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

Crescent is an AMM/Orderbook Hybrid Decentralized Exchange that allows trading inter-chain assets in a cost-efficient manner. Crescent is a sovereign Cosmos chain that was created after migrating the Gravity Dex from the Cosmos Hub. Crescent particularly focuses on efficient use of liquidity by giving powerful tools to market makers to use their capital and provide good prices for traders. We were joined by the founder of Crescent Network, Hyung Lee, to chat about his involvement in the Cosmos ecosystem, B Harvest, the Gravity DEX, and combining AMMs and orderbooks. We also hear about Crescent's roadmap and future role within the ecosystem.Topics covered in this episode:Hyung's background and how he got into crypto and the Cosmos ecosystemLaunching Crescent on its own chainThe vision for Crescent's role within the ecosystemLiquidity formation for the projectComparing AMM and orderbooks and the advantages/disadvantages of eachHow AMM and orderbooks have been combinedThe future of AMMsDifference between a market maker and a liquidity providerCross chain dex aggregationMEV and the interchain worldEpisode links: The Crescent EthosCrescent NetworkCrescent on TwitterHyung on TwitterSponsors: Omni: Access all of Web3 in one easy-to-use wallet! Earn and manage assets at once with Omni's built-in staking, yield vaults, bridges, swaps and NFT support.https://omni.app/ -This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/462

In the countdown to the merge, Sebastien and Friederike teamed up with Eduardo Antuña, Co-founder of DappNode, at this year's Dappcon which is back after a 2 year hiatus. Hear as they chat about what the merge means for the broader Ethereum ecosystem.Topics covered in this episode:Update on DappconThe implications of the Tornado Cash sanctions in the wider crypto spaceZK bridging and the mergeThe Gnosis ecosystemThe importance of privacyThe user experience in crypto and how its important for onboardingPOAP distributionEpisode links: DappconThe MergeDappcon on TwitterEduardo on TwitterSponsors: Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycashThis episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/461

Decentralized stablecoins have long been regarded as a fundamental building block for the decentralized web. The first ground-breaking project in this area is Maker with their stablecoin DAI. Multiple ideas existed for how Maker should evolve and the path Maker chose was to add multiple types of collateral and rely on governance input to maintain stability. Over time, the vast majority of Maker's collateral came to be represented by USDC, a centralized stablecoin issued by regulated US institutions.Rai Reflex Index (RAI) decided to fork Maker and choose a path favoring trust-minimization over faster scaling. Unlike with Maker, only ETH is accepted as collateral and a different mechanism is used to maintain low volatility that doesn't rely on governance input. We were joined by Reflexer Labs' co-founder Ameen Soleimani to chat about the philosophical differences to Maker, the mechanisms used to ensure the stability of RAI, the threat of regulatory intervention for DAI and how we can create truly trust-minimized stablecoins to ensure the resilience and neutrality of DeFi.Topics covered in this episode:Ameen's background and the vision behind ReflexerHow RAI differs from MakerThe problem with DAI becoming multi-collateral and adding more governance controlRAI's stability mechanismThe function of the redemption priceWho holds RAI and how stable is it?FLX governanceHow decentralized stablecoins can scaleEpisode links: Reflexer LabsReflexer on TwitterAmeen on TwitterSponsors: Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/460

DappCamp is a 21-day cohort-based course for Web2 developers making the shift to Web3. It offers hands-on experience on how to architect, develop, and scale a Web 3.0 app on Ethereum. Participants are given the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded peers to learn and build together, and also meet world-class founders who built some of the most successful apps on Ethereum to understand best practices and common pitfalls.Preethi Kasireddy, Founder of DappCamp, started her crypto journey while at a16z and later joined Coinbase as a software engineer. After teaching herself Ethereum Dapp development during the 2017 ICO boom she built smart contracts for various crypto projects and created TruStory where she and her team built a blockchain on Cosmos. She also writes a great blog which often see her posts go viral. Preethi joined us to chat about how her journey in crypto has evolved, her love of writing, learning and teaching, why she created DappCamp, and being a woman in the crypto space.Topics covered in this episode:Preethi's background and how she got into cryptoHer early days with Coinbase and TruStoryPreethi's love of writing which led to her blogDappCampWhat are the major struggles people face with learning web3 development?Opportunities for DappCamp graduatesHow DappCamp will evolve in the futureBeing a woman in cryptoKeeping up to date with the crypto industryEpisode links: DappCampPreethi’s BlogDappCamp TwitterPreethi’s TwitterSponsors: Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycashThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/459

On August 8, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash, citing allegations it helped North Korea's Lazarus hacker group launder millions of dollars worth of crypto proceeds stolen from various crypto projects over the past few years. Coin Center believe that OFAC has overstepped its legal authority by adding certain Tornado Cash smart contract addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons (SDN) List, potentially violating US Americans' constitutional rights to due process and free speech.Peter Van Valkenburgh, Director of Research at Coin Center, joined us for an in-depth look at how OFAC operates, why he believes this sanctioning represents an overreach, what's next for Tornado Cash, and what this means for the rest of the blockchain ecosystem.Topics covered in this episode:An overview of the Tornado Cash caseWhat is the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)?How is it determined who gets on the OFAC list? What happens to you if you're on the list?Does this only apply to US Americans?How does one get removed from the list?What did Tornado Cash do wrong, and what should they have done?Is there an acceptable level of maliciousness within the system?Comparison to PGPWhy Tornado Cash was targeted over other privacy enhancing toolsThe reaction from the crypto ecosystemEpisode links:OFAC - The Office of Foreign Assets ControlCoin CenterTornado Cash on TwitterCoin Center on TwitterPeter on TwitterJoin the Epicenter team!Sponsors:Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycashThis episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/458

CosmWasm is a smart contracting platform built for the Cosmos ecosystem. It's the Cosmos (Cosm) way of using WebAssembly (Wasm). CosmWasm is written as a module that can plug into the Cosmos SDK, meaning that anyone currently building a blockchain using the Cosmos SDK can quickly and easily add CosmWasm smart contracting support to their chain, without adjusting existing logic.We were joined by the project's founder, Ethan Frey, for a deep dive into what WebAssembly is and the benefits of its integration with Cosmos SDK, its interaction with IBC and use cases for other cross-chain apps, and the roadmap ahead.Topics covered in this episode:Ethan's background and how he got into crypto and in particular CosmosWhat Ethan worked on during his time at TendermintWhy CosmWasm was createdWhat is WebAssembly and what are its advantagesHow does WebAssembly compare with the EVM?What are the pros and cons of developing Cosmos SDK modules vs building things in CosmWasm?How CosmWasm interacts with the IBC moduleThe roadmap for CosmWasmPotential use cases on cross-chain CosmWasm appsThe CosmWasm AcademyEpisode links: CosmWasmCosmWasm AcademyWYND DAOCosmWasm on TwitterJoin the Epicenter team!Sponsors: Tally Ho: Tally Ho is a new wallet for Web3 and DeFi that sees the wallet as a public good. Think of it like a community-owned alternative to MetaMask. - https://epicenter.rocks/tallycashThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/457

A cashless society - one where paper and coin currency is no longer used and instead replaced with electronic transactions. Many countries are already moving in this direction with benefits noted as including lower crime rates and reduced money laundering, and of course convenience. But going cashless does have its downsides. Brett Scott is the author of Cloudmoney, a revelatory story about the fusion of big finance and tech, which requires physical cash to be replaced by digital money or 'cloudmoney'. Diving beneath the surface of the global financial system, He uncovers a long-established lobbying infrastructure waging a covert war on cash, as banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress.He joins us to dive deeper into the thesis behind his book and to share his views on how cryptocurrency and blockchain fits into this.Topics covered in this episode:Brett's background and how he got into the Fintech spaceThe central thesis of CloudmoneyThe meaning of 'not all money is created equally'The arguments around Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of TerrorismPrivacy and the value of digital payment dataCentral bank digital currencyBrett's views on the blockchain industryIOU vs money as a commodityWhere to buy Brett's bookEpisode links: CloudmoneyBrett's newsletterBrett on TwitterJoin Epicenter as our Community ManagerSponsors: Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/456

Flashbots has pioneered the work around MEV which has become one of the most important topics in crypto today. MEV-Boost is an implementation of proposer-builder separation (PBS) built by Flashbots for proof of stake Ethereum. Validators running MEV-Boost maximize their staking reward by selling their blockspace to an open market while protecting Ethereum decentralization. It is estimated that validators running MEV-Boost can increase their staking rewards by over 60%. MEV-Boost is free, open-source, and neutral software. Lido has become the leading liquid staking solution on Ethereum with a huge amount of stake and has also taken on a key role in shaping the future of staking on Ethereum. We were joined by Stephane Gosselin, co-founder of Flashbots, to chat about MEV and the importance of MEV-Boost, how it works and it's impact on Ethereum. Also joining the chat is Vasiliy Shapovalov, Tech Lead at Lido, to share with us the significant impact MEV-Boost will have on Lido.Topics covered in this episode:Stephane and Vasily introductionsWhat is MEV and why is it important?MEV supply chain and the centralization risks with itThe significance of MEV for LidoLido MEV policy for node operatorsThe economics around MEV-BoostFlashbot Protect - will this still exist in MEV-Boost?Beyond Ethereum - what are the solution for cross-chain MEVThe impact of L2s and rollups on MEV and MEV-BoostTimelines as we approach The MergeEpisode links: FlashbotsLidoMEV-Boost in a nutshellWhy your blockchain needs an MEV solution - HasuStephane on TwitterVasily on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/455

An interesting question that has sparked debate in the Twittersphere and amongst our hosts. Hear as Meher, Friederike and Brian discuss scaling visions currently in the ecosystem, with particular focus on Ethereum Layer 2s and whether or not this is a good path forward for holders of Eth.Topics covered in this episode:Introduction to the hostsMeher's opinions and recent twitter thread on EthereumHow Layer 1s and Layer 2s work togetherSmart contract shardingBitcoin vs EthereumSolanaThe Ethereum roadmap from hereEpisode links: Meher's twitter threadEpicenter - About UsBrian on TwitterFriederike on TwitterSponsors: Steakwallet: Steakwallet is your new favorite multi-chain, mobile wallet. Tired of having a different wallet for every chain? Get Steakwallet today and get the power of Web 3 across all chains right at your fingertips: https://steakwallet.fi/ -This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/454

EthCC is over for another year and what a week it was! 6 stages, 2,000 attendees, over 200 speakers, 40 hours of talks and content, 40 sponsors, and 130 side events (and parties) all over Paris. The Ethereum France team pulled it off again with the fifth edition of the Ethereum Community Conference bringing the community together in the city of love.Keeping with tradition we did an EthCC recap panel and were joined by Ethereum France President Jerome de Tychey, EthCC Project Manager Bettina Boon Falleur, and Founder of Giveth Griff Green. We talk about the standout moments of this year's event, how the conference has grown over the years, NFT tickets, the European Ethereum community, and the future of EthCC.Episode links:EthCC 5Ethereum FranceGivethSponsors:ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/453