This is Eric Golden and my guest today is gmoney. Gmoney is an influential builder, collector, and investor in the NFT community. He shot to fame with a tweet thread explaining why he bought a CryptoPunk for 140 ETH in January 2021 and has since transitioned from full-time equities trainer to builder with Admit One and 9dcc, his crypto native luxury clothing brand. To show just how far he has come in this space, Adidas teamed up with gmoney to bring their brand into Web3. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 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[00:02:23] - [First question] - Context and inspiration for GMoney’s famous Twitter thread[00:08:11] - Why he dove into NFTs so aggressively[00:09:59] - All-in crypto diversification as opposed to closed-minded crypto trading[00:14:05] - NFT collecting in the mainstream[00:15:32] - The potential of an NFT as a “digital flex”[00:18:24] - The sharp increase in NFT values and the volatility of NFTs[00:21:32] - Distinctions between NFT technology and the NFT market[00:25:18] - How he landed his deal with Adidas[00:27:58] - His transition from traditional trading to the NFT market[00:29:26] - His early goals with NFT trading and adaptation as the space evolves[00:31:40] - The role of brand deals and influencer marketing in GMoney’s business model[00:35:04] - Helping clients and partners understand the NFT space[00:37:25] - Incentivising buyers to pay royalties to NFT artists[00:39:38] - The future of NFT royalties technology[00:40:41] - Divisions of the GMoney empire[00:44:07] - Explaining POAPs and their potential in the crypto community[00:47:59] - Why he gives out POAPs for free[00:48:54] - About 9dcc, the crypto-native fashion brand for real-world gamification[00:52:30] - How a POAP transfer works using a 9dcc t-shirt[00:54:04] - The communal success of the POAP pop-up event in Miami[00:56:03] - Why your net worth equals your network in the crypto universe[00:57:31] - Figuring out the optimal volume of POAPs to distribute[00:58:21] - What he is 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 Jay Stolar. Jay is a musician, songwriter, and producer whose songs have been streamed over 200 million times and recorded by artists ranging from Selena Gomez to John Legend. Jay is also the co-founder of Hume Collective, a Web3 record label that creates music and virtual artists in the metaverse. We discuss Jay’s songwriting process and music career, the challenges he faced as a songwriter in the existing music industry, the creation of virtual pop star angelbaby, and what Web3 will do for songwriters in the future. Please enjoy this conversation with Jay Stolar. 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[00:02:20] - [First question] - His background and what it’s been like to live the life of an artist [00:06:52] - How good the songs are that he tries to write every single day [00:08:52] - When you know you have a hit on your hands [00:10:58] - Persevering through writer’s block and the origin of the word genius[00:14:27] - How he went from being a musician to writing for Selena Gomez and pop stars[00:22:47] - Starting from a position of opportunity not disrupting an existing industry [00:25:40] - What a virtual artist or metastar is and how to create one[00:27:30] - Transitioning from a digital project to Web3[00:29:55] - Overview of angelbaby their origin story[00:33:52] - How the mechanics of angelbaby as an artist works [00:37:02] - Organizing and engaging with a community that has influence over the project[00:40:10] - How community voting impacts songwriting [00:43:01] - Visions for HUME as a platform and label[00:45:56] - 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 Adam Brotman. Adam was the former Chief Digital Officer of Starbucks, where he built out their immensely successful rewards program and digital platform. Today he is the co-CEO of Forum3, and he recently helped Starbucks design their new web3 experience called Starbucks Odyssey.In our conversation, we discuss how consumer loyalty programs are a quid pro quo, why NFTs are great engagement tools for brand marketers, and why digital collectibles should be decentralized. Please enjoy this conversation with Adam Brotman.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[00:01:57] - [First question] - A background sketch of his early career in the digital world working with Starbucks[00:03:47] - How Starbucks felt about moving to digital back in 2008  [00:06:25] - The vision to turn a coffee company into a tech platform company [00:08:55] - Moments where they felt they were pushing the edge of what digital could be[00:11:04] - Going from digitizing Starbucks to stepping into the crypto space [00:16:33] - Consumer brand loyalty is a quid pro quo and loyalty program economic tuning[00:19:09] - Early thoughts on consumer brand loyalty and NFTs colliding [00:22:23] - The initial reactions to an augmented loyalty program [00:23:55] - What Starbucks Odyssey is and what they plan to do with it[00:26:29] - The ideal customer that Starbucks Odyssey is designed for [00:28:29] - Why use a blockchain for Odyssey instead of a central database [00:31:20] - Big brands concerns about moving their customers onto public blockchains[00:34:37] - Competitive brand perceptions in a memetic sense[00:35:45] - Other exciting projects he’s working on currently[00:37:25] - A good example of collaboration that benefited the customer[00:39:29] - What’s 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 Sergio Silva. Sergio is a Senior Director of Web3 at Fireblocks, a platform that helps institutions custody and transfer funds. In this wide ranging conversation, we discuss the impact of NFT royalties going to 0%, how Fireblocks helps institutions secure their wallets, and why stablecoins and cross-border payments will be adopted in emerging markets. Please enjoy this conversation with Sergio Silva. 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[00:02:11] - [First question] - His thoughts on NFT royalties dropping to 0% and the impacts of that change [00:04:20] - Whether or not secondary sale royalties could be implemented via smart contracts[00:05:11] - Where the industry is headed given the changing landscape and its underlying technology[00:11:03] - His background ranging from banking all the way to Crypto Punks[00:13:27] - What moved him from writing an article against NFTs to dropping $10k on them[00:15:04] - The dissolution of the Crypto Punks Discord channel and where it’s at now [00:16:41] - Overview of what Fireblocks is and what they do [00:18:14] - What MPC is and why it makes Fireblocks so special  [00:19:22] - Fireblocks’ target audience and clientele  [00:19:59] - Why they choose to stay B2B and not launch their own exchange [00:21:33] - Definitions of custodians, qualified custodians, self-custody, and technology layer[00:23:00] - Overview of what crypto wallets actually are and the broad scope of them today [00:25:54] - The different use cases of wallets writ large[00:28:40] - How to handle wallets as an identity on blockchains in tandem with privacy[00:30:50] - Brands building on top of crypto layers and what’s impressed him the most[00:32:18] - How much Fireblocks deals with TradFi compared to crypto native firms[00:33:21] - The chances of Fireblocks becoming solely a technology layer  [00:39:39] - How he lost his Punk and what he had to do to get it back[00:43:35] - DeFi collateralization, overcollateralization, and the use cases for it [00:45:33] - Overview of the global payments system and where crypto will have a place in it[00:50:04] - Explaining sending crypto and NFTs to his family  [00:57:07] - Concerns for capital controls as crypto becomes more globally adopted[00:58:25] - Thoughts on the greatest use cases for stablecoins [01:00:10] - 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 Nick Cannon. Nick is the Head of Growth at Gauntlet, a simulation and financial modeling platform for DeFi protocols. In our conversation, we breakdown the financial attack on Mango, how better DeFi governance mitigates risk, and why governance is a bottleneck in most protocols. Please enjoy this conversation with Nick Cannon. 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[00:02:38] - [First question] - His take on FTX selling itself to Binance [00:03:24] - Categorizing at a high level the different sectors of DeFi[00:04:11] - How DeFi handles the subjective parts of credit financing[00:05:11] - What Mango is and what happened to them in their recent attack[00:10:03] - Whether or not a decision was made to settle with the attacker  [00:10:39] - How the insurance funds are structured for DeFi protocols[00:12:22] - Getting through the cold start problem of launching a new exchange[00:14:04] - What Gauntlet is and what they do [00:14:54] - His view on DeFi attacks in general [00:15:52] - The story of how Gauntlet came to be [00:16:44] - Thoughts about safety and experimenting as early adopters [00:17:51] - Working with protocols to help them navigate risk management[00:18:53] - Being a key player in risk management in the crypto space can be a dangerous and thankless job[00:20:17] - Thinking about alignment being third party players on a contract [00:21:12] - What it’s like to simulate and present risk to clients and how they receive it [00:23:05] - Whether or not the Mango Squeeze can be done anywhere with enough money[00:24:05] - What position limiting and supply caps are and how they work   [00:25:12] - Going about implementing risk parameters into a protocol[00:26:06] - Whether or not Gauntlet is running an API and involved on an ongoing basis [00:26:51] - How hard it is to get a voting consensus in risk management  [00:27:30] - Pitching fine tuning risk parameters to a protocol [00:28:32] - Gauntlet’s liability and being held accountable if something bad happens[00:29:30] - What he was doing before joining Gauntlet [00:30:24] - Bullish and bearish factors for the future growth of Gauntlet [00:31:21] - Whether or not this space will ever self-govern or require outside regulation[00:32:01] - The mechanism for incentive optimization and how it works[00:34:02] - Inherent flaws of third party staking to get liquidity without collateral requirements and risk parameters [00:37:44] - How Gauntlet has such a widespread impact over an exchange like Sushi[00:39:45] - Whether or not they use their data for other applications or advantages [00:40:17] - 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 EG Galano, co-founder of Infura. EG launched Infura out of ConsenSys in 2016 to meet a growing need for blockchain infrastructure providers. Our discussion covers the challenges of running an Ethereum node, how Infura convinced developers to trust a centralized service provider, and why Infura plans to decentralize in the near future. Please enjoy this conversation with EG Galano. 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[00:02:08] - [First question] - How he first got involved with Ethereum and wound up at ConsenSys[00:04:57] - What made the idea of smart contracts so special and first got his attention[00:06:21] - The original inspiration behind building Infura[00:08:31] - What life was like trying to build on top of Ethereum before Infura[00:10:19] - Overview of what a node is and what it’s like to run one [00:11:49] - When the time came to outsource instead of handling infrastructure internally[00:14:15] - How Infura was initially received and whether or not blockchain participants and builders felt it went against their decentralized philosophies [00:19:48] - Going from an open source project to a monetized platform [00:22:49] - How their premium offering was received and which developers made them second guess themselves[00:24:14] - The story of Uniswap and how Infura influenced and impacted their success[00:27:52] - How the buying and trading of an NFT with MetaMask interacts with Infura[00:32:01] - Whether or not building applications on blockchains is more similar to on-premise servers than building on the cloud[00:34:08] - His thoughts about their market share and possible system fragility [00:35:39] - How their mission incentivizes them to help and support their competitors [00:39:14] - What he’s worried about that could go wrong when decentralizing infrastructure[00:41:11] - Jai Ramaswamy - Crypto Regulation and Enforcement[00:43:58] - Thoughts about decentralization, the benefits of it, and where Infura is headed[00:48:11] - Describing the future of Infura in a non-technical way [00:49:32] - The trigger that lead to making an immediate pivot in their trajectory[00:53:44] - What he’s most excited to see built in the six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jai Ramaswamy. Jai is the Chief Legal Officer at Andreessen Horowitz and we recorded this interview at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas. In our discussion, we cover the regulatory agencies involved in crypto, the balance between privacy and compliance, and how a16z thinks about responsible regulation. Please enjoy this conversation with Jai Ramaswamy. 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[00:01:52] - [First question] - How he went from a traditional finance lawyer to a crypto one [00:08:05] - A framework for how to think of the regulatory bodies that intersect with crypto[00:12:46] - Who’s responsible when you receive an OFAC sanction and what it was like seeing a protocol receive one [00:20:32] - Whether or not OFAC is an organization that tries to send a message to participants through their actions [00:23:15] - Thoughts about the line regulators are walking between being thorough and protecting transaction privacy [00:29:32] - Money laundering in traditional finance versus crypto [00:34:37] - How law enforcement could enforce or stop a truly decentralized smart contract[00:38:44] - The nature of disclosure and what the Howey Test is [00:47:34] - Commissioner Hester Peirce; Smart Regulation and how guidance and enforcement can help legitimize an asset class[00:51:25] - His take on the recent FTX piece that came out [00:54:43] - Thoughts on stablecoins, their uses, and a possible means of destabilization [01:00:32] - The tension between innovation and compliance and the implications of the balance between them[01:06:40] - What he’s doing about policy in light of everything that was discussed today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is 0xfoobar. Foobar is a developer and investor who writes a must-read newsletter called The Variable. We discuss the tradeoff between privacy and compliance, how culture and law shape each other, and his views on crypto regulation. Please enjoy this conversation with 0xfoobar. 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[00:02:02] - [First question] - How he built such a robust technical background in his career that lead him to crypto [00:04:42] - The trade off between compliance and privacy and his take on it writ large[00:07:27] - Whether or not people have given up on the idea that privacy of transaction matters [00:11:17] - The current technical framework for what exists in privacy today for crypto[00:14:07] - Defining a zero knowledge proof and explaining the process to do one [00:18:55] - The public ledger incentivizing other economic models and the ways crypto will be used in the future that might not be what we imagine today [00:20:14] - People want to experiment but doing so can involve blind risk unless they’re familiar with the space [00:22:00] - Reversible transactions and why they’re harmful [00:26:37] - Opensea’s flagging involvement and whether or not we’ll have a cash-like layer built on top of the irreversible chain   [00:29:26] - Minimizing crypto purchase risk and protecting participants with a transaction cooling process or holding period [00:32:46] - The ways in which law and culture shape each other [00:34:14] - Examples of how culture affects crypto in ways that laws don’t yet [00:36:31] - DeFi protocol hacks and how the culture should handle that kind of behavior [00:40:49] - His thoughts on the current takes of trying to bring regulation by enforcement to the crypto space[00:42:33] - What he would do about regulation with SBF’s wealth, power, and influence[00:43:18] - His current area of focus is lately and what he enjoys doing the most [00:46:50] - What he’s most excited to see built in 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 Jared Grey. Jared was recently elected Head Chef of SushiSwap, one of the most recognized decentralized exchanges in crypto. We discuss the pros and cons of a community-led governance structure, how and why Jared decided to campaign for this CEO-type role, and the opportunities to improve SushiSwap's structure over the long-term. Please enjoy this conversation with Jared Grey. 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[00:02:09] - [First question] - Addressing the accusations after being appointed head chef at Sushiswap[00:04:27] - How he first got into crypto and the road leading him to Sushiswap[00:06:50] - Overview of what a decentralized exchange is compared to a centralized one[00:08:17] - The unique way liquidity is provisioned in a DEX[00:09:47] - What permanent loss is and the main critique against DEXs[00:10:34] - Whether or not he believes DEXs will surpass centralized exchanges in volume[00:12:06] - The history of SushiSwap before he arrived [00:15:22] - Explaining the differences between Uniswap and SushiSwap[00:18:39] - Where his power starts and stops, and the challenges of running a community lead organization versus a traditional governance structure[00:20:44] - An example of how decision making happens inside of SushiSwap[00:22:57] - A situation where a gridlock happened and having a centralized governance structure might have helped[00:26:35] - The challenges of developing more features without making an overwhelming user experience[00:28:38] - The nomination process for him to become the head chef at SushiSwap[00:30:44] - The voting system and candidates involved in the voting process[00:33:08] - His mental model for the voting system and ways to modify the existing one[00:36:10] - How the transition of power works in a situation like his[00:37:22] - Thoughts on regulatory risk and regulatory structure[00:38:41] - His outlook for Sushi and where he wants to take it going forward[00:40:23] - 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 Matthew Graham. Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Sino Global Capital, a venture firm that made early investments in FTX, Solana, Wintermute, and other notable crypto projects. We discuss the origin story of Sino Global and delve into investing in China and emerging markets, including India, the Middle East, and Africa. Matt discusses his views on reinventing financial infrastructure, from TradFi to DeFi. Please enjoy this conversation with Matthew Graham. 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[00:02:13] - [First question] - How he got into one of the hardest asset classes in emerging markets[00:04:43] - What lead him to China and where he first started his career[00:06:52] - The origin story of Sino Capital and what its first iteration looked like[00:09:13] - Whether or not he felt he had an edge in the early days [00:09:44] - Being comfortable in an uncomfortable idiosyncratic position and if he would have ever gone back to a traditional path [00:11:06] - What European and Western investors would miss and not understand about the regions he invests in [00:12:07] - His take on Chinese and Indian markets and their similarities and differences[00:13:05] - Deciding to enter these markets and what gave him the confidence to do so [00:14:18] - How often he’s dealing with international founders versus local ones   [00:15:07] - The Sino Capital business model and balancing being long-term greedy with stakeholder needs [00:18:22] - Thoughts on evaluating founding teams and where Sino wants to invest[00:22:22] - How long they wait to invest after first meeting a team or founder[00:24:44] - What percentage of his time is spent sourcing new deals versus managing the existing portfolio[00:26:16] - Whether or not he’s relied on the insight of investors and mentors when it comes to how he’s structured Sino Capital  [00:27:25] - His philosophy when it comes to bringing new people onto the team [00:29:58] - The turnover rate of Sino interns and how many become employees [00:31:24] - Ways to explain to laypeople the differences between TradFi and DeFi and the what DeFi will unlock for the future   [00:35:38] - How he’d rebuild TradFi if he could wave a magic wand[00:39:24] - Walking through the pros and cons of the role regulation will play in crypto [00:44:21] - Where he’d suggest a young entrepreneur go in the world to find a new frontier and which asset classes they should participate in [00:45:59] - What he’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices