The Scoop

Andre Cronje is the Director of the Fantom Foundation and Michael Kong is the CEO of the Fantom Foundation — the lead development team behind the Fantom Layer 1 blockchain.In this episode, Cronje and Kong break down the sequence of events that led Chinese authorities to detain the Multichain CEO and seemingly take control of its network, and how Fantom developers are exploring optimistic rollups to connect to Ethereum.Outline:00:35 - China's Multichain Crackdown03:10 - Multichain Rumors & Speculation08:21 - Fantom x Multichain14:08 - $65M Frozen USDC + USDT17:56 - Chinese Government or Hacker?20:12 - Crypto's Trust Problem27:47 - Multichain's Impact on Fantom's Ecosystem33:45 - Active Investigation35:38 - Fantom as an Ethereum Layer-2?38:29 - Layer-2s vs. Bridges46:45 - Andre Cronje's Role at the Fantom Foundation47:35 - Closing Thoughts

Laura Vidiella serves as the head of business development and strategy for a company that is currently operating under stealth. In this episode, Vidiella takes a deep dive into the intricate world of crypto's options market and breaks down the present dynamics, unraveling complex market behavior that might hint at the existence of a 'ghost' whale.Although crypto spot volumes have been in decline, the volume in the options market has remaining consistent according to The Block's data dashboard.

Alex Blania is the co-founder of Worldcoin and CEO of Tools for Humanity — Worldcoin's lead development company.In this episode, Blania discusses decentralized orb production, Worldcoin's token launch and what comes next for the Worldcoin project.Outline:01:01 - Why an Orb?04:52 - Worldcoin & Quantum Resistance05:44 - What's Next for Worldcoin07:44 - Worldcoin's Core Product13:21 - Is Worldcoin Cypherpunk?16:41 - Decentralizing Orb Production18:37 - Worldcoin Orb Manufacturing20:23 - $WLD Token Launch22:33 - Token Launch Criticisms27:30 - AI Will Change the Internet30:18 - Worldcoin and the Metaverse31:40 - Closing Thoughts

Mika Honkasalo is a DeFi researcher and the creator of Access Protocol.In this episode, Honkasalo provides analysis on whether or not the $BALD memecoin saga could have ties to Alameda Research, and how a handshake deal prevented a near on-chain catastrophe in the DeFi lending market. Outline:01:16 - $BALD debacle on Base04:51 - $BALD deployer's ties to Alameda08:14 - What's next for Coinbase's Base09:16 - Crypto rugpulls10:39 - Leetswap exploit11:37 - Curve DeFi leverage14:38 - Viper exploit15:44 - OTC Curve buyers17:37 - What's next for Curve?19:06 - What's next for DeFi?21:35 - Closing thoughts

Alok Vasudev is the co-founder of Standard Crypto, a VC firm that has been investing across various blockchain verticals since 2019.In this episode, Vasudev explains why he believes the crypto industry is in a better position now than ever before, and how to spot the best opportunities during bear markets.Outline:00:12 - Are we back?02:23 - Crypto market maturity06:41 - Alpha09:45 - Crypto's application layer14:25 - Web3 social18:50 - Blockchain gaming25:00 - Standard Crypto's thesis26:13 - Tech advancements31:10 - Higher lows34:53 - Closing thoughts

This episode of The Scoop was recorded live from the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris with Marek Olszewski, Chief Technology officer for cLabs — the core development team behind the Celo platform.In this episode, Olszewski unpacks cLabs recent proposal to transition Celo to an Eth Layer 2, and explains why he thinks one day "hundreds if not thousands of chains will all be rolling up to Ethereum."

This episode of The Scoop was recorded with Jesse Pollak, the creator Coinbase's Base network, live from the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris.Outline:00:44 Crypto 'builder energy'03:09 The L1 trade05:07 Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 206:45 Maturing beyond speculation11:03 Technical obstacles to building15:16 ZK vs. OP scaling solutions

This episode of The Scoop was recorded with Wildcat protocol creator Laurence Day live from the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris.Outline:00:10 Intro03:03 Laurence & law school04:53 Wildcat protocol09:29 Balancing proprietary data and transparency12:31 Collapsed crypto lenders14:55 EthCC Paris 16:52 Wormhole hack 20:01 Grey hat hackers24:22 Closing thoughts

Brian Quintenz is the Global Head of Policy at a16z crypto and a former commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.In this episode, Quintenz explains how the SEC's failure to issue updated guidance for the crypto industry has created a legislative opportunity for clarity.According to Quintenz, "Congress needs to show the way by creating the framework that the SEC is refusing to contemplate."Outline:0:36 Policy & regulation overview2:43 Securities v. commodities06:37 Registered securities11:58 Special Purpose Broker-Dealers14:49 a16z’s policy uutlook18:34 Ponzi schemes21:31 CeFi regulation27:16 Lummis x Gillibrand’s crypto bill30:30 Token decentralization32:32 Legislative hurdles

Moritz Baier-Lentz is a partner and head of gaming at Lightspeed, and Sam Harrison is the managing partner of Faction. In this episode, Baier-Lentz and Harrison unpack their thesis behind investing in the nascent Web3 gaming industry. While Web3 gaming has yet to reach mainstream appeal, Baier-Lentz and Harrison believe that a combination of technological advancements and veteran game developers embracing blockchain rails will help facilitate breakout Web3 games in the near future.Outline:1:13 Web3 VC Update4:41 Lightspeed + Faction8:46 Market Cycles14:04 Web3 vs. Web2 Gaming20:40 Gaming Metrics for VC23:38 Tokenomics & Gaming33:50 AI & Gaming38:41 Closing Thoughts