
Fundamentals
Fundamentals of the internet-native economy.
The world's most valuable companies are born during major platform shifts. We demystify crypto to help you filter the noise.
Latest episodes

Sep 24, 2024 • 56min
ETFs, L2 Economics, Onchain Analytics & More: Institutional Insights from David Han
David Han, an Institutional Research Analyst at Coinbase with a background at Goldman Sachs, shares his insights into the evolving cryptocurrency landscape. He discusses the significance of onchain analytics and the current dynamics of Bitcoin versus Ethereum ETFs, highlighting their varying levels of traction. David dives into tokenization challenges and the institutional hurdles surrounding blockchain adoption. He also introduces custom metrics he created to enhance market understanding and examines growth potential in Layer 1 networks like Solana and TON.

Sep 17, 2024 • 58min
Exploring Arbitrum Stylus, Orbit, and Nitro: An Interview with Steven Goldfeder
In this episode, we’re joined by Steven Goldfeder, Co-Founder and CEO of Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum. We discuss the launch of Arbitrum Stylus, which significantly broadens the blockchain developer ecosystem by enabling the creation of smart contracts in programming languages that compile to WASM, such as Rust, C, C++, and many others.
We talk about Arbitrum's strategic positioning in the expanding blockchain market, highlighting its value proposition against alternative ecosystems and tech stacks.
We cover key developments within the Orbit ecosystem, the concept and significance of chain clusters, and the most exciting chains being developed today. We also break down Arbitrum’s business model and how institutions like Franklin Templeton and Robinhood are integrating with the onchain ecosystem.
The discussion concludes with Steven’s vision of Arbitrum's success as a leader in various verticals, from DeFi to gaming to institutional finance, driven by innovative applications powered by the Nitro tech stack.
Tune in for an insightful discussion on the fundamentals of Arbitrum.
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Arbitrum Stylus: The Broadband Moment for Blockchain Development
09:46 Exploring the Orbit Ecosystem
17:50 Chain Clusters and Interoperability
28:15 The Power of Customizability
29:08 The Arbitrum Nitro Tech Stack
30:07 Arbitrum Developer Guild and Community Contributions
35:57 Arbitrum's Vision for Success
38:39 Partnerships and Institutional Adoption
40:39 Arbitrum x Robinhood
45:12 Arbitrum's Business Model and Value Accrual
54:02 Upcoming Milestones
Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#Arbitrum #Ethereum #TokenTerminal

16 snips
Aug 22, 2024 • 50min
Navigating Asset Tokenization with Securitize | Interview with Carlos Domingo
Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Securitize, shares insights into the transformative world of asset tokenization. He discusses Securitize's journey from tech provider to regulated service, offering a framework for understanding how tokenizing assets can enhance liquidity and efficiency. Highlights include the impressive BlackRock BUIDL fund and Hamilton Lane's $5.6B Secondary Fund. Carlos also tackles the challenges of regulatory compliance and scaling operations, emphasizing the potential of blockchain to revolutionize finance.

Jul 31, 2024 • 48min
Macro Trends and Digital Asset Strategies with Jamie Coutts from Real Vision | Token Terminal
In this episode, we’re joined by Jamie Coutts, Chief Crypto Analyst at Real Vision – a financial knowledge and education platform founded in 2014. They share honest financial insights from the smartest industry experts, along with time-efficient market tools, an AI concierge, charting, note-taking, and access to a powerful community of like-minded investors and thinkers.
With a rich background in traditional finance, trading, and technical analysis. Jamie provides insights into his career progression, from Credit Suisse, to Bloomberg Intelligence, to his current research role at Real Vision. The discussion covers a wide range of topics including the importance of macroeconomic factors, liquidity cycles, and the evolving institutional approach to digital assets. Jamie shares his views on Bitcoin's role as collateral, the current and future state of smart contract platforms, the potential impact of digital and decentralized assets on global finance, the strategies to outperform during a bull cycle, and how Jamie uses onchain data to asses fundamentals.
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
Tune in for a great discussion on the fundamentals of crypto!
Real Vision Crypto: https://www.realvision.com/marketplace/rv-crypto
Jamie on X: https://x.com/Jamie1Coutts
Real Vision on X: https://x.com/RealVision
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:29 Jamie's Professional Background
02:58 Transition to Crypto and Bloomberg Experience
06:41 Insights on Institutional Adoption of Crypto
09:27 Joining Real Vision
12:40 Macro Environment and Liquidity Cycles
22:34 Bitcoin's Collateralization Mission
33:18 Investment Strategies in a Bull Market
36:47 Current Assets and Sectors of Interest
43:25 Future of Real Vision
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#RealVision #Crypto #TokenTerminal

Jul 24, 2024 • 56min
AggLayer: Polygon's Vision for the Internet of Value | Interview with Sandeep Nailwal & Marc Boiron
In this episode, we're joined by Sandeep Nailwal and Marc Boiron from Polygon. We discuss the notion of prediction markets and their increasing relevance in the crypto space, driven by the success of Polymarket. We then focus on both the technological and economic aspects of the evolving blockchain landscape, highlighting AggLayer, Polygon’s solution for creating an infinitely scalable blockchain ecosystem. This ecosystem aims to provide economic sovereignty for individual chains while ensuring unified liquidity and interoperability.
We explore the concept of the internet of value and how Polygon is positioned to facilitate its adoption. Topics include the current state of the blockchain market, Polygon’s business case for developing AggLayer, and how developers should evaluate Polygon compared to other ecosystems.
Tune in for an insightful episode on the fundamentals of Polygon.
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
Polygon: https://polygon.technology/
Polygon (X): https://x.com/0xPolygon
Sandeep (X): https://x.com/sandeepnailwal
Marc (X): https://x.com/0xMarcB
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:39 Solar Flares and the Carrington Event
05:05 Polymarket: The Rise of Prediction Markets
10:44 The Future of Blockchain and AppChains
15:31 Building the Value Layer of the Internet
22:12 AggLayer: Polygon's Vision for Mass Adoption
28:28 Governance and Sovereignty in the AggLayer
29:07 Technical Foundations and Pessimistic Proofs
32:05 Polygon's Collaborative Ethos
41:43 Competitive Landscape and Builder's Perspective
50:03 Business Case and Economic Model
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#Polygon #AggLayer #Blockchain #TokenTerminal

Jul 11, 2024 • 53min
TON: Pantera's Largest Investment Ever | Interview With Cosmo Jiang
Cosmo Jiang from Pantera Capital discusses Pantera's largest investment in TON, emphasizing strategic partnership with Telegram, potential for mass crypto adoption, thriving developer ecosystem on TON, growth of stablecoins, and post-investment support. The episode explores Pantera's fundamentals-based investing, due diligence process, bull case for TON, and risks involved, providing insights into TON's growth potential and Pantera's long-term approach to investments.

Jun 27, 2024 • 45min
Macro Trends, ETFs, Smart Contract Platforms, and Crypto Fundamentals: A Conversation with Grayscale
In this episode of the Fundamentals Podcast, we’re joined by Zach Pandl, the Head of Research at Grayscale. Zach talks about his career transition from Wall Street to the crypto industry, the compelling reasons behind his move, and his role at Grayscale.
Zach outlines the potential of digital assets, driven by large addressable markets, network technologies, and the Bitcoin macro trade. Additionally, Zach shares his insights on the macro factors impacting the crypto market today and the importance of federal reserve policy on Bitcoin’s price.
We walk through Grayscale's product suite, including their flagship Bitcoin and Ethereum related products, and the launch of mini trust products and new investments in protocols like Stacks and NEAR. He explains Grayscale's approach to evaluating crypto projects through fundamentals-focused metrics such as daily active users, fees, and transactions.
Lastly, Zach highlights the role of research in both investor education and product development at Grayscale, and shares his optimistic outlook on the future impacts of digital assets and Grayscale's ongoing mission to provide innovative crypto investment products.
Tune in for a great episode on the fundamentals of crypto.
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:31 Meet Zach Pandl: From Wall Street to Crypto
03:20 Why Crypto Is the Future of Finance
08:36 Grayscale: A Pioneer in Crypto Asset Management
10:25 Grayscale’s Four-Stage Product Life Cycle
12:24 Macro Trends Driving Crypto
17:35 How Important Is the Presidential Election for Crypto?
20:37 Overview of Grayscale's Product Portfolio
21:45 Flagship Products (GBTC & ETHE) and Upcoming Mini Trusts
24:02 New Private Placements: Stacks and NEAR Trusts
28:19 The Role of Research at Grayscale
34:50 Grayscale Crypto Sectors
38:07 External vs. Internal Research
39:21 Onchain Data and Fundamental Analysis
43:25 Looking Ahead
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#Grayscale #Crypto #TokenTerminal

Jun 24, 2024 • 31min
Nibiru Chain – Tech Innovations, Developer Tools, and Ecosystem Growth | Fundamentals ep.90
In this episode, we're joined by Unique Divine – Co-Founder and CEO of Nibiru Chain – to dive into the general-purpose L1 blockchain featuring superior throughput potentially exceeding 40k TPS. The discussion covers its core value propositions, including the use of WASM smart contracts, the upcoming high-performance EVM execution layer, and optimizations like scalable data indexing and advanced developer tooling.
We explore which applications are best suited for Nibiru, current performance metrics, economic sustainability, and the future roadmap of Nibiru, including its growth and the challenges it faces.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Nibiru Chain
00:27 Core Value Proposition and Optimizations
02:55 Developer Tools and Ecosystem
03:53 Current Applications and Use Cases
06:43 Performance Metrics and Blockchain Landscape
10:30 Team Composition and Network Stakeholders
14:35 Economic Model and Sustainability
24:07 Onchain Data and Business Development
29:43 Future Roadmap and Conclusion
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
📊 Token Terminal platform:
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#Nibiru #Blockchain #TokenTerminal

Jun 10, 2024 • 58min
Franklin Templeton's Approach to Digital Assets | Interview with Christopher Jensen
In this episode, we’re joined by Christopher Jensen, Director of Digital Asset Research at Franklin Templeton.
We speak about Franklin Templeton's fundamentals-driven approach to digital asset investments research, and internal analysis to understand protocols, tokens, and value accrual. Our conversation also touches on client demand, institutional interest, and the creation of a comprehensive product suite to cater to varying levels of demand and knowledge. Christopher highlights the importance of onchain data, the use of blockchain technology for operational efficiencies, and the ongoing exploration of new crypto use cases like decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). Additionally, we speak about Franklin Templeton's pioneering efforts in launching the first tokenized money market fund, and their plans for the future.
Tune in to learn about how Franklin Templeton is navigating and contributing to the onchain future.
Franklin Templeton: https://www.franklintempleton.com/
X: https://twitter.com/FTI_DA
Christopher Jensen: https://www.franklintempleton.com/profiles/christopher-jensen
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Sudden Shift in Crypto Policy
03:36 Franklin Templeton's Digital Assets Focus
06:17 Institutional Interest and Client Demand
09:13 Bitcoin ETF and Market Impact
10:50 Barriers to Adoption and Education
13:43 Protocol Economy and Value Accrual
19:08 Metrics and Methods for Evaluating Digital Assets
24:38 Sustainability and Competitive Moats in Web3
27:55 Utilizing Onchain Data for Research
29:57 Franklin Templeton's Node Operations
33:11 Challenges and Insights from Running Nodes
38:16 Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund
46:13 Bringing Capital Markets Onchain
49:10 Partnerships and Strategic Integrations
51:49 Promising Crypto Use Cases and Killer Apps (Case DePin)
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📊 Token Terminal platform:
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💬 Join our Discord:
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#FranklinTempleton #TokenTerminal #Crypto #Onchain

May 30, 2024 • 49min
The Power of Onchain: Updating the System with Jesse Pollak, Creator of Base
In this episode, we’re joined by Jesse Pollak, the Creator of Base. Our conversation dives into the details behind moving Coinbase onchain, building Base as a ‘company within a company’, and combining the strengths of Coinbase and Optimism to create a global onchain economy.
We speak about Base’s lean and engineering-driven team structure, the purpose of economic alliances between chains, pioneering governance strategies, standardising metrics in the industry, and the paradigm shift that building onchain enables for decision-making, product development, and more efficient business operations.
Tune in for a great discussion about the fundamentals of Base and building onchain.
Let's get Jesse bald! https://letsgetjessebald.com/
Base's dashboard on Token Terminal: https://tokenterminal.com/terminal/projects/base
Onchain Summer: https://base.mirror.xyz/HoH9cZVi8CMdvxVUNjvOzceUPVQcVZvvkf8ZbCOVOco
BaseCamp 001: https://base.mirror.xyz/GL6dd2CfZuG3dVd_jZAZJLjYP8h7NRk0falVV6O7RqQ
Base: https://www.base.org/
Jesse on X: https://x.com/jessepollak
Base on X: https://x.com/base
Make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions 🙌
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:52 Let’s get Jesse bald!
03:07 Why build Base as a company within a company?
05:44 Is Base to Coinbase what AWS is to Amazon?
06:20 The future of compute: Onchain and serverless
10:40 From legacy systems to onchain: a practical approach
13:40 What makes DAOs powerful?
16:22 Team composition and hiring at Base
24:49 Standardizing metrics in the industry
25:44 Introduction to the Superchain ecosystem
27:14 The importance of interoperability and asset fungibility
31:16 The economic arrangement between Base and Optimism
33:17 Base as the hub of the onchain economy
37:24 Coinbase x Optimism: An iconic duo
38:04 Governance as a differentiator with L2s
45:18 Leveraging onchain data for growth and decision making
📊 Token Terminal platform:
► https://www.tokenterminal.com/
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💬 Join our Discord:
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Crypto redefines the way businesses are built and operated.
Token Terminal gives you the tools to evaluate and track the most promising projects.
#Base #Coinbase #Onchain #TokenTerminal #Crypto
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