Avantis - One DEX, Infinite Strategies
The Crypto Conversation
Harsehaj Singh is the CEO and co-founder of Avantis, an on-chain exchange for trading and market-making cryptocurrencies, forex, and commodities. Why you should listen Built on Coinbase’s Layer 2 chain, Base, Avantis is designed to offer traders permissionless access to crypto, forex, metals, and real-world commodities—all directly from their wallet. It's backed by serious players like Pantera Capital, Founders Fund, and Galaxy Digital. Unlike typical decentralized exchanges that just handle crypto, Avantis allows you to trade a wide array of assets with leverage—up to 100x on forex and...
info_outline
Shardeum - Decentralization For Everyone
The Crypto Conversation
Srini Parthasarathy is the CTO of Shardeum - an EVM-based autoscaling blockchain. Shardeum's architecture addresses the blockchain trilemma of decentralization, scalability, and security. Why you should listen Shardeum is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to tackle the blockchain trilemma—scalability, decentralization, and security—without compromise. Utilizing dynamic state sharding, Shardeum achieves linear scalability, meaning that each additional node increases the network's transaction throughput. This architecture ensures consistently low gas fees, even as the network...
info_outline
Olas - The Open Protocol For Trustworthy Information
The Crypto Conversation
Ciarán Murray is the founder and CEO of Olas, an open protocol for sharing, interrogating, and aggregating trustworthy information. Why you should listen Olas is an ambitious open protocol aiming to revolutionize how we produce, verify, and consume information online. Unlike traditional media platforms driven by advertising and subscriptions, Olas operates as a decentralized, ownerless network designed to foster trust and accuracy through innovative economic and technological frameworks. At its core, Olas seeks to address the shortcomings of current media incentives. Traditional models...
info_outline
dRPC – All Data From Any Blockchain In One Place
The Crypto Conversation
Constantine Zaitcev is CEO at dRPC.org - a new generation web3 infrastructure and data service that combines the advantages of distributed systems with first-class UX and support. Why you should listen dRPC (decentralized Remote Procedure Call) is a protocol designed to facilitate secure and efficient communication between decentralized applications (dApps) and blockchain networks. It enables dApps to interact with blockchain nodes in a decentralized manner, reducing reliance on centralized infrastructure and enhancing the resilience and censorship resistance of blockchain ecosystems....
info_outline
Stabull - The Stablecoin and Tokenized RWA DEX
The Crypto Conversation
Ryan is the Head of Product at Stabull Finance, a Stablecoin and tokenized RWA DEX on Ethereum and Polygon. Stabull Finance is the new home for non-USD, fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, providing crypto and forex traders with access to 24/7/365 FX markets. Why you should listen Stabull is a next-generation Decentralized Exchange (DEX) built to become the central source of liquidity for all local stablecoins and tokenized Real World Assets (RWAs). Stabull Finance addresses a critical, underserved niche within the expanding DeFi landscape - to provide a specialized,...
info_outline
Malda - Unified Lending Without Limits
The Crypto Conversation
Barna Kiss is a co-founder of Malda, a decentralized lending protocol for individuals, institutions, and protocols to access financial services. Why you should listen Malda is a Unified Liquidity Lending protocol on Ethereum and Layer 2s, delivering a seamless lending experience through global liquidity pools, all secured by zkProofs. Malda is the first DeFi protocol built on a zkCoprocessor technology to create unified pools within the Ethereum ecosystem that act in sync to provide uninterrupted money market services, solving the problem of liquidity fragmentation. Malda is a next-gen lending...
info_outline
Concordium - The L1 Redefining Stablecoins & PayFi
The Crypto Conversation
Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki is the CEO of Concordium, a secure, scalable, regulatory-ready blockchain designed for real-world applications. With its built-in ID layer, predictable fees, and high-performance smart contracts, developers can build with confidence while ensuring compliance and privacy. Why you should listen Concordium is a public Layer 1 blockchain platform that integrates identity verification at its core, aiming to balance privacy with regulatory compliance. Founded in 2018 by Lars Seier Christensen, Concordium embeds encrypted identity into every transaction at the protocol level....
info_outline
Kairon Labs - The Crypto Market Maker
The Crypto Conversation
Jens Willemen is a Partner & Co-Founder at Kairon Labs, an advisor and crypto market maker for digital asset issuers. Why you should listen In this conversation, Jens Willemen, co-founder of Kiron Labs, discusses the evolution of market-making in the crypto space, emphasizing the importance of ethical practices and the challenges faced by new token launches. He shares insights on market sentiment, regulatory complexities, and the future of tokenization, highlighting the need for compliance and the role of algorithmic trading in managing risks. Jens also reflects on the current state of the...
info_outline
Astria - The Sequencing Layer
The Crypto Conversation
Josh Bowen is the founder of Astria, the easiest way to deploy decentralized rollups. Why you should listen In this conversation, Josh Bowen, co-founder of Astria, discusses the evolution and significance of decentralized sequencing in the blockchain ecosystem. He shares insights on the current state of rollups, the impact of regulatory changes, and the future of decentralized finance (DeFi). Josh also introduces Astria's new rollup, Flame, and emphasizes the importance of user experience in attracting wider adoption of DeFi. The discussion touches on the existential questions surrounding...
info_outline
Seek Protocol - AR On Solana
The Crypto Conversation
Seek Protocol is a cutting-edge ecosystem on Solana at the intersection of AI, augmented reality (AR), geolocation, and GameFi. Why you should listen Don Reijke is the Founder and CTO of Seek Protocol, and Lukas Novotny is COO of Seek Protocol. Seek Protocol is a technology initiative dedicated to blending cutting-edge innovation with human experience. At the crossroads of Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Web3, Seek Protocol is revolutionizing how people interact with the digital and physical worlds. Seek Protocol is building an ecosystem where creativity,...
info_outlineZac Williamson is the co-founder and CEO of Aztec, a privacy-first Layer 2 solution on Ethereum.
Why you should listen
Aztec Network is a privacy-centric Layer 2 (L2) solution built on Ethereum, aiming to enhance user confidentiality and transaction scalability within the blockchain ecosystem. By leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, specifically zk-SNARKs (Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge), Aztec enables encrypted transactions that maintain the transparency and security inherent to Ethereum.
Traditional blockchains like Ethereum operate with full transparency, where all transaction details are publicly accessible. While this openness ensures trustlessness and verifiability, it compromises user privacy, exposing sensitive financial data and potentially deterring broader adoption. Aztec addresses this issue by introducing a privacy layer that conceals transaction details without sacrificing the integrity of the blockchain.
A key component of Aztec's technology is its zkRollup architecture, which aggregates multiple transactions into a single proof, thereby enhancing scalability and reducing gas fees. This batching process allows Aztec to offer up to 100 times cost savings compared to standard Ethereum transactions, making private transactions more economically viable.
Aztec Connect is a platform that integrates privacy features into existing Ethereum DeFi protocols such as Lido, Curve, and Element Finance. This integration allows users to engage in private staking, lending, and other DeFi activities without exposing their financial data. Developers can utilize Aztec's SDK and bridge contracts to seamlessly incorporate privacy features into their applications, promoting a more secure and user-friendly DeFi ecosystem.
Aztec's commitment to privacy extends to its development of Noir, a universal language for zero-knowledge proofs. Noir simplifies the creation of private smart contracts by abstracting complex cryptographic concepts, enabling developers to write code without deep expertise in zero-knowledge technology. This initiative broadens the accessibility of privacy-preserving applications within the blockchain space.
The network's vision for a trustless, scalable, and decentralized L2 solution has garnered significant attention and investment. Aztec secured $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), underscoring the industry's recognition of the importance of privacy in blockchain technology.
By integrating privacy features directly into Ethereum's infrastructure, Aztec Network empowers users with enhanced security and confidentiality, paving the way for broader adoption of decentralized applications. Its innovative approach ensures that users can transact and interact within the Ethereum ecosystem without compromising their personal data, marking a significant advancement in the evolution of blockchain technology.
Supporting links
If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.