Epicenter - Learn About Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin And Distributed Technologies

Originally started with a focus on prediction markets, Gnosis has done innovative work around automated market makers (AMMs) and decentralized exchanges for years. The latest protocol launched by the Gnosis team is CowSwap. CowSwap introduces various innovations that could improve user experience, reduce gas costs, reduce the effects of MEV and result in better outcomes for retail traders.We were joined by Felix Leupold, software developer at Gnosis to discuss CowSwap and the future of decentralized exchanges.Topics covered in this episode:Felix's background and how he started working on CowSwap with GnosisWhy did Gnosis make the  shift away from prediction markets, and why the return to focus on AMMsThe relationship between Gnosis Protocol and CowSwapHow CowSwap works from a user perspectiveHow are solvers chosen and what are the incentives around providing solutionsWhat MEV is and why it’s a problemThe upcoming integration with Balancer V2How fees in CowSwap work and the effect on LPsWhere is CowSwap today

Centrifuge is an open and permissionless protocol built on Polkadot and Ethereum that unlocks collateral for DeFi. Centrifuge allows for the tokenization of real world assets such as invoices, real estate, or goods, and puts them on the blockchain. This allows users to borrow against these assets from investors. Investors lend dai in exchange for an interest rate that depends on the borrower and the asset used as collateral.We were joined by Lucas Vogelsang, CEO & Centrifuge Co-founder, and Cassidy Daly, Token Design & Research at Centrifuge. They explained why they built the protocol and how it works, the first application built on top, Tinlake, its integration with other DeFi platforms such as Maker, and their vision for the future.Topics covered in this episode:How did Centrifuge come about and what is its visionWhat challenges do they face using real world assets as collateralHow users are protected against spam and fraudThe underwriter token modelWhat are the value limits on what can be borrowed?

Ethereum 2.0 is an upgrade to the Ethereum network that aims to improve the network's security and scalability. Recently, we chatted to Danny Ryan about the Merge and switch to Proof of Stake. As a follow up to that episode, we were joined by Dankrad Feist, who heads the sharding and statelessness research at the Ethereum Foundation.We dove deep into the technical infrastructure of how Eth2 addresses scaling through sharding, the pros and cons of data shards vs. execution shards, and how this links up with ZK-rollups. We also talked about the Ethereum state and how the state can be altered for protocol improvements.Topics covered in this episode:Dankrad's background and how he came to work on EthereumAn overview of potential protocol updates and where they’re at right nowData availability shards and the overall concept of sharding in the protocolHow shards are maintained with validators and Proof of StakeHow Rollups work and the vision for their futureThe role of execution shards and what they provide that da

zkSync is a trustless protocol for scalable low-cost transactions on Ethereum. It's also the only zkRollup protocol which supports EVM smart contracts.Alex Gluchowski is co-founder of Matter Labs, and co-creator of zkSync. We spoke with Alex in depth about how the protocol works and the potential for a highly scalable transaction and application layer on Ethereum.Topics covered in this episode:Alex's background and how he got into the crypto spaceAn overview of existing Ethereum scaling solutionsDifference between Optimistic Rollup and zkRollupTransferring funds to the zkSync Layer 2 and gas fees involvedHow the zkSync transaction sequencer worksWithdrawing funds to Layer 1 and timescales involvedHow the procol deals with reorgsHow block formation works on zkSyncThe function of the zkSync tokenEpisode links:zkSyncFor DeveloperszkSync on TwitterAlex on TwitterSponsors:Solana: Solana is the high performance blockchain supporting over 50k transactions per second to power the next generation of decentralized appl

By default, all transactions made on Ethereum are public. Tornado Cash is a decentralized privacy preserving solution built on Ethereum which adds privacy through obfuscation. Users can place Ether and some stable coins in prescribed increments [1 Eth, 10 Eth, 100 Eth...] into the Tornado Pool. In return, they are issued a private note, with which they can withdraw funds at a later time to a different address.We were joined by Roman Semenov, co-founder of Tornado Cash, to talk about how the protocol works, how it was set up, community governance, and where he sees Tornado Cash's position in the quickly growing privacy ecosystem on Ethereum.Topics covered in this episode:Roman's background and how he got into cryptoThe problem Tornado Cash solves and how the protocol worksWhat tokens are supported and can you swap tokens?Smart contracts and zero knowledgeCosts involved for deposits and withdrawlsWeaknesses of the protocolThe Compliance Tool featureThe regulatory threat to private coins in the futureTornado Cas

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenize things like art, collectibles, even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they're secured by the Ethereum blockchain. And they have taken the crypto space by storm is recent months. Showtime is a NFT social media network where creators & collectors showcase their digital art. It reads all marketplaces and instead of buying and selling, you can comment, share and like. It's been described as the Instagram for NFTs.We were joined by Alex Masmej, Co-founder and CEO of Showtime, to chat about why he got into NFTs and in particular crypto art, how Showtime works and its purpose, and the future of the platform.Topics covered in this episode:Alex's background and how he got into cryptoThe story behind the $ALEX tokenUncollateralized lending and why it's importantThe vision for ShowtimeAlex's views on the NFT crazeWhat is the open social graphWhy Alex chose to focus on cryp

Ethereum will switch from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) likely already later this year in a much anticipated upgrade to Ethereum 2. The switch to PoS aims to make Ethereum both more secure and more sustainable by securing the network through Ether instead of mining. A second Eth2 update will address scaling through sharding at a later time.Danny Ryan, Researcher with Ethereum Foundation, has been a major driving force behind the Eth2 project. He joined us for a progress update and we chatted about how the protocol will work in its steady state, what has launched so far, what happens in The Merge, and how PoS will affect centralization tendencies.Topics covered in this episode:Danny's background and how he got into cryptoAn overview of Eth2 - Phase 0, Beacon ChainThe role of a validator and building blocksPenalties and rewards within the protocol including slashingWhat the epoch is and how it relates to finalityThe Proof-of-Stake mergeWhy Proof-of-Stake is favorable for security purposesWhat is t

Alchemix is a DeFi protocol that enables users to create self-repaying loans. Users deposit collateral (DAI) to take out a loan in Alchemix's native synthetic stablecoin, alUSD. Alchemix then uses the DAI deposits and puts them into the Yearn protocol to earn yield and over time, that yield automatically pays off your debt.We were joined by Alchemix co-founder Scoopy Trooples, who gave us a deep look into how the protocol works, alUSD and the ALCX token, and what is coming out soon with V2.Topics covered in this episode:Scoopy's background and how he got into cryptoWhat is the story behind the name Scoopy Trooples and his anonymity?A high level overview and use case of AlchemixScoopy's vision for alUSDThe integration with YearnWill alUSD drive down yields of other stablecoins?How Transmuter works to maintain the 1:1 pegThe long term vision for Alchemix and biggest potential risksThe Alchemix communityHow they raised their fundsEpisode links:Alchemix WebsiteAlchemix DiscordAlchemix on TwitterScoopy on TwitterS

Curve is an Automated Market Maker (AMM) that lets users and other decentralized protocols exchange stablecoins (DAI to USDC for example) with low fees and low slippage. Unlike exchanges that match a buyer and a seller, users transact with the smart contract itself. By providing a flatter curve targeted for relatively stable pairs, Curve has established the lead position for these markets. Curve is also leveraging its own token CRV to incentivize long-term adoption of the protocol and decentralize control of governance.We were joined by Curve Finance Founder, Michael Egorov, to chat about why he created the protocol and his long term vision for the project.Topics covered in this episode:Michael's background and how he got into cryptoHow Curve works from the perspective of a trader and as a liquidity providerHow they came up with the stableswap designHow Curve compares to Uniswap v3Michael's take on forks, fork threat, and Curve's moatCurve's thesis on good governanceHow they keep the protocol secureAn overvie

Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-1559 is a proposal to make several tightly coupled additions to Ethereum’s transaction fee mechanism. Central to the design is a base fee, which plays the role of a reserve price and is meant to match supply and demand. Every transaction included in a block must pay that block’s base fee (per unit of gas), and this payment is burnt rather than transferred to the block’s miner. The base fee is adjusted after every block, with larger-than-target blocks increasing it and smaller-than-target blocks decreasing it.Tim Roughgarden is a Professor of Computer Science and member of the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Tim did an extensive game theoretical review of EIP-1559 and joined us to chat about what the proposal is trying to do and why, and how it is doing it.Topics covered in this episode:What Tim's research focuses on and how he became involved with blockchainWhat made him interested in the fees problemThe current fee system on Ethereum - the first-price auctio

Flashbots is a research and development company focussed on Miner Extractable Value (MEV). MEV is the profit a miner can make through their ability to arbitrarily include, exclude, or re-order transactions from the blocks they produce. Flashbots has created a fork of the ethereum geth client, MEV-geth, to allow miners to exploit MEV, currently run by 80% of miners.Co-founders of Flashbots, Stephane Gosselin and Phil Daian, recently joined us to chat about the protocol and to deep dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of MEV.Topics covered in this episode:Stephane and Phil's backgrounds and how they got into cryptoWhat led them to creating Flashbots and what it doesWhat is Miner/Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)A technical deep dive into how the project works with miners and searchersThe progress on the SGX solutionSpam attacks and reorgs on FlashbotsPhil's reply to the perspective that MEV extraction is theftWhat is Generalized Frontrunning?How MEV differs at L1 vs L2What's the plan for Flashbots going forw

Trevor McFedries joined us for a fascinating chat about his background in the football and music industries, and how this led him into crypto. Trevor is the cofounder of Brud, a technology startup specializing in artificial intelligence and media. At Brud, they create social media personas with the help of CGI technology, the most well known being Lil Miquela. Lil Miquela is a sentient robot navigating life in LA -- and has millions of followers on instagram.Trevor also started Friends With Benefits, a gated online community on a private discord server with a community token. We talked with Trevor about the increasingly immersive social media experience, the future for creators and the future of organizations.Topics covered in this episode:Trevor's background in football and music, including his time working at SpotifyAn overview of BrudWho is Lil Miquela?How do these fictional characters fit into the 'real world'?How Trevor got into cryptoThe Friends with Benefits communityTrevor's views on the future of DAO

Bitcoin just got smarter. This episode is brought to you by RSK, the Bitcoin-based smart contract platform leading the DeFi for Bitcoin revolution. Be part of the future while building your personal wealth with the Bitcoin you already have. RSK is a secure smart-contract platform that enables decentralized applications secured by the Bitcoin Network to empower people and improve the quality of life of millions. The platform incorporates a Turing Complete Virtual Machine to Bitcoin. RSK believes that new use cases are necessary in order for Bitcoin to become the leading global cryptocurrency, and that adding smart-contract capabilities is key to secure that future. It also provides other enhancements to the network such as faster transactions and better scalability, features that they also believe will enable new usage scenarios.We chatted to Adrian Eidelman, Co-founder of RSK, about the vision they have for the project, how it works on a technical level, and how you can become involved.Visit rsk.co/openfinanc

The ability to move Bitcoin on other chains isn't a new idea, and many are trying to overcome the technical limitations which make this a technically challenging feat. The latest representation of Bitcoin on Ethereum is tBTC, a fully-backed ERC-20 token representing bitcoin collateral. tBTC is fully decentralized and relies on Keep Network, a decentralized multi-party computation which enables cross-chain bridging. We were joined by Matt Luongo, CEO of Thesis (the team behind tBTC and Keep Network) to chat about the tBTC technology, his vision for the future of interoperability and value propositions of different chains.Topics covered in this episode:- Matt's background - how he got into crypto and his experience in the space- The Keep Network - dencetralized multi-party computations- Why trustless minting of tBTC is important- tBTC and its security model- Dark DAOs and vote buying- The merge between Keep Network and NuCypher- What other mergers are being looked at for the future- Matt's views on the idea of

1inch Exchange is a DEX aggregator routing cryptocurrency purchases through different DEXs to reduce slippage and get a better conversion rate for the user compared with just using a single DEX. The platform launched its governance token, 1INCH, in December 2020.We were joined by Co-founder of 1inch Sergej Kunz to chat about how 1inch works, how the 1INCH token provides liquidity to their liquidity platform, its integration with platforms such as Uniswap, and the roadmap from here.Topics covered in this episode:Sergej's background and how he got into blockchainHow slippage is used in the 1inch protocolThe liquidity protocol usedThe integration between Uniswap and 1inch network and the new restrictions with Uniswap v3Their AMM protocol, MooniswapThe aggregation that 1inch has focused on and its defensibilityThe function of the 1inch token and where it is headed in terms of governanceHow 1inch plan to implement DAOHow 1inch deal with the regulatory impacts of DEXes1inch's stance on Ethereum gas costsEpisode lin

Zubin Koticha, CEO & Co-founder of Opyn, joined us again on the show to give us an update on Opyn v2.Opyn v1 was focused on insurance. It's successor, Opyn v2, offers a more traditional options infrastructure. We discuss the problems of building trustless options infrastructure: choice of collateral, partial collateralization and efficient trading mechanisms for options.Topics covered in this episode:An overview of Opyn v1 and the different options created by DeFi usersHow options in DeFi workWhat is new in Opyn v2How the oracle specification worksCapital efficiency - nesting options for collateralizationFungibility of different optionsWhat makes Opyn different to other option platforms?Options and the AMM designEpisode links:OpynEpicenter Episode 344 - OpynA beginner's guide to options: Opyn v2YieldSpaceOpyn GitHubOpyn on TwitterZubin on TwitterSponsors:ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io/epicenter. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm bea

Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol that allows you to draw interest-free loans against Ether used as collateral. In addition to the collateral, the loans are secured by a Stability Pool containing LUSD and by fellow borrowers collectively acting as guarantors of last resort. Liquity as a protocol is non-custodial, immutable, and governance-free.We were joined by Robert Lauko, CEO & Co-founder, and Kolten Bergeron, Head of Growth, of Liquity. We chatted about how the protocol is built and the mechanisms used, how to borrow, and the stability pool and liquidations.Topics covered in this episode:Robert and Kolten's backgrounds and how they got into cryptoWhat led Robert to create LiquityWhat Liquity is and the liquidation mechanism usedThe function of the stability poolThe process of existing troves taking on the debt of undercollateralized trovesLiquity vs Compound & MakerDAOLUSD redemptionsHow the Recovery mode worksThe purpose of the LQTY tokenHow the algorithmic monetary policy worksEpisod

KeeperDao is an on-chain liquidity underwriter for DeFi that combines yield farming and profits single-block arbitrage. The mining pool for Keepers incentivizes a game theory optimal strategy for cooperation among arbitrageurs. Their goal is to capture profit opportunities and distribute them to the various participants involved. We were joined by Joey Zacherl, Co-founder of KeeperDAO, to chat about what the protocol does and its mission, the grim triggering strategy, the ongoing hiding game, and the roadmap for the future.Topics covered in this episode:Joey's background and how he got into cryptoAn overview of VolleyFireWhat KeeperDAO does and its missionHow KeeperDAO users pool funds to to profit from on-chain arbitrage and liquidation opportunitiesThe grim trigger and hiding game strategiesKeeperDAO integrations and gas costsThe KeeperDAO governance roadmapThe ROOK tokenCan keepers carry out malicious attacks?Episode links: KeeperDAOKeeperDAO on MediumThe KeeperDAO whitepaperKeeperDAO on TwitterJoey Zacher

NFTs are a new paradigm that opens possibilities for new types of interactions. In digital art, it has caught on like wildfire and is transforming how people think of ownership. Alex Salnikov has been immersed in the crypto world for many years and recognized the potential of NFTs. He created Rarible, an NFT marketplace that has seen rapid growth. But the vision of Rarible is to be more an open transaction protocol for NFTs and serve many different markets.He joined us to discuss the different NFT use cases and how NFTs can scale and function in a multi-chain world. It's a great conversation at the unfolding of a new paradigm.Topics covered in this episode:Alex's background and how he got into cryptoHow Rarible was created and why they decided to focus on NFTsWhat are NFTs and how are they different to other cryptocurrenciesWhat’s driving the massive growth of NFTs right now?The link between owning an NFT and legal ownershipHow does Alex see NFTs and Rarible evolving in the futureHow NFTs work on a technical

Julien Bouteloup is a serial entrepreneur, Ethereum developer and addict of crazy innovative ideas. He started his entrepreneurial career building websites and selling hardware technologies at age 14. Today he is involved with many projects including Stake Capital, Rekt, Curve Finance, and he advises several crypto companies.Julien strives to bring to light the dark side of crypto. As DeFi grows, so do the number of questionable projects and ethical concerns around certain practices. Julien joins us to talk about the excesses in the DeFi space and how the ecosystem should cope with them.Topics covered in this episode:Julien's background, how he found crypto, and the various projects Julien is working on todayThe Stake DAO - its purpose and visionJulien's views on the state of DeFi todayPrice arbitrage attacks in the ecosystem - FlashloansJulien's involvement in Curve Finance and how this platform is pushing towards more resilient DeFi protocolsJulien's thoughts on NFT and Decentralized MonopolyCurve's reactio