Emin is Co-Founder and CEO of Ava Labs, the organization behind the Avalanche smart contract network. He is a computer scientist, software engineer, and researcher who has focused on distributed systems, network security, and cryptocurrencies for more than 20 years. Before building Ava Labs, Emin was an associate professor of computer science at Cornell University and co-director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts at the university. In 2003, Emin designed Karma, the first cryptocurrency based on a proof-of-work protocol, years before the creation of Bitcoin. Follow Emin on X @el33th4xor.
0:00 - Emin’s deep history around cryptocurrencies 8:20 - Why Bitcoin took him and his colleagues by surprise 11:28 - Emin’s vision for the future of the crypto industry 16:34 - Avalanche’s approach to scaling crypto-economic activity 23:05 - How Avalanche’s architecture supports multiple sub-nets 27:34 - The real importance of decentralization 32:40 - Emin’s perspective on technological regulation 41:57 - The unique properties of Avalanche’s Snowball consensus 49:00 - Why the best technology does not always win in the market
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/171-emin-gun-sirer
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!