Bell Curve

This episode covers Coinbase's Base L2 announcement. We discuss why Base could be a game changer, how Coinbase will monetize Base, how Base impacts competing L2s and more! On-chain creativity for Coinbase and the ecosystem is at an all-time high - feeling bullish.We also explore the liquid staking token narrative, how the SEC's qualified custodian proposal impacts institutional adoption, OpenSea's precarious future, why every project is launching a stablecoin and MakerDAO's end game- -Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianismFollow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_mandersonFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -ResourcesEmpire's Base (Coinbase) episodehttps://spoti.fi/3ZkTshq- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 3 | Episode 5In this episode of Bell Curve, Kalman Lajko and Preston Evans explain their thesis behind the optimal Rollapp stack. We start with the similarities and key differences between the Slush and Sovereign design thesis and how developers choose the optimal stack for their product. We then explore how Rollapp infrastructure projects can monetize, winner-take-all dynamics, the importance of BD and developer tooling and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview(02:02) The Internet of Rollups(04:26) Slush vs Sovereign(28:06) Business models and monetization(30:20) A winner-take-all market?(34:45) Attracting developers(36:51) Infrastructure and developer tooling(39:09) Recap: Post-Interview- -Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Preston: https://twitter.com/prestonevans__Follow Kalman: https://twitter.com/kalmanlajkoSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Sovereignhttps://www.sovereign.xyz/https://twitter.com/sovereign_labsSlushhttps://slush.dev/https://twitter.com/SlushSDK- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This episode of Bell Curve explores Blur's airdrop and attack on OpenSea's market share. We discuss Blur's business strategy, BLUR token incentives, OpenSea's precarious position and more!We also cover the recent market rally, the SEC's qualified custodian proposal, tech's transition from growth to value and Flashbots' new MEV-Share product. Check out the Timestamps below for a full breakdown!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(02:34) Why are markets ripping?(05:10) The SEC’s qualified custodian proposal(12:16) Tech’s transition from growth to value(23:08) Blur, OpenSea’s fall, royalties & ETH burn(33:27) Scaling tech and new applications(37:34) Flashbots MEV-Share, PFOF and best execution(52:09) Max Pain- -Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianismFollow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_mandersonFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -ResourcesFlasbots MEV-Share articlehttp://bit.ly/3S7g9TO- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

In this episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Nitesh Nath, Xave Meegan and Maghnus Mareneck to discuss the economic driver of blockchains: MEV. Miner Extractable Value (MEV) is often called the most exciting and complex industry within crypto. Listen to this episode, and you'll catch the fever! In this episode, we discuss how AppChains can optimize MEV, payment for order flow (PFOF), MEV value accrual, cross-chain MEV, the role of wallets and more! You won't want to miss this one.- -Timestamps(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview(01:15) The MEV Value Chain(08:35) How AppChains Can Optimize MEV(16:24) MEV in Solana and General Purpose Chains(25:18) Osmosis’ ProtoRev Module(29:00) AppChains vs General Purpose Chains(30:41) What Should Protocols Prioritize?(37:15) Rollup MEV and Shared Sequencers(46:30) The Value Prop for Users and Wallets(48:06) Complexities of Cross-Chain MEV(52:30) Wallets: The Role of Middleware(56:44) Debating What is Good vs Bad MEV(1:04:30) Recap: Post-Interview- -Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Nitesh: https://twitter.com/niteshnathFollow Maghnus: https://twitter.com/0xMagmarFollow Xave: https://twitter.com/0xaveSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Chorus Onehttps://chorus.one/https://twitter.com/ChorusOneDFlowhttps://dflow.net/https://twitter.com/DFlowProtocolSkip Protocolhttps://skip.money/https://twitter.com/skipprotocol- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This episode of Bell Curve explores the implications of the SEC shutting down Kraken's US staking operations. Is the SEC coming for Coinbase next? What will be the next domino to fall? How will this impact DeFi? We discuss it all here.We also cover Genesis' bankruptcy agreement, Uniswap's governance drama, the rise of super apps, Google's $100B mistake and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(01:17) Operation Choke Point: Kraken's Staking Service Shutters(26:01) Genesis Reaches Agreement With DCG and Key Creditors(31:55) Uniswap Governance Whale Games(46:02) Stargate ReIssues Their Token Supply(52:57) Super Apps and What’s Never Coming Back(1:08:34) Infinity Pools, Google’s $100B Mistake and AI Value Accrual- -Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianismFollow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_mandersonFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Brian Armstrong's tweet on potential staking banhttps://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1623459203150131201- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 3 | Episode 3In this episode of Bell Curve, Nick White and Dev Ojha join us to debate the pros and cons of applications owning the full tech stack vs leveraging a modular architecture. Applications that own their full tech stack can fully customize their chain (how they process MEV, encryption, etc) but is the overhead and cost worth it? In contrast, the modular ideology supports outsourcing all non-core functions to other providers (similar to how websites outsource payments to Stripe). We cover this debate, Celestia, the role of sequencers, security tradeoffs, the idea of the "minimum viable stack" and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview(02:25) Guest Backgrounds(04:13) Application Design Philosophies(10:01) Sequencers: Their Role and Security Tradeoffs(27:00) Tradeoffs: Focus vs Control(33:38) Mesh Security, ICS and Restaking(45:51) SDK Network Effects & the “Minimum Viable Stack”(55:13) Building Credibly Neutral Software(1:00:41) How Applications Should Approach MEV(1:04:02) The Path Ahead(1:06:19) Recap: Post-Interview- -Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Nick: https://twitter.com/nickwh8teFollow Dev: https://twitter.com/valardragonSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Celestiahttps://celestia.org/Osmosishttps://osmosis.zone/- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This episode of Bell Curve explores the crypto venture capital landscape. We discuss how VC funds are managed, what separates the best funds from the pack, why fund size is so important and more! This is your chance to see how the crypto VC business really works.We then discuss Bitcoin's NFT drama, why Bitcoin mining sucks and a little bit of politics. You won't want to miss this one!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(00:38) Is the bull market back?(12:27) The private fundraising landscape(21:29) Behind the scenes look at VC funds(43:09) Bitcoin NFT drama (Ordinals)(50:43) Being a Bitcoin mining business ain’t easy(55:13) Charlie Munger, Nikki Haley and election predictions- -Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianismFollow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_mandersonFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Illegitimate bitcoin transactions (Ordinals)https://read.pourteaux.xyz/p/illegitimate-bitcoin-transactions- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 3 | Episode 2In this episode of Bell Curve, Zaki Manian and Sam Hart join us to discuss how Aggregation Theory applies to crypto protocols. We explore if applications can covert user relationships into sticky profits, crypto moats, blockspace as a commodity, the benefits of controlling the full tech stack and more!PS: don't miss the "Smiling Curve" section of the episode - it's an under-discussed idea that will start appearing in crypto value-capture debates!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview(02:29) The AppChain Thesis (09:31) Aggregation Theory(25:31) Do Moats Exist?(31:34) Is Blockspace a Commodity?(38:25) The Smiling Curve(47:04) Will dYdX Validate the AppChain Thesis?(52:28) Controlling the Entire Stack(1:01:22) Recap: Post-Interview- -Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Zaki: https://twitter.com/zmanianFollow Sam: https://twitter.com/hxrtsSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Ben Thompson's Aggregation Theoryhttps://stratechery.com/aggregation-theory/- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

This episode of Bell Curve explores the complex money trail from crypto's warped credit market. We know the players - 3AC, DCG, Genesis, Alameda and FTX - but how were these parties tied together and what exposure did they all (carelessly) take?We then discuss how ecosystem funds work, why we're bullish dYdX and Circle, the Blockworks Research degens, why we're pulling a boomer on social media, Doodles controversy and more!- -Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(00:51) Crypto's [Dead] Credit Market(17:18) How Ecosystem Funds Work(24:30) dYdX Token Unlocks(29:32) Circle’s CCTP = Bullish(34:21) Canto, Blockworks Research and How to “Make It”(48:44) Stargate Psyops?(52:01) Doodles Controversy- -Follow Vance: https://twitter.com/pythianismFollow Michael: https://twitter.com/im_mandersonFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitzFollow Bell Curve: https://twitter.com/thebellcurvepodSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Season 3 | Episode 1In this episode of Bell Curve, Sunny Aggarwal and Dmitriy Berenzon join us to discuss the pros and cons of building a sovereign AppChain. AppChains enable developers and protocols to customize consensus, cryptography, MEV rules, fees and more. But is this customization worth the fragmentation, start-up costs, lack of tooling and other challenges AppChains face? Tune in to find out.- -Timestamps:(00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview(02:33) The AppChain Thesis(10:52) Reasons to Build an AppChain(28:28) The Downsides and Challenges(42:04) What is Permissioned Blockspace?(48:49) Cosmos vs Ethereum(1:02:09) Solving Interoperability(1:07:54) User Lock-in: Wallets(1:13:42) Recap: Post-Interview- -Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/MylesOneilFollow Mike: https://twitter.com/MikeIppolito_Follow Sunny: https://twitter.com/sunnya97Follow Dmitriy: https://twitter.com/dberenzonSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3R1D1D9Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3pQTfmDSubscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cpKZXH- -Resources:Dmitriy's bloghttps://dberenzon.medium.com/Osmosishttps://osmosis.zone/1k(x)https://1kx.network/- -Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bell Curve 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. Mike, Jason, Michael, Vance and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.