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

Circles UBI is a blockchain-based Universal Basic Income created to promote local economy within communities. It was recently launched on Ethereum’s POA network. The idea is to create a parallel economy by forming trust lines within Circles. Anyone who joins Circles receives a basic income regularly, without conditions. And the more connected your community is, the more valuable your Circles become. Also it is fully decentralized. What makes Circles special is that it doesn't market itself to anyone specific in crypto. It positions itself as an ecosystem and protocol that can help anyone create and promote a local economy within their local community. In the current economic crisis, this is a hugely powerful tool for societies to utilise. Martin Köppelmann, CEO of Gnosis, joins us for his third appearance on the show. He is also the creator of Circles and chats to us about why he believes the world needs this, and how the project works.Topics covered in this episode:What Universal Basic Income (UBI) is and Martin’s interest and support of itPros and cons of funding UBI through taxationExplaining Circles’ decentralized UBIHow ‘personal tokens’ work in CirclesIssuance and trust connectionsDealing with sybil attacksOn throughput limitsConditions attached to your accountHow UBI keeps up with inflationGetting started with CirclesAttracting non crypto users and driving demandCan Circles move onto Layer-2 - UX Design choicesLearn more about Circles and get involvedEpisode links: Circles UBI websiteCircles WhitepaperMartin on Epicenter - Episode 271, How the dxDAO could become the world’s largest organizationMartin on Epicenter - Episode 139, Gnosis – The Ethereum Prediction MarketFind Circles on MeetupCircles TwitterMartin TwitterSponsors: Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/365

Alchemy is a powerful blockchain developer platform providing a suite of tools for Ethereum apps. Topics covered include Nikil's background, building developer tools, supernodes, concerns for user privacy, adoption of Alchemy, and interesting partnerships with Jay-Z and Stanford University.

Alameda Research is a quant trading fund founded in 2017. Today it manages over $100 million in digital assets and trades $600 million to $1.5 billion per day across thousands of products: all major coins and altcoins, as well as their derivatives. Whilst running this fund, the team thought there was space for a robust crypto derivatives exchange build for traders which solves some of the issues they saw in derivatives trading. FTX is the crypto derivatives trading platform which came out of Alameda. In just under two years of existence, it has grown to become one of the top trading platforms for crypto, trading over $1B per day in derivatives. The FTX team are also working on Project Serum. It’s an ambitious project to create a fully decentralized and permissionless DEX and DeFi ecosystem with trustless cross-chain trading. Serum is being built on Solana to allow a centralized orderbook. This offers a much higher speed and throughput than Ethereum. The goal is to create a robust DEX ecosystem which can compete with centralized exchanges on speed, all while being fully interoperable with Ethereum.Today our guest is Sam Bankman-Fried, he is the CEO of FTX and Alameda Research, and co-founder of Project Serum. We hear all about his journey from Alameda, to FTX, and to his latest venture, Serum.Topics covered in this episode:Sam’s background and how he became involved in crypto tradingWhy and how FTX was createdHow FTX works and why the big focus on derivativesThe cross-over between FTX and AlamedaWhat Serum is and how it fits in the long term vision of FTXSam’s view on where products on DeFi are falling short and how it can be fixedWhat are the trade-offs on Serum?The off chain Serum order bookHow cross-chain swaps workThe boundaries of the Serum ecosystem in relation to SolanaWhat is the governance mechanism on SerumSam’s view on the AMM argumentWhere Sam thinks the DeFi ecosystem is heading and what is needed for it to gain legitimacy in the traditional finance worldEpisode links: FTXAlameda ResearchProject SerumEpicenter episode 312 with Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-founder and CEO of SolanaSushiSwap Twitter threadFTX on TwitterSam on TwitterSponsors: Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/363

Adan (Association for the Development of Digital Assets), is an organization which helps promote the development of the crypto industry in France, and more broadly in Europe. Its President, Simon Polrot, is also the Co-founder Ethereum France, which host the EthCC conference in Paris.The European Commission has released a regulatory proposal, MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets), which falls under The Digital Finance Package. The Adan team have been working hard to understand, dissect and establish positions with regards to this regulation. The scope of this MiCA is vast, and it covers nearly every type of activity which relates to cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, stablecoins, and security tokens in Europe. In addition to being broad, it puts enormous restrictions on the DeFi ecosystem by merely ignoring most decentralized use cases, making it nearly impossible for DeFi to continue existing as we know it. It's an important piece of regulation which would apply to almost every crypto asset company or issuer across the European continent, as well as companies who have customers or do business here.We chat to Simon who explains what the draft proposal means and the effects it will have on the European crypto industry. He also shares how the community can get involved in steering the regulation in favour of the industry before it's passed into law.Topics covered in this episode:Simon's background and how he became involved in cryptoAdan's mission in France en EuropeThe high level principles of crypto regulations in Europe and the frameworks already in placeThe EU Commission's Digital Finance Package explainedWhat MiCA is and who falls under this regulationHow the Commission identifies “token issuers”How MiCA affects DeFi stablecoins like DAIWhat are Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and how they are concerned by MiCAHow the regulations may impact mining and stakingHow MiCA favors financial institutions over startups in the crypto spaceWhy Simon thinks there is a positive side to this regulatory proposalWhat Adan is doing to raise awareness and lobby to amend this proposal and repair the issues arising out of the draft proposalHow crypto companies can take part in the work of getting this regulation amended before it passes into lawThe possibility for an alternative crypto finance ecosystem to emerge from this regulationEpisode links:Adan WebsiteAbout AdanAdan Webinar: Understanding the MiCA and Pilot Regime crypto regulationBecome a member of AdanAdan on TwitterSimon on TwitterSponsors:Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/362

Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm that invests in cryptocurrencies, tokens, and blockchain companies. They manage a hedge fund and a venture fund, investing across both public and private markets. They are extremely bullish on smart contract platforms and DeFi is one of their main areas of focus. They've invested in several projects and companies such as Algorand, Arweave, Nervos, Skale, Solana, to name a few. We originally had Multicoin on the show in February of 2018 when they were still reasonably new and we were in the height of the ICO bubble. Kyle Samani, Co-founder and Managing Partner, joins us back on the show to share not only how Multicoin has changed since then, but also the cryptoasset industry as a whole.Topics covered in this episode:What are the Multicoin theses and have they changed since Kyle was last on the showWhy the most used smart contract platform will produce the winning store of valueThe role of gold in today's economyBitcoin gaining traction in today's asset management circleOther assets that will eventually displace BitcoinWhich projects Multicoin are backing at the momentDeFi vs CeFi and latencyDiscussing what DeFi actually isCryptocurrency's future role in the traditional financial system and the impact of potential new regulationsHow the cryptoasset industry has changed since Multicoin started and where it is headedThe underrated areas Multicoin are looking at todayEpisode links: Multicoin CapitalMulticoin's first appearance on EpicenterMulticoin blogThe Multicoin ThesisMulticoin on TwitterKyle on TwitterSponsors: Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/361

Sögur, formerly known as Saga, aims to provide a global digital currency that acts as a store of value, a unit of account, and a medium of exchange. It is not impacted by any single nation state agenda and complements national currencies. And it is governed by its holders.The SGR is Sögur's digital coin. It's built to provide a self-sustaining, democratic and global currency. It uses a bonding curve market maker, which is modelled to control and mitigate volatility exposure and value loss when market conditions are fast-changing and unpredictable. All whilst creating an opportunity for sustainable intrinsic value growth. SGR holders are the currency decision makers, and enjoy democratic voting rights over how SGR operates now and as it continues to evolve.Sögur is interesting as it starts off looking like a stablecoin, but as the market grows it departs from its peg to become a free floating currency. It is currently pegged to the SDR (Special Drawing Rights). Deposits are held in FIAT reserves and as demand for SGR increases, the reserve ratio decreases. This causes the relative price to go up.Ido Sadeh Man is chairman of the board and founder of Sögur. He joins us on the show to discuss the background of the project and what it is hoping to achieve, and an in depth look into the monetary policy of the SGR. He also talks about the impressive team and advisory board that is behind the project.Topics covered in this episode:Ido's background and how he got into cryptoWhy the time is right for Sögur to have a positive impactCentres of stability on a global scaleWhat Sögur is and what problem it solvesHow it works as a stablecoinThe economics of the Sögur (SGR) currencyThe connection to the SDR (Special Drawings Right)Redeemability of reservesWhy Sögur was built on Ethereum and not its own blockchainThe effects of limitations and gas feesWill SGR bridge to all networks?The bonding curve modelThe governance structure of Sögur and the smart contract itselfStake-based voting vs participant-based votingWhere reserves are heldThe team of investors backing SögurThe effects of changing regulations on SögurThe long term vision for SögurEpisode links:Sögur WebsiteSögur MonetaryThe Voting MechanismSögur on MediumSögur on TwitterIdo on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture.  This podcast episode was sponsored by Sögur.

Hidden Forces is a podcast devoted to exploring the underlying forces driving the most powerful changes we see in the world. Demetri Kofinas, host of the show, holds conversations with some of the most brilliant minds in technology, finance, social science, and the hard sciences. He consults blockchain and distributed ledger technology companies, and hedge funds and venture capital firms on how to invest in and around these same emerging technologies. We chatted to Demetri about a range of current topics from the US presidential election, the financial crisis and the role of the federal reserve and how it's reacting to the crisis. Also the role of central banks going forward in this new reality in which we live. We also discussed crypto and specifically his thoughts on the DeFi space. He has some very interesting views there. Demetri does not hold back on what he wants to say, so this was a fun and interesting conversation which we are sure you will enjoy too!Topics covered in this episode:The US presidential electionDemetri’s background and why he started Hidden ForcesHidden Forces and how he chooses guests and topicsDemetri's healthHow Demetri sees the impact of blockchain on a societal levelThe current economic crisisThe fundamental difference of the handling between past crises and the current one, by financial institutionsIs the US on the brink of collapse?What is the role of the central bank if it can no longer function how it is supposed to, and can crypto play a roleWhat are some past dApps that would contribute value to societyDemetri’s views on AmpleforthCan a cryptocurrency become a world reserve currency?Episode links:Hidden ForcesThe story of Demetri's tumourDemetri's websiteDemetri on MediumHidden Forces on TwitterDemetri on TwitterSponsors:Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/360

NB: Since the recording of this podcast LazyLedger changed their name to Celestia.Celestia is a scalable general-purpose data availability layer for decentralized apps and trust-minimized sidechains. It is a minimal, viable blockchain which does time stamping and block ordering.Think back to Bitcoin in the early days, before Ethereum. Layer-2 systems were being built on top of Bitcoin and were leveraging Bitcoin’s consensus layer. This is what Celestia is doing, although it is purpose built and scalable for the exact use case. The implementation details are a lot more complex, and the vision is to create a modular pluggable Layer-1 that does nothing but consensus and data availability. It is designed for people who want to create their blockchain without consensus.The project is yet to be launched, however we had Ismail Khoffi, Co-Founder and CTO, and Mustafa Al-Bassam, Co-Founder and CEO on the show to give us a deep technical overview and vision of Celestia.Topics covered in this episode:Ismail and Mustafa's backgrounds, and how they got into the crypto spaceHow Ismail and Mustafa met and created CelestiaThe Data Availability paper which was co-written with Vitalik and introduction to CelestiaThe purpose and function of CelestiaHow data availability works and the advantages and disadvantages to their ledgerThe purpose of CelestiaHow transaction fees workThe interoperability aspectHonest validators on the blockNon-interactive proofs on CelestiaThe interaction between Celestia and Cosmos SDKHow will Celestia compete with other Layer One's, in particular FilecoinWhen the ledger will be launchedEpisode links:Celestia websiteCelestia blogGitHubCelestia TwitterIsmail on TwitterMustafa on TwitterSponsors:Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications. - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/359

Camila Russo is a financial journalist, starting her career writing for Chile's largest national newspaper. She then spent 8 years at Bloomberg covering the Argentine market from Buenos Aires, the European stocks from Madrid, and analysed macro emerging markets moves for the Markets Live blog in New York. She is the founder of the Defiant and recently wrote and released a book on the foundations of Ethereum, “The Infinite Machine”. This tells the story of how 19-year-old coding genius Vitalik Buterin led a “ragtag group of feuding hackers with no business plan and no live product” to pioneer a whole new way of raising money, on a platform that’s grown to a value of $27 billion. It is being hailed a complete hit and we highly recommend you give it a read. Camila joined us to chat about how her journey through journalism led her to crypto, and how she became a successful author.Topics covered in this episode:Camila's background and how she got into the crypto spaceBecoming involved with Bitcoin in Argentina back in 2013Her move to the US and the introduction to Ethereum in 2017What made her decide to write a book and the process involvedSome interesting stories that didn't make the final cutCamila's views on the Ethereum narrative and how it has changed over timeCamila's view on the current DeFi situation and the risks of regulators becoming more involvedWhat is The Defiant?How to follow CamilaEpisode links: Camila RussoThe DefiantThe Infinite MachineExcerpt from The Infinite Machine“The Infinite Machine” reviewCamila on TwitterSponsors: Algorand: To learn more about Algorand and how it’s unique design makes it easy for developers to build sophisticated applications, visit algorand.com/epicenter - http://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/358

NuCypher is a decentralized threshold cryptography network offering interfaces and runtimes for secrets management and dynamic access control. It provides cryptographic infrastructure for privacy preserving applications and it exists as a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. They are currently in testnet but once launched you will be able to use NuCypher to carry out proxy re-encryption.Proxy re-encryption is a cryptographic method that allows you to delegate re-encryption of data to a third party and in this case validators in the NuCypher network. With this method you issue a re-encryption key that is assigned to a specific public key and a third party has the ability to re-encrypt data for that third party to decrypt. In this case the NuCypher network acts as the third party service. It is useful for when you want to share data, with the ability to revoke access at a later stage. They also have an interesting token distribution mechanism called the WorkLock. This is similar to a Lockdrop but with work required from the participants.MacLane Wilkison, Co-founder and CEO of NuCypher talks about how and why the protocl was created, the challenges faced with it, and the problems it solves.Topics covered in this episode:- MacLane’s background and how he got into the blockchain space- Challenges with working with corporate entities and getting people to understand privacy preserving technologies- The zeroDB protocol and how that led to NuCypher- What was MacLane’s goal with starting NuCypher- What proxy re-encryption is and why it’s desirable over manual systems- What are threshold signatures- Attributability on the protocol- Some use cases of using FHE on NuCypher and why they have chosen this for the protocol- MacLane’s thoughts on trusted hardware- The infrastructure of NuCypher and why it is on Ethereum- Results from the testnet- WorkLock - their token distribution mechanism and how it compares to Lockdrop- How you can set up a node on NuCypher- Current gas costs and the impact of this- The NuCypher business model and how they make money- Where to learn more about NuCypherEpisode links: - [NuCypher Website](nucypher.com)- [NuCypher Discord](https://discord.com/invite/7rmXa3S)- [NuCypher blog](https://blog.nucypher.com/)- [WorkLock](https://blog.nucypher.com/the-worklock/)- [NuCypher Twitter](https://twitter.com/NuCypher)- [MacLane's Twitter](https://twitter.com/MacLaneWilkison)Show notes and listening options: [epicenter.tv/357](https://epicenter.tv/357)