Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

Ten years after The DAO hack changed Ethereum forever, Griff Green returns to Epicenter to discuss the next chapter: the DAO Security Fund.As a co-initiator of The DAO, Griff shares the untold story of recovering funds after the hack, why over 75,000 ETH remained untouched for years, and how its staking yield is now funding public goods for Ethereum security. The conversation also explores a provocative idea: Ethereum is incredibly secure—but still not safe for everyday users.Topics covered:1. The inside story of The DAO and its recovery2. Why the DAO hack may be the only hack where everyone made money3. The DAO Security Fund and funding Ethereum security4. Quadratic funding, grants & public goods5. Why phishing and UX remain Ethereum's biggest weakness6. Can Ethereum become safer than traditional banks?7. The future of safer wallets, OpSec, and the Ethereum Economic ZoneIf you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to subscribe for more conversations with the builders, founders and investors shaping the future of crypto.Links:Lido: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenterSponsors: Lido V3 introduces stVaults: a modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institutions deploy custom staking vaults, while staying anchored to stETH as a shared liquidity layer.Get started building with Lido V3 today: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenterBlock Space Forum: https://blockspace.forum/NEAR AI Cloud now lets developers deploy OpenClaw—the rapidly growing open-source AI agent platform—inside Trusted Execution Environments, providing hardware-level encryption with cryptographic attestations. With OpenClaw on NEAR AI Cloud, you can run agents with cloud convenience, but without traditional cloud data exposure. No hardware to manage. No trust assumptions required. Learn more at near.ai.

Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockworks and builder of crypto media and data products, discusses institutional adoption and the shift of DeFi into capital markets. He covers the Blockworks × Messari deal, the Token Transparency Framework, on‑chain capital markets, stablecoins and RWAs, and why the next crypto cycle will reward real token fundamentals.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum and leading blockchain researcher, discusses the Ethereum Economic Zone and synchronous composability. He explores app chains, privacy L2s, and atomic cross-chain calls. They cover sequencers, MEV, and how Ethereum can act as a neutral settlement and proving layer. The conversation highlights tradeoffs for enterprises, governments, and when projects should move to specialized chains.

Kubi Mensah, CEO and co-founder of Gattaca and builder of Titan Builder, is an Ethereum block-building and MEV infrastructure expert. He talks about how block building evolved from TradFi trading, why private order flow and top-of-block bidding dominate, and how latency, refunds and a flywheel effect concentrate power among three builders. He also previews ePBS and FOCIL changing builder-validator dynamics.

A deep dive into why a crypto project scrapped a complex L2 for a sovereign L1 and how that cut latency and costs. They discuss using the Move VM to improve developer experience and AI agents for continuous security audits. The conversation centers on serving the Global South, tackling currency devaluation with stablecoins, and plans to offer institutional-grade yield on USD, BTC, and gold.

Alex Svanevik, co-founder and CEO of Nansen and former AI/data engineer, outlines Nansen's pivot to agentic AI trading and address attribution at massive scale. He discusses labeling 500M+ addresses, harmonizing chain data with ClickHouse, and combining heuristics, agents, and humans for precision. He teases Nansen Gym for time-travel training and Smart Money 2.0 aiming to boost predictive precision.

John Paller, founder and chief steward of ETH Denver and Web3 community-builder, reflects on nine seasons of the event and his shift from recruitment tech to crypto. He discusses ETH Denver’s role in shaping narratives, debates need for clearer structural vision for Ethereum, how institutions and Agentic AI could drive mass on-chain adoption, and his Regulation Membership proposal for on-chain cooperatives.

Chris Yin, CEO of Plume Network — a founder and former VC building tokenization infrastructure — discusses bringing real-world assets on-chain. He explains why many RWAs lack liquidity and crypto-native UX. Chris outlines Plume’s custom L1 and the Nest vault blending short and long-duration assets. He also covers regulatory plumbing like an SEC transfer agent license and the tension between decentralization and institutional capital.

Michael Svoboda, CEO of Liquid AG and steward of the Liquity protocol, builds governance-free, immutable stablecoin systems. He discusses Liquity V2 and the BOLD stablecoin. Topics include borrower-set interest rates, multi-collateral ETH and LST backing, redemption mechanics that protect the peg, fee distribution to users, and why immutable, peer-to-peer stablecoins offer a different risk profile from traditional rails.

Thomas Thiery, an Ethereum Foundation researcher and author of EIP-7805 (FOCIL), works on protocol design for censorship resistance and MEV mitigation. He explains how MEV centralized block production and maps where censorship can happen. He introduces FOCIL’s validator-driven inclusion lists to force transaction inclusion. They compare public vs private mempools and weigh FOCIL against encrypted mempool approaches.