This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jessica Neer McDonald, an attorney focused on intellectual property rights and the head of global trademark services at Midjourney. The rise of NFTs and AI generated artwork has opened up all sorts of interesting questions about IP and ownership. Jess is my go-to knowledge base for this topic. In this episode, Jess takes us through the nuances of IP law and how it might apply in Web3. We discuss major NFT lawsuits like Yuga Labs, Hermes, and Nike, and the precedent they set in this transition from physical to digital property rights. Finally, we talk about AI art and its opportunities and unique challenges. Please enjoy my conversation with Jessica Neer.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----This episode is brought to you by OKX. You may have seen OKX on McLaren’s Formula 1 race car or Manchester City’s football kit. But what is OKX? OKX has over 730 spot trading pairs, 280 derivatives markets, and 1000 options markets. It processes 400,000 requests per second with 99.95% uptime. That’s why over 20 million traders and institutions choose OKX when they want to trade. Visit okx.com to learn more.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:01:44) - (First question) - How her transition from the traditional world to the digital one has shifted her thinking on IP and protections(00:03:21) - Overview of the MetaBirkins lawsuit during the peak of the NFT surge (00:06:14) - The Tom Sachs rockets and where the legal line is drawn for them versus MetaBirkins(00:09:01) - Differences between copyright and trademark law(00:09:37) - How using logos is fair use and not teetering on a lawsuit like Tom Sachs’ rockets(00:13:21) - Overview on the Yuga Labs and Ryder Ripps trademark dispute (00:17:03) - Analyzing the nature of the court case and the precedent it set (00:20:45) - Whether or not it’d be possible to sue someone for making a brand out of your Bored Ape or a similar NFT(00:23:47) - The pros and cons of the different licensing options a project could choose(00:28:41) - Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog being memed and when he could take legal action(00:30:27) - The seventy years after death protection and IP becoming public domain(00:32:38) - Defense, patents, and being on to something when Nike tries to sue you (00:36:00) - Being the head of global trademark services for MidJourney and Tarantino’s dream project that never took off(00:40:41) - AI generated art and the complex legal models behind them(00:43:28) - What she’s excited to see unfold over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jordi Alexander. Jordi is a poker player turned quantitative trader. While Jordi was trained in high-frequency trading, he has a deep passion for macro and taking fundamental positions that computer models may disagree with. We take full advantage of Jordi's breadth of knowledge in this wide-ranging conversation.We first dive into the mysterious world of high-frequency trading and Jordi's experience at GETCO, Tower, and then leaving to build his own firm, Selini Capital. We discuss Crypto's product market fit, how Jordi assesses the value of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the Balaji bet, and more. Please enjoy my conversation with Jordi Alexander.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----This episode is brought to you by OKX. You may have seen OKX on McLaren’s Formula 1 race car or Manchester City’s football kit. But what is OKX? OKX has over 730 spot trading pairs, 280 derivatives markets, and 1000 options markets. It processes 400,000 requests per second with 99.95% uptime. That’s why over 20 million traders and institutions choose OKX when they want to trade. Visit okx.com to learn more.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:00:32) - (First question) - Exploring how high-frequency traders (HFTs) have generated profits in recent years(00:02:50) - The utilization of technology to forecast the movement of asset classes(00:04:24) - Why he focuses on prediction over speed in trading strategies(00:05:36) - Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of a trading strategy(00:06:42) - The aggressive tactics that HFT firms employ to protect their advantages(00:09:27) - How COVID-19 changed the landscape of news trading(00:11:13) - The importance of talent and finding niches in HFT(00:12:37) - His decision to pursue an entrepreneurial path and establish Selini Capital(00:13:47) - How culture and incentives in the HFT industry impacted the genesis of Selini(00:20:17) - Finding an edge as a smaller team against giants with more resources(00:21:30) - Why he and his team started to transition to crypto(00:24:41) - His perception of other trading firms as Selini moved into the crypto space(00:27:17) - A breakdown of how the team at Selini Capital is structured  (00:29:40) - Why Selini avoids taking outside capital from LPs (00:30:29) - How Selini operates in both the crypto and fixed-income asset classes  (00:31:11) - Why his non-technical background positions him to approach the market differently(00:36:09) - Using the dog and the fox parable to describe his view of crypto in the long term   (00:38:06) - The roles human psychology and survival strategies play in the crypto landscape(00:40:25) - Drawing comparisons between financial markets and gambling(00:43:11) - Advice on what exposure newcomers should have in the crypto space(00:45:07) - His thoughts on Balaji’s outlook on Bitcoin(00:47:43) - Creating new money in a way that is globally accepted and fair for everyone(00:50:04) - His thoughts on crypto regulation and international adoption abroad(00:54:32) - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Eric Koziel, better known as Omnigamer in the gaming world. I was debating Web3 gaming as a use case, and my good friend told me that Eric knows more about gaming than anyone he has ever met, and I think he lives up to the billing in this conversation. Eric has worked in gaming and cybersecurity since 2012 and is now a game designer at Azra, a Web3 gaming studio.We start this conversation with a tour through the fascinating world of speed gaming before moving into the intersection of gaming and Web3, covering topics like balance between players, speculators, and collectors, the hostility of traditional gamers and Eric's thoughts on play to win. Please enjoy my conversation with Eric Koziel, Omnigamer.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----This episode is brought to you by OKX. You may have seen OKX on McLaren’s Formula 1 race car or Manchester City’s football kit. But what is OKX? OKX has over 730 spot trading pairs, 280 derivatives markets, and 1000 options markets. It processes 400,000 requests per second with 99.95% uptime. That’s why over 20 million traders and institutions choose OKX when they want to trade. Visit okx.com to learn more.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:01:44) - (First question) - An explanation of speed-running in gaming(00:04:59) - The mechanics of speed-running and choosing an appropriate game(00:07:43) - Finding games with limited pre-existing knowledge to start the process (00:12:11) - Reverse-engineering games to gather data(00:13:58) - How individuals take pride in the process despite it being a public pursuit(00:15:41) - The balance between maintaining a game’s integrity and exploiting its shortcomings(00:17:22) - The participation ratio of hard core gamers versus trained software engineers(00:18:42) - Finding patterns in programmed randomness, often linear congruential generators(00:21:19) - An example of risk versus reward when improbable situations happen in games(00:22:27) - Speed-running in modern gaming(00:23:00) - Easter eggs,developer errors, and unintentional use of game tools(00:24:59) - The adversarial relationship between the designer and the player(00:28:19) - The negative reaction to web3 gaming from the traditional gaming industry(00:32:55) - Comparing and contrasting the goals of gamers and crypto enthusiasts(00:33:57) - How the Pokémon franchise has catered to speculators, players, and collectors simultaneously(00:37:50) - Determining Web3 asset value and the current need for in-game asset ownership for a better experience (00:42:10) - How gamers should aim to extract value from time invested in games, based on economies of scale(00:44:20) - The added complexity for developers with real-world economics in Web 3 games(00:50:28) - How developers balance exclusivity and inclusivity to maximize returns(00:52:07) - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Frank Chaparro. Frank is Editor-at-large at The Block and host of The Scoop podcast. Many of you know him as Fintech Frank on Twitter. This episode is a little different as we dive into what it’s like to be a journalist covering frontier technology that moves at such a rapid pace. We cover the challenges of reporting in crypto, lessons learnt from the FTX saga, and Frank’s views on the overall ecosystem. Please enjoy my conversation with Frank ChaparroFor the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----This episode is brought to you by OKX. You may have seen OKX on McLaren’s Formula 1 race car or Manchester City’s football kit. But what is OKX? OKX has over 730 spot trading pairs, 280 derivatives markets, and 1000 options markets. It processes 400,000 requests per second with 99.95% uptime. That’s why over 20 million traders and institutions choose OKX when they want to trade. Visit okx.com to learn more.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:02:23) - (First question) - Some of the biggest groups he’s had fun reporting on(00:05:59) - How he processes the incredible volume of information in the crypto space and decides on which story he’d like to write and why(00:08:11) - The ways crypto Twitter serves as a source and the village center for information(00:11:19) - How it feels as a journalist navigating the crypto space  (00:12:23) - Developing relationships and handling building them as a reporter (00:14:35) - Whether or not it’s hard to just turn off in his news-centric relationships(00:15:28) - Some of the things he thinks about given the nature of the FTX fallout (00:17:14) - The balance between being funny online and a hardnose journalist(00:19:35) - His initial reaction to the news about the FTX fraud and becoming a part of it(00:22:38) - What he’d write if he could write the Wikipedia page for The Block (00:23:19) - Comparing this bear market to other bear market cycles (00:24:47) - Where we go from here and thoughts on regulation (00:28:42) - Traditional media covering crypto versus crypto-specific media outlets(00:31:22) - The anti-crypto media and motives for someone like Elizabeth Warren(00:33:55) - The Block’s global offering to clients beyond just writing and reporting (00:38:44) - His preparation process for interviewing guests on their podcast(00:40:08) - What he’s most focused on over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re back, a year after our first quarterly recap, to talk through the big ticket items from the past three months. We go in depth on the banking problems that affected crypto and traditional markets, tie that back to Bitcoin’s performance, and close with some thoughts on NFTs. Enjoy.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----This episode is brought to you by OKX. You may have seen OKX on McLaren’s Formula 1 race car or Manchester City’s football kit. But what is OKX? OKX has over 730 spot trading pairs, 280 derivatives markets, and 1000 options markets. It processes 400,000 requests per second with 99.95% uptime. That’s why over 20 million traders and institutions choose OKX when they want to trade. Visit okx.com to learn more.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:02:12) - (First question) - The general feel and landscape of crypto in Q1 of 2023(00:04:53) - The fallout Eric sees for the crypto space from recent bank collapses and more generally, risk in the industry(00:18:12) - How 24/7 markets and the broader banking system will function going forward(00:27:09) - An argument for the international stability of DeFi as enforced by bond vigilantes(00:29:38) - Balaji Covid tweet(00:34:55) - Why Ethereum now seems to be underrepresented in mainstream discourse(00:38:33) - The importance of Ethereum and the state of Solana as a competitor(00:41:04) - The state of the NFT market and why it seems so volatile and elusive (K2 NFT Collector)(00:46:24) - Matt’s recent NFT purchase(00:47:27) - How NFT creators are shaking up the art industry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Christian Dittmeier. A former financial analyst, Christian was pulled into the crypto world after the wild and unexpected success of one of his side projects. Today, Christian is the co-founder of Evaluate, a platform for trading and swapping NFTs like Top Shot trading cards and Doodles wearables. In this episode, he talks about his insights and experiences in the world of NFTs. We discuss the different types of users, the value of swapping, and the decision to build on the Flow blockchain over Ethereum. Please enjoy my conversation with Christian Dittmeier.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:02:33) - (First question) - How the founding team of Evaluate came to be(00:04:23) - What it was like for Evaluate to gain popularity so suddenly in the NFT boom(00:05:39) - How they made decisions about their business model and image(00:07:08) - How they think about collaborating with other builders in the space and branching out from their small niche market(00:09:51) - Dealing with the fast-moving and cut-throat nature of this nascent market(00:11:32) - Building a defensible and profitable business in an open-source world(00:13:35) - The nuances and challenges of deciding which chain to use for an NFT platform(00:16:14) - The irony of re-centralizing DeFi on an NFT platform(00:17:51) - His perspective on the community built around NFT capital(00:19:51) - Evaluate’s direct NFT-swapping system(00:23:28) - How sentimental value and “the endowment effect” play in to NFT valuations(00:25:40) - How NFTs can unlock new levels of fandom(00:27:37) - Key factors in building successful NFT systems and infrastructure(00:30:13) - Weathering volatility and staying innovative in the wake of the NFT boom(00:37:43) - The difficulties of avoiding speculators and securing a stable customer base (00:39:48) - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Itai Turbahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Dynamic Labs, talks about the current methods of logging onto a website, the promise and challenge of crypto wallets, and how Dynamic Labs is building an authentication system. They also discuss the evolution of crypto, potential use cases of wallets, revolutionizing real estate titles with blockchain, and prioritizing resources in a multi-chain thesis.

In this episode, Kevin Miao, Partner and Head of Credit at BlockTower Capital, discusses bringing the multi-trillion dollar securitization market on-chain. He explains how this will reduce friction, errors, and fees. They also explore the potential of blockchain technology in financial markets, securitization's role in reducing binary risk, and revolutionizing the mortgage industry. They discuss the challenges and potential of utilizing blockchain technology for loans and express excitement for bringing more aspects of the crypto space on chain.

This is Eric Golden and today we’re going to break down the mechanics behind three major blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. Blockchain is a term you hear a lot, both in this show and in Web3 more generally. But what do they actually mean and how do they work? That is the subject we’re going to cover today and something I’ve wanted to do for some time. My guest for this episode is Keone Hon. Keone is a Math Prodigy who spent close to a decade building systems for high-frequency trading. Today, he is the co-founder and CEO of Monad Labs and is building a blockchain alternative to Ethereum and Solana. He has that rare blend of deep technical knowledge and the ability to communicate clearly, so he is the perfect guest for this episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Keone.For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here-----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes (00:02:47) - (First question) - An analogy to explain how crypto and blockchain work(00:11:20) - Scenarios to further explore his schoolyard analogy for Bitcoin(00:17:03) - The reality of the math and power balance surrounding blockchain technology(00:23:28) - Expanding the analogy to explain Ethereum(00:25:26) - The broad impact of Ethereum on smart contracting and proof of staking(00:29:08) - Major differences between proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake models(00:31:09) - Comparing Solana’s stateless design to the older chains(00:34:44) - The added privacy and speed advantages enabled by Solana(00:35:56) - The real security and risk profiles of these major chains(00:38:09) - Explaining Solana’s parallel transactions (00:40:52) - Why the creation of new chains and further chain optimization still matters(00:42:27) - Why he got interested in the problem of chain efficiency and accessibility(00:44:54) - How crypto tech continues to build upon itself and expand to new use cases(00:48:34) - How Monad is building their blockchain to solve inefficiencies in crypto markets(00:50:09) - How he thinks about competition given the open-source nature of the space(00:52:12) - The process of actually building and testing a new chain(00:55:49) - What motivates him to continue building(00:56:53) - Diffusing a new blockchain innovation to users and coders(00:58:38) - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Avery Akkineni. As President of Vayner3, Avery has been at the forefront of guiding CMOs, brands, and corporations into Web3. This conversation is a little different for me as we focus on marketing and how to both connect and grow audiences in Web3. I’m fascinated by Avery’s work on Super Bowl commercials and learning what it is really like to work with creative brands such as Budweiser and Pepsi. To start this episode, I asked Avery to teach me about how traditional marketing works, before diving into case studies of how brands successfully leverage blockchain technology like NFTs. We then go behind the scenes with Vayner Media and their rapid testing of ideas on Gary Vee himself and her personal experience with their VeeFriends. Please enjoy my conversation with Avery Akkineni. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here -----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag Show Notes(00:02:36) - (First question) - How her background in marketing informs her work at Vayner3(00:07:12) - The competitive and dynamic nature of the marketing industry(00:10:55) - How Vayner3 leverages agility and keeps up with trends(00:14:00) - Her pivot from corporate marketing to Web3 brand-building(00:16:24) - What attracted her to the NFT space in the early days(00:19:48) - Balancing risk aversion versus early adoption in marketing(00:22:30) - How different brands have come online to Web3 and how Vayner3 enables them(00:25:55) - Common mistakes made by brands trying to enter the space(00:29:00) - What she learned from the launch of VeeFriends(00:33:29) - How VeeFriends came to be and how it keeps momentum up(00:36:27) - How she approaches brands following the recent crypto downtown(00:39:59) - The aspects of Web3 adoption and growth that she’s most excited about(00:41:56) - What she’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices