Reflections on Solana's Journey and Concerns about the FTX Implosion

In today's episode Jason and Santi are joined by Solana Labs founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko and Ben Sparango, the Head of Strategic Business Development. The duo has returned to discuss Solana's progress beyond the FTX fallout. They dive into Solana's priorities around scaling, fees, and alignment incentives between builders and validators. Anatoly elaborates on the network effects of open-sourcing core technology like the SVM, while Ben highlights mobile adoption and NFTs as driving new crypto demand. They debate the trajectory for permissionless finance to run mainstream markets on Solana, and whether the Saga phone can make a dent in Apple and Google's distribution monopolies. We hope you enjoy!

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Timestamps

(02:00) The Solana Recovery Post SBF

(10:30) Priorities for Solana Development

(22:14) The Next Gen L1 Case for Builders

(24:56) Economics of the SVM

(34:17) State of Solana Fee Market

(48:18) Inflation & Staking Dynamics

(51:17) DAS 2024

(52:32) Arbitrum Ad

(53:18) Harpie Ad

(54:32) Open Source & Security Approach

(01:02:02) Governance & Alignment

(01:12:25) The Value of Permisionless Systems

(01:19:04) Saga Mobile Strategy & Potential

(01:25:14) Remaining Moonshot Ideas

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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.