Ian Cummings joins us to discuss how to build a sustainable crypto game. Ian has been in gaming for over 23 years, created NFL Madden's hit stick while working at EA Sports, and is now the creator of Solana's race horsing game Photo Finish. In this episode, we discuss the story behind the hit stick, how Ian chose to go after the horse racing market, the secret to customer retention, how to win at Photo Finish, Photo Finish's partnership with the Kentucky Derby and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) In...
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Jupiter's upcoming airdrop will be a watershed moment for Solana. Tune in to find out why! In this episode, we cover the JUP airdrop, the Saga 2 announcement, why vertical integration is working on Solana but not Ethereum, if validator set size matters, why more Solana teams haven't released tokens, how to think critically and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (01:15) The Saga 2 Announcement (6:34) Jupiter's Token Launch (JUP) (16:01) Aggregation Theory and Multichain Strategies (27:25) DAS Promo (...
Jan 18, 2024•57 min
Ryan Watkins and Wilson Withiam join us to discuss their Solana thesis and how crypto has just entered its next phase of adoption. Ryan is the founder of Syncracy Capital (a crypto hedge fund), and Wilson is their Head of Research. In this episode, we discuss the Bitcoin spot ETF, the Ethereum and LDO thesis, the MakerDAO opportunity, the Solana thesis, investing in SOL vs Solana applications, the DA Layer wars and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:16) The Bitcoin ETF Approval (05:04...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Josh Rosenthal joins us to discuss how crypto will unleash new business models, applications and markets! Josh is a historian, investor, founder and one of the most interesting people I know. In this episode, we discuss crypto's key unlock, scarcity vs abundance, history's revolutionary technologies, crypto tribalism, the bidirectional door between the physical and digital world, DePIN, how to embrace change and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (00:54) Setting the Scene: Who Is Josh Rosenthal? (13...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Eugene Chen joins us to discuss why Solana's local fee markets aren't real. Well, they are real, but they don't yet work as advertised. Eugene is the co-founder of Ellipses Labs, Phoenix Protocol, and Umbra Research and he is one of the sharpest builders in Solana! In this episode, we discuss how Solana transactions work, how to improve Solana's fee markets, MEV on Solana, how apps can accrue their own MEV, Solana's DeFi risk, Phoenix's limit order book and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduct...
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Marius Ciubotariu and Mark Hull join us to discuss how Hubble 2.0 will become the economic hub of Solana DeFi. In this episode, we discuss Kamino's origin story, how Kamino approaches risk management, why Solana will have the next breakout app, multichain vs a single-chain focus, vertical integration and more! Make sure to stay for the whole conversation as it really heats up at the end! - - (00:00 Introduction (00:57) Kamino's Origin Story (10:32) Lending, Risk Management and the mSOL Depeg (32...
Jan 04, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Ansem and Joe McCann join us to discuss their top crypto market predictions for 2024. Ansem and Joe are prolific crypto investors who nailed this year's Solana trade, and they're here to discuss what's next. In this episode, we cover Solana's price mania and outlook, navigating crypto's volatility, Bonk's rise and meme coin virality, the ETH vs. Alt L1 vs. DA trade, 2024's biggest opportunities, how to think like a trader and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (01:13) Solana Mania: 2023 and Beyond (...
Jan 02, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Sam Blackshear and Evan Cheng join us to discuss how the Move programming paradigm will accelerate blockchain development. Sam and Evan are the founders of Sui, a global state L1 that leverages the novel Move programming language (created by Sam while at Facebook). This episode covers Sui's technical specs, the power of Move, Sui's validator requirements and scaling technique, state growth and storage, Sui's go-to-market and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! D...
Dec 28, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Bartosz Lipiński joins us to discuss how Cube is building the first crypto-native centralized exchange. Cube leverages MPC wallets, Solana's client (creating a Solana appchain) and native integrations to offer the best trading experience in crypto. In this episode, we cover Bartosz's journey with Solana Labs, how he helped launch Solana's NFT ecosystem and Hacker House program, Cube's crypto-native functionality, what it takes to build a crypto company and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr
Rooter (co-founder of Solend) and Edgar (co-founder of MarginFi) join us to debate last week's mSOL depeg and how to implement risk management. Last week's mSOL depeg led to liquidations throughout Solana DeFi and a heated debate between the Solend and MarginFi teams. In this episode, we discuss what happened, where Solend and MarginFi disagree, the oracle debate, why liquidator profitability matters, points systems vs token launches and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (01:18) The mSOL depeg and ...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Udi Wertheimer joins us to discuss Ordinals, Taproot Wizards and how to solve Bitcoin's branding problem. Udi is the co-founder of Taproot Wizards, a wildly successful Bitcoin NFT project that hopes to change Bitcoin's image and community. In this episode, we discuss the history of Bitcoin NFTs, how ordinals and inscriptions work, why Taproot Wizards has been so successful, Bitcoin L2s, the power of branding and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 ...
Dec 19, 2023•58 min
Andre Cronje joins us to discuss his drive to build crypt applications with real use cases. Andre has one of the most incredible stories in crypto and is the founder of multiple blue chip projects (Yearn, Keeper Network, Fantom) and a prolific entrepreneur. In this episode, we discuss the ICO era, the launch of Yearn Finance, Andre's f*ck ups (self-proclaimed), why Andre has dedicated his focus to Fantom, Fantom's unique innovations, why airdrops suck, crypto regulation and more! - - Join us at ...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Solana just had one of the craziest weeks in its history. Jito's airdrop has created a wealth (and attention) effect that has captured all of crypto. What a week. In this episode, we cover Jito's token launch, Solana's airdrop season, finding value in the bull market, the integrated chain advantage, the nuances of client diversity and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to...
Dec 12, 2023•51 min
Meow, the co-founder of Jupiter, joins us to discuss how Jupiter is building crypto's leading aggregator. Jupiter is a DEX aggregator on Solana that routes over 80% of all DEX trades! It's an absolute killer app that has served as the entry to Solana's vast ecosystem. In this episode, we discuss how Jupiter found PMF, why Meow chose Solana, how Jupiter will onboard millions of users, Jupiter's airdrop, Solana's massive opportunity, multichain strategies and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asse...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Ben Chow joins us to discuss how Meteora will multiply Solana's TVL. Ben is the co-founder of Meteora and a Solana DeFi OG. In this conversation, we discuss Meteora's origin story, why TVL matters, Meteora's 3-pronged plan to increase Solana's TVL, how Meteora prevents cascading risk, Solana's DeFi competition, how to launch a token and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below ...
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Ariel Seidman, CEO of Hivemapper, joins us to discuss how Hivemapper has built the most successful DePIN product in crypto. In just twelve months, Hivemapper has mapped over 6M unique road kilometers (10% of the world's roads!) and has over 25,000 contributors. In this episode, we discuss Hivemapper's origin story, how Hivemapper maps the world, Hivemapper's killer feature, what DePIN projects get wrong, founder lessons and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DA...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Ted Livingston joins us to discuss crypto's micropayments opportunity and Code's big announcement! Ted is a product legend who built the fastest-growing messenger app (Kik) and is now building the best payments experience in crypto. In this episode, we discuss the history of micropayments, how micropayments unlock new use cases, why Code uses Kin, why Code built an L2 on Solana, Ted's Bitcoin thesis and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 instituti...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Did Pyth's airdrop overwhelm the Solana network? Was the degraded user experience an application fault, the result of a crude fee market or a stability issue? Garrett and Mert answer these questions in today's roundup. We also cover the SEC's attack on crypto, Solana's airdrop season, the changing L2 sentiment, Bonk's meteoric rise and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below t...
Nov 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Emon Motamedi joins us to discuss how Solana Labs hopes to find the next killer app. Emon leads product at Solana Labs and is the founder of Reddit's Digital Currency team. In this episode, we discuss Solana Labs' new incubator, finding the next killer app, multichain strategies, what crypto teams get wrong and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use BLA...
Nov 23, 2023•28 min
Paul Bohm joins us to discuss how decentralized marketplaces, like ride-sharing, can leverage crypto's coordination tools to compete against today's incumbents. Paul is a visionary, crypto OG and founder of Teleport. In this episode, we discuss Paul's core insight, Teleport's design, go-to-market strategies, how to ensure quality in decentralized services, why AirBnB onchain isn't a thing and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional confer...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Today's episode is from our other favorite podcast, 0xResearch. Garrett joins the team to explain this month's Solana rally! We dive into Solana's developer traction and documentation quality, the sustainability of low fees, comparisons to Ethereum L2s, and upcoming major ecosystem upgrades and catalysts like Firedancer. To close out the team touches on governance updates on inflation and incentive programs from Synthetix, Arbitrum, and dYdX. Enjoy! As always remember this podcast is for informa...
Nov 17, 2023•1 hr 7 min
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 16, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Matthew Sigel and Patrick Bush join us to discuss their recent report that predicts SOL to hit $335 by 2030. Matthew (head of crypto research) and Patrick (senior investment analysts) lead VanEck's crypto division. VanEck is a prolific TradFi asset management firm founded in 1955, but that hasn't stopped them from building one of the best research teams in crypto. In this episode, we discuss their Solana bull case, how to value L1s, if DCF valuations are a meme, Solana's biggest challenges, Cosm...
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Welcome to Lightspeed's third "Roundup" episode, where Mert and Garrett discuss the top stories of the week and trends they are seeing in crypto. In this episode, we discuss why all eyes are on Solana, hype vs reality, Bankless' Ethereum vs Solana episode, the significance of Solana projects launching tokens and our takeaways from Breakpoint. - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below ...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Jorrit Palfner and Yannik Schrade join us to discuss why privacy is required for crypto to go mainstream. Jorrit (Light Protocol's co-founder) and Yannik (Elusiv's co-founder) are building Solana's leading privacy protocols. This discussion is more technical than usual, but the insights are incredible. We discuss the implications of private computation, how Light and Elusiv bring privacy onchain, the risks of zero-knowledge proofs, why build privacy on Solana and not an SVM rollup and more! - - ...
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr 3 min
This episode is the opening presentation from Breakpoint 2023! You'll hear from Solana's top talent, including Anatoly, Dan Albert, Amira Valliani, Noah Prince and Mert Mumtaz. This is the Solana ecosystem deep dive you won't want to miss! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use LIGHTSPEED20 to get 20% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up eve...
Nov 07, 2023•51 min
Tushar Jain joins us to discuss how he identifies crypto applications that both create AND Tushar Jain joins us to discuss how he identifies crypto applications that create AND capture value. Tushar co-founded Multicoin Capital and is one of the most prolific investors in the space, known for his contrarian [and often correct] theses. In this episode, we cover Solana's rise from the ashes, how L1s accrue value, what crypto metrics matter, Solana's consumer chain narrative, the DePIN opportunity ...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Kash Dhanda and Brandon Potts join us to discuss how builders can leverage Solana's unique value proposition to be the go-to ecosystem for crypto's next wave of users. Kash is a founding member of Superteam, where he helps Solana projects launch and grow their community, and Brandon is a Principal at Framework Ventures. In this conversation, we cover Solana's resurgence and payments narrative, crypto business models, Solana's shortcomings, whether Solana will be the default consumer chain, crypt...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Joel Monegro, co-founder of Placeholder, joins us to discuss Solana's compounding advantage. Joel is a crypto OG, a prolific writer (wrote The Fat Protocol Thesis in 2016) and co-founded Placeholder with Chris Burniske. In this episode, we cover Joel's Solana thesis, upcoming infrastructure consolidation, app-specific L2 use cases, Joel's updated thoughts on The Fat Protocol Thesis, finding your investment edge and more! - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the ...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Jon Charbonneau joins us to discuss 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 the integrated and modular roadmap, how rollups will leverage Solana and...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 2 min
