Anatoly needs no introduction. He is responsible for the creation of Solana and the emergence of high-throughput, next-gen blockchains. We had the privilege of covering a very wide variety of topics with 'Toly thoughout this interview. We start with ‘Toly’s childhood, background, and the origins of Solana. We then move into some of Solana’s core principles and how they differ from Ethereum. This serves as a natural segue into Solana’s upcoming technical upgrades, changes to its fee model, learnings from other ecosystems, and what happens after Firedancer. ‘Toly also address some of Solana’s key criticisms and open questions head-on, such as decentralization initiatives and moneyness properties. This must-listen episode is the most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the Solana blockchain from the man who built this ~$60B (and counting) from the ground-up.

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Time Stamps

(0:00) - How Toly’s childhood influenced him

(3:24) - Toly’s route into crypto

(6:15) - The origins of Solana

(11:17) - Why POH’s core value prop is different than originally envisioned

(14:15) - Has Solana created a level playing field for trading yet?

(21:24) - Where will finance ultimately exist?

(25:10) - Interplay between Sol and Eth ecosystems

(27:29) - Solana’s modularity

(31:27) - Upgrading the fee markets

(39:44) - How will Solana handle MEV over a bull market

(43:46) - Is Solana ready for mass adoption?

(46:27) - Next technical hurdle post Firedancer

(48:52) - Integreting DePIN friendly features into the Saga 2

(51:30) - Is Crypto x AI overhyped?

(58:16) - Teachings from other L1 ecosystems

(1:00:42) - No 10x improvements possible over Solana’s design?

(1:02:02) - implications of a multi-validator client future

(1:07:03) - Solana becoming an Eth L2 shared sequencer?

(1:08:08) - Solana’s moneyness properties

(1:10:35) - When will Solana be decentralised enough?

(1:15:21) - The end of the good old days?

(1:16:25) - Which projects excite Toly

(1:19:46) - How Toly touches grass

(1:21:05) - Toly’s advice for this cycle

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Podcast Resources

Follow Sal: https://twitter.com/salxyz

Follow Dave: https://twitter.com/SolBeachBum

Follow Unlayered: https://twitter.com/UnlayeredPod

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or Google: https://unlayered.io/

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UnlayeredPod

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Episode Resources

Follow Anatoly : https://Twitter.com/AEYakovenko

Episode 158: Dictionis Update!