Qiao Wang from Alliance DAO (a web3 accelerator) joins us to discuss the applications and protocols that are primed to dominate crypto's next cycle. Qiao reviews thousands of crypto startups every year, has an uncanny ability to predict future narratives and is one of my favorite thinkers in the space! In this episode, we discuss why RWAs and payments are crypto's massive opportunity, how speculation is crypto's killer feature, Solana's comeback vs Ethereum's headstart, Coinbase's giant opportun...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 6 min
In today's episode, Mike and Myles dive deep into the emerging world of liquid restaking. They take a deep look into the inner workings of depositing staked ETH into protocols like Eigenlayer to earn additional yield. They discuss competitive dynamics between these protocols, whether this is positive or dangerous for Ethereum, and implications for ETH becoming "crypto native treasuries" that export security and create collateral for DeFi. We hope you enjoy! Follow Myles: https://twitter.com/Myle...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Today we are diving deep into the world of interoperability and intents. Hart Lambur, co-founder at Risk Labs and UMA, joins us to analyze the trade-offs between different bridge architectures like atomic swaps, canonical bridges, and optimistic bridges. They discuss how intent-based protocols like Uniswap X and Across Protocol are reimagining bridges by introducing third parties to enable faster, cheaper transfers. To close out the team explores UX challenges in bridging assets across chains an...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 26 min
In today's episode of Bell Curve we are joined by Link Marine legend Chainlinkgod.eth. Mike, Michael, and Vance dive into the past, present, and future of Chainlink. They kick off with Chainlink's community origins in 4chan. They move on to introduce how Chainlink aims to be a decentralized oracle network that securely connects blockchains to external data sources and APIs. They discuss key elements like its variety of services like price feeds, CCIP for cross-chain messaging, real world asset t...
Nov 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Season 6 | Episode 5 In this episode of Bell Curve we dive into the world of batch auctions with special guests Anna, co-founder of CowSwap, and Ludwig, Founder of Sorella Labs. The team digs into how Cowswap's innovative batch auctions function and how Sorella Labs' Angstrom project tackles LVR for sustainable liquidity. They unpack how app layer innovation and MEV-conscious design can mitigate value extraction. To close out they discusses whether price discovery will ever move from centralized...
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr 17 min
In this week's roundup, the Michael power duo dives into the recent market rally and explore its implications in crypto including debt proceedings and VC appetite. They explore the Ethereum ETF approval potentially becoming a reality and the controversy surrounding Wintermute’s CEO Evgeny Gaevoy and the Near Foundation. To close out they discuss the future developments to look out for in the crypto, including the potential rise of alternative L1s and newer narratives. - - Follow Mike: https://tw...
Nov 10, 2023•59 min
In this week's Bell Curve roundup Mike and Myles discuss the return of "token season" - with recent launches like DYDX, Celestia, and Jupiter on Solana. They debate distribution strategies like airdrops, and whether excessive costs are justified. They also discuss Solana's price explosion and admire Solana for its focus on the app developer experience. To close out the duo debate weather the next crypto cycle will see real mainstream adoption of dApps. Thanks for tuning in! - - Timestamps (0:00)...
Nov 03, 2023•1 hr 13 min
This week on Bell Curve you're going to be hearing an episode of Lightspeed interviewing Jon Charbonneau on how integrated and modular chains are on an inevitable path toward the same endgame. Jon is an investor and the most prolific researcher in the space who understands the nuances and tradeoffs of the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems. In this episode, we cover what SVM adoption means for Solana, if rollups scale Ethereum, why Jon is spending more time in Solana and the SVM, the convergence of ...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In today's roundup Michael and Vance join forces to determine if we are finally back. They dive into potential catalysts for the recent price action across the crypto sector, including the end of the rate hiking cycle, the need for recapitalization of degens, and the emerging institutional interest. The two analyze the LayerZero proposal controversy, dubious Hamas fundraising claims, and Arbitrum Orbit's use of Celestia for Data Availability. To close out they speak on the rise of professional g...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Fisk and Matti, from Zee Prime Capital, join us to discuss the rise of crypto's first superapp. In this episode, we cover the Fappening Thesis (superapp), why everyone invests in middleware, how protocols establish moats, the future of Web3 social, how crypto will impact equality and more! Fisk and Mattie have some of the most eccentric and prescient ideas in crypto - you won't want to miss this one. Subscribe to Lightspeed YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Spotify:...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 3 min
The team is back, this week the boys kick things off with Coin Telegraph’s reporting blunder on the Spot BTC ETF that resulted in a BTC price surge of over 8%. We then take stock of TradFi’s potential sentiment shift, New York AG Letitia James suing Gemini, Genesis, and DCG over alleged $1.1bn crypto fraud, and the potential ramifications if GBTC is unable to convert. We then go on to discuss potential unlocks of a Spot BTC ETF, where we’re at with the Alt market, the recent Uniswap Labs fee swi...
Oct 20, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Season 6 | Episode 4 In today's episode we are joined by Xin Wan, researcher at Uniswap Labs, and Robert Miller, Product Lead at Flashbots, to explore the world of Order Flow Auctions (OFAs). They discuss different OFA designs like Uniswap X, Flashbots MEV-Geth, and traditional order books, analyzing capital efficiency, fairness, and susceptibility to manipulation. Xin and Robert also detail key auction parameters around permissioning, bid selection, information revelation, and credible neutrali...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix and Infinex, joins us to discuss how permissionless frontends are crypto's next battleground. Crypto has the infrastructure to support the next wave of users, but the user experience is lightyears behind Web2. What can solve this? Permissionless frontends. In this episode, we cover why Kain is building Infinex, the missing piece to get users onchain, crypto's new aggregators, Kain's multichain strategy, where DAOs fail to innovate and more. This might be my...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr 21 min
This week Michael and Myles dive deep on all things Ethereum Enshrinement. The two kick things off with Credible Neutrality, reviewing centralization risks vs overloads governance. The guys then go on to discuss user experience as the guiding uniting principle and look at the gradation of protocol proximity; what should and should not be enshrined and why. We then challenge and defend the varying beliefs around Ethereum as ‘money’, before going on to hit on protocol engagement vs abstraction, is...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 30 min
Season 6 | Episode 3 Today we dive into the world of central limit order books and automated market makers with DEX builders Eugene Chen, co-founder of Ellipsis Labs, and Doug Colkitt, co-founder of Crocodile Labs. The team explores how factors like gas costs, latency, and modular "hooks" are shaping the evolution of onchain trading and DEX designs. The conversation then explores taking DEX components offchain and if it's antithetical to the point of DeFi. To close things out the team discusses ...
Oct 10, 2023•1 hr 16 min
With the opening of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial this week, the fellas kick things off with their thoughts on Michael Lewis’ controversial new book‘Going Infinite’, which explores the story of FTX’s collapse. The guys then take stock of Vitalik’s latest proposal around Enshrinement, and whether the logic should be natively implemented in the core code of L1s. We then discuss Stride’s potential plans to become the enshrined LST protocol for Cosmos Hub. We then review the state of ETH Futures, XRP’...
Oct 06, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Season 6 | Episode 2 In this season's first guest interview we dive into the world of LVR. We are joined by Alex and Jason to unpack key elements of LVR including what it is, mitigation methods including auctions and dynamic fees, and why solving LVR is important. They discuss what 3 sources of information are key to understanding LVR and explore the impacts of transferring wealth from token stakers to LPs. - - Maverick Protocol is a DeFi infrastructure provider focused on increasing industry ef...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 14 min
This week the team take stock of Binance; what may be going on and the potential ramifications. We review the regulation win for Coinbase, as approval is granted for retail perpetual futures trading. We dive deep on Rollups-as-a-Service (RaaS). Mike explains why he’s been ‘Pudgy Pilled’. We review the current state of the SEC/Crypto relationship saga, where we are with ETH Futures ETFs, the upcoming Celestia (TIA) Airdrop, and more! Hit play now and find relevant links below, enjoy! - - Maverick...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Season 6 | Episode 1 Welcome to season 6 of Bell Curve! Season 6 will take a dive into the world of DEXs and Dan Robinson, General Partner and Head of Research at Paradigm, with be joining Mike as co-host. In today's episode the duo dive deep into DEX designs and discuss the origin story of Uniswap, the V4 design, and the overall growth journey the protocol has endured. They also dive into design decisions including intents, mitigating LVR, and prioritizing retail and market makers. We're excite...
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr 20 min
In today’s episode, the team kicks things off with discussing Celestia and the impact it may have on architecture across ecosystems. The team then goes on to discuss potential catalysts for future cycles including EigenLayer’s future yield role, and the transition of ETH Staking to Liquid Staking. MakerDAOs ongoing interest is broken down before closing out on the ongoing debate around IPO vs. Direct Listing. Enjoy! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:23) Eclipse: Roll-up-as-a-Service (09:3...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Nick White (COO of Celestia) and Neel Somani (founder of Eclipse) join us to debate the tradeoffs of modular vs integrated blockchains. We cover the modular thesis, how Eclipse is bringing the SVM to Ethereum, the hidden costs of modularity, centralized sequencers and L2s, where value will accrue in a modular paradigm and more! - - Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:49 What are Modular Blockchains? 05:34 Data Availability Explained 09:15 Light Clients and End User Verification 19:45 Eclipse: the S...
Sep 19, 2023•58 min
As we gear up for Season 6, this week's episode will be Lightspeed's recent interview with Keone Hon and Kevin G to discuss how Monad is scaling the EVM. Every project in crypto right now is launching an L2 or marketing how their execution environment is better than the EVM. Monad has taken the opposite approach and is building an L1 that leverages the EVM with new optimizations like parallel execution. In this conversation, we discuss Monad's EVM optimizations, the blockchain trilemma, why Mona...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 10 min
In this week’s episode, Mike and Michael breakdown all things DeFi. They discuss the ecosystem writ large and whether we’re seeing a return to 2021’s ‘DeFi Summer’, and the value proposition of sustainable fees as the key differentiator. The guys go on to review Rune Christensen’s Solana Fork MakerDAO proposal, Visa’s crypto stablecoin settlement expanding to Solana, as well as recent regulation setbacks. We then close out on the spot Ether ETF Bid From Ark Invest, 21Shares - hot off of Grayscal...
Sep 09, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Season 5 | Episode 9 In today's season 5 finale we take a deep dive into the multifaceted world of Liquid Staking. Mike and Myles scrutinize critical aspects such as market structure, exploring its influence on liquidity providers and governance. They also discuss social scaling, evaluating its role in the adoption and scalability of Liquid Staking solutions along with the implications of self-limiting. This episode is a holistic recap of the season and with the biggest takeaways from Season 5. ...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 15 min
In this week’s episode, the gang is back together. Michael’s 1 and 2, Jason, and Vance dive straight in to discuss the Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF Ruling. The guys then review where we are in the crypto cycle, and touch on Uniswap’s lawsuit dismissal and StarkWare’s wallet plunder. The fellas finish out on a ‘Hot Takes’ segment, where the guys get spicy on macro! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:35) Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF Ruling (06:04) “Permissionless Promotion” (06:57) Greyscale Spo...
Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Season 5 | Episode 8 In this week's episode of Bell Curve, we are joined by Lucas Bruder, Founder of Jito Sol, and Xavier, Chief Investment Officer of Chorus One, two key builders in the Solana ecosystem. The conversation delves into the complexities of staking in Solana versus Ethereum, exploring different validator revenue models and the growth trajectory of liquid staking on Solana. They discuss JitoSOL's unique yield advantages, native token design impacts on staking, delegation strategies, ...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 28 min
In this week’s episode, Mike, Jason, and Vance kick things off with a thorough breakdown of ‘Friend.Tech’. The guys then go on to talk Base and the future of L2’s, ETH’s ultimate value accrual, and touch on the discussion around Tendermint for StarkNet. We then review the DOJ/Tornado Cash charge and arrest. To close, we discuss the GOP debate, NVIDIA Q2 Earnings, EigenLayer’s new LST cap increase, and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:57) Friend.Tech (12:19) Aerodrome Base DEX (19:4...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 7 min
We're joined by Kyle Samani, the co-founder of Multicoin Capital and one of crypto's most independent thinkers. In this episode, we cover why "monolithic L1s" is a misnomer, the value of global state, how a protocol establishes moats, why DePIN is finding product-market fit, how Kyle synthesizes new ideas and more! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:34) The Modular vs Monolithic Debate (07:43) Bootstrapping Communities (09:17) A Case for Rollups and Appchains (15:33) The Value of Composabi...
Aug 18, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Season 5 | Episode 7 In this episode of Bell Curve, Mike and Myles are joined by Sam Kazemian, Founder of Frax Finance. They explore FRAX's innovative journey from decentralized stablecoin to Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) and Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs). Sam shares insights into the algorithmic stability mechanism, decentralizing trust, DeFi domination plan, and FRAX V2 decentralization. -- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro: Pre-Interview (02:07) Interview Start: Sam Kazemian (02:36) The Evolution ...
Aug 15, 2023•1 hr 6 min
In today’s episode, Mike and Michael discuss all things Stables and more! The guys kick things off with PayPal, discussing their PYUSD Stablecoin launch and what it means for the wider ecosystem and future Stablecoin market structure. We then take a closer look at Coinbase’s Q2 earnings, before touching on future Rollup value accrual. We then close with a Ripple update, Cantina (Web3’s security marketplace), the endgame for Stablecoins, and more! - - Timestamps: 00:00) Introduction (02:21) PYUSD...
Aug 11, 2023•1 hr 2 min
