This is Eric Golden and my guest today is EG Galano, co-founder of Infura. EG launched Infura out of ConsenSys in 2016 to meet a growing need for blockchain infrastructure providers. Our discussion covers the challenges of running an Ethereum node, how Infura convinced developers to trust a centralized service provider, and why Infura plans to decentralize in the near future. Please enjoy this conversation with EG Galano.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:08] - [First question] - How he first got involved with Ethereum and wound up at ConsenSys [00:04:57] - What made the idea of smart contracts so special and first got his attention [00:06:21] - The original inspiration behind building Infura [00:08:31] - What life was like trying to build on top of Ethereum before Infura [00:10:19] - Overview of what a node is and what it’s like to run one  [00:11:49] - When the time came to outsource instead of handling infrastructure internally [00:14:15] - How Infura was initially received and whether or not blockchain participants and builders felt it went against their decentralized philosophies  [00:19:48] - Going from an open source project to a monetized platform  [00:22:49] - How their premium offering was received and which developers made them second guess themselves [00:24:14] - The story of Uniswap and how Infura influenced and impacted their success [00:27:52] - How the buying and trading of an NFT with MetaMask interacts with Infura [00:32:01] - Whether or not building applications on blockchains is more similar to on-premise servers than building on the cloud [00:34:08] - His thoughts about their market share and possible system fragility  [00:35:39] - How their mission incentivizes them to help and support their competitors  [00:39:14] - What he’s worried about that could go wrong when decentralizing infrastructure [00:41:11] - Jai Ramaswamy - Crypto Regulation and Enforcement [00:43:58] - Thoughts about decentralization, the benefits of it, and where Infura is headed [00:48:11] - Describing the future of Infura in a non-technical way  [00:49:32] - The trigger that lead to making an immediate pivot in their trajectory [00:53:44] - What he’s most excited to see built in the six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jai Ramaswamy. Jai is the Chief Legal Officer at Andreessen Horowitz and we recorded this interview at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas. In our discussion, we cover the regulatory agencies involved in crypto, the balance between privacy and compliance, and how a16z thinks about responsible regulation. Please enjoy this conversation with Jai Ramaswamy.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:52] - [First question] - How he went from a traditional finance lawyer to a crypto one  [00:08:05] - A framework for how to think of the regulatory bodies that intersect with crypto [00:12:46] - Who’s responsible when you receive an OFAC sanction and what it was like seeing a protocol receive one  [00:20:32] - Whether or not OFAC is an organization that tries to send a message to participants through their actions  [00:23:15] - Thoughts about the line regulators are walking between being thorough and protecting transaction privacy  [00:29:32] - Money laundering in traditional finance versus crypto  [00:34:37] - How law enforcement could enforce or stop a truly decentralized smart contract [00:38:44] - The nature of disclosure and what the Howey Test is  [00:47:34] - Commissioner Hester Peirce; Smart Regulation and how guidance and enforcement can help legitimize an asset class [00:51:25] - His take on the recent FTX piece that came out  [00:54:43] - Thoughts on stablecoins, their uses, and a possible means of destabilization  [01:00:32] - The tension between innovation and compliance and the implications of the balance between them [01:06:40] - What he’s doing about policy in light of everything that was discussed today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is 0xfoobar. Foobar is a developer and investor who writes a must-read newsletter called The Variable. We discuss the tradeoff between privacy and compliance, how culture and law shape each other, and his views on crypto regulation. Please enjoy this conversation with 0xfoobar.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:02] - [First question] - How he built such a robust technical background in his career that lead him to crypto  [00:04:42] - The trade off between compliance and privacy and his take on it writ large [00:07:27] - Whether or not people have given up on the idea that privacy of transaction matters  [00:11:17] - The current technical framework for what exists in privacy today for crypto [00:14:07] - Defining a zero knowledge proof and explaining the process to do one  [00:18:55] - The public ledger incentivizing other economic models and the ways crypto will be used in the future that might not be what we imagine today  [00:20:14] - People want to experiment but doing so can involve blind risk unless they’re familiar with the space  [00:22:00] - Reversible transactions and why they’re harmful  [00:26:37] - Opensea’s flagging involvement and whether or not we’ll have a cash-like layer built on top of the irreversible chain    [00:29:26] - Minimizing crypto purchase risk and protecting participants with a transaction cooling process or holding period  [00:32:46] - The ways in which law and culture shape each other  [00:34:14] - Examples of how culture affects crypto in ways that laws don’t yet  [00:36:31] - DeFi protocol hacks and how the culture should handle that kind of behavior  [00:40:49] - His thoughts on the current takes of trying to bring regulation by enforcement to the crypto space [00:42:33] - What he would do about regulation with SBF’s wealth, power, and influence [00:43:18] - His current area of focus is lately and what he enjoys doing the most  [00:46:50] - What he’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jared Grey. Jared was recently elected Head Chef of SushiSwap, one of the most recognized decentralized exchanges in crypto. We discuss the pros and cons of a community-led governance structure, how and why Jared decided to campaign for this CEO-type role, and the opportunities to improve SushiSwap's structure over the long-term. Please enjoy this conversation with Jared Grey.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:09] - [First question] - Addressing the accusations after being appointed head chef at Sushiswap [00:04:27] - How he first got into crypto and the road leading him to Sushiswap [00:06:50] - Overview of what a decentralized exchange is compared to a centralized one [00:08:17] - The unique way liquidity is provisioned in a DEX [00:09:47] - What permanent loss is and the main critique against DEXs [00:10:34] - Whether or not he believes DEXs will surpass centralized exchanges in volume [00:12:06] - The history of SushiSwap before he arrived  [00:15:22] - Explaining the differences between Uniswap and SushiSwap [00:18:39] - Where his power starts and stops, and the challenges of running a community lead organization versus a traditional governance structure [00:20:44] - An example of how decision making happens inside of SushiSwap [00:22:57] - A situation where a gridlock happened and having a centralized governance structure might have helped [00:26:35] - The challenges of developing more features without making an overwhelming user experience [00:28:38] - The nomination process for him to become the head chef at SushiSwap [00:30:44] - The voting system and candidates involved in the voting process [00:33:08] - His mental model for the voting system and ways to modify the existing one [00:36:10] - How the transition of power works in a situation like his [00:37:22] - Thoughts on regulatory risk and regulatory structure [00:38:41] - His outlook for Sushi and where he wants to take it going forward [00:40:23] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Matthew Graham. Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Sino Global Capital, a venture firm that made early investments in FTX, Solana, Wintermute, and other notable crypto projects. We discuss the origin story of Sino Global and delve into investing in China and emerging markets, including India, the Middle East, and Africa. Matt discusses his views on reinventing financial infrastructure, from TradFi to DeFi. Please enjoy this conversation with Matthew Graham.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:13] - [First question] - How he got into one of the hardest asset classes in emerging markets [00:04:43] - What lead him to China and where he first started his career [00:06:52] - The origin story of Sino Capital and what its first iteration looked like [00:09:13] - Whether or not he felt he had an edge in the early days  [00:09:44] - Being comfortable in an uncomfortable idiosyncratic position and if he would have ever gone back to a traditional path  [00:11:06] - What European and Western investors would miss and not understand about the regions he invests in  [00:12:07] - His take on Chinese and Indian markets and their similarities and differences [00:13:05] - Deciding to enter these markets and what gave him the confidence to do so  [00:14:18] - How often he’s dealing with international founders versus local ones    [00:15:07] - The Sino Capital business model and balancing being long-term greedy with stakeholder needs  [00:18:22] - Thoughts on evaluating founding teams and where Sino wants to invest [00:22:22] - How long they wait to invest after first meeting a team or founder [00:24:44] - What percentage of his time is spent sourcing new deals versus managing the existing portfolio [00:26:16] - Whether or not he’s relied on the insight of investors and mentors when it comes to how he’s structured Sino Capital   [00:27:25] - His philosophy when it comes to bringing new people onto the team  [00:29:58] - The turnover rate of Sino interns and how many become employees  [00:31:24] - Ways to explain to laypeople the differences between TradFi and DeFi and the what DeFi will unlock for the future    [00:35:38] - How he’d rebuild TradFi if he could wave a magic wand [00:39:24] - Walking through the pros and cons of the role regulation will play in crypto  [00:44:21] - Where he’d suggest a young entrepreneur go in the world to find a new frontier and which asset classes they should participate in  [00:45:59] - What he’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and it's that time again - our 3Q 2022 quarterly recap. If you listened to our second quarter episode, that was a recap of carnage. A "what the hell just happened" episode. For this go-around, Eric helps assess the damage and signs of light in the market. The tide came up, we know who was swimming naked; but who was an emerging winner in Eric's mind? Spoiler alert - it's not just SBF. We cover early takeaways from the Ethereum merge, his observation on the convergence between traditional finance and crypto, and why Eric is so interested in the Bitcoin mining market in 4Q. Please enjoy this quarterly recap.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:22] - [First question] - General thoughts and most memorable points of Q3 2022 [00:06:52] - Getting comfortable with the idea of a floor in an industry without the means of being bailed out by something like the Fed [00:11:54] - The level playing field and other players that have come out looking strong given the downside in the market [00:15:13] - A quick recap of the Ethereum merge, current takeaways, and the road ahead [00:21:06] - Whether or not there’s a way to measure the merge’s success going forward [00:25:46] - The ultimate vision for Ethereum staking and its reward system [00:27:22] - Whether or not leverage is what brought the system down [00:30:43] - Major institutional momentum and adoption in crypto [00:34:36] - The growth equity trolls were louder than the crypto trolls and crypto social stigma [00:41:47] - Sentiments around the new wave of Free-To-Own NFTs [00:45:16] - Material impacts on NFTs with a trend towards creative commons licensing and the experimentation phase of Intellectual Property  [00:50:15] - What’s driving his interest around Bitcoin mining in the near future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden, and my guest today is Michael Safai. Michael is the managing partner at Dexterity Capital, a high-frequency trading firm that trades billions in crypto every day. We discuss market neutral trading strategies, the challenges of high-frequency trading in crypto compared to tradfi, and the pros and cons of trading on DEXs versus centralized exchanges. Please enjoy this conversation with Michael Safai   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:07] - [First question] - Pivoting away from law and winding up in crypto [00:04:45] - A thumbnail sketch of Dexterity and what a proprietary capital firm is  [00:06:08] - The juxtaposition between TradFi and DeFi in high frequency trading [00:09:13] - How non-standardization is as much an opportunity as it is challenging for builders [00:11:18] - Whether or not he plans on managing money for outside capital  [00:12:43] - A high level overview of running a market neutral firm in the crypto space [00:14:24] - What a retail trader would need to take advantage of their arbitrage strategy [00:15:20] - Strategies to deploy to reduce volatility in crypto at a microstructure level  [00:16:35] - How much large firms are trading against each other and their market structures [00:17:13] - What perpetuals are and trading them as a security   [00:18:53] - How he’d interpret Ethereum’s negative funding rate during the merge [00:20:29] - Whether he’s seeing traditional firms trying to get into and staying in crypto [00:22:07] - Top data and indicators to get a sense of the healthiness of a market  [00:24:39] - His high level thoughts on web3, NFTs and new mainstream assets [00:26:04] - Pros and cons of a centralized exchange versus a DEX [00:28:51] - Thoughts on the code is law versus trading philosophy [00:30:46] - Some crazy stories from his early days of trading on DEXs  [00:32:34] - The level of difficulty to getting alpha today compared to in the early days [00:33:55] - The different game of trading on DEXs versus centralized exchanges [00:35:15] - How to find an edge when everyone’s cards are face up  [00:35:59] - His approach to diligence and analyzing an investment firm like his to invest in  [00:37:10] - What good regulation would look like to minimize public skepticism  [00:38:46] - How he looks to recruit talent and managing a global workforce [00:40:38] - Staying on top of all of his teams and what’s going to happen next for Dexterity [00:41:26] - Managing risk in automated systems when unexpected events occur  [00:43:11] - Where we are in the cycle of standardization and what it means for finding returns [00:45:34] - Binance shifting to a single stablecoin affecting liquidity for market neutral firms [00:47:23] - Leverage six months ago compared to today and what it means going forward [00:48:44] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Tom McLeod. Tom is the founder and executive director of Arkive, the first ever decentralized museum. We discuss Tom’s early career in music and technology, the inspiration to start a museum, and the inner workings of the Arkive community - including voting, incentives, and ownership. Please enjoy my conversation with Tom.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:04] - [First question] - Having a vision to work with computers in the second grade [00:05:14] - Going from a child computer coder and starting an indie record label [00:07:00] - Working in a big music studio in the midst of the streaming and digital revolution  [00:09:22] - The road leading from Omni to Arkive  [00:13:02] - A high level sketch of Akrive and what their mission is   [00:14:17] - Finding pieces to fill this new approach to curating a museum  [00:16:15] - Who can become a member and vote for what makes it into the museum [00:18:55] - Community owned capital and community owned assets  [00:21:07] - How members can earn their Arkive points  [00:22:30] - Mechanics of voting and the curation community decisions [00:26:14] - Sourcing items of the caliber able to excite their participants   [00:27:49] - How they approach pricing and valuation for art and collectibles [00:29:48] - What it was like to hold the ENIAC patent for the first time [00:32:24] - Making sure items purchased can be seen by the public  [00:34:58] - Whether or not they plan to step outside of the viewable museum model  [00:37:09] - Plans to make fractional ownership and private investing possible  [00:39:09] - Advertising that they’re hiring on-chain pricing oracles [00:41:45] - The likelihood of liquidity in light of exclusivity  [00:42:45] - Building out their own infrastructure and tools  [00:45:17] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Lex Sokolin. Lex is the Head Economist at ConsenSys, a major Ethereum development company that built MetaMask. Our conversation breaks down the Ethereum merge and its implications on the network and ecosystem. We discuss how the switch affects centralization, the crypto economics of inflation and deflation, and popular market narratives around the event. Please enjoy this conversation with Lex Sokolin.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----     Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:08] - [First question] - The history leading up to the Ethereum merge [00:06:00] - A high level overview of proof-of-work compared to proof-of-stake [00:13:26] - Critical arguments he’s heard that have merit and are worth debating [00:17:19] - How staking worked before the merge and how it’ll work afterwards and allow retail traders to participate more easily  [00:23:51] - Control of governance and decision making power when staking is outsourced [00:28:49] - How far away we are from being able to stake directly from our wallets [00:34:22] - Ways to think about and calculate the interest rate impact post-merge [00:36:58] - Liquidity of staking and ease of access to deposit and withdraw tokens [00:38:14] - An Ethereum fork and why so many participants are shorting Ethereum today [00:43:49] - What would happen to unique and serialized NFTs in a network fork  [00:47:53] - How conversations have gone between him and institutional players about the coming changes to the network [00:51:34] - What he’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Gabe Leydon, who’s episode last year was one of our most popular ever. Gabe has spent the last 20 years designing video games and is one of the most original thinkers I know. He was the co-founder of Machine Zone, which pioneered free-to-play hits like Mobile Strike and Game of War. Over the past year, he has been in stealth mode building a web2 meets web3 video game company called Limit Break, which is founded on a brand new business model that he calls free-to-own. We dive into his vision for the future of gaming, how it could onboard a billion users onto the Ethereum network, and why the LTVs of crypto gamers is far higher than their web2 equivalents. Please enjoy this conversation with Gabe Leydon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:19] - [First question] - What free-to-own gaming means and why it’s exciting  [00:11:40] - Pre-existing behavior that sets up free-to-own for success [00:12:32] - The progression from PFP NFTs to clubs and the road ahead [00:14:16] - Overview of the business and monetization model for free-to-own games [00:17:51] - The story of DigiDaigaku, their mechanics, the drops, and what lead to their creation [00:22:14] - Balancing supply and demand in a free-to-own market [00:24:35] - Creativity and extensions of the DigiDaigaku NFTs [00:26:13] - Tiering, breeding and the role the Genesis series will play in the Digi universe [00:27:32] - The level of brand marketing NFTs will unlock for businesses [00:29:57] - How free-to-own will be the primary monetization method for brands [00:31:21] - A future with a global marketing shift towards digital property and economies [00:33:06] - Why most of the winning PFP projects are of unique characters [00:35:50] - His Twitter strategy and how he’s created such a fervor around him [00:42:40] - What will define the legendary marketers over the coming decade  [00:43:06] - Interoperability needed to make real-world NFT uses appealing to consumers  [00:44:44] - Whether or not we’ll see more token-gated business in the future  [00:45:40] - Stable Diffusion and his impression of the new AI art generating bots [00:48:56] - What great distribution looks like in a digitally native world [00:50:03] - The emphasis of innovation taking place in the metaverse being a bad thing [00:53:24] - Things he most admires in adjacent games and creators in his world [00:54:25] - Unique game mechanics that Web3 technology unlocks  [00:56:16] - NFTs will be the gateway for people to acquire crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Alex Taub. Alex is the co-founder and CEO of Upstream, a no-code DAO platform, as well as the co-founder of Truth Labs, the team behind NFT projects Illuminati and Goblintown. Alex is an expert on forming communities, especially around NFTs and DAOs. In this episode, we discuss the best use cases for DAOs, the challenges of announcing NFT roadmaps, and why Truth Labs targets different audiences with each project. Please enjoy this conversation with Alex Taub.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:16] - [First question] - All of the projects he’s involved with and how they intersect [00:03:42] - How relationships are at the core focus of what gives him a superpower  [00:05:24] - His transition from Web2 to Web3 and how it’s playing out for Upstream [00:06:26] - The legal structure of DAOs and what they unlock for people   [00:08:14] - Whether or not the size of a DAO makes control difficult [00:09:12] - Other exciting things he’s seeing in Upstream   [00:09:56] - Whether or not Illuminati was always on the Upstream roadmap  [00:11:27] - The creative process for Illuminati and Goblintown  [00:13:23] - How quickly the idea for Goblintown went from concept to launch  [00:16:07] - The push pull caused by the participants in the NFT market [00:18:24] - Why they doxed themselves after a successful anonymous launch  [00:21:26] - How the space came about and became so popular  [00:22:18] - Why there is such a lack of people trying new things in NFTs [00:23:39] - What it’s like trying to find talent and onboard people in his projects [00:24:41] - His take on the NFT marketplace and why he made his own   [00:27:35] - The rabbithole of refunding participants for NFT purchases [00:28:45] - How vault DAO helps keep NFTs safe  [00:29:48] - Overview of the multiple wallet on Metamask and using it [00:31:23] - What leads to a bad community when people come together [00:32:08] - Selection bias and controlling for it to filter out bad actors [00:33:18] - What he’s excited to see built over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Avi Felman. Avi is young but he has already had a successful career as a crypto investor. Earlier this year, he left BlockTower Capital to join GoldenTree as their Head of Digital Assets Trading. His ambition is to put crypto on TradFi's map by bringing this large well-known, credit-focused asset manager to the forefront of our industry. We dive into his investment process, hiring Discord anons into GoldenTree, and how long-term thinking manifests in crypto markets. Please enjoy this great conversation with Avi Felman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:16] - [First question] - Learning everything he needed to about crypto from RuneScape [00:06:41] - Thoughts on the average market participant trying to find an edge in crypto [00:09:38] - Whether or not he’s ever thought about leaving crypto behind completely [00:11:10] - How much of his education has been self-taught or via mentors [00:14:02] - Defining an investor and a trader; and his style as a bidirectional trader [00:15:56] - An example of a theme that he’s changed his mind on  [00:18:10] - Why he chose to work with GoldenTree over their competitors [00:21:10] - What it’s like pitching a token like SHIB to GoldenTree [00:25:09] - How he thinks about training, discipline, and building a team  [00:28:44] - Thoughts on trades when it comes to managing risk [00:30:05] - Separating alpha and beta when valuing analysts and PMs [00:31:57] - What he meant by the entire market being based on the bid for Ethereum [00:33:57] - What an average person can do to track crypto market flows  [00:35:16] - Things he’s currently focused on in the market today [00:37:32] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Andrew Steinwold. Andrew is the managing partner at Sfermion, an NFT-focused investment firm where he makes venture-style bets and directly invests in NFTs. He is a pioneer in this space. We discuss the challenges of starting up a Web3 fund, how NFTs make the metaverse possible, and what drives value in various NFT categories. Please enjoy this conversation with Andrew Steinwold.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime combines advanced trading, battle-tested custody, financing, and prime services in a single solution. Clients have used our comprehensive investing platform to execute some of the largest trades in the industry because they are the only publicly-traded company with experience trading and custodying crypto assets at scale. Get started with Coinbase Prime today at coinbase.com/prime.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:14] - [First question] - How he and his wife Josie Bellini got into the crypto space  [00:05:40] - Why crypto OGs had a disdain for NFTs [00:07:55] - A snapshot of the NFT market today and the metrics he tends to look at  [00:11:18] - Whether or not he’s surprised that the blue chip assets have held up [00:13:56] - The early formation of Sfermion and what lead him to start it  [00:18:33] - Thoughts on holding NFTs and building an investable fund around them [00:23:13] - Plans for their second fund and what it will be comprised of  [00:24:41] - His investment process and philosophy on exposure and valuation  [00:28:15] - Top level view on capital allocation when investing and building funds  [00:31:07] - Second Life interview; in-game economies [00:32:54] - Value is unlocked in more assets than just ones with utility  [00:35:37] - How they pitched fundraising a venture fund compared to one that invested in NFTs [00:39:10] - USD performance fees and capital deployment in their venture fund   [00:43:37] - The different areas of the competitive landscape in NFTs  [00:46:43] - Whether or not courts have reached out to them given their assets [00:48:59] - Real world use-cases and experiments that could prove useful in the future  [00:53:28] - Axie Infinity; thoughts on the Axie Infinity experiment and play-to-earn product market fit [00:57:51] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Yanni Giannaros. Yanni is the co-founder and CEO of Wyre, which provides payment infrastructure for Web3 companies. Wyre started off enabling merchants to accept bitcoin in 2013 and eventually pivoted from B2C to B2B to serve developers. We discuss Wyre’s major pivots over the past decade, the inefficiencies of traditional cross-border money transfer, and the decoupling of crypto exchanges as on-ramps. Please enjoy my conversation with Yanni Giannaros.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:15] - [First question] - How he and his co-founder met [00:05:38] - Building Snapcard and whether they moved into crypto at that time  [00:06:49] - The ways they technically achieved receiving funds via Snapcard [00:08:13] - What led to the second iteration of Snapcard [00:10:31] - Who their first competitors were when they started accepted Bitcoin and when they moved into cross-border payments  [00:12:58] - The history of sending money across the border and what their products unlocked for consumers [00:15:27] - How people would on-ramp into crypto in the first place and the financial and technical risks of early crypto transfers [00:16:48] - The biggest pain points and what led them away from having so many businesses [00:18:51] - Whether or not he and his co-founder ever had second thoughts  [00:19:54] - What he means by “It’s the fast that eat the slow” [00:21:06] - Interesting views on why major crypto exchanges won’t remain dominant [00:23:34] - Learning regulatory jurisdiction issues and the landscape today  [00:25:37] - How someone can use Wyre to set up their Web3 protocol more quickly  [00:27:31] - Some of the biggest surprise use cases for Wyre from developers  [00:30:15] - Things he thinks about differently now not being so end-user focused  [00:31:40] - How much money they raised on Wyre’s processing power [00:32:49] - Being acquired for over a billion dollars and selling their company  [00:34:26] - How it feels now to run Wyre compared to their building days [00:35:21] - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Algod. Algod is a popular crypto investor, who is probably best known for predicting Luna’s demise ahead of time on Twitter and betting with the founder, Do Kwon, that it would happen. He’s self-taught, operates largely alone, and does few interviews so I was very excited to sit down with him and talk about his philosophy, analytical process, and current views. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Algod.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:18] - [First question] - His early call that Luna would crash [00:03:52] - How Anchor and Luna work [00:04:26] - His confidence in the problems with Luna [00:06:32] - The crypto landscape today [00:09:10] - The connection to Three Arrows Capital and how he analyzes a token  [00:10:50] - How to bootstrap a company through NFT/Crypto [00:13:35] - When investors are involved and there’s an unlock schedule in a new token [00:16:11] - Metrics he follows; Market Cap and Fully Diluted Value (FDV) [00:17:26] - Other metrics he looks at  [00:18:30] - Watching people get burned by Crypto [00:19:32] - Dealing with crypto fanatics [00:21:44] - Whether stablecoins should exist [00:23:14] - His investment process [00:25:11] - Use cases of crypto he is excited for  [00:26:49] - Benefits of the widespread crypto adoption [00:32:46] - Where he pulls information about crypto [00:33:26] - Building his network [00:34:09] - Original intention with his twitter handle [00:34:58] - How people monetize twitter accounts [00:35:22] - Being anonymous on twitter [00:36:35] - How this crypto cycle compares to previous ones [00:38:22] - Other investment assets he explores [00:39:32] - Things he is excited to build out in the future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Fonz. Fonz is the founder of Tokenproof, which lets NFT owners prove their ownership online and at events without exposing their wallets or tokens. I used the service at ApeFest last month and was blown away by how seamless it was. If you haven’t already listened to it, I recommend pairing this episode with our conversation on tokengating with Alex Danco. Please enjoy my conversation with Fonz.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:20] - [First question] - How things have changed at ApeFest thanks to Tokenproof [00:04:35] - Getting tickets through tokengating [00:07:56] - His story and what led to the development of his technology  [00:13:33] - Explaining the power of tokengating with NFTs [00:15:34] - Future use-cases for NFT’s tokengating [00:17:03] - Partnering with brands  [00:19:14] - How artists/athletes/celebrities could game fame  [00:20:52] - Barriers that exist in the entertainment world relating to NFTs [00:23:11] - Exciting potential use cases for NFT monetization  [00:24:26] - Can NFT’s be used for lower priced items [00:26:57] - Early reactions to Tokenproof  [00:31:51] - Lessons from the ApeFest event [00:34:00] - Future of ApeFest and other events like it  [00:36:17] - Could this tech work without the blockchain [00:39:12] - Could Tokenproof be used for ticket trading in the future [00:41:19] - Could they partner with a Ticketmaster or similar entity  [00:42:47] - Connecting a wallet to Tokenproof [00:45:17] - How was Tokenproof received by users?  [00:46:47] - Using this for digital vs real-world events [00:48:51] - Monetization for Tokenproof [00:49:54] - What Fonz is most excited to build  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and I'm back with Eric for our second quarterly recap. As you can imagine, the tone is slightly different to our first one of these, just three months ago. There’s a lot to digest but we tried our best. Jump in and enjoy.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:17] - [First question] - Whether the performance of crypto in the second quarter has changed Eric’s perceptions of the space [00:08:25] - The fall of Luna and what made it vulnerable [00:17:18] - Arguments for stablecoins [00:19:08] - The contagion post-Luna and its impact on Celsius [00:24:35] - The bankruptcy in Voyager and why we haven’t seen similar actions by others [00:30:00] - Does the crypto asset class need saving [00:34:11] - The collapse of Three Arrows Capital [00:39:40] - Removing the leverage in the system; Ken Stanley ILTB podcast episode [00:45:20] - The continued push into crypto from established financial institutions [00:48:07] - Where is the regulatory front moving on crypto [00:54:25] - Any regulatory events to keep an eye out for  [01:00:56] - Takeaways from NFT NYC and ApeFest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jarrod Dicker. Jarrod is a Partner at The Chernin Group, a consumer-focused investment firm, where he invests in Web3, blockchain, and other tech that connects fans with creators. Before TCG, Jarrod was the CEO of Po.et, a decentralized media start-up, and Commercial Chief at the Washington Post. He has spent his career at the intersection of media, technology, and consumer products – which is the focus of our discussion. Please enjoy this conversation with Jarrod Dicker.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:14] - [First question] - The evolution of the media industry post-internet age [00:06:23] - Bottoms-up ownership models of talent and whether or not power laws still exist [00:11:21] - Distilling big scenarios into simple narratives and where we are in the crypto narrative cycle [00:15:59] - Disintermediation between artists and their fans and the direct to fan connections that blockchain tech unlocks for creators  [00:20:02] - Tiering structures, underestimating the financial dedication of super fans, and circumnavigating wealthy gatekeeping  [00:25:13] - His venture funding investment process [00:30:51] - Some of his biggest surprises about people’s misunderstandings of web3 [00:35:05] - The blindspots of the web3 space that should be discussed [00:40:17] - Humility amongst some of the most savvy builders in the crypto space [00:43:38] - Thoughts on the shift from renting to owning and the financialization of everything [00:48:14] - An ecosystem built around a focus on the active consumer  [00:50:18] - What he’s most excited to invest in or build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alex Danco from Shopify. Alex is our first triple crown guest, having first appeared on Invest Like the Best in 2019, Business Breakdowns on Shopify in 2021, and now Web3 Breakdowns. Our conversation today focuses on a new concept, tokengated commerce, and how Shopify is building around this theme. Given the market turmoil in crypto assets, we talk about true use cases of tokengated commerce and why blockchain technology is unlocking something that was not possible otherwise. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Danco.     For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:16] - [First question] - What Shopify itself is as an ecosystem and service [00:05:14] - An example of interoperability and the power of platforms outside of Shopify  [00:07:02] - How interoperability and platforms come together [00:12:08] - Where a a constraint-standard resulted in failure  [00:14:26] - Why Shopify is so heavily invested in tokengated commerce [00:17:10] - Lessons learned about the scarcity function of tokens and how they’ll work [00:20:34] - Whether or not Shopify will be building their own crypto wallet   [00:24:48] - The important role blockchains play in tokengated economics [00:28:16] - Overview of the mechanics and offering Shopify is building  [00:32:16] - Tokens help establish protocol adoption [00:34:27] - Which blockchains and protocols will be mostly used in Shopify’s endeavor   [00:36:33] - Why can’t it be key-gated instead of tokengated [00:39:00] - Conjuring demand and how Shopify will create demand for their new system [00:45:46] - The differences between someone's identity and a token holder [00:47:55] - Signals that suggest tokengated commerce will be a big thing  [00:51:02] - Why this concept hasn’t been more widely adopted already [00:54:39] - When there will be a solution to easily create and distribute tokens [00:56:39] - Where things will go from here  [00:59:35] - Reasons why this might not have taken off in five years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Ovie Faruq, or as I know him, OSF. Ovie spent the best part of 9 years at Barclays as a distressed credit trader before moving into Web3 as a builder, investor, and artist. Given his wide range of experiences, both in TradFi and Crypto, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss the commonalities between fixed income and NFT trading, how to revive a failing PFP project, and what it felt like when he found out Snoop Dogg bought his artwork. Please enjoy this conversation with OSF.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:16] - [First question] - The different types of Web3 IP, how Goblintown and Rekt Guy have evolved, and how a creator can give the IP to the community [00:05:12] - Whether or not a lack of scarcity is unwinding the value accrual behind the original approach to NFTs  [00:06:14] - Not having a roadmap and the advantage to being more freeform  [00:09:35] - His take on the difference between a failed project versus a rugpull  [00:12:50] - Finding out that Snoop Dogg bought a Rekt Guy and made it his profile picture  [00:14:11] - What he was doing before stepping into the NFT space [00:15:09] - Similarities and differences between trading assets on TradFi and DeFi markets  [00:17:24] - How he approaches measuring illiquidity in the NFT market [00:19:37] - YOLO trading and minting and selling a ton of Bored Apes [00:24:21] - The thesis of the Canary fund and thoughts on investing the money now [00:25:23] - How he thinks about where value accrues in NFTs as an investor [00:29:07] - When he started drawing and the road leading up to his NFTs [00:33:22] - Lessons for newer artists coming up and building an audience [00:35:36] - Working with Flips Finance and how he spends his days [00:37:20] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Bored Elon. Bored began as a parody account of Elon Musk on Twitter and has turned into a widely followed pseudonymous personality. We discuss the evolution of parody accounts and how Bored combined his massive following with years of experience in game design and mechanics to create his new blockchain based company, BoredBox. Please enjoy this conversation with Bored.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:07] - [First question] - What being a student of Hank Scorpio means [00:03:54] - The genesis of the Bored Elon pseudonym and his prior parody accounts [00:06:08] - What it is about pseudonymity that unlocks brand creation  [00:07:28] - A deep look at the pros and cons of the social armor of a pseudonym  [00:09:41] - Whether or not pseudonymity will have a larger footprint in the future [00:11:12] - Interesting challenges of operating as Bored Elon and not a person [00:13:38] - How he came across and moved into the NFT space [00:15:04] - The way the gaming world is setup today and its various tiers of game [00:16:46] - How many years it can take to build a AAA game like Call of Duty [00:17:49] - His perspective on games with built-in tokenomics at launch [00:20:29] - Whether we’ll see a shift in blockchain gaming back to free to play [00:22:51] - Combining pseudonymity and gaming with BoredBox [00:26:47] - Roughly how many blockchain game studios there are and the size of the space [00:28:14] - Thoughts on distribution, minting, frequency and varying rarity of loot boxes [00:31:59] - Tension between the traditional gaming industry and the blockchain one [00:35:04] - The types of builders and developers found in blockchain game studios  [00:36:21] - Where we are in the investment cycle and when we’ll see great games drop [00:38:37] - If building your own chain to develop a game is a necessary feature [00:40:07] - The biggest problems game developers encounter in the blockchain space [00:42:14] - Examples of games that could benefit from a small player base [00:43:21] - Will great games incentivize users to learn blockchain tech to play them [00:44:56] - How it feels to launch BoredBox amidst a bear cycle [00:46:22] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. Commissioner Peirce was sworn into the SEC in 2018. During her tenure, she has been a vocal advocate of free markets and a supporter of the crypto industry, to the point where she is often referred to as “Crypto Mom”. Regulation is a huge issue for our industry and I hope you’ll walk away from this discussion with a better appreciation for the nuance around protecting investors while letting innovation flourish. Please enjoy my conversation with Commissioner Hester Peirce.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes[00:02:15] - [First question] - The role of a regulator and the relationship between a regulator and the sector or product they oversee [00:04:29] - Her thoughts on how regulators are more like lifeguards than parents [00:05:36] - Striking a balance that allows innovation to thrive instead of suppressing it [00:07:17] - Overview of the 3 pronged approach of the SEC’s crypto mission [00:10:15] - Being painted as an entirely fraudulent industry full of bad actors [00:11:18] - What it’s like working inside of the seeming blackbox that is the SEC [00:13:33] - How many of the 4,500 employees are dedicated to crypto and finances [00:14:19] - Internal debates and public meetings amongst the commissioners   [00:16:18] - Ways the commissioners learn about crypto being unable to participate in it [00:17:36] - Whether or not there are restrictions on crypto ownership for the rest of the SEC [00:20:38] - Managing the entrepreneurial spirit as we navigate the legalities of crypto [00:23:16] - How revolutionary it would be if TradFi transactions were on a public blockchain  [00:26:29] - Risky corporate assets and how blockchains could have averted the 2008 crisis [00:28:47] - Difficulties of being a regulator and respecting the responsibility  [00:29:56] - Self-reporting and the crypto community reporting suspicious activity [00:32:12] - A skin-in-the-game investment that promotes self-education [00:34:24] - Where the Safe Harbor stands and what it’ll take for it to move forward [00:35:37] - The Howey Test and realizing we need new securities laws [00:37:59] - Going from a security to a non-security and instruments that allow a transition [00:39:25] - Leading a commission and if there’s a risk of losing a case [00:43:18] - Alternative Trading Systems and Communications Protocol Systems [00:45:03] - When the market could expect a spot Bitcoin ETF [00:46:50] - NFT financialization and how they might need to be regulated [00:48:12] - Her thoughts on DAOs and they’re rapid evolution [00:50:29] - The underbanked using crypto and whether or not it impacts the SEC’s agenda [00:51:54] - Emergence of stablecoins and her thoughts on their development [00:53:37] - What role if any might self-regulating organizations play in the future [00:56:35] - What she’s excited to see achieved over the rest of her term and what are some exciting dates or events she’s watching in the crypto space Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Laura Shin. Laura is a crypto journalist, host of the Unchained podcast, and author of the book The Cryptopians. While writing her book, Laura uncovered one of the biggest mysteries in crypto - who was behind the 2016 DAO hack on Ethereum. We cover that episode in detail, her methods for gathering information in crypto more broadly, and what she learned from studying the founding of Ethereum. Please enjoy my conversation with Laura Shin.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes[00:02:11] - [First question] - When she knew she wanted to become a journalist [00:04:06] - Stepping into crypto seven years ago and what pulled her into it [00:06:23] - Forbes’ thoughts on her covering crypto and going full-time [00:07:39] - Her TedX 2018 presentation and how her predictions held up today  [00:10:39] - Doing 200 interviews over 2 years to write The Cryptopians [00:12:33] - Balancing how wild the story felt with factual evidence-based reporting [00:15:39] - What it was like to try and gather information in the crypto space [00:17:33] - Who she most relied on to tell the story and who she wishes she could have spoken with while writing it [00:20:25] - Idealists, capitalists and technologists shaping the messy foundation of Ethereum [00:22:19] - How Vitalik maintained his dominance and influence over Ethereum [00:23:54] - Thoughts on how a single figure can have so much power over an ecosystem [00:25:17] - The battle between the Nonprofit and For-Profit status of blockchains [00:28:16] - What made it so difficult to get involved in crypto in the early days [00:29:11] - The first DAO coming together and within a few weeks getting hacked [00:31:22] - Going from journalist to detective and trying to find out who the hacker was [00:38:47] - How nervous she was about someone else breaking the story first [00:42:08] - Big takeaways from illegal activity being traceable on public blockchains [00:45:28] - Why she was able to find the DAO hacker before the government did [00:46:21] - Whether or not there will be a movie made out of Cryptopians [00:46:47] - What she’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Dan Matuszewski, co-founder of CMS Holdings. If you follow Dan on Twitter, you’ll recognize him as one of the wittiest and most fun voices in crypto. In this episode, we cover a wide variety of topics including Dan’s successful trading career that led to the launch of CMS - a proprietary trading firm, why he is so attracted to this space, and how from his perspective markets have evolved over the past few years. We also discuss the importance and mechanics of stablecoins, and it is worth pointing out we recorded this before they became frontpage news last week. Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Matuszewski.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:22] - [First question] - Dan’s early years and his first steps into crypto  [00:06:17] - Whether or not he was accumulating Bitcoin and saw the long-term utility of cryptocurrencies out of the gate  [00:07:41] - How traders would get money in and out of old crypto wallets and exchanges [00:10:16] - Having moments of doubt and why he stuck with crypto amidst it’s shortcomings [00:11:02] - What he was hired at Kraken to do and becoming an active crypto trader [00:13:41] - The ICO coin boom and what it was like trading the order flow in 2017 [00:15:20] - Thoughts on what it looked like during the ICO boom as a trading desk [00:16:07] - Where stablecoins came from and why they were so necessary to invent [00:17:59] - Tether’s negative reputation and his views of Tether outside of bad press [00:21:14] - How stablecoins make money and how Circle makes money on USDC [00:21:43] - Thoughts on leverage in the crypto space and how borrow rates affect investment decisions  [00:23:48] - Arriving at a risk-free rate and how CMS’ liquidity is structured  [00:24:27] - Capital allocation and the size and scope of CMS today  [00:25:10] - Differences between running a fund with your own money versus investors [00:26:42] - How megafunds will impact the market [00:27:18] - Getting into exotic collectibles and buying a Triceratops fossil   [00:29:10] - The impacts of the war in Ukraine, inflation and current events on crypto [00:30:01] - The role and impact of leverage in a market selloff  [00:31:20] - Coming regulatory oversight and the path ahead  [00:32:19] - Why crypto investors and traders prefer the CFTC [00:32:50] - Thoughts on NFTs as an asset class and how his mind has changed on them [00:33:37] - What running a farming operation means and strategies that he runs [00:35:06] - Ways for the average person can get involved in crypto and get exposure  [00:35:55] - His information flow and where he sources his signals [00:36:44] - How helpful it is to have a liquid token side and venture capital arm [00:37:05] - What he’s most excited to see in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Reed McGinley-Stempel. Reed is the co-founder and CEO of Stytch, which is on a mission to eliminate friction and improve security on the internet. Stytch started with passwordless authentication and Reed does a great job explaining why this is so important to businesses. We discuss the power of using Ethereum to sign on to any website and, towards the end of the conversation, Reed shares their newest product, Vessel - a wallet solution that eliminates the need to memorize 12 word seed phrases. Please enjoy my conversation with Reed McGinley-Stempel.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:18] - [First question] - The history of people using passwords online [00:05:34] - How the password structure we use today came to be  [00:08:22] - How attack vectors open up and what hackers do to get your information [00:11:49] - His time at Plaid and how it led to him co-founding Stytch [00:15:20] - What it means to be passwordless for the company and the N users  [00:18:17] - How they decided where to put their focus when starting Stytch [00:21:24] - What companies did before Stytch to handle different levels of security [00:22:19] - What the authentication of logging in with Google, Apple or email is  [00:25:11] - Their ethos on building for developers and being an API first company [00:28:30] - The pros and cons of being an API company and a SDK company  [00:31:45] - His first exposure to the Web3 space and how Stytch plays a role in it [00:36:31] - His thoughts on Web2 and if they will adopt the security measures of Web3 [00:40:14] - How Stytch will make it easier to attend something based on token gated access [00:42:52] - What a passport of the internet is and what Stytch is doing with it [00:47:17] - Their onboarding process for users from the Web2 space [00:54:00] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and the next six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Ryan Selkis of Messari. If you have spent any time in the crypto markets - you are likely familiar with Ryan and the Messari research platform. We cover his history in the market, including how he broke the Mt Gox story, his latest thoughts on NFTs, and finally it wouldn't be a conversation with Ryan if we didn't cover the regulatory landscape. Please enjoy this conversation with Ryan Selkis   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:09] - [First question] - His early days of first entering the crypto space  [00:05:18] - Going to battle with the Bitcoin Foundation and being fearless in his reporting [00:06:19] - Whether he’s always been willing to attack the biggest players in crypto [00:08:42] - When he moved over to DCG and what it was like in the early days [00:11:11] - The ICO boom and how the founding vision of Messari has changed over time  [00:12:59] - What it means to build the operating system for Web3 [00:15:02] - The transition phase from the old world into one lead by DAOs [00:16:19] - Defining companies as a marketplace [00:17:32] - Where he’s seeing opportunity and how companies evolve into DAOs [00:18:19] - His top 3 areas for 2022 and going from an NFT bear into an advocate [00:20:15] - Proof-of-knowledge, opt-in cookies, and growing NFT infrastructure [00:22:08] - The Web3 ecosystem and how regulation impacts the different parts of it [00:24:27] - How the definition of securities are changing and how the crypto industry can shape the future of regulation [00:25:46] - The SEC’s role in regulation and wanting dramatic change in that system [00:29:39] - Stablecoins, algorithmic stablecoins, and why they’re so important [00:31:11] - Thoughts on LUNA using BTC as their reserve currency [00:31:57] - How narratives shape markets and the impacts of media on crypto [00:33:31] - Publicly sharing their portfolio positions as analysts and why [00:34:38] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and today I am hosting Fredrik Haga - co-founder and CEO of Dune. For anyone involved in the crypto markets, you have likely come across a Dune analytics dashboard. In this podcast, we cover Fredrik's background and motivation to start Dune, why he pivoted early to offer a free service, and what he's excited to build in the future. Please enjoy my conversation with Fredrik.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:05] - [First question] The early origins of Dune back in 2018 [00:06:45] - Trying to fundraise for the first time and having a business model in mind   [00:09:24] - From selling dashboards to making it free and open source [00:10:42] - Gaining momentum in 2020 during the crypto summer and fundraising again [00:14:50] - What Dune Analytics is and how their product works [00:18:30] - Who Hildobby is and the dynamics between Opensea and Dune  [00:24:37] - Thoughts on a digital bank and comparing them to traditional banks [00:29:17] - Dune’s business model and how they’ll generate revenue in the future [00:30:43] - Whether or not there will be a native $DUNE token  [00:32:08] - Dune’s data treasure trove and how it’s still largely untapped [00:34:57] - What he’s looking forward to building over the next six months and the next six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are trying something a little different. We’re going to do a quarterly recap. Similar to investor letters that are so common in traditional finance, we thought it would be fun to cover the most interesting topics across Web3 that happened this past quarter by gathering questions from our listeners. Enjoy!   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:39] - [First question] - Eric’s takeaways from crypto’s performance in Q1 writ large [00:04:26] - Was anything proven out in Bitcoin’s performance relative to Gold [00:07:48] - Thoughts on the performance of BTC compared to ETH [00:10:27] - Other benchmark assets in crypto used to track performance of the asset class [00:12:39] - Evaluating the performance of NFTs and the impact of Ethereum’s price on NFTs [00:16:32] - Thoughts on the trend of user adoption in Q12022 compared to Q12021 [00:21:27] - Where we stand in the geopolitical narrative and it has played out in real time [00:27:00] - Development and politics in emerging markets around adopting cryptocurrencies [00:30:42] - Thoughts on the executive order in the US in regards to regulation [00:32:29] - The catalyst of talent drain and how policy can negatively impact US innovation [00:34:38] - Where the majority of capital coming into the market ends up being allocated  [00:38:48] - The rise of play-to-earn in 2021 and the environment we’re in today in 2022 [00:41:24] - Metaverse’s hype cycle, capital allocation, and potential prospects [00:44:30] - Ways that the Metaverse will crossover into the physical world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Justin Waldron, co-founder and President of Playco. Justin is a pioneer of the social gaming industry, having co-founded Zynga at age 19 and then Playco, the world’s first instant gaming company. Our conversation explores the industry’s evolution from web to mobile to blockchain, the unique opportunities crypto offers game creators like Justin, and how Playco’s Web3 project, Storyverse, is creating a game engine for communities. Please enjoy my conversation with Justin Waldron.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:15] - [First question] - The story of pizza and how he thinks about game design like restaurants  [00:06:07] - Why bringing people together with games feels better than simply being together [00:07:40] - Overview of instant gaming and how people can find creativity and joy from it [00:10:34] - How Farmville’s onboarding process brought in so many new players  [00:13:59] - How much of game design is planned out versus being accidental  [00:18:08] - Why the industry left web-based gaming and went into the mobile and app space [00:24:55] - His thoughts on seeing the industry shift away from his vision [00:27:55] - How he first approached crypto and Web3 game development  [00:33:29] - Was he always sure of the direction he wanted to go in Web3 [00:38:59] - Where the idea of Storyverse came from and what the vision for it is  [00:41:43] - How Storyverse decreases the friction with NFTs and brings them to life [00:45:35] - The ways that their tokens can interact and communicate with stories  [00:49:24] - How Storyverse’s IP differs across communities and problems that can arise  [00:56:17] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and the next six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as GaryVee. This conversation covers why Gary has so much conviction in blockchain technology, why he sees established companies willing to embrace NFTs, and his vision for how this new medium allows him to build and distribute value today, and far into the future. Please enjoy my conversation with GaryVee.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:06] - [First question] - Why NFTs are the future and why they’re so powerful [00:04:41] - How his long-term thinking has both helped and hurt his efforts in this space [00:06:24] - Being open about what he’s buying and how a public wallet changes that dynamic [00:09:21] - Whether one can participate in the NFT space without being all in [00:10:47] - How big brands are interacting with NFTs and their adoption cycle [00:12:10] - Whether or not they understand the longevity of their actions and decisions [00:13:46] - Thoughts on separating his public and private life online [00:16:44] - Where his drive and desire to entertain comes from [00:18:47] - How he lets people into his world and betting on people who are “one of us” [00:22:27] - Ways smart contracts will change the future of long term bets on assets [00:25:54] - Things that seem bizarre today that will appear obvious in hindsight [00:28:10] - What he’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jasmine Maietta, founder of round21. Our conversation is a masterclass in brand building and collaboration. We cover how round21 was able to collaborate with large brands so early, how she builds a digital-physical model around goods, and why it’s so important to speak the same language as your partner, whether they would be a world class athlete or celebrity. Please enjoy this episode with Jasmine.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:09] - [First question] - How round21 ended up collaborating with Budweiser, NFLPA, and Bored Ape Yacht Club [00:04:18] - Overview of round21, their mission, products, and what they do with big brands [00:05:27] - How a traditional athlete sponsorship works today [00:07:43] - Why celebrities entering the NFT space sometimes don’t do as well as they think they will [00:09:45] - The rumor of round21 appearing on Shark Tank and if it’s true [00:11:35] - How interested are athletes in interacting with round21 and what excites them [00:13:21] - If she considers round21 to be a Web2, Web3 or bridge company [00:14:48] - The physical and digital divide of collectibles as it pertains to the customer [00:17:44] - The major differences between the NFL roadmap and the NBA roadmap [00:18:53] - Her insight on pulling off a huge event and how much work and preparation it takes [00:21:28] - Proof of Attendance and how she sees it impacting the world of sports [00:23:05] - What a POAP is and what attendees received for Proof of Moment [00:24:50] - The challenges of running limited run manufacturing and the customer acquisition cycle of a low frequency purchase  [00:28:08] - Balancing round21’s brand versus the artist’s or athlete’s brands [00:29:42] - How they work with an artist or athlete when they are unsure of what they want [00:33:43] - Her take on what has been working well in the NFT space and what isn’t [00:35:44] - Advice for keeping brand identity intact with multiple representatives [00:38:22] - Her experience working with big brands over her career and how it’s shaped her learning [00:39:50] - How she would explain the NFT space to a big brand and what their biggest push backs are [00:41:53] - A quick sketch of how she ended up where she is today [00:44:09] - What she is most excited to see built over the next 6 months and the next 6 years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m Eric Golden and my guest today is Matt Ballensweig, Co-Head of Trading and Lending at Genesis where he’s responsible for trading, origination and execution of all digital assets and loans. I got connected with Matt when I started trying to find out how investors are able to generate double-digit yields by lending out their crypto assets. Beyond answering this question, we also discuss how traditional prime brokerage works and the unique set of challenges of building similar infrastructure in crypto. Please enjoy this discussion with Matt Ballensweig.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:13] - [First question] - Why does a massive difference in interest rates exist between crypto and money market accounts [00:05:12] - The average spread market makers earn on crypto assets [00:08:22] - The trade of going long btc spot, shorting the near term future and the type of interest rate or yield the trade creates [00:12:34] - Explaining what it means to have a delta view and to be delta long and delta neutral  [00:12:50] - Genesis’ loan structure and framework [00:16:02] - How collateralized lending can be a zero loss business  [00:18:36] - Percentage differences between collateralized and uncollateralized loans and their uncollateralized loan process [00:22:25] - Types of uncollateralized parties and how they are using their debt  [00:24:22] - Has Genesis seen defaults and low masses on the uncollateralized business [00:25:18] - Overview of Genesis, their divisions, and how they make their money beyond lending [00:27:50] - His view on a healthy market structure and how short sellers help the market function [00:29:32] - What traditional prime brokers do and how much of Genesis is modeled off of them [00:31:44] - Why the crypto and TradFi worlds can’t simplistically blend [00:34:22] - Will Genesis ever bridge the prime brokerage business into traditional assets [00:35:28] - DCG’s founding, what it is, and Genesis’ role in the DCG empire [00:38:06] - How much interplay Genesis has with other DCG companies [00:43:28] - Does he feel like he works for Genesis or for DCG  [00:44:46] - How integral Genesis is to platforms like BlockFi, Gemini and Celsius [00:48:49] - How systems are tested when there are drawdowns and how counterparts interact with each other [00:52:12] - Knock-on effects that could lead to a ‘Lehman style event’ given crypto’s systemic risk nature [00:55:18] - How Genesis participates in the DeFi markets and their biggest gating issues [00:58:26] - Views on centralized and decentralized exchanges  [01:00:35] - His desire to share data and the PIF protocol [01:02:42] - Why NFT lending makes sense given its different risk profile from crypto [01:05:08] - What he’s most excited about building over the next 6 months and the next 6 years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Tom Jessop. As President of Fidelity Digital Assets, Tom leads Fidelity’s effort to build a crypto custody solution for institutions. During our conversation, we discuss the use of custodians for blockchain assets, trends in client demand, and Tom’s perspective as an incumbent attempting to build crypto-native capabilities. Please enjoy this conversation with Tom Jessop.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:06] - [First question] - Why would anyone need a custodian for digital assets [00:03:39] - Top reasons that clients choose Fidelity to manage their own custody [00:05:03] - Customer experience handing over their crypto assets to Fidelity  [00:08:40] - Building a business managing digital and physical risk [00:10:01] - Thoughts on the interplay between selecting a custodian and what their execution service options are [00:12:02] - Why there’s such a lack of segregation compared to traditional markets [00:14:05] - The type of capital you’d need to pre-fund in order to trade multiple markets  [00:15:07] - Instant trade settlements and what it’s like reconciling so many moving pieces in the cryptosphere [00:16:39] - How big Fidelity Digital is today and the growth they’re seeing  [00:18:17] - How many different assets they currently custody today [00:19:12] - Thoughts on what assets are appropriate to custody for their clients [00:21:00] - What happens to the custodian and client if a cryptocurrency becomes recognized as a security on a regulatory level [00:22:13] - How much of his time is spent dealing with the ever changing regulatory landscape and where his focus is as of late [00:24:46] - His feelings on why the US seems to approach crypto regulation differently than other countries  [00:27:47] - Are we slowly getting to a better place with crypto regulators in the US? [00:28:49] - Defending cryptocurrencies to regulators against waves of negative press [00:30:42] - Moving from traditional finance to the crypto market and how to innovate in such a rapidly evolving industry [00:32:43] - The pros and cons of being a crypto custody startup [00:34:04] - How they acquire clients and market Fidelity [00:34:44] - Capital-backed assets and how relevant insurance is when choosing a custodian [00:36:24] - What he’s been seeing on the product development side of this space [00:38:04] - Thoughts on third-party developers building on top of Fidelity [00:39:47] - The different types of clients Fidelity has and the competitive landscape  [00:41:14] - Whether or not there’s a push from clients to become more involved in DeFi [00:42:49] - The biggest issues that Fidelity has to overcome to become a custodian for the 10 biggest crypto assets today  [00:43:15] - What a crypto custodian will look like a decade from now and aggregated asset management [00:47:05] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jenkins, creator of Jenkins the Valet. For those unfamiliar, Jenkins was one of the first creators to explore the full potential of utilizing the IP granted by the ownership of an NFT. In this conversation, we explore how Jenkins developed the story around the digital character, how this character evolved into its own being, and how that initial act of storytelling opened up an impressive amount of business opportunities. Please enjoy my conversation with Jenkins.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:10] - [First question] - His opinion on the power and drawbacks of pseudonymity  [00:03:59] - The doxxing of the founders of the Bored Ape Yacht Club [00:05:27] - How separate his avatar/NFT life is from his personal one  [00:08:12] - Buying Jenkins from the secondary market and the first story he wrote [00:11:41] - Was Jenkins a business from the beginning or did it happen naturally? [00:15:34] - What Jenkins the Valet is and its role in the larger scope of this project  [00:19:17] - The writer room structure and NFTs for participating in it [00:22:16] - Pros and cons of IP ownership and licensing for creating content [00:25:38] - Economic structure of their NFTs and participating without an avatar [00:28:25] - Believing in the ownership of commercial rights in the community [00:30:28] - How comfortable he is with living both on and off chain [00:34:17] - Signing with a professional talent agency and trying to explain the project to traditional publishing outlets [00:38:12] - Were there multiple authors wanting to get in before Neil Strauss? [00:39:51] - Whether or not the Bored Ape Yacht Club founders reached out as this project continued to build momentum  [00:41:50] - His thoughts on where and how value accrues [00:42:28] - How much money was raised via NFT sales and outside investments [00:46:04] - The level of participation rates in community decisions for the writers room [00:47:31] - Which group has showcased the most interest to be featured in the second book [00:48:34] - Who is Mutant Jenkins and who runs the account [00:50:11] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Diogo Monica, co-founder and President of Anchorage Digital. Diogo started Anchorage in 2017 to meet the growing institutional need to custody and use crypto assets. The business has since grown into a full-service financial platform for institutions, allowing them to securely participate in web3. Our discussion breaks down Anchorage’s business, explores what great digital security looks like, and reveals what new behaviors web3 is unlocking for traditional institutions. Please enjoy this breakdown of Anchorage Digital.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:10] - [First question] - Why he got into the crypto space and the path that led him to founding Anchorage  [00:05:23] - An overview of digital security and where people should spend their time learning about it [00:08:46] - A future of perfect authentication and data protection being so core to this space [00:12:59] - How custody should be considered in the modern world and with digital assets [00:18:29] - What it means to be a great qualified institutional custodian [00:24:47] - The business and unit economics of a custody driven company [00:27:37] - What it was like working with their first big institutional client [00:30:22] - Speed as a component of digital security and its implications writ large   [00:35:21] - How they’re differentiated from their competitors by expanding beyond custody [00:39:16] - Different challenges between securing NFTs versus currencies and tokens [00:42:13] - New behaviors he finds most interesting about institutions due to Anchorage [00:48:16] - Breakdown of what players and services constitute Anchorage’s clients today [00:50:54] - The best case scenario for the future of the business [00:53:07] - What would worry him about Anchorage’s development  [00:55:25] - Opportunities he finds most interesting that haven't materialized yet  [00:57:16] - Will we need a public blockchain to create the infrastructure needed to bring the world to a more crypto-fluid place [00:59:37] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden, and my guest today is Micah Johnson the creator and artist behind Aku Dreams. Micah’s story as a pro baseball player turned famed NFT artist and Aku’s story, are both unique and inspiring. We dive into how Micahs childhood inspired the story behind Aku, what he has learned from his success, and tips for artists in the space. Please enjoy my conversation with Micah. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:04] - [First question] - His backstory and becoming a professional baseball player [00:03:34] - Who inspired him to pursue a professional career in baseball [00:04:38] - Whether he had any moments of doubt in his pursuit of the big league [00:05:16] - Where he found time for painting outside of baseball [00:06:17] - The origin story of Aku and stepping into the NFT space  [00:08:17] - Making the transition from physical to digital art [00:09:27] - The power of his message and the reach it’s had [00:10:42] - Symbolism of the astronaut mask and where the name Aku came from   [00:12:02] - How much is planned out in advance when releasing art in chapters [00:13:59] - The size of the team when they started and where it is today [00:15:02] - How much revenue they’ve generated and IP wealth [00:16:12] - The Aku IP structure and how it works [00:16:49] - What’s worked for him when it comes to community building [00:18:02] - How different levels of ownership contribute and govern the project [00:19:10] - Go-to-market products and how community impacts the creative vision [00:20:37] - Adding value to early adopters and believers in the project [00:22:01] - Worries about a lack of community engagement and constantly delivering [00:23:12] - NFTs as a tool in native Web3 companies and how the business model works [00:24:06] - Receiving movie offers so early and community driven IP [00:25:42] - How he’s learned so many skills over his lifetime and thoughts on training  [00:26:34] - Trying to remove money as a target and what success looks like for Aku [00:27:21] - Lessons that can be shared with new creators in the NFT space  [00:28:14] - Projects that have inspired him that cross over from web3 to media  [00:28:55] - Examples where he’s overridden community decisions and why [00:29:40] - Surprising ways Aku has impacted the lives of different people  [00:30:56] - Intimate details and Aku as a diary of his lived experience [00:32:45] - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Axie Infinity co-founder, Jeff "Jiho" Zirlin. The Colossus team covered the Axie origin story through Business Breakdowns in September of last year but we felt it was an ideal time to revisit the "play-to-earn" pioneer. Jiho and I cover his involvement with the Axie ecosystem including gameplay, the economic model, and creating a sidechain. Please enjoy my conversation with Jiho.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:02] - [First question] - His history and what lead him to work on Axie Infinity [00:05:26] - The arc of gaming and its evolution leading up to today [00:07:12] - A high-level overview of Axie Infinity and how you play it [00:08:21] - The size, scope, and user base of Axie today [00:09:10] - Thoughts on onboarding and educating their player base  [00:10:53] - What he thought Axie could become in the early days [00:12:42] - Difficulties of creating a sustainable game with an economic structure [00:15:26] - Why there was such huge adoption in the Philippines  [00:16:53] - The guild’s scholarship model and endorsing Web3 literacy [00:18:06] - Whether or not the game has always been designed to be a window into crypto [00:19:41] - Thoughts on how Axie could impact the real world  [00:21:37] - Why build their own chain, wallet, and ecosystem and how he’d build it today [00:23:46] - Challenges scaling their business with their own unique ecosystem [00:25:46] - Internal politics and user mentality around Axie and Sky Mavis [00:26:46] - Managing and aligning user expectations and how many employees they have [00:29:51] - Deciding which levers to pull on and which to retire for the sake of the project [00:32:45] - Understanding how changes made positively impact Axie [00:33:31] - Inflation and deflation cycles of in-game currency and native tokens [00:34:24] - Changing player dynamics and public response to them [00:35:38] - How the structure of the game rewards the builders and what having an Axie unlocks for players [00:37:19] - Future developments, the builder program, and plans for the future [00:39:01] - Why play-to-earn is different than play-and-earn gaming [00:40:55] - How Ronin works and unique characteristics compared to other L2 chains [00:49:55] - When we may see another game developer build on Ronin [00:50:36] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In November 2021, Graham Novak texted his friend Austin Cain with an idea. He wanted to buy the US Constitution. Little did they know, the next week of their lives would play out like a Hollywood movie script. When we look back on the ConstitutionDAO, I think we’ll remember it as a symbolic and historically significant event in crypto. To cover that moment, I sat down with Graham Novak and Miguel Piedrafita, two core contributors to the project. We dive into the intense 96 hours leading up to the bid, how decisions were coordinated, and just how they managed to raise 40 million dollars in less than a week. This is one of the most fun episodes I can imagine. Please enjoy.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:27] - [First question] - What led him to text a friend about buying the Constitution [00:04:14] - What steps they mulled over doing first to accomplish this purchase [00:05:07] - How quickly this went from idea to reality and the chances of it succeeding [00:06:00] - Who they called next to start bringing this DAO to life [00:07:27] - Figuring out who would do what in order to accomplish this [00:08:43] - When the group went from known people to bringing outsiders into the fold  [00:10:03] - Getting in touch with Sotheby’s and proposing their idea to purchase as a DAO  [00:11:37] - Some of the stipulations that Sotheby’s said would need to be met   [00:12:52] - At what point they engaged lawyers to integrate legal structure  [00:15:01] - What they were actually buying when you sent ETH in to contribute to the fund [00:18:46] - Stepping into day two with a legal structure and how big the group became [00:21:30] - Thinking about the security and the concept going viral on social media [00:22:55] - The tools used to construct the DAO and secure the funds  [00:25:46] - An example of a split decision in the group and how it was resolved [00:28:06] - Who should have control over the funds and why they doxxed themselves [00:31:49] - Turning JuiceBox on what percentage of possibility day three brought  [00:32:44] - Making the contributed funds raised open to the public  [00:34:14] - Convincing large investors and large anonymous contributors [00:35:38] - What number was needed to enter and be competitive in the auction  [00:36:51] - How many in the DAO attended the auction  [00:37:35] - Who was on the phone with David and who was on the phone with Brooke [00:38:57] - Varying tweets about the outcome of the auction about winning or losing [00:43:17] - What it was like when Ken’s team contacted the DAO for co-governance [00:46:19] - Plans for the document if they won and managing refunds after the loss [00:50:39] - Introducing ideas for the We The People token and continuing the DAO [00:54:38] - What are some of the criticisms of the movement and things they would have done differently in hindsight [00:56:41] - How the DAO could have been more decentralized from day one  [01:01:12] - Inspiring the masses and what they’re excited to see people try in the future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Tina He. Tina is currently building Station.Express, a new blockchain-based labor marketplace. We discuss Tina’s personal journey as an online contributor, what drives her passion for creating a new future for work, and how Station.Express is differentiating itself from Web2 platforms. When I first spoke to Tina, I walked away incredibly impressed at her enthusiasm around this specific problem, and I think you will be too. Please enjoy my conversation with Tina.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:10] - [First question] - Starting a blog at 14 in China and how China handled it [00:04:56] - What her vision of America was when she got here and how it helped her career [00:07:13] - Going from an elite program to a highly competitive job market and how it shaped her perspectives on meritocracy and work [00:09:30] - How the blockchain helps reputation and can streamline hiring talent [00:11:53] - Example of how work and actions can be stored on the blockchain [00:13:41] - What Station Express is and what they’re trying to achieve [00:15:33] - A good example of authenticating one’s work and proving your reputation [00:19:09] - Ways they are preventing this system from becoming a popularity contest [00:20:22] - Token integration within the ecosystem [00:21:23] - Different structures the hiring side can create to incentivize talent [00:24:49] - Normalizing the different rating systems DAOs will have and their scoring system [00:27:17] - How Station Express tries to solve voting on and rating subjective work [00:30:35] - Approaching starting a business like this and what has to happen first [00:31:35] - Helping moderators build their resumes even if it seems counterproductive [00:33:21] - What Station Express will look like in its full form and its impact on Web3 [00:34:56] - How pseudonymity and a global landscape impacts the future of work [00:40:35] - What she’s most excited about in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I am joined by Ari Paul, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of BlockTower; a crypto hedge fund started in 2017. Before founding BlockTower, Ari spent time at the University of Chicago Endowment and, before that, at Susquehanna as a derivatives trader. Ari has been an active voice in the crypto space for years now, including on the original Hash Power series. With BlockTower being one of the original crypto funds, Ari is an ideal guest to talk about the evolution of crypto markets and where we are today.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.     -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:50] - [First question] - How a political science major ended up in investing [00:05:06] - His perspective on how public opinion has shifted towards embracing crypto [00:09:58] - Whether or not owning crypto requires you to understand blockchains [00:13:34] - Setting a valuation for cryptocurrencies  [00:19:45] - How censorship-resistant currencies could empower bad actors [00:27:50] - BlockTower’s scale and what kind of investments they make  [00:31:41] - Thoughts on separating alpha from beta at BlockTower [00:38:26] - Explaining the protocol risk of crypto to investors [00:42:38] - Endowment adoption of crypto via fund-to-fund models [00:45:36] - Differences between equities, tokens, and varying levels of ownership [00:48:55] - His perspectives on various blockchain asset classes  [00:54:30] - Parallels between the NFT and DeFi cycles [01:02:03] - Narrative driven correlations between traditional assets and crypto [01:05:44] - Defining the current cycle, where we are in it, and his allocations [01:13:41] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I am joined by Mike Colyer, the Chief Executive Officer of Foundry, one of the largest players in crypto mining, staking, and financing.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:55] - [First question] - What he was doing before Bitcoin and what attracted him to crypto and mining specifically [00:03:21] - Overview of how Bitcoin mining works and the complexity and computing power necessary to participate [00:05:58] - What role luck plays in mining and winning a block [00:08:41] - Why some people say that mining is a horrible business [00:10:42] - The turning point for DCG to get involved in the mining side of crypto [00:14:03] - Whether or not equipment financing is always the core focus to support miners [00:15:19] - How a mining pool works and whether or not pools can attack the network [00:20:19] - His belief as to why China decided to ban mining  [00:21:46] - Why manufacturers still make Bitcoin’s network vulnerable  [00:23:17] - How the team at Foundry reacted to China’s decision to ban mining  [00:24:45] - Thoughts on his role as a distributor and deciding which countries to empower [00:27:24] - Whether or not Foundry plans on becoming a public company [00:28:28] - What miners do mechanically on a day-to-day basis  [00:29:14] - The average return on invested capital when setting up a mining company [00:29:51] - Why they only mine a small amount of Ether compared to Bitcoin [00:24:17] - Can miners switch back and forth between assets they mine? [00:32:14] - How chains convince Foundry to deploy capital and stake on their blockchains [00:33:18] - Differences between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake blockchains [00:35:45] - How Ethereum attracts miners and when they’ll move to proof-of-stake [00:37:05] - The most challenging part of running a mining operation [00:37:42] - Will we see a world where we can use phones and consumer tech to mine? [00:38:45] - Can we expect to see energy companies stepping into the mining space?  [00:41:43] - The countries he’s most excited about that are making strides in mining [00:42:32] - Thoughts on energy use, consumption and environmental impacts [00:45:28] - Educating politicians on the advantages and necessity of participating in mining [00:46:18] - What he’s most excited about seeing built in the short term and mid-term  [00:48:05] - Learn more about mining; foundrydigital.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, this is Eric Golden and my guest today is Dan Hannum, the Chief Operating Officer of ZenLedger, a crypto tax software similar to TurboTax. Dan is here today to help us understand the evolving world of taxes and the impact on crypto, DeFi and NFTs.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----     Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:56] - [First question] - How the US tax code is currently structured as it relates to crypto [00:03:38] - Classifying cryptocurrencies and taxable events when using and trading them [00:07:24] - Assigning your cost basis based on your transaction  [00:09:53] - Structuring data reported from exchanges and how it’s changed over time [00:13:09] - What the IRS was suing Coinbase for and why  [00:15:47] - Thoughts on DeFi and reporting transactions to the IRS [00:18:06] - Airdropped tokens and ways to think about them from a tax perspective [00:21:34] - Tax loss harvesting and crypto tax loopholes  [00:23:42] - Tax rates for individuals and companies being involved in crypto full-time   [00:25:42] - Writing off lost hard-wallets and reporting losses [00:29:54] - Burner addresses as proof of destruction or loss [00:31:23] - ZenLedger’s customer base and a focus on retail investors [00:34:38] - Keep track of your transaction sources for aggregating your data [00:36:56] - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and next ten years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden, and today I'm covering Ethereum Name Service, also known as ENS. In non-technical terms, a naming service allows you to map human-readable words to computer-based numbers. Listeners are likely familiar with Domain Name Services, DNS, which translates a website name such as joincolossus.com into an Internet Protocol address. ENS is similar, but instead of mapping to an IP address, domains are mapped to Ethereum addresses. When I bought my ENS address, I assumed the use case was to rename my wallet and make it easier than memorizing a bunch of random numbers. But as you will hear on this episode, the use case goes well beyond naming a wallet. To cover this wide-ranging topic, we called on a wide-ranging guest, Brantly Millegan, or better known as Brently.eth. We walk through the ENS backstory, why it seems to be winning over other blockchain-based naming services, and what the future may hold for ENS. There are some really interesting strategic points in this episode that listeners will appreciate. Please enjoy the conversation.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:37] - [First question] - Who he was before crypto and how he ended up there [00:04:56] - How he found his way into the ENS space  [00:05:40] - Overview of DNS and domain ownership as it exists today [00:08:48] - The Zooko triangle and how naming currently works [00:10:31] - Previous attempts at ENS and how they differ from its final form [00:14:07] - Deciding to build a system on top of the existing naming infrastructure [00:20:59] - What you’re buying when purchasing an ENS name [00:23:28] - How many years you can own your ENS name [00:24:16] - Are you renting the name or buying it [00:25:11] - Domain squatting and how they handle it today in this emergent space [00:30:25] - How much you can do with an ENS name [00:31:53] - Can ENS names be used as wallet addresses [00:33:18] - If he would have built it on a different blockchain if the project started today [00:35:06] - Name collisions, country domains, and working with Ethiopia  [00:40:53] - Whether or not there will be competitors in name services in the future [00:42:29] - Funding the project with grants and the capital that built ENS [00:46:47] - Forming their DAO and the responsibility of token ownership [00:48:44] - Arriving at the formula to distribute tokens to name holders [00:55:22] - Token holder influence over the project and internal voting [00:57:16] - The difference between a protocol and a product [00:58:23] - KYC, data privacy, and integrating ENS names for account logins [01:05:41] - What subdomains are and where they could take the project [01:07:36] - A future where everything on the planet is named and serialized [01:09:46] - What he’s most focused on building over the next six months and next ten years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are re-sharing our conversation with Devin Finzer, CEO and co-founder of OpenSea, from October this year. OpenSea is the world’s largest NFT marketplace. In a journey that started like many other founders in the space, Devin went deep down the crypto rabbit hole in 2017 and became particularly fascinated with the potential behind digital assets. During our conversation, we touch on the origin story of OpenSea, how Devin differentiates between the spectrum of NFTs in the market, and what he sees as the opportunity in the future for the industry. We also talk about the various risks within a blockchain, from security dynamics to market speculation. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Devin Finzer.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:56] - [First question] - When he first thought up the genesis of OpenSea [00:06:00] - What is listed on OpenSea, assets and volume, and the scope of the platform [00:07:26] - Thoughts on potentially becoming the current era “everything store” [00:09:22] - How they managed to become the main NFT trading platform [00:12:28] - What NFTs are, their various classes, and ways they’re stored on the blockchain [00:15:25] - How much transaction and auction volume happens on-chain [00:17:07] - Profile picture style NFTs and what’s exciting about them [00:19:24] - ArtBlocks and the mass interest in AI-generated art [00:21:22] - What he’s learned and seen about the emerging crypto gaming space [00:24:38] - The user experience of buying an NFT on OpenSea [00:26:45] - How the ownership transfer works between wallets [00:28:04] - Whether or not they have plans to partner with other companies [00:30:32] - How they think about what gets placed on OpenSea and why [00:32:09] - Thoughts on take rate and their 2.5% take rate of transactions [00:33:22] - Why their take rate is so low compared to other sale platforms online [00:34:47] - OpenSea’s relationship with the Ethereum blockchain and other integrations [00:36:50] - Perspective on wallets both as businesses and products [00:39:16] - Potential risks and the dark side of the unregulated NFT space [00:40:48] - The massive boom and bust cycles of crypto and the high prices of NFTs [00:41:59] - Interesting areas of Web3 that are in development today [00:44:19] - The project he’s enjoyed watching grow the most in the crypto world [00:46:42] - What OpenSea might look like in the future if the best-case proves true [00:48:59] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are re-sharing our conversation with Jason Citron, CEO and founder of Discord, from October last year. Discord is one of the largest and fastest growing social networks in the world. It started as a place for gamers to congregate online, but thanks to how easy it makes community building and its offering of text, audio, and video as means of communication, it has expanded far beyond gaming. It has the potential to become the default digital “third place” that we go to find belonging in a variety of online communities. With over 100 million active monthly users, it’s also one of the most interesting communication services since the original social networks rose to power. Our conversation focuses on his background prior to Discord, Discord’s founding and growth, its business model, how it has evolved over the past 8 years, and what the future holds for Discord. As we talked, I had this sense that I’d be willing to go work for Jason, and I think you’ll see why. I hope you enjoy our wide ranging conversation. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft for Startups is a global program dedicated to helping “enterprise-ready” B2B startups successfully scale their companies. If you’re a founder running a B2B company targeting the enterprise, you should definitely check them out.    -----   This episode is also sponsored by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes (3:17) – (First question) – Lessons from his time as a video game developer (7:58) – Going from game developer to game development platform (12:23) – From his first startup to Discord (16:33) – Expressing the hypothesis of discord (20:10) – How to know what signal to build upon (22:11) – Early adoption of Discord (26:17) – Getting the word out about Discord in the early days (30:43) – Creating more than just a platform, but creating a third place for people to congregate (32:38) – The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community (32:55) – The evolution and expansion of the types of community using their platform (37:27) – Discord’s business model and how it’s evolved (41:32) – Enhancing communication through Nitro (45:05) – Big principles for company building at Discord (51:22) – His thoughts around competitive advantage for the platform (52:55) – Creating a holistic experience for the users (55:45) – What bothers him the most when hiring (57:47) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are breaking down DAOs. Our new host Eric Golden is joined by Aaron Wright, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law and founder of Tribute Labs, who literally wrote the book on Blockchain and the Law. There is no better person than Aaron to help explain the purpose and power of decentralized autonomous organizations, also known as DAOs.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:01:39] - [First question] - How a lawyer ends up in crypto and early thoughts of what a DAO could achieve [00:05:09] - Why the first DAO failed and what convinced him to push forward anyway [00:08:28] - Forming the LAO several years after Ethereum and why it was his starting point [00:11:46] - The original state of LAO and the goals it set out to achieve [00:14:21] - What it is about Silicon Valley that led to having such a blindspot [00:16:03] - Launching Flamingo and achieving such high multiples on returns [00:18:05] - Defining the hive-mind that makes a DAO so special and powerful [00:20:51] - Their investment process, making decisions, and monitoring investments [00:22:47] - Comparing the speed of decision making to traditional VC funds [00:24:18] - Why they own 242 crypto punks and 22 bored apes  [00:26:31] - Internal voting on how to decide which NFTs to buy and how many [00:29:15] - Whether or not they sell their NFTs to rebalance the portfolio or raise liquidity [00:30:56] - How Rage Quitting a DAO works and the implications of leaving  [00:32:12] - Encoding incentives and course-correcting negative behavior [00:34:11] - Varying levels of dedication and freeloading within a DAO  [00:36:36] - A maximum amount of people that could function efficiently in a DAO [00:37:52] - How many DAOs should one person be a part of? [00:38:45] - Thoughts on DeFi DAOs like Compound and Uniswap [00:41:41] - Differences between a DAO and a Wrapped DAO [00:44:02] - Is it possible to achieve this level of organization with fiat currencies? [00:45:34] - Where we are in regards to securities laws and regulations with DAOs [00:47:48] - How far we are from buying tokenized shares of DAOs [00:49:07] - Where to start when building your own DAO [00:51:03] - Other possibilities DAOs could unlock [00:52:30] - The best way to get involved yourself  [00:53:41] - What he’s most focused on building over the next 6 months and 10 years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are re-sharing our September Breakdown on Solana with Kyle Samani.   Founded in 2017 by an ex-wireless engineer from Qualcomm, Solana is a layer one blockchain like Bitcoin and Ethereum that has been built to process transactions as quickly and cheaply as possible. Where Bitcoin can process about ten transactions per second and Ethereum around 30, Solana can handle over 60,000 transactions per second, and it can do so at a fraction of the cost. Unsurprisingly, Solana’s network has attracted huge interest from developers, users, and investors alike over the last year.   In this breakdown, we cover the killer app for decentralized ledgers, the history of on-chain transaction speeds, and the fundamental difference between software and blockchain technology. We then delve into the architecture that has enabled Solana’s speed unlock and look at the platform’s potential to become a huge piece of the world’s financial infrastructure. To help me break down Solana, I’m joined by Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner at Multicoin Capital.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. We created Business Breakdowns to uncover the lessons and frameworks behind every business, and that's what makes Tegus our perfect launch partner. Much of the foundational prep for these episodes starts with research on the Tegus platform.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Coinbase, Hinge Health, Farfetch, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus     Show Notes [00:02:49] - [First question] - How Kyle views the opportunity set of blockchain technology   [00:06:37] - The evolution of transactions-per-second from Bitcoin to new cryptocurrencies [00:13:43] - Why does decentralized finance matter versus centralized finance [00:18:34] - What is Solana and the scope and scale of it today [00:20:31] - Reintroducing costs with DeFi software compared to prior zero marginal costs [00:24:13] - How to go from 30 transactions a second to 30,000 and make the system work [00:31:03] - What about Solana’s design code allows it to take advantage of parallelism [00:33:05] - Differences between proof of history and proof of work [00:39:05] - The tokenomics of Solana, their distribution setup, and what owning SOL offers [00:46:24] - What Solana’s blockchain will enable for application development [00:55:15] - The emerging adoption and creation of social tokens   [00:57:40] - Thoughts on regulation and security in regards to Solana [00:59:41] - Competition that Solana may face and layer one blockchains in general [01:04:54] - What has him most excited about Solana and the landscape writ large [01:08:11] - Lessons for builders and investors when studying the Solana story [01:11:23] - Leaning into your differences and the team behind the project  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are re-sharing our Business Breakdown from September 2021 on Axie Infinity and its creator, Sky Mavis. Sky Mavis is the company behind the NFT-based game, Axie Infinity. Built by a team with a long history in gaming, Axie Infinity was launched in 2018 with the idea that a blockchain-based “play-to-earn” model could create more aligned incentives between game creators and game players long-term. Axie is one of the most incredible examples of speed-to-scale I’ve seen, with the game reporting $100,000 of revenue in January, over $190,000,000 of revenue in July, and over $360,000,000 in August. In this breakdown, we cover the basics of Axie and how gameplay is similar to classics such as Pokemon. We dive into the economic model, how Sky Mavis generates revenue, how players earn money, and how this is all enabled by the blockchain. We discuss the importance of gameplay vs. the economic ecosystem and examine the sustainability of Axie from various angles. To help break down Sky Mavis, Patrick O’Shaughnessy is joined by Aleksander Larsen, co-founder of Sky Mavis, and Stephen McKeon, Partner at Collab+Currency, an early investor in Sky Mavis.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. We created Business Breakdowns to uncover the lessons and frameworks behind every business, and that's what makes Tegus our perfect launch partner. Much of the foundational prep for these episodes starts with research on the Tegus platform. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Coinbase, Hinge Health, Farfetch, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:00] - [First question] - How many people are playing Axie and how quickly it’s grown [00:04:03] - What play-to-earn means and how money flows through a digital ecosystem [00:05:03] - A basic overview of the user experience of playing Axie Infinity  [00:07:23] - What an Axie is, its features, how they’re generated, and how many exist [00:09:32] - Monster NFTs and the fungible SLP in-game currency [00:15:00] - Converting the SLP to fiat currency and how low-friction the process is [00:16:40] - Are people actually playing the game or just speculating on the game’s assets [00:23:14] - The AXS governance token, how to earn it, and what it enables for token holders [00:27:08] - What the opportunity set looks like for Axie from an investor standpoint [00:33:29] - Mystic Axie and what they are generally worth today [00:34:42] - How much the community will have to expand and build on top of the game [00:38:48] - Overview of the plots of land in the Axie metaverse and what they might unlock  [00:41:57] - What a sidechain is and how the Ronin wallet works  [00:48:53] - Defining a bridge and how it differs from an exchange [00:50:24] - Lessons learned about good tokenomics and token design  [00:55:04] - The biggest potential risks to the future of Axie Infinity and its growing popularity  [00:57:13] - What an ideal future looks like for the metaverse and Axie infinity [01:04:03] - Asset ownership inversion and how big this could become in the future [01:09:19] - Where you can go to learn more about Axie and dabble in the game Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices