EP 41 — Inside Dune with Mats Olsen

Most discussions about crypto UX revolve around decentralisation and ease of use. Mats Olson, co-founder and CTO of Dune, dives deeper into the overlooked importance of real-time data infrastructure. Mats explains why blockchains, built as write-optimised databases, make data retrieval challenging and how Dune is solving this critical problem.

We explore:

• Why Dune’s community-driven approach to analytics succeeded without incentives

• The pragmatic trade-offs between decentralisation and usability

• How their latest product, SIM, provides real-time cross-chain data

• What separates crypto teams that thrive from those that struggle with data strategyChapters —

00:00 Introduction to Dune and Its Evolution

02:56 User-Generated Content and Community Engagement

05:59 Expanding Beyond Analytics

08:58 The Role of Data in Crypto (Retail vs. Institutional Usage)

11:58 Challenges of On-Chain Data and Infrastructure

15:03 Acquisitions and Future Directions for Dune

17:47 The Future of AI in Data Analytics

21:12 Decentralisation vs. Pragmatism in Crypto Applications

👥 Guest: Mats Olsen – Co-founder & CTO at Dune

Twitter: https://x.com/mewwts

🎙️ Host: Saurabh Deshpande – DCo Podcast

Twitter: https://x.com/desh_saurabh

📬 Stay Updated:

Subscribe to DCo Newsletter → https://www.decentralised.co/subscribe

Follow DCo on Twitter → https://x.com/Decentralisedco

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.decentralised.co