in the first place? How does Josh see this changing over time, as it shifts from one interested party to many interested parties paying for data?

[35:25] How can nodes collectively report incorrect information without malicious intent? In what way does SupraOracles prevent that?

[38:18] In the event of a flash loan attack/on-ledger oracle manipulation, how can SupraOracles help?

Further resources

• Website: supraoracles.com
• Twitter: @SupraOracles
• Discord: discord.io/supraoracles

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Piers Ridyard interviews Redfoo, a multi-award-winning artist best known for being a member of the musical duo LMFAO, in this episode of the DeFi Download. In this interview, Redfoo dissects his journey into coding, his passion for programming, the crypto, blockchain, and DeFi space, and building with Radix and Scrypto.

In the middle of June 2022, Redfoo will host a three-day hackathon at his home in Malibu, California. Four lucky members of the Radix Developer community will team up to create something remarkable using Scrypto, the Radix engine, Redfoo's chess engine, and expand it to create something truly unique.

[2:22] How did Redfoo transition from musician to coder?

[7:55] The thrilling early days of computing

[12:39] The origin of the artist's name “Redfoo”

[15:13] Redfoo describes his dream about binary numbers

[16:47] Redfoo’s Twitter application

[19:58] How did Redfoo learn about crypto?

[24:37] Redfoo talks about his love of chess

[28:15] How many people does Redfoo expect to inspire through the hackathon? What does he anticipate the consequence of people seeing his interest in coding will be?

[33:57] What does Redfoo have to say to people who feel intimidated by coding?

[38:39] A condition of childish curiosity, a state of play that helps you to discover your calling, is the starting point for success.

[41:26] How Redfoo got a writing credit on a Kendrick Lamar album

[42:28] What makes Redfoo believe that unless you learn to code, you will be left behind in the future?

[47:32] What will the DeFi revolution's impact be?

Further resources:

• Twitter: @redfoo
• Legendary Musician RedFoo Teams Up with Radix to Host “FooHack”
• Red-Foo & Dre' Kroon - Life Is a Game of Chess (Original Version) (Jungle 1996)

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Alex Mashinsky, co-founder and CEO of Celsius. Alex shares his vision for Celsius, as well as his passion for value creation and giving back to the people who couldn’t make it.

Celsius is a yield and loan platform that allows users to earn interest on their crypto assets as well as receive a loan in one click.

Celsius has had an incredible five-year run, with $23 billion in assets under management, including 2 million ETH and over 250,000 Bitcoin, more than Michael Saylor and a number of the Bitcoin community's champions, and they've just raised an incredible $700 million.

Celsius currently employs over 850 people and has paid out over a billion dollars in yield to its community.

Alex's backstory is fascinating. He was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States in his early twenties, where he built four tech unicorns worth over a billion dollars and invented Voice over IP at the dawn of the internet.

[1:10] Alex talks about the four unicorn companies he founded.

[5:26] From Voice over IP to internet access to giving people yield, why does Alex Mashinsky care so much about disintermediation?

[9:27] Is the crypto world adopting Wall Street's worst habits? Insiders are said to make the most money in crypto, illustrated by the phrase "If you don't know where the yield is coming from, you're the yield." According to Alex, what are these bad habits?

[12:10] What drives Alex to do the things he does?

[14:51] What accounts for the high yield Celsius generates?

[19:52] In the early days of the Internet, AOL was a walled garden focused on user experience. Then came the Netscape Navigator moment, when the internet suddenly became usable, and we quickly transitioned from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Instead of a curated garden, people desired an open platform where they could go and use whatever the internet had to offer anywhere in the world. How is Celsius not like AOL, based on this fact?

[24:01] Is Alex considering Celsius to be an entire crypto universe? Or does he see it as a starting point for people to learn what it means to own and use cryptocurrency?

[26:41] How does the Celsius team think about strategy, customer acquisition, and growth in the industry of yield-based products, given the growing competition from companies like Nexo and Coinbase Institutional?

[28:50] Equality of opportunity, one of the key aspects of crypto and DeFi

[30:57] CelsiusX: access the rest of DeFi via the Celsius platform

[33:55] Celsius's strategy for preventing hacks and mitigating financial risk

[39:14] From the perspective of regulatory risk, a single institution is a single point of failure, and the industry is currently unsure how the regulator will view crypto assets and the kinds of things that Celsius is doing. What is Alex's and his team's take on regulatory risk and how they can mitigate it as a company while still providing service to their customers?

Further resources

• Website: celsius.network
• Twitter: @CelsiusNetwork
• Alex Mashinsky Twitter: @Mashinsky
• Celsius Community Telegram
• Celsius AMA Archive on YouTube

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Piers Ridyard interviews Patrick Hansen, Head of Strategy & Business Development at Unstoppable Finance, the wallet that aims to bring DeFi to the masses, in this episode of the DeFi Download. Patrick analyses why the EU should fully embrace crypto and Web3, as well as the current regulatory environment, which is stifling progress.

The Unstoppable Finance team is developing a DeFi investing app, attempting to natively integrate DeFi applications into a mobile app that is extremely simple to use, allowing people to experiment with various protocols and applications. They're currently working on their first product, which they hope to launch in two months.

Patrick has previously been heavily involved in crypto policy, particularly EU crypto policy, and has been a vocal advocate for reversing, or at the very least providing strong advice on, Europe's current course, and what he refers to as Europe’s "third way."

[1:01] Where did the concept of Europe's “third way” originate, and where does Patrick see Europe's problems arising?

[3:14] The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) empowers users to control their data, regardless of where it is stored. Users have the right to ask a company what information they have on them and to request that they delete that information if they no longer want them to have it. As a result, businesses' perspectives on data are shifting. They face significant liability if they do not exercise extreme caution when handling user data. What role does crypto play in this principle? To put it another way, how does crypto fit into the larger concept of user sovereignty?

[7:10] There may be a separation between object ownership and metadata. As a result, there is a great deal of personal information on ledger. How does Patrick perceive the relationship between GDPR and publicly accessible on-ledger, on-chain data that cannot be deleted?

[10:12] In light of anti-money laundering regulations, VASP rules, and travel rules, the crypto world convinced regulators that chain analytics is beneficial. However, chain analytics provides more user data than the banking system requires. What are Patrick’s thoughts on privacy, privacy coins, and privacy regulation? Is he convinced that they have a place in the EU?

[17:09] Patrick discusses how he thinks European anti-money laundering regulations should be applied to cryptocurrency.

[18:05] What necessitates the exchange of information between two financial institutions? What harm are they trying to avoid, and where is the evidence that information sharing truly prevents it?

[25:01] Is the European Union anti-crypto? What arguments could persuade the European Union to reconsider its stance on cryptocurrency regulation?

[28:05] Patrick delves deeper into why the EU should go all-in on cryptocurrency from an economic and financial standpoint.

[31:25] Is the decline in European companies' equity share over the last 20 years due to a regulatory environment that has rendered Europe uncompetitive?

[33:04] Patrick responds to Piers' argument that if Europe is serious about crypto, it needs to go beyond parity and become more aggressive, as well as to return to the question of what we are attempting to prevent and how we can actually prevent it.

[38:02] Regulatory guidelines are frequently unclear. The 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AML5D) serves as an example.

[40:05] A brief overview of the work of Unstoppable Finance

Further resources

• Website: unstoppable.fi
• Patrick’s Twitter: @paddi_hansen
• Unstoppable Finance Twitter: @UnstoppableDeFi

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Digivault - institutionals are getting serious about crypto

With Robert Cooper, CEO of Digivault

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Robert Cooper, CEO of Digivault. Their conversation covers institutional digital asset custody, private key multi-layer security, and the current interest institutions have in crypto.

Digivault is a back-end service that the average cryptocurrency user is unlikely to be aware of. Most crypto users are familiar with the Ledger Nano, a hardware security device that can be plugged into a computer and provides a higher level of security than simply using a software wallet on a phone or computer by theoretically making it impossible to extract the key from the device.

Digivault is a custodian of digital assets for institutions. It provides a fully customizable digital asset custody service, a white-glove service that focuses on ensuring security through multiple layers of protection and satisfies the most stringent institutional and regulatory requirements.

[00:43] What does institutional custody entail? How does it create the secure environment that people have come to expect from a Ledger Nano device?

[03:26] What is the Digivault private key generation process like, and why is it secure?

[05:06] Information on hardware security modules (HSMs), which are the basis for the Ledger Nano.

[08:49] The main challenge in making HSMs work with crypto is that each cryptocurrency and public ledger has its own key derivation process, and each ledger has its own way of passing a transaction into the device, having the device sign it, returning the signed package, and then submitting it to the network. So, how did Digivault evolve from basic hardware security modules to something that could interact with a public ledger either directly or indirectly?

[12:32] What factors influenced Digivault's decision to use HSM, and how did they weigh the benefits and drawbacks of HSM versus MPC (multi-party computation)?

[16:12] Care, control, and custody of the private key are the three most important factors for insurance brokers.

[21:31] User experience advances are vital, and in the early days of crypto, people lost billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin due to poor secret management. What does the Digivault team see as the shift in the crypto user base and what does that mean for the institutional custody business in terms of institutional custody and the concept of a corporation owning a private key?

[24:58] Robert discusses the Bitfinex recovery in detail.

[27:02] Conflicts with the GDPR and the FATF travel rule, as well as privacy and non-privacy coins

[36:13] What is Robert's assessment of the increase in institutional interest in crypto?

[38:26] The regulatory challenge that arises as a result of the crypto industry recruiting and removing talent from the regulator space

Further resources

• Website: digivault.com
• Twitter: @DigivaultGlobal
• Robert’s email: robert.c@digivault.com

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Jazzer, the founder of DeFi Plaza. Jazzer discusses his path to developing DeFi Plaza, his engagement with Radix, and his efforts to create a highly optimised DEX with the lowest gas costs per trade.

DeFi Plaza is an Ethereum-based decentralised exchange that is 50 to 65 per cent cheaper to trade on than Uniswap and other similar DEXs. DeFi Plaza will also be deploying their DEX on Radix.

[0:58] Jazzer's history and involvement with Radix, beginning as a forum moderator and Dan's assistant, and progressing to become one of the top validators on the Radix Network and an important member of the Radix community.

[3:52] How to become a Top Validator and Jazzer's validator success secret sauce

[5:42] Jazzer’s journey to realising he wanted to create DeFi Plaza and how DeFi Plaza accomplishes what it does

[7:09] The three factors that influence the cost of Ethereum transactions

[10:16] What aspects contribute to the cost of a transaction?

[13:03] Two examples of how much gas each operation costs

[21:59] Building a DeFi application is more than just an engineering problem; it also requires marketing and community building, as well as integration with the rest of the DeFi ecosystem. What has Jazzer learned so far on his journey? And where exactly is he on this journey?

[24:11] The significance of genuine community building and marketing based on participation, involvement, and ownership

[27:11] The importance of a good UX/UI

[30:40] Jazzer discusses his experience of building with Solidity.

[39:11] Jazzer talks about his building experience using Scrypto.

Further resources

• Website: https://defiplaza.net/
• Telegram: https://t.me/defiplaza
• Twitter: @DefiPlaza
• Jazzer’s Twitter: @Jazzer9F

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Humayun Sheikh, co-founder, and CEO of Fetch.ai. They discuss the role of Fetch.ai in democratizing AI, as well as machine learning and automation tools in blockchain and DeFi platforms.

Fetch.ai is an artificial intelligence and machine learning based blockchain platform populated with intelligent digital twins, who learn and deliver solutions that aid decision-making. Originally based on Ethereum, Fetch.ai quickly shifted to Cosmos while retaining its interoperability as an interchain protocol.

Fetch.ai, as a decentralized and open platform, intends to foster innovative ideas from the mobility, infrastructure, and energy sectors to develop inclusive and immersive multimodal systems powered by Autonomous Agents.

With a background as a founding investor in DeepMind, Humayun Sheikh is enthusiastic about the future of the distributed economy.

[0:49] How was Humayun’s experience with the launch of Fetch.ai in 2017-2018?

[1:54] What was the platform's original vision? How has it evolved over time to become what it is today?

[6:03] What exactly does the term "democratizing AI" mean?

[7:38] What are some instances of questions that a machine learning algorithm might be asked in the open data environment of a public ledger? What is the difference between an individual attempting to design a model that produces strong predictive outcomes and using something like Fetch.ai, which simplifies these challenging tasks and allows individuals to have democratized access to these systems in the first place?

[14:39] What role might blockchain play in AI automation?

[19:56] Data storage on IPFS, data verification processes, and model upgrading rules

[22:20] An example of a user who utilizes Fetch.ai to withdraw liquidity from a liquidity pool when a model predicts a rug pull.

[26:26] The Fetch.ai token (FET) and the kind of projects Fetch.ai seeks to join their ecosystem

[28:58] How does Fetch.ai plan to bootstrap the marketplace? What are their thoughts on matching consumers willing to pay for outcome predictions with experts who know how to build predictive models? How does the Fetch team extrapolate what the market currently requires and then decide which models to bootstrap first?

[33:34] The current state of the Fetch.ai framework, as well as the agents that can be deployed at this time

[34:58] Upcoming Fetch.io projects: ecosystem funding for projects, hackathons, and Cosmos IBC integration

Further resources

• Website: fetch.ai/
• Discord: discord.com/invite/yypdAsRPYm
• Telegram: t.me/fetch_ai
• YouTube: youtube.com/fetchai

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Breno, founder of Boto, a platform for building bot-based automations for both developers and non-developers in DeFi and Web3.

Boto's goal is to democratise bots by establishing a community in which both developers and non-developers can create and share automation. To accomplish this, the platform is a simple drag-and-drop block-based one, with no code required to build the automation logic.

[0:37] The field of bot-based automations interests many people in the crypto space. Bots, on the other hand, are a persistent source of dissatisfaction. So, how does Boto make bots more accessible?

[2:59] Boto's current usage on platforms such as Discord and Orange DAO, as well as the primary use case for which people are currently using Boto

[4:28] An example of Boto's automation capabilities

[8:42] What are the areas in which the Boto team has seen the most growth? How do they categorise their customer base with NFT monitoring and DeFi arbitration having such dissimilar customer groups?

[10:02] How far does Breno believe bots will pervade everyday life? Automation, as well as the concepts of automation software and bots, have been around for quite some time. Is this something that more people are going to incorporate into their daily lives? Or will this remain a relatively niche market, appealing to a specific type of person or person with a specific problem set?

[12:18] What sets Boto apart from products like Zapier and IFTTT?

[14:08] In his wildest dreams or visions of what the Boto platform can do, what is the nature of problems and the most difficult automation problems that Breno would like to be able to solve with Boto?

[16:59] What are some of the tasks that Breno is currently automating with Boto? What are some of the things he can't use it for that frustrate him and make him eager to work on next?

[19:52] Boto’s $3.7 million raise during seed funding

[21:04] Breno expresses his enthusiasm for building with the team, developing the community site, empowering its users by providing them with the necessary tools, and witnessing the many interesting things people create with the platform and share with one another.

[26:09] The example of Typeform and the importance of automation — Boto’s core philosophy of making automation accessible to everyone, and the challenges that entails

[28:38] Breno and Piers discuss Ray Dalio’s book Principles and how the system of rules he shares in it can be applied to automation logic.

Further resources

• Website: boto.io
• Twitter: @useboto
• Discord: discord.gg/CDdCPburm5

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Lisk: a multi-year journey through the early layer 1 wars and the lessons learnt.

With Max Kordek, CEO & Co-Founder of Lisk

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Max Kordek, co-founder of Lisk. Lisk, a blockchain application platform founded in 2016, is a decentralised public Layer-1 that aims to make blockchain technology more accessible by creating a world in which everyone benefits from it.

Max Kordek noticed the immense potential of blockchain technology when he first learned about it in 2012. After building his first miner, Max became involved with a variety of communities, ranging from decentralised to more centrally organised. During that time, he discovered that even a cryptocurrency, in its early stages, requires an entity to simply push the project forward to marketing and centrally organise it so that it can lead to something.

In 2016, Max alongside Oliver Beddow co-founded Lisk, a platform for JavaScript-based blockchain applications headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. Later that year, after Lisk's ICO raised over 14,000 BTC, Max founded Lightcurve, a prominent blockchain development studio based in Berlin.

Max was previously the community manager of Crypti, from which Lisk was forked. He also formerly served as CEO of the Nxt Organisation.

[0:49] What was Max doing before founding Lisk, how did he become interested in cryptocurrency, and what prompted him to found Lisk? What was it like in the early months of Lisk's existence?

[4:21] What was it about spending time in decentralised communities in the pre-Ethereum era that made Max realise that some sort of organising entity would be a good idea? When did he first realise that a platform like Lisk could exist?

[9:08] What was Crypti’s purpose?

[10:04] What was the founding ethos and vision of Lisk?

[13:42] What was the process of going from "We're going to raise money" to "We've raised money," and how much money did Lisk raise after launching, putting up their first website, and deciding to do an ICO? What is Max's most vivid recollection of this period?

[20:52] Lisk uses JavaScript, just like Crypti, from which it was forked. What was the impetus for using JavaScript in the first place? What did they have to do to make it work?

[24:32] Between 2016 and 2017, the Lisk team worked to rewrite the codebase to make it compatible with their vision. What was going on in the community at the time? How did the Lisk community come to be? Who were the founding members, and how did they expand the community?

[27:20] What were the hard lessons Max felt he learned at that point as someone who had dealt with the challenges of community management?

[34:04] What has Lisk changed about the way they run their team to help create a buffer while maintaining visibility in the community and to help their team be mentally tough when faced with challenges?

[38:16] What is the current size of Lisk, and what was it previously?

[39:23] What mistakes did they make when forming and scaling the team, and what are they doing now to avoid them?

[43:16] What are they doing differently this time around to scale the organisation than they did before?

Further resources

• Website: Lisk Blockchain Application Platform
• Discord: lisk.chat
• Lightcurve.io website: Blockchain development studio | Lightcurve
• Twitter: @LiskHQ and @maxkordek

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard and Yossi Hasson of Metaversal talk about NFTs representing the ownership layer of the metaverse, why not all NFTs are created equally, and Keanu Reeves and Mickey Mouse NFTs!

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by the founder of Metaversal, Yossi Hasson. Metaversal is an NFT curation company that raised $50 million in funding earlier this month (January 2022). They are a holding company that invests in and creates new NFTs through their venture studio.

Influenced by Jake Brockman, founder of the crypto VC fund CoinFund, and the explosion of the NFT market with CryptoPunks, Yossi and his team launched a metaverse-focused fund. Today Metaversal has both an investment arm as well as a production studio arm.

Metaversal has its own DAO, called MetaLetters, which is based on the model of Nouns DAO and aims to empower and support new emerging creators. Metaversal releases a new letter every day under a Creative Commons license. The winner of that auction becomes a member of the DAO, and the proceeds of that auction go to the letter's creator. In addition, the creator also joins the DAO and has a say in how that treasury is spent.

[00:45] When and how did Metaversal get started? What sparked the idea, and how did it blossom into a $50 million Series A round of funding?

[03:41] What does an NFT investor currently own, according to Yossi? What needs to change or mature, in his opinion, for NFTs to be considered serious asset classes?

[10:22] Which among the three NFT examples, Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, or the Nouns DAO, does Yossi believe has the most effective approach? Is he of the opinion that a different path could be taken?

[14:03] It is common for a brand to become a ferocious defender of itself as it grows in size. Anything that detracts from that, as in the case of Pepe the Frog, can harm the brand's value. How does one go about curating a brand's image? Is commercial licensing ultimately more valuable than an entirely open-source brand?

[24:22] How can companies like Disney be persuaded to consider their intellectual property in a Metaversal way? What should they think about when it comes to entering the metaverse, correctly positioning themselves, forming a community, and so on?

[29:05] What is the Metaversal DAO, MetaLetters, and how does it relate to the Metaversal venture studio?

[31:35] In the crypto world, there is a lot of naivete when it comes to money. There's a widespread belief that the more money we throw at something, the better it will turn out. Whereas, in many cases, the initial issue is the dissemination of the fact that the event is occurring in the first place. With this in mind, how does Metaversal approach the creative community outreach aspect of things and how do they build a creative economy?

[33:05] What exactly is a POAP?

[36:58] How is Metaversal putting the funds they have raised to good use?

[38:36] Based on their NFT investments, what does Metaversal see as the main monetization path for the current batch of NFTs that can be purchased?

Further resources

• Website: metaversal.gg
• Twitter: @HelloMetaversal
• Discord: discord.gg/t2aX56nx
• email: hello@metaversal.gg

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Barney Mannerings, co-founder of the Vega protocol. Vega is a protocol for creating and trading margin finance products on a fully decentralised network.

Originally listed on CoinList last year, the Vega Protocol has raised over $45 million and currently has over 21,000 token holders.

Barney worked in traditional finance before getting involved in cryptocurrency by mining Bitcoin and investing in the Ethereum presale. He quickly realised that Ethereum does not support derivatives or other types of trading seen in traditional finance.

After co-founding Vega with Ramsey Khoury, the team spent a few weeks prototyping together, with Tendermint serving as the back end. They began to realise that it was possible to develop a trading system that could be used on a blockchain.

[00:51] What exactly is the Vega Protocol, and what does it hope to achieve?

[04:46] Barney’s wish list and what was on it

[06:01] What exactly is parity, and what does it mean that the current suite of products lacks it?

[08:01] The significance of capital efficiency

[10:41] What does a decentralised finance application's capital adequacy look like, and what is its capacity?

[14:17] What does the term "atomic closeout" mean?

[20:13] Barney explains how they came to the decision to build their own blockchain, and what design decisions they made to address the speed problem, the front running problem, and the product parity and capital efficiency problems.

[25:48] What is the difference between deploying a DEX on Vega and deploying one on Ethereum?

[26:59] What is Wasm or WebAssembly, which has grown in popularity for layer-1 protocols?

[28:59] What is the profile of the people Barney hopes will be building on Vega?

[31:19] The challenges that new blockchains and layer-1s face, as well as the blurring of the terms “protocol” and “application”

[35:20] Vega Protocol’s trustless bridge into the Ethereum ecosystem

[36:16] The security profile of the Vega network and its underlying consensus, Tendermint, which employs an optimised practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (pBFT) algorithm

[37:05] The number of validators used by Vega and how they plan to increase it

[39:42] Wendy, a group of low overhead protocols that can implement different concepts of fairness

Further resources

• Website: vega.xyz
• Twitter: @vegaprotocol
• Discord: vega.xyz/discord

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Piers Ridyard interviews Samuel Harrison, Harmony ONE’s Head of Ecosystem Growth, in this episode of the DeFi Download. Solving the Blockchain Trilemma, radical social change through DAOs, and Harmony’s role in facilitating that through their ecosystem development fund are some of the topics of Piers’ and Sam’s discussion.

Harmony is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 protocol with 2-second finality and transaction fees that are fractions of a penny.

Harmony is the first blockchain to successfully implement shards on a functioning proof-of-stake network. It is also decentralized, secure, and scalable. Their ecosystem fund was unlocked in 2021, and they were able to deploy it, resulting in phenomenal growth and engagement.

In 2022, Harmony will also be focusing on radical social change through Web3 ownership.

[01:31] Harmony's inception and the problem the protocol was originally designed to solve

[03:56] Is it possible to find a solution to the blockchain trilemma? If that's the case, how would Harmony go about accomplishing it?

[10:26] What is Harmony doing to facilitate radical social change via Web3 ownership? In their view, where will the main source of radical social change come from?

[12:39] Sam responds to Piers' counter-arguments about DAOs' ability to effect meaningful social change due to the capital-labour split – The qualitative difference between working in the gig economy and working for a DAO

[22:55] What Harmony is doing in 2022 to support a radical social change movement that empowers people to take social responsibility for how they deploy their labour, capital, and are compensated

[30:57] Harmony's favourite successful projects resulting from the ecosystem development fund

[35:08] What defines Harmony’s position in the multi-chain universe: EVM compatibility, 2-second finality, half-penny transaction fees, and bridges to other protocols such as Binance, SmartChain, Ethereum and Bitcoin

[40:16] Group identity vs tribalism and open-mindedness vs dogmatism in the crypto universe

Further resources

• Website: Harmony
• Forum: Harmony Community Forum

Twitter: @harmonyprotocol

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Hannes Graah, founder of the Gro Protocol. Their conversation focuses on the inner workings of Gro and its products, PWRD, Vault and Labs, and how they offer both leveraged yield as well as deposit security.

Gro is a DeFi protocol that facilitates generating yield on stablecoins. Gro’s main product options are PWRD, a stablecoin with a substantial amount of collateral backing for protection, or Vault, which provides leveraged yield within the DeFi ecosystem.

Vault is a token representation (Gro Vault Token or GVT) of stablecoin yield farming activities on the Gro Protocol. It is not a stablecoin itself. It is designed to be a long-term, high-yielding, high-risk investment that requires no upkeep from its holders.

PWRD, on the other hand, is a low-risk savings product. It offers more secure access to DeFi yields, and it is tokenised as a stablecoin with built-in yield and protection via Risk Balancer. Risk Balancer gives Gro protocol a systemic view of protocol and stablecoin exposure and allows for decentralised and user-driven portfolio rebalancing.

00:00 Intro

0:49 What exactly is the Gro Protocol, and how does it work? Introduction to Gro Protocol’s products: Vault and PWRD

2:38 The reasons behind the creation of the PWRD stablecoin

5:06 Why would the leveraged product essentially pay for the lower risk products' coverage? More details about the mechanism of the leveraged product, the Vault

7:40 The 3 main sources of yield for the Gro Protocol:
Lending income (from lending protocols like Aave)
Market making income (from AMMs such as Curve)
Governance Token incentives

10:52 Gro Protocol’s strategies of asset distribution and stablecoin yield

11:45 How Gro Protocol employs tranches and the Risk Balancer module to protect against failure

18:38 What was the launch experience like for the Gro Protocol team? What is the APY, TVL, and utilisation of Gro?

22:37 Labs: The recently launched Gro Protocol product on Avalanche with Alpha Homora v2, which provides advanced experimental leveraged yield farming strategies that are free of complexity

33:24 The Gro governance, the Gro DAO, and the Gro DAO Token (GRO)

37:49 The Gro DAO's recent decisions and what they've learned about governance as a result of this process

Further resources:
Website: gro.xyz
Discord: discord.gg/gro
Twitter: @groprotocol
Medium: groprotocol.medium.com
----------------
Learn more about Radix:
Website: https://www.radixdlt.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RadixDLT
Telegram: https://t.me/radix_dlt

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Today’s episode of the DeFi Download podcast is a little different. Instead of our customary interview, we are holding an informal debate. Joining Piers is Chad Barraford, core developer on the THORChain project. Chad's statements are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the THORChain project or the THORChain community.

Piers and Chad will take extreme stances on both sides of the argument throughout the debate. Piers will largely maintain that a single blockchain or public ledger is the only long-term potential for DeFi. Chad will make the case that multi-chain is the way of the future of DeFi. These will not always be the opinions of both speakers, but rather an opportunity for both sides of the topic to be heard and debated.

[00:04] Introduction to the debate

[02:17] Arguments in support of Piers' proposition that the future of DeFi is single chain

[05:46] Arguments in support of Chad's thesis that the future of DeFi is multi-chain

[09:55] Piers responds to Chad's arguments by refuting them and presenting more arguments in favour of DeFi's single chain future.

[13:31] Chad's rebuttal to Piers' counter-arguments, as well as additional arguments in support of DeFi's multi-chain future

[18:33] Piers uses the internet as an example to support his case for a single chain future.

[20:26] Chad refutes Piers’ previous claim.

[22:55] Piers temporarily switches sides and uses the analogy of countries to evaluate Chad's claims from the multi-chain perspective.

[25:42] As a follow-up, Chad briefly adopts the opposing viewpoint and advocates for a single chain future.

[27:51] Further discussion of the key roles that THORChain and Radix will play in the future of DeFi

[34:05] Piers argues that the global financial system's purpose is to allocate capital efficiently, and DeFi delivers much-needed conveniences and efficiencies — eventually, multiple chains will be replaced by a single chain.

[39:02] Chad is confident that the extinction of numerous blockchains is improbable.

[44:37] Final thoughts on trustlessness and the future

Further resources:

• Website: thorchain.org
• Twitter: @THORChain

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Bancor: the original DeFi project on Ethereum

With Mark Richardson, Head of Research

Piers Ridyard talks with Mark Richardson, the Bancor Protocol's Head of Research, in this episode of the DeFi Download. They dip into Bancor's history and innovations, its past controversies, and the source of its high yields.

Bancor is the world's first decentralized trading protocol, allowing traders, liquidity providers, and developers to participate in an open market with no entry barriers. The use of the open-source Bancor protocol is not restricted.

The Bancor protocol was created as a response to the low-interest rates offered by traditional bank products. Bancor users can invest their cryptocurrencies in this product and earn interest from market-making fees generated. Bancor is essentially a savings product that allows you to earn passive income from your capital.

Due to the current state of DeFi, users can currently earn approximately 60% per year with the Bancor Network Token.

[0:44] ELI5: What exactly is Bancor, and why should I care about it?

[2:43] What kinds of assets can I invest in, and how much can I earn as a user on Bancor?

[4:08] What is the source of the Bancor Network Token's (BNT) 60% interest rate?

[15:14] What sets Bancor apart from Uniswap and SushiSwap as an automated market maker, and what gives Bancor its unique ability to provide only one side of the market?

[19:39] How does Bancor protect against impermanent loss?

[26:28] Bancor's history as one of the first DeFi projects, long before the term "DeFi" was coined

[29:48] The definition of a ‘community currency’

[33:00] Bancor’s innovations and role as a pioneer in the crypto space

[42:01] The elegance of Uniswap V3

[44:57] The weak points of Uniswap V3 and how Bancor approaches them in a different way

[48:48] The upcoming release of Bancor V3

Further resources

• App: Bancor Network
• Twitter: @Bancor
• Telegram: Bancor Protocol and Bancor Liquidity Providers
• Discord: discord.gg/CAm3Ncyrxk

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Join Piers Ridyard and Spencer Graham, Project Lead of DAOhaus, in this episode of the DeFi Download, to find out what a DAO is and how to summon one.

Spencer Graham is the Project Lead of DAOhaus. DAOhaus is a community-owned and operated no-code platform for launching and operating Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. Its framework is based on the open-source code of Moloch.

[0:42] What exactly is a DAO, and why is it important?

[3:22] What distinguishes DAOs from previous entities such as collectives, partnerships, and unincorporated corporations that provide a sense of belonging and purpose to groups of people? What is the relationship between blockchain, distributed and public ledger technology, and this new type of organization and management?

[7:06] Is the path to the formation of DAOs distinct from the path of human society from small villages to institutionalized power and the invention of representative and direct democracy? If so, how does it differ, and what role does the control of capital play in that difference?

[10:59] What are the benefits of DAOs, and what are the drawbacks?

[14:19] The ability of decentralized ledger technology to incentivize people to act in their own best interests.

[16:02] DAOhaus: What does it mean to be a no-code platform for creating and administering DAOs, and why should it matter to you? The story behind The DAO and its hack.

[19:01] Summoning Moloch DAO and the beginnings of the DeFi Summer

[23:28] What function have Moloch DAOs served? Why would someone want to summon a Moloch DAO or a DAOhaus DAO? What are the benefits of a no-code way of creation for developers?

[29:09] What exactly is a Safe Minion?

[34:13] What is the Boosts Marketplace, and how does it work?

[37:38] DAOhaus' perspective and strategy on NFTs

Further resources

• Website: daohaus.club
• Discord: discord.gg/daohaus
• Twitter: @nowdaoit

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard and Dohyun Pak, delve into the details of Bifrost and BiFi, the multichain future of the blockchain space, and the role that DeFi can play in ensuring equal financial access for all.

Bifrost is the world's first blockchain middleware that enables multichain technology. Bifrost’s motto is “Never settle for just one protocol. Always get the best of every protocol.”

BiFi is a multichain lending protocol like Compound and Aave, but across multiple blockchains. It has over $111 million in assets under management.

[0:57] How did Dohyun become interested in DeFi? What drew him into DeFi, and how did he progress from technical implementation to developing a DeFi product?

[2:56] What was the turning point for Dohyun in realizing that the blockchain was something revolutionary, something that would change the world?

[5:23] In the blockchain space, there is a philosophical divide between two schools of thought. Some believe that everything will be done on a single ledger, whereas others envision a multichain future in which different ledgers are being used for different purposes. Which schools of thought does Bifrost belong to, and why did they feel it would be such a valuable piece of technology to develop?

[7:37] What is the purpose of BiFi? What exactly does it mean to be “multichain”? What is the total number of blockchains that have been integrated, and where is the central logic? Is there a primary blockchain and a few additional blockchains to which assets are moved, or is the entire application dispersed across multiple chains?

[10:17] WBTC, renBTC, RSK (RBTC), Sovryn (SOV), layer-2 protocols like Polygon and Optimism, and ledgers like Radix, Aave, and Solana, all of which are developing their own DeFi ecosystems, are among the numerous solutions for expanding DeFi beyond the Ethereum network. What do Bifrost and BiFi do to enable all of the above to come together in such a unique way?

[12:58] In practice, what does "connecting native Bitcoin" technically imply? Is it similar to Ren's approach of establishing a separate ledger in charge of the custodianship of the Bitcoin represented on a different ledger?

[14:27] Bifrost presently manages assets worth $111 million. What do BiFi users do with their money? What kinds of tokens can people contribute, and what benefits can they receive in exchange? If they wish to use BiFi, which ledger should they use?

[17:26] What are the advantages of lending Bitcoin on BiFi?

[20:03] Is Bitcoin the most commonly deposited asset? Is it the most popular, and thus the most liquid pool on BiFi?

[20:26] DeFi may at times appear immature to Dohyun, as a finance professor and someone who has spent a lot of time in the finance industry. What is Dohyun's prediction for DeFi in the coming years? What are some of the exciting developments he sees on the horizon?

[23:45] The expressions "banking the unbanked" and "underbanked" have been used to describe persons who lack access to standard banking services. What role does DeFi play in ensuring that everyone has equal financial access?

[25:57] What about the social aspect of DeFi? Does Dohyun believe that cryptocurrencies and the way crypto communities work will have an impact on finance?

[30:07] How does Dohyun envisage assets like property, equities, or deliverable commodities like copper and gold being bridged from the real world to the decentralized world?

[33:20] The Korean government has had an interesting relationship with cryptocurrency. What's the status of that relationship now?

Further resources

• Websites:
  • Bifrost
  • BiFi

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In this episode of the DeFi Download podcast. Piers Ridyard interviews Douglas Horn, the Chief Architect of Telos.

Douglas is the founder of GoodBlock and the Chief Architect at Telos. He began developing for EOSIO and Ethereum-based chains after many years of producing film and video projects as well as interactive games for large corporations and brands such as Disney, Microsoft, Amazon, and Pokémon.

Douglas joined a group that began building a new network using EOSIO and incorporating several of their own innovations. The result was Telos, a public ledger that rebuilt the EVM for high performance and is dedicated to bringing the best of Ethereum to the mainstream.

In this episode, Douglas and Piers discuss the critical issue of governance and how Telos intends to make it easier and more inclusive, as well as the Miner-Extractable Value problem, which the Telos EVM solves at a lower cost and with greater capacity and speed than other platforms.

[00:36] Douglas Horn's background prior to Telos, his introduction to cryptocurrency, and his involvement with the EOS Mainnet Launch Group

[03:05] What EOS did right

[08:20] EOS's core technology

[09:25] What are the reasons for the lack of widespread adoption of the EOSIO development environment?

[17:59] What issues is Telos attempting to address?

[20:37] Can a completely decentralized organization rally people around it in the absence of a visionary, charismatic leader at its core, or do “people follow people, not ideas”?

[25:40] What does the Telos protocol's intrinsic governance entail?

[28:41] The advantages of building on the Telos Network

[29:53] How does voting work in GoodBlock's Decide Voter App?

[38:05] What exactly is the Miner-Extractable Value, and why is it a concern? What steps does Telos take to put a stop to an MEV attack?

Further resources

• Website: Telos.net, Telos Wallet, Telos App
• Twitter: The Telos Foundation: @HelloTelos‍
• Douglas Horn: @Douglas_Horn‍
• Telegram: t.me/HelloTelos‍
• Decide Voter app

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Travin Keith, co-founder of Immunefi. Immunefi is the leading bug bounty platform in crypto, currently protecting over $25 billion in user funds.

Travin and Piers discuss DeFi project vulnerabilities and how bug bounties are just as important as audits. Travis describes the characteristics of a good hacker and how Immunefi brings together hackers and projects to create more secure DeFi apps and platforms.

[00:42] What exactly is a bug bounty, and why is it important?

[04:10] The philosophy of the open-source movement

[00:42] The "Homo economicus" fallacy, and why would any hacker capable of discovering an exploit in a project choose to accept a pay-out that is less than what they could get for exploiting that vulnerability?

[12:11] The old way of thinking of companies that used to sue hackers for discovering vulnerabilities.

[14:39] Amount of funds protected and of bounties paid out by Immunefi, as well as the case of Alexander Schlindwein

[20:16] Immunefi's approach to recruiting hackers

[24:55] What qualities make a good hacker, according to Travin's experience, that Immunefi looks for when looking for hackers for the White Hat Scholarship?

[26:42] What events does Immunefi attend in order to recruit hackers?

[28:29] Travin's business background and what it was like to live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, in the Arctic. His path to co-founding Immunefi.

[37:45] Immunefi's collaboration with the Maker ecosystem, including work and incubation with the Sustainable Ecosystem Scaling Core Unit

[40:19] What would Travin change or improve about the current ecosystem if he had a magic wand? What are his thoughts, particularly on bug bounties and hacking, and what behaviour change he believes is critical for more founders and projects to understand?

[44:53] The difference between a white hat and a black hat hacker

Further resources

• Website: immunefi.com/
• Twitter: @immunefi
• Medium: medium.com/immunefi
• Discord: discord.gg/rpkPDR7pVV

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Amber Ghaddar, one of the founders of Alliance Block. Alliance Block is working to create the world's first globally compliant decentralized capital market.

Piers Ridyard and Amber Ghaddar discuss what it means to be a globally compliant decentralized capital market, how Alliance Block is creating a decentralized exchange with minimal impermanent loss, the concept of Trustless KYC/AML, Alliance Block’s Oracle of Oracles, and finally, why institutions find DeFi exciting!

00:37 What does it mean to be a "globally compliant decentralized financial market," as the Alliance Block concept proposes?
01:33 How Alliance Block defines "globally regulatory compliant" in the context of a set of DeFi tools or primitives
07:06 What is it about DeFi that attracts the attention of institutions?
08:36 How do you bridge a permissioned pool of yield-seeking institutions with the people who provide the yield, who primarily come from the permissionless DeFi space?
11:25 The concept of Trustless KYC/AML and how you can be both anonymous and transparent.
13:28 Permissioned DeFi applications on top of a permissionless infrastructure - How does KYC/AML responsibility and regulatory compliance work from the point of view of a trustless environment?
16:47 Alliance Block’s first products: What is ‘Liquidity Mining as a Service’ (LMaaS)?
19:48 Alliance Block's partnership with the DAFI protocol, which implements LMaaS
21:13 The Alliance Block token (ALBT)
23:16 Defining 'impermanent loss' and Alliance Block's goal of creating a decentralized exchange with minimal impermanent loss
28:30 What steps does the Alliance Block system take to reduce impermanent loss?
34:01 Data Tunnel, the Oracle of Oracles

Further resources
Website: allianceblock.io
Twitter: @allianceblock
Telegram: t.me/allianceblock

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Clayton Roche, Head of Community Development at UMA. They discuss how UMA works, the Optimistic Oracle system and how it solves the Oracle Problem, UMA's KPI options, and how to create incentivized engaged communities.

UMA is a DeFi application that allows anyone to build decentralized finance products on-chain. UMA's mission is to offer permissionless and universal access to financial markets. For this reason, they began with a focus on synthetic assets that allow exposure and participation in any market in the world.

0:40 An in-depth look at what UMA is and examples of successful projects built with UMA
4:27 How the UMA team decided to create a general framework

7:25 What is UMA's Oracle System and how did the UMA team address the "Oracle problem"?

11:22 How does UMA's Optimistic Oracle work? An example of a happy case and an example of a dispute

16:23 Why is UMA's approach superior, or why has the UMA team chosen this approach over Chainlink?

21:51 What were the various types of disputes handled by UMA, and how were they resolved?

25:29 When Ethereum finance first began, most of the ways we modeled financial products were direct copies of what we saw in traditional finance. Is the traditional financial model also applicable to pooled financial products?

28:27 What is the reasoning behind people preferring Aave over UMA for developing a system that allows for the fee-based lending and borrowing of Ethereum? What are the reasons why people prefer UMA for borrowing or lending rather than Aave, Compound, or another option?

31:42 Currently in DeFi, who is using the Optimistic Oracle service?

33:32 Token holders and UMA's recurring engagement requirement — How the UMA team devised a system to ensure that engagement occurs and that there is no half-life of interest, in which engagement dwindles over time. Aside from resolving disputes, how did they build a community centered on engagement?

38:32 DAO treasury management, UMA’s KPI Options, and the game theory concept of creating incentivized communities focused on a group of people's objectives

Further resources

Website: umaproject.org
Discord: discord.umaproject.org
Twitter: @UMAprotocol
UMA KPI Options: claim.umaproject.org
Clayton Roche’s Twitter: @TokenArchitect

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In this episode of the DeFi DownloadPiers Ridyard interviews Tascha Punyaneramitdee, Co-Founder of Alpha Finance Lab's.

Tascha provides an in-depth examination of Alpha Finance Lab's product offerings, including Alpha Homora, a leveraged yield farming product, Alpha Launchpad, a DeFi incubator, and AlphaX, a decentralized, non-order book perpetual swap trading market.

0:51 What is the definition of “alpha” in finance?
1:49 What is the definition of “alpha” in DeFi, according to Alpha Finance Lab?
2:48 Alpha Finance Lab’s market benchmarking process
4:49 How Alpha Finance Lab came up with the idea for Alpha Homora and the iteration process that it has undergone
6:47 Why can Alpha Finance Lab offer 8 to 10% of lending APY when Aave cannot?
8:45 An example of a leveraged yield farming strategy - A step-by-step explanation of where the assets are going, how they are being used, what is coming back, and what is being done with what comes back - Why would a yield farmer choose a leveraged product and what are the risk characteristics?
15:32 What changes did Alpha Finance Lab notice in typical user behavior in V2?
16:16 What did Alpha Finance Lab learn while developing Alpha Homora V1, and what changes did they make in Alpha Homora V2?
19:07 Tascha's advice to people considering using these products for the first time on how to think about personal risk.
23:24 The maximum leverage Alpha Finance Lab provides, as well as how far off the peg something would have to move to cause a 100% liquidation event
25:22 What kind of return can one expect from a 9x leverage?
26:17 What prompted the Alpha Finance Lab team to establish a lab? How do they find teams and what is their incubation process behind building the next set of products?
27:59 Is there an incubator program from which Alpha Finance Lab drew inspiration? What is the style of incubation they have formed, and why do they believe it is best suited for DeFi?
30:37 Why should a new project consider applying to Alpha Finance Lab?
32:57 What is the next product from Alpha Finance Lab? What is the issue that AlphaX is attempting to resolve?
37:35 Upcoming projects that have been incubated on the Alpha Launchpad
38:35 What would Tascha recommend as a good place to start for most people interested in Alpha Finance Lab's work?

Further resources
Website: alphafinance.io
Twitter: @alphafinancelab
Telegram: t.me/AlphaFinanceLab
Discord: discord.com/invite/Z2vuKDT

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Lorien Gabel, CEO of Figment.io. Figment offers complete solutions that make it simple for token holders and developers to use and build on blockchains at the infrastructure, middleware, and application layers.

Lorien is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of operational, technological, and marketing management focused on Internet infrastructure. Before Figment, he founded and scaled three successful start-ups (Interlog Internet Services, BOAW Networks and Pingg.com). He has also served on the senior leadership teams of two other high-growth technology ventures (MessageLabs and Web.com) and has mentored, advised, and directly invested in several start-ups.

Figment is one of the world's largest blockchain staking and infrastructure providers. The Figment team envisions a truly decentralized Internet where users can freely interact, share, collaborate, and exchange goods and services in a trustless environment. Based in Canada, serving customers worldwide, Figment's mission is to build a better Internet using blockchain technology.

[01:47] As the founder of an ISP, Lorien sees parallels between the early days of the internet and what is happening now in the blockchain.

[09:19] Lorien describes himself as the chief stoic at Figment. Why did he make stoicism his life philosophy?

[12:46] What did the Figment team notice in 2018 that prompted them to develop Figment?

[17:27] For those who have never used a staking service, how does it work in theory? How does the Figment address things such as the security of people's tokens?

[20:39] Explaining slashing for those who are unfamiliar with the term.

[23:39] What the Figment team thinks they did well, and what they have learned in the three and a half years they have been staking and running their infrastructure.

[27:00] Did Figment have a specific go-to-market strategy for a network segment? Or have they tried everything and discovered that a certain customer type is better for them?

[29:57] APIs for developers are another aspect of Figment's business. Learn, DataHub, and Hubble are all products from Figment.

[36:07] Everyone is aware that Ethereum is transitioning to proof-of-stake, but few are aware of where it is currently and when it will be completed. What is Figment doing to prepare for the proof-of-stake transition?

[39:47] What are Lorien's thoughts on Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) strategies, and does Figment intend to pursue them?

Further resources

• Website: figment.io
• Twitter: @Figment_io
• Twitter: @lorientree
• Telegram: t.me/figmentnetworks

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InsurAce. Making DeFi safer for everyone.

With Oliver Xie, Founder & Project Lead

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Oliver Xie, the founder and CEO of the leading DeFi insurance protocol InsurAce. During their conversation, they discuss the various types of risk and the importance of coverage in the DeFi space, as well as what distinguishes InsurAce from its competitors.

InsurAce is the leading decentralized insurance protocol, providing reliable, robust, and secure insurance services to DeFi users that allow them to secure their investment funds against a variety of risks.

InsurAce, a capital-pool-based insurance protocol, offers ultra-low portfolio premiums, cross-chain coverage, and sustainable returns in the form of the InsurAce Token (INSUR) and additional investment products.

[0:46] What does InsurAce do, and how does it differ from its predecessors and peer DeFi insurance protocols like Nexus Mutual?

[5:11] The most challenging aspect of developing an investment strategy as an insurance protocol is determining what the risk is in the first place; this is a necessary step in determining how much capital to put against risk, as well as how and whether you can cover that risk. So, how exactly does InsurAce accomplish this?

[6:48] An example of an ideal risk event that InsurAce can cover and the type of risk associated with an Initial DEX Offering (IDO).

[9:10] How does InsurAce protect against the risk of a smart contract hack or exploit?

[12:42] The higher the stake, the lower the risk. What does this mean?

[13:29] What happens if a user has Uniswap V3 coverage and decides to transfer liquidity from Uniswap V3 to Harvest Finance Uniswap V3 Strategy? Is the user charged the difference when using InsurAce? In terms of policy coverage, how does that work? Is it necessary to purchase a new policy for this purpose? Or does the user simply have the option of changing the policy parameters and thus paying a little extra?

[15:15] How does InsurAce determine the appropriate level of capital adequacy and calculate the probability of correlated events to ensure capital coverage in the absence of strict insurance rules in DeFi?

[20:36] InsurAce's capital-raising strategy: InsurAce staking and token rewards

[22:30] From the user's perspective, how does purchasing insurance from InsurAce work?

[24:36] InsurAce's multichain strategy: Which chains have they chosen so far, and how does the cross-chain system work?

[31:44] The significance of insurance services, as well as Oliver's forecasts for the future of DeFi insurance

[38:26] InsurAce's strategy for increasing capital providers' returns: free capital and investing premiums

[41:35] What are InsurAce's most significant constraints and challenges in terms of capital versus capacity versus risk-writing ability?

Further resources

• Website: InsurAce.io
• Twitter: @insur_ace
• Medium: blog.insurace.io
• Discord: discord.gg/vCZMjuH69F

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Build ANYTHING on Radix DLT

With Andrew Brick and Brendan Laiben, Founders of Notoros DLT

**Join Piers Ridyard in this episode of the DeFi Download as he interviews Andrew Brick and Brendan Laiben, the founders of Notoros DLT.

They discuss what it’s like to build on top of Radix DLT, sharding, scalability and how to solve the problems of the blockchain.**

Notoros has developed a protocol that makes it possible to build any application on Radix. Its system is highly adaptable, allowing developers to seamlessly distribute any application using the Radix consensus algorithm, Cerberus.

[00:40] According to Notoros, they have made it possible to build "any application" on Radix. In practice, what does this mean?

[04:06] Brendan and Andrew's backgrounds and early experiences prior to building on Radix

[04:37] Brendan's experience developing a website advertising platform

[07:41] Andrew's background in the energy industry, as well as his experience developing a loyalty exchange platform for an airline

[11:35] Is Notoros a Layer-2 for Radix or is it something else?

[14:54] Notoros and the Radix EVM

[16:50] Why did Notoros choose Radix over other platforms that they thoroughly researched?

[22:22] Notoros' long-term objectives and vision for what they want to accomplish

[24:51] Interoperability of DeFi applications vs. adherence to a specific standard

[30:17] Notoros' early projects: Ethereum Prime and the Prometheus Network.

[33:03] Examples of corporations incorporating blockchain technology into their operations

[35:22] The tokenomics of Notoros

[38:33] Notoros' short-term plans for the next three to six months

[41:22] The origin of the name ‘Notoros’

Further resources:

• Website: notoros.io
• Twitter: @NotorosDLT
• Reddit: r/Notoros

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Harvest Finance: Maximise your DeFi yield the easy way

With Red, Community Foreman at Harvest Finance,

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard catches up with with Red, Community Foreman at Harvest Finance, about yield farming concepts such as compounding and automation, the inner workings of Harvest Finance, and why anonymity in DeFi matters, despite cases of fraud.

Harvest Finance is a yield farming aggregator that automatically searches for the best DeFi returns possible. It allows users to deposit funds with confidence that they will always receive the best yields on their assets.

[00:45] An ELI5 explanation of what yield farming is, why it matters, and how it began.

[06:56] Harvest Finance's launch, the function and significance of the Harvest Finance governance token, and an examination of the ethos of fair launches.

[08:01] Real-world examples of how a strategy might look.

[11:27] Is the development of Harvest Finance necessitated by the congestion on Ethereum, or were there other factors at play?

[19:47] Who develops the strategies at Harvest Finance and how do they get approved?

[22:24] What is a Harvest Finance governance token and what is it used for?

[28:06] How Harvest Finance overcame the challenge of establishing trust in the community despite having anonymous founders. The Harvest Finance hack and how they were able to grow following the event.

[36:03] Reasons for anonymity in DeFi, as well as issues of trust and fraud.

[42:51] What is next for Harvest Finance?

Further resources

• Website: harvest.finance
• Twitter: @harvest_finance
• Discord: discord.gg/gzWAG3Wx7Y
• Telegram: t.me/Breadforthepeople
• Reddit: /r/HarvestFinance/

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Annabelle Huang, partner at Amber Group, a global financial services provider that aspires to become the Goldman Sachs of crypto.

Their discourse provides insight into Amber Group's focus, products, strategies, and predictions for the crypto space's future. Amber Group's vision is to create a one-stop-shop for people to buy, sell, structure, and earn yield on their crypto holdings in a highly trusted environment

[00:00:43] Amber Group's offerings and motivation for developing such a large suite of products, and their long-term cryptocurrency plans.

[00:02:33] Why does the market require another consumer-facing platform for buying and selling cryptocurrency? What distinguishes the Amber app from others?

[00:05:55] Why did Amber Group opt for a custodial approach? What difference does it make to the user experience?

[00:10:20] Managing jurisdiction regulations and on-ramping.

[00:15:18] The Amber app's target audience.

[00:17:44] Amber Group's user acquisition strategy and the importance of focus

[00:23:33] What was Amber Group's initial product set, and who was it aimed at, coming from the traditional finance space?

[00:32:18] What exactly is market-making, how does it function, and why is it important?

[00:34:37] The long-term vision and strategy of Amber Group. What motivates them to build the next set of products, how do they decide which opportunities to pursue, and how do they see the crypto space evolving over the next 4 to 10 years?

[00:37:01] Annabelle's thoughts on industry macro trends.

Further resources

• Website: ambergroup.io
• Twitter: @ambergroup_io

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This week's DeFi Download episode features a conversation between the CEO of Radix DLT Piers Ridyard, and Jeremy Epstein, founder of Never Stop Marketing and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Crypto Futura Fund.

In this episode, they delve into crypto marketing and address topics like community building, tribalism, and what it's like to brief generals in the Pentagon about the blockchain.

Jeremy is the author of three books about the intersection between blockchain and marketing. He has written nearly 1000 blog posts on the blockchain and the impact of crypto-economics and has served as an advisor to OpenBazaar, Dapper Labs, the cryptocurrency FAME, DAOstack, Storj, Arweave, Formatic (now Magic), SingularityNET, Zcash.

Jeremy is also a mentor on the Outliers Ventures program Base Camp, and he has twice briefed three-star generals at the Pentagon on the impact of cryptocurrencies.

01:17 Jeremy's viewpoint on marketing in the cryptocurrency space and how it differs from traditional marketing.
02:59 Given that Bitcoin is a community project that became valuable due to the collective belief of people wanting it to be so, how has Jeremy seen the sophistication of ways of thinking about building communities change over the years since Bitcoin's inception?
6:23 What is the crypto world bringing into the traditional world, according to Jeremy? Is the traditional world being inspired by what's going on in crypto, or is it being forced to adapt and change because people expect a new type of interactivity?
7:49 The emergence of tribes and tribalism in the crypto space.
19:21 Jeremy discusses his experience briefing the Pentagon.
22:15 Jeremy's crypto moment and what made him realize that crypto was more than just a strange technology fad.
26:27 Jeremy's advice on constructing a project's narrative or story and how to think about it from the perspective of an external consumer.
29:03 How Jeremy assisted Zcash in refining its marketing message.
31:04 Radix's experience working with Jeremy as a marketing advisor.
36:12 What are some of the upcoming innovations in the intersection of marketing, public ledgers, and decentralized applications?
38:29 What is the definition of Wallet Relationship Management? Is the concept in conflict with the desires of the crypto community?

Further resources:
Company Website: Never Stop Marketing
Twitter: @jer979

Blog: Never Stop Marketing Blog
Books & Publications: neverstopmarketing.com/download

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Do Kwon, the CEO of Terra. Their conversation delves into Do Kwon’s background, which influenced the Terra platform's conception and growth, as well as the platform’s envisioned decentralised alternative to the traditional financial system.

Terra is a layer 1 protocol and stablecoin that aims to solve financial problems more effectively than current FinTech solutions.

The Terra ecosystem consists of several products, including Luna, an elastic supply token with a market cap of $7.4 billion, CHAI, a popular consumer payments app currently used by 5% of Koreans, Anchor, a lending protocol that pays out 20% per year on savings and Terra stablecoins, and Mirror, a decentralised version of Robinhood where you can trade any type of synthetic equity.

[00:01:01] Do Kown's background before starting Terra, and the reason he decided Terra was necessary to build as a result of his prior experience.

[00:05:46] The primary motivation for creating Terra: Was Terra's vision as broad as it is today during its early days? Did it begin with the idea that tokens would become interesting or useful? How the emergence of decentralised finance altered the Terra team's original strategy.

[00:10:24] Growth of the Terra ecosystem: Creating a suite of products as Terraform Labs, launching them, and attracting developers to build on top of the Terra platform rather than other platforms such as Ethereum, Binance, or SmartChain.

[00:20:20] Do Kown’s perspectives on the interaction or potential interaction between nation-states and protocols such as Terra.

[00:27:09] Capital controls in South Korea, as well as details on breakage.

[00:32:54] The Anchor platform's potential risks and weak points.

[00:37:09] Do Kown’s take on Tether and his reasons to prefer decentralised, stablecoins over centralised stablecoins.

[00:40:19] Is Do Kown comfortable holding all of his assets in cryptocurrency, and if so, does he?

[00:41:17] What would Do Kown say if he had one minute of global airtime to speak to everyone in the world?

Further resources

• Website: terra.money
• Twitter: @d0h0k1

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BrightID - Decentralised Identity, Governance and Universal Basic Income

With Philip Silva, founding advisor, BrightID

Join Piers Ridyard, in this DeFi Download episode, as he interviews Philip Silva, founding advisor of BrightID, which helps you prove your digital uniqueness. Their conversation ranges from explaining the inner workings of BrightID to delving into the feasibility of a cryptocurrency-based UBI, as well as what makes CryptoPunk NFTs so popular.

BrightID is a social graph in which you make connections by scanning QR codes. Those connections are made cryptographically. The BrightID team has improved upon robust open-source anti-Sybil analyses algorithms of previous social graphs and integrated them into their system.

Phillip Silva is also involved in the LAO, Flamingo DAO, and Neptune, and is a staunch supporter of universal decentralisation.

[00:00:46] What is the currently unresolved problem in the world that BrightID is attempting to solve?

[00:02:05] From the cypherpunk movement and beyond: How to build a system where you can rely on the attestation without seeing the original information.

[00:04:04] BrightID’s function and the mechanics of its positive and negative points. What happens when creating a BrightID and how to create one?

[00:06:07] How to solve the Sybil problem in a social graph system?

[00:09:40] BrightID’s present focus and the RabbitHole example, as well as its potential, 10-to-20-year vision and a cryptocurrency-based Universal Basic Income. BrightID’s aspiration to provide anti-Sybil solutions for ventures considering UBI experiments.

[00:14:53] Artificial intelligence, automation, and the need for Universal Basic Income: New distribution mechanisms within capitalism.

[00:19:42] Solutions to the Sybil problem and their limitations, such as weak subjectivity: BrightID’s seed-based approach.

[00:25:03] The importance of on-ledger identity to governance, which allows associating a key and a vote that is cryptographically verified with something that has an anti-Sybil mechanism. How BrightID views the concept of governance of decentralised autonomous organisations and how the tools at its disposal aid in the operation of such organisations.

[00:27:08] Plutocracy within decentralised autonomous organisations and the tyranny of the wealthy: BrightID’s response to plutocracy and Gitcoin example.

[00:31:20] Philip’s involvement with the decentralised autonomous organisations LAO, Flamingo DAO, and Neptune:

[00:31:56] LAO (legal autonomous organisation), “the DAO wrapped in a legally compliant manner”

[00:36:47] Flamingo DAO, NFTs, and CryptoPunk Aliens

[00:41:08] Neptune and Yearn-like algorithmic strategies for yield

Further resources

• Website: brightid.org
• Twitter: @BrightIDProject
• Philip Silva’s Twitter: @UBIpromoter
• LAO Website: thelao.io

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dApp.com - building a dApp guide for the worldWith Kyle Lu, CEO & Founder, dapp.com

In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard discusses with Kyle Lu, CEO and founder of dApp.com, a cross-chain platform, where you can discover, analyse and use dApps built on blockchains such as Ethereum, EOS, TRON, WAX, and others.

DApp.com is a leading data-driven marketplace for blockchain applications and services, which provides a suite of metrics, market reports and data insights into over 4000 apps from over 16 different smart-contract platforms.

DApp.com is at the forefront of an emerging market for blockchain applications.

[00:00:58] The origins of dApp.com

[00:02:24] What Kyle considers to be the most significant milestones of the dApp market

[00:06:20] Differences between decentralised applications launched in 2017-2018 and those launched more recently

[00:09:31] Kyle’s thoughts on how ledgers are currently used. Is he noticing a substantial increase in applications other than DeFi being developed on Ethereum, as well as any significant DeFi usage on other platforms that is worth discussing?

[00:13:53] Is Kyle noticing other applications, besides DeFi, being created that may be overshadowed by DeFi’s popularity?

[00:16:00] What piques Kyle's interest in the DeFi space currently, and what are his predictions regarding its evolution?

[00:19:35] The structural problems of DeFi and the Radix approach to resolving them

[00:29:12] How to get more information about dApp.com, what you can do with it, and how to learn more if you are interested in diving into the wonderful world of decentralised applications?

Further resources

• Website: dapp.com
• Twitter: @dapp_com
• Telegram: t.me/dapp_com

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Join Piers Ridyard in this episode of the DeFi Download, where he interviews Nicholas Fett, co-founder, and CTO of Tellor.io, a decentralised Oracle Network.

Tellor is a decentralised Oracle Network that facilitates bringing off-chain data on-chain. It accomplishes this by rewarding competing miners with the TRB token for providing and validating data.

Tellor allows data to be disputed for a fee, maintaining the system's integrity. The fee increases for each subsequent dispute, making malicious parties’ attempts to attack the network prohibitively expensive.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard discusses with Simon Yu about StormX and its products, Play, which allows you to earn crypto by completing microtasks and Shop, a browser extension that enables you to earn cashback from over 700 stores.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Michael O'Rourke, co-founder and CEO of the Pocket Network. During this interview, Michael describes how Pocket supports Blockchain developers to achieve DeFi’s Web 3.0 vision.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard explores risk management solutions in DeFi with Potion.Finance contributors Alfablok and Buendia.

Potion is a risk management layer for DeFi, allowing people to manage the risk of their crypto in DeFi positions as well as the volatility that is inherent in the DeFi space.

Alfablok and Buendia take Piers on an expedition through the intricacies of risk-taking and risk management, proposed alternatives to the Modern Portfolio Theory, Nassim Taleb’s risk management theories, and applications of the Kelly criterion.

[00:00:46] Where did the inspiration for Potion.Finance come from and what is the purpose of its creation?

[00:01:52] An overview of Modern Portfolio Theory and its current place in traditional finance

[00:04:30] Limitations of the Modern Portfolio Theory

[00:08:38] The first steps in active risk management on DeFi

[00:10:32] Explanation of the terms “hedged positions” and “put options”

[00:15:44] Potion’s solution for making hedging accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the complexities of put options

[00:18:51] Addressing the two sides of put options: the buyer and the seller

[00:25:58] Potion’s simulation laboratory

[00:33:00] The Kelly criterion and how the Potion team implemented it into its protocol

[00:45:23] Creating an emergent pricing model based on the utilisation

[00:47:06] Conclusion: Does Potion provide an easy way for people to hedge, and does it generate option prices that people are willing to pay?

Further resources

• Website: Potion
• Twitter: @PotionLabs
• Medium: Potion Labs
• Discord: discord.potion.finance

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**Join Piers Ridyard and the creator of Paymobil, Daniel Nordh, for a discussion on cross-border money transfers using stablecoins.  

Daniel, who previously worked at Coinbase, founded Paymobil to simplify cross-border money transfers using cryptocurrencies, with a focus on delivering a wonderful user experience through a user-friendly app. 

In this episode, Daniel and Piers dive into the features and functionality of Paymobil, and examine the differences in banking experiences between Europe and the United States.**

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Deus Finance - Decentralised share trading - bringing Tesla, Apple, and GameStop to the party!

With Lafayette, founder of DEUS Finance

In this episode of the DeFi Download podcast, Piers Ridyard talks with Lafayette Tabor, founder of Deus Finance. During this interview, Lafayette describes the features that make DEUS the Uniswap version of Robinhood.

Deus is a decentralised application that allows the trading of traditional financial assets. For example, you can buy and sell stocks such as Tesla, AMC, and GameStop, as well as commodities such as silver and gold.

Lafayette and Piers discuss how the Deus oracle system works and addresses security issues and the creation of synthetic assets (the dAssets), liquidity and collateral.

• [00:00:50] What does it mean being the “Uniswap version of Robinhood”?
• [00:02:40] What is an "oracle"? Why is being able to trade stocks on top of a blockchain an oracle problem, and why is it difficult to set up an oracle server?
• [00:05:50] Centralised vs decentralised oracles, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and Deus’ approach to balancing the trade-offs.
• [00:07:23] The benefits of a fast and flexible oracle system. Over-collateralisation and the Deus alternative that does not require providing collateral.
• [00:10:01] How Deus operates as a decentralised clearinghouse.
• [00:11:20] How does the back-end evolve from a system that facilitates betting on the volatility of stock prices to one that enables the creation of synthetic assets that follow the same trajectory as the underlying? What are “Synchronised Perpetuals”?
• [00:18:58] How is Deus affected by financial regulations?
• [00:19:42] After a user has created an asset, what needs to happen in terms of liquidity and volume so that the Deus team, community, and protocol are confident that a newly created stock will indeed track its equivalent counterpart off-ledger? How does Deus ensure that this happens to all the synthetic assets?
• [00:22:15] What is Deus’ black swan event?
• [00:22:36] Deus’ rules on introducing stocks and creating stock pairs.
• [00:24:35] When to expect the next iteration of Deus that progresses from an over-collateralisation system to a funding rate system.

Further resources

• Website: deus.finance
• Wiki: wiki.deus.finance/docs/
• Telegram: t.me/deusfinance
• Twitter: @DeusDao

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In **this episode of the DeFi Download Piers Ridyard interviews CryptoBirb, the Founder and CEO of The Birb Nest. 

They explore technical analysis, investigate the driving forces behind the latest Bitcoin bull run, and delve into the cyclical nature and fluctuations of the markets, and how they are affected by human behaviour. Additionally, they dive into the oscillation of Bitcoin prices and its trends.**

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard talks with Jonas Lamis, founder of StakerDAO and CEO of Staker Services Ltd. They discuss the vision of StakerDAO, their cross-chain approach, governance model, and DeFi products, assets, and services that exist outside of Ethereum.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Edan Yago and Ororo Munroe. Ororo and Edan are contributors to the Sovryn.app, a decentralised Bitcoin trading and lending platform bringing DeFi to Bitcoin. The objective behind Sovryn's creation was to extend the decentralised ethos of Bitcoin beyond the monetary aspect to services such as an exchange.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Santiago Siri, founder of Democracy Earth Foundation. Their discussion revolves around the concept of democracy, identity, and new systems of governance and decision-making procedures informed by blockchain protocols and communities that transcend national borders. 

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Join Piers Ridyard in this episode of the DeFi Download, where he talks with Henrik Andersson, co-founder of dHEDGE. They discuss copy trading with synthetic assets, breaking barriers to entry into the asset management world, and democratising investing.

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In this episode of the DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard interviews Krishna Sriram, the Managing Director of Quantstamp. Piers and Krishna explore the smart contracts' lifecycle and state of complexity, how DeFi projects can prepare for audits and address security, risk mitigation, and insurance, and the future of blockchain platforms.  

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Join Piers Ridyard, CEO of Radix, in his conversation with James Simpson, co-founder of mStable. This episode of the DeFi Download podcast focuses on unwrapping how the mStable protocol works by examining its various products, the mUSD token, MINT, SWAP, SAVE, and EARN.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, Piers interviews Luis Cuente, Co-Founder & Core Contributor of the Aragon project, which gives internet communities unprecedented power to organise around shared values and resources. They talk about Decentralised Autonomous Organizations, decentralised governance and dispute resolution mechanisms, as well as how to build a better Uber.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, Piers talks with Jack Purdy, Research Analyst at Messari. Jack and Piers discuss Messari's initiative to create the Bloomberg of crypto and dive into emerging DeFi market trends, exciting new projects and growth prospects.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, listen to Piers and Hugh Karp, the founder of Nexus Mutual, as they delve into insurance’s decentralised alternatives. They address risk-sharing and the use of mutuals in place of more conventional forms of insurance.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, join Piers and Trevor Koverko, founder of Polymath, as they explore the realm of digital securities on the blockchain. They discuss security tokens and their components, market infrastructure problems, cross-jurisdictional regulatory compliance, identity concerns and permissioned blockchains.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, Alex Wearn, co-founder and CEO of IDEX, joins our host and CEO of Radix, Piers Ridyard. Listen to their talk as they discuss centralised and decentralised exchanges, IDEX's journey in becoming the world's most advanced cryptocurrency exchange and topics such as yield farming and composability.

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In this DeFi Download episode Piers Ridyard talks with Fernando Martinelli, co-founder and CEO of Balancer, a protocol for programmable liquidity. Piers and Fernando discuss concepts such as portfolio rebalancing, smart pools, proof of liquidity, and the difference between yield farming and liquidity mining.

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In this episode of DeFi Download, Piers Ridyard is joined by Clay Robbins, Head of Growth at 0x Labs. Their discussion focuses on decentralised exchange and the regulatory challenges of the blockchain.

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Join Piers Ridyard as he talks to Ren CEO, Loong Wang to uncover the magic behind integrating with DeFi protocols, wrapping-free!

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On this episode of The DeFi Download, Piers speaks with Matthew Wright of Argent about how Argent are seeking to make DeFi accessible to anyone, and bringing a user experience to the non-custodial wallet that was previously thought to be impossible.

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Join Piers Ridyard on the DeFi Download talking to Greg Diprisco of MakerDAO about lending, debt and the future of both.

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Our exclusive roundtable with leading members of the DeFi community, discussing various aspects down the path to decentralization. 

Our guests include: Stani Kulechov, CEO at Aave; Matthew Wright, Head of Strategy and Operations at Argent; Greg Di Prisco, Head of Business Development at Maker Foundation (MakerDAO); Johann Eid, Product Manager at Chainlink; Piers Ridyard, CEO at Radix  and Jack Purdy, Research Analyst at Messari (Moderator)

Topics include:
- CeFi vs DeFi and the right balance between both
- Yield farming, staking and pooling : are they sustainable methods of user growth? 
- Identifying systemic risks within the DeFi ecosystem 
- Barriers to mainstream DeFi adoption
- Navigating DeFi regulations in different geographies

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In this episode of The Defi Download Piers Ridyard talks with Mona El Isa, co-founder of Melon Protocol and founder of Avantgarde Finance about the expansion of DeFi and asset management on chain

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In this episode of Defi Download Piers Ridyard speaks with David Johnston, managing director of Yeoman's Capital and the person who coined the term Dapp about the growth of the cryptocurrency and the blockchain space

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In this episode of Defi Download, Piers Ridyard speaks with Tom Trowbridge, co-founder of the Fluence Project and former president of Hedera Hashgraph about governance models in decentralised systems - particularly BTC and HBAR

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DefiDownload with Piers Ridyard and Willy Woo discussing different pricing models used to value #crypto and why #Bitcoin can see 72k USD at the top of the next cycle