Lightspeed

Crypto experts Arianna Simpson, Riyaz Faizullabhoy, and Nass Eddequiouaq discuss topics such as crypto's friction points, the application vs infrastructure phase, Bastion's role in enabling simple onboarding and a Web2-like user experience, over-indexing on decentralization, unique use cases enabled by Web3, rebuilding trust in crypto, and the insane challenge of NFT projects.

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix and Infinex, discusses permissionless frontends, crypto's new aggregators, multichain strategies, and the importance of improving user experience. They explore liquidity fragmentation in Layer 2, decentralized market power, and the need for progressive decentralization.

Abhay Kumar, the CEO of the Helium Foundation, joins us to discuss how DePIN and Helium are bringing undeniable utility to crypto. Helium is a DePIN protocol that coordinates and incentivizes the buildout of wireless infrastructure around the world. In this episode, we discuss the secret to Helium's success, why Helium migrated to Solana, DePIN competition and moats, the value of onchain identity and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(00:16) What is DePIN?(02:18) The Secret to Helium’s Success(09:23) Why Helium Migrated to Solana(19:02) Onboarding Users, Hotspots and Oracles(26:39) Helium Mobile and Go-to-Market Strategies(43:41) Nova Labs and the Helium Foundation(46:36) Competition and Moats(49:33) Does Solana Have a DePIN Network Effect?(55:01) Demand Catalysts(57:45) DeFi, Composability and Onchain Identity(01:03:25) Advice for Crypto Founders- -Follow Ahbay: https://twitter.com/abhayFollow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- - ResourcesHeliumhttps://www.helium.com/- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Joe McCann and Mike Dudas join us to discuss their Web3 investment framework. We cover Solana's core advantage and if SVM adoption impacts their thesis, investing in monolithic vs modular infrastructure, the state of crypto venture capital, the key to attracting new developers, crypto's most exciting verticals and more! Joe and Mike are two prolific investors with unique insights you won't want to miss.- -Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(00:51) Joe and Mike’s “Earned Secret”(14:22) The Solana Thesis(32:04) Jito MidRoll(33:08) Investing in Monolithic vs Modular Protocols(42:08) Eclipse and the SVM Value Accrual Debate(49:17) The State of Crypto Venture Capital(58:56) Applications and Sectors to Watch(01:06:00) The Crypto Media Landscape(01:09:00) Rapid Fire- -This episode is brought to you by Jito.Jito is the easiest way to earn MEV rewards on Solana with liquid staking. Stake your SOL with Jito to start earning high yield powered by MEV and access instant liquidity through Jito’s liquid staking token JitoSOL so that you can use your staked assets across Solana DeFi. Visit jito.network to get started today!- -Follow Mike: https://twitter.com/mdudasFollow Joe: https://twitter.com/joemccannFollow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesJitojito.network6th Man Ventureshttps://6thman.ventures/Asymmetrichttps://asymmetric.financial/- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Ryan Wyatt is the former Head of YouTube Gaming and President at Polygon Labs. He is a master at business development, strategy and product. In this episode, Ryan explains why crypto gaming is here to stay. We discuss Ryan's time at YouTube and path to Web3, the value of Web2 business development, what crypto unlocks for gaming, the consolidation of crypto's infrastructure layers and more!- -(00:00) Introduction(00:49) How Ryan Became the Head of Gaming at YouTube(11:44) The Jump to Web3 and Polygon Labs(20:12) Web2 vs Crypto-Native Talent(23:08) Business Development Matters(30:28) Why Gamer’s Hate NFTs(35:26) What Crypto Unlocks for Gaming(44:11) How Generative AI Will Impact Gaming(47:22) What Games are Best Positioned to Integrate Crypto(52:56) The Shift From Infrastructure to Apps(57:02) Is Gaming Crypto’s Savior?(59:46) What Ryan Wants to Work on Next(1:02:15) Rapid Fire- -Follow Ryan: https://twitter.com/FwizFollow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Anatoly Yakovenko, founder of Solana, discusses Solana's changing narrative, Firedancer's performance, Solana's shrinking hardware requirements, forking the SVM, and the key to crypto adoption. He also talks about the exciting applications on Solana, learning from Ethereum, and the importance of multiple slot leaders for Solana.

Luigi DeMeo and Patrick O'Grady join us to discuss Avalanche's core thesis and roadmap. We cover Avalanche's cored design, why projects will leverage subnets, what's holding Avalanche back, legacy vs next-gen chains, L2 rollups and appchains, the RWA use case and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(01:05) Avalanche’s Design and Core Thesis(10:34) Avalanche's Consensus Mechanism and Validator Requirements(18:54) AVAX and Value Accrual(24:45) Legacy vs Next-Gen Chains and Rune’s SVM Post(32:45) L2 Scaling and Appchains(40:39) Where Will Value Aggregate on Avalanche?(45:38) Avalanche’s Core Focus and Use Case(56:18) How Do You Think About Community?(01:05:17) Rapid Fire- -Follow Luigi: https://twitter.com/luigidemeoFollow Patrick: https://twitter.com/_patrickogradyFollow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -ResourcesAvalanchehttps://twitter.com/avaxhttps://www.avax.network/- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Ted Livingston joins us to discuss how to build consumer crypto products that solve problems users actually care about. In 2009, Ted founded Kik, which grew to over 300M users and led the way for today's messaging apps. Ted is now working on Code, a Solana-based payments app that makes it easy to pay anyone, anywhere in the world. In this episode, we cover Ted's learnings from building Kik, why Kik launched Kin and built on Solana, why stablecoins aren't crypto's answer, what the crypto industry got wrong, why Code could be crypto's first mainstream app and more!- -Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(01:01) Building Kik: One of the Fastest Growing Apps in History(08:22) Crypto as a New Business Model(12:03) Why Build on Solana?(19:57) Code’s Design + Live Demo(23:43) Jito Plug(24:46) Kin: Why Stablecoins Aren’t the Answer(30:00) How to Cultivate Unique Ideas(34:43) Focusing on Narratives vs Products(37:05) Crypto's Go-to-Market Failure(40:02) Why Ted’s Still in Crypto(42:15) Thoughts on Social and Stablecoins(46:07) What Crypto Uniquely Enables(51:21) How to Attract New Users(58:06) Rapid Fire- -This episode is brought to you by Jito.Jito is the easiest way to earn MEV rewards on Solana with liquid staking. Stake your SOL with Jito to start earning high yield powered by MEV and access instant liquidity through Jito’s liquid staking token JitoSOL so that you can use your staked assets across Solana DeFi. Visit jito.network to get started today!- -Follow Ted: https://twitter.com/ted_livingstonFollow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -Use code LIGHTSPEED30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023- -ResourcesCodehttps://www.getcode.com/https://twitter.com/getcode- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Could Solana's payments narrative create the schelling point that drives new adoption? Welcome to Lightspeed's first "Roundup" episode, where Mert and Garrett discuss the top stories of the week and trends they are seeing in crypto. In this episode, we cover Visa's Solana announcement, Rune's proposal to fork the SVM, Solana DeFi 2.0, Lido's liquid staking trouble on Solana, how to bring new users to crypto and more!- -Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(00:18) Visa Announces USDC Settlement on Solana(12:35) Rune's Proposal to Fork the SVM(21:18) Integrated vs Modular & the Appchain Debate(34:30) Why Payments Are Uniquely Suited for Solana(43:31) Solana DeFi 2.0(46:55) Solana Liquid Staking & Multi-Chain Deployments(51:38) How to Bring New Users to Crypto- -Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -Use code LIGHTSPEED30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023- -ResourcesRune's Post on Exploring Solana's Codebase for NewChainhttps://forum.makerdao.com/t/explore-a-fork-of-the-solana-codebase-for-newchain/21822- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Tristan Frizza, Marius Ciubotariu and Ben Chow join us to debate if Solana has hit an inflection point that will usher in new users and use cases. We discuss the implications of Visa's Solana partnership, how Solana has changed since 2021, why people should care about Solana DeFi 2.0, go-to-market strategies, Rune's SVM fork proposal and more! Tristan, Marius and Ben are prolific Solana DeFi founders with unique insights you won't find anywhere else.- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(00:31) Solana’s Inflection Point (04:13) Building in Solana: 2021 vs 2023(21:57) What is Solana DeFi 2.0?(31:15) PERMISSIONLESS PLUG(32:15) G2M: What’s Your Strategy, Who’s Your Customer(50:01) DeFi’s Unique Value Proposition(55:37) Rune’s Proposal to Fork the SVM + Appchains(01:08:08) Rapid Fire- -Follow Marius: https://twitter.com/y2kappaFollow Tristan: https://twitter.com/Tristan0xFollow Ben: https://twitter.com/hellochowFollow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/LightspeedpodhqSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3SykSubscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgVSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PDGet top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/- -Use code LIGHTSPEED30 to get 30% off Permissionless 2023 in Austin: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-2023- -ResourcesZeta Marketshttps://twitter.com/ZetaMarketshttps://docs.zeta.markets/mad-wars/intro-to-the-mad-warsMeteorahttps://twitter.com/MeteoraAGhttps://www.meteora.ag/Hubble Protocolhttps://twitter.com/HubbleProtocolhttps://app.hubbleprotocol.io/Jupiter Exchangehttps://twitter.com/JupiterExchangehttps://jup.ag/- - Disclaimers:Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation.Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.