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Lightspeed

Blockworksblockworks.co
Lightspeed is a podcast for those interested in how crypto can solve real problems and create products users love. It's a callback to the garage days of Silicon Valley, where builders pushed the limits of hardware and software to build world-changing products. We interview the projects and founders that will make this same impact today.
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Episodes

The Future Of Liquid Staking On Solana | FP Lee

Gm! This week we welcome FP Lee to the show for a discussion on the growth of liquid staking on Solana. We deep dive into launching LSTs, value accrual, solving liquidity issues & some of the products sanctum is building. Enjoy! -- Follow FP: https://twitter.com/soleconomist Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe on Spotify: https://sp...

May 08, 202451 min

Why Stripe Is Building On Solana | Weekly Roundup

Gm! This week we're back with another weekly roundup. After a crazy couple of weeks for Solana & crypto more broadly, we deep dive into Stripe's crypto announcement, Solana MEV, EigenLayer's token launch, Kamino + Drift Airdrops & more! -- Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Try 3 months FREE of Helium Mobile with the code LIGHTSPEEDMOBILE: hellohelium.com Experience a new phone service...

May 03, 20241 hr 3 min

Igniting Liquidity Cross Chain At The Speed Of Light | Alex Smirnov

Gm! This episode Alex Smirnov joins the show for a discussion on how deBridge is working to power the crypto economy with cross chain bridging & interoperability. Enjoy! -- Follow Alex: https://twitter.com/AlexSmirnov__ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy -- Use Code LIGHTSPEED10 for 10% off your ticket to Permissionless III: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iii -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe on Spotify: ht...

May 02, 202454 min

The Path To 100,000 Subnets | Patrick O'Grady, Aaron Buchwald & Stephen Buttolph

Gm! This week Patrick O'Grady, Aaron Buchwald & Stephen Buttolph join the show to discuss the path forward for the Avalanche ecosystem. -- Follow Patrick: https://twitter.com/_patrickogrady Follow Aaron: https://twitter.com/AaronBuchwald Follow Stephen: https://twitter.com/stephenbuttolph Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy -- Try 3 months FREE of Helium Mobile with the code LIGHTSPEEDMOBILE: hellohelium.com Experience a new phone service that uses the Helium Network – a decentralized wi...

Apr 30, 20241 hr 9 min

2024: The End Of EVM Dominance | Rushi Manche

Gm! This week Rushi Manche of Movement Labs joins the show to discuss why 2023 was the year of DA & 2024 will be the year of the VM. Enjoy! -- Follow Rushi: https://twitter.com/rushimanche Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy -- Try 3 months FREE of Helium Mobile with the code LIGHTSPEEDMOBILE: hellohelium.com Experience a new phone service that uses the Helium Network – a decentralized wireless network built by the people – AND the nation’s larges...

Apr 25, 202449 min

The Solana End Game | Anatoly Yakovenko & Lucas Bruder

Gm! This week we invite Anatoly Yakovenko & Lucas Bruder to the show for a discussion on the current state of Solana. We deep dive into the transaction problem as on chain volumes have exploded in recent months. Toly & Lucas explore the solutions that could help to increase chain performance & what's next for Solana. Enjoy! -- Follow Anatoly: https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko Follow Lucas: https://twitter.com/buffalu__ Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitte...

Apr 24, 20241 hr 13 min

Building Solana's Largest Perps DEX | Cindy Leow & Chris Heaney

Gm! This week we invite Cindy & Chris from Drift to the show to discuss how they're building the largest perps DEX on Solana. Enjoy! -- Follow Cindy: https://twitter.com/cindyleowtt Follow Chris: https://twitter.com/crispheaney Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy -- Try 3 months FREE of Helium Mobile with the code LIGHTSPEEDMOBILE: hellohelium.com Experience a new phone service that uses the Helium Network – a decentralized wireless network built ...

Apr 19, 20241 hr 4 min

How To Fix Solana | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith

Gm! This week we discuss the state of the network, MarginFi drama, Uniswap vs the SEC, airdrops, Monad's $225 million raise & more. Enjoy! -- Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PD Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks...

Apr 12, 20241 hr 4 min

Why Are Solana Transactions Dropping? | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith

Gm! This week we discuss why users are having more failed & dropped transactions on Solana. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PD Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Bloc...

Apr 06, 202450 min

The Base Endgame: Crypto's Largest Layer 2 | Jesse Pollak

Gm! This week, Jesse Pollak creator of Base joins the show for a discussion on what the team have been building. As retail activity picks up on both Solana & Base, we thought why not just invite Jesse to the show to discuss the L2 end game, network scaling, base fee revenue & much more. Enjoy! -- Follow Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessepollak Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe...

Apr 04, 20241 hr

Solana vs Ethereum Fee Markets | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith

Gm! This week, Dan & Mert discuss the current state of the network by deep diving into how transaction fees on Solana actually work, the ending of Jito's mempool & the continued meme coin impact. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe o...

Mar 28, 202454 min

Why DePIN Matters: Powering The Crypto Economy | Jon Victor

This week, Jon Victor Co-Founder of Ansa Research joins the show for a discussion on one of crypto's most exciting areas... DePin. We deep dive into why decentralized data storage matters, Filecoin's roadmap, the intersection between AI & DePIN & so much more. Enjoy! -- Follow Jon: https://twitter.com/jnthnvctr Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co...

Mar 26, 20241 hr 7 min

The Most Exciting Experiment In Crypto: Futarchy | Robin Hanson & Proph3t

This week, Robin Hanson & Proph3t join the show to discuss one of crypto's most exciting experiments... Futarchy. With the launch of MetaDAO, Proph3t aims to enable a market driven approach to social governance. By implementing Robin's proposed system of Futarchy, could this be a way to fix DAO governance? -- Follow Robin: https://twitter.com/robinhanson Follow Proph3t: https://twitter.com/metaproph3t Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpo...

Mar 22, 202448 min

The AggLayer Thesis | Marc Boiron & Brendan Farmer

This week, Marc Boiron CEO of Polygon Labs & Brendan Farmer Co-Founder of Polygon join the show for a discussion on the evolution of Polygon, building the AggLayer & the end state, as they view it for crypto. Enjoy! -- Follow Brendan: https://twitter.com/_bfarmer Follow Marc: https://twitter.com/0xMarcB Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Dan: https://twitter.com/smyyguy Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq -- Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Sub...

Mar 19, 20241 hr 5 min

The Jito Impact: Is Jito Saving Solana? | Jon Charbonneau

Gm! This week, Jon Charbonneau joins the show after Jito announced their suspension of their mempool function. We deep dive into solving the MEV problem, Ethereum's Dencun upgrade, the current state of crypto in 2024 & of course.. meme coins. -- Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity DeFi, consumer facing applications, and more generally allow crypto t...

Mar 14, 20241 hr 11 min

Crypto Needs More Product, Investing In Great Founders | Craig Burel

This week, Craig Burel Partner at Reciprocal Ventures joins the show to discuss his journey from TradFi into crypto. We deep dive into Craig's thesis on Solana, building consumer products & backing great founders, investing in SOL vs applications as a VC, crypto gaming & much more. Enjoy! -- Access Protocol is the best way to discover premium content from crypto's top publishers and independent creators. Access Protocol has reinvented content monetization, meaning you can access this pre...

Mar 12, 20241 hr 2 min

The Return Of Meme Coin Mania | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith

Gm! This week, Dan & Mert begin by discussing the return of meme coin season by asking an honest question: have more people used DeFi or meme coins? We then take a deep dive into scaling, Ethereum's EIP-4844 upgrade & Solana's transaction fee structure. -- Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity DeFi, consumer facing applications, and more generally...

Mar 07, 20241 hr 7 min

DRiP: Crypto's Largest Application, Built On Solana | Vibhu Norby

This week, Vibhu Norby CEO of DRiP joins the show for a discussion on building one of crypto's most popular applications. We deep dive into the growth & business model of DRiP, measuring real active users, building great UX in crypto & finally Vibhu shares some advice for founders looking to build a company & raise funding. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Access Protocol is the best way to discover premium content from crypto's top publishers and independent c...

Mar 05, 202454 min

Who Are The Real Users In Crypto? | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith

This week Mert & Dan discuss Colosseum's hackathon, why Solana needs to double down on building more applications, defining active users within crypto, the roadmap for Ethereum, the rollup thesis & more! -- Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity DeFi, consumer facing applications, and more generally allow crypto to scale to the masses. If you are i...

Feb 29, 20241 hr 6 min

Solving Crypto's Oracle Problem | Chris Hermida & Mitch Gildenberg

This week, Chris Hermida & Mitch Gildenberg Co-Founders at Switchboard join the show for a discussion on how they're helping scale crypto's oracle infrastructure network. We deep dive into the origin story behind Switchboard, their V3 rollout, speed & latency, todays oracle use cases, lessons learned from the Mango exploit in 2022 and more! -- Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space fo...

Feb 27, 202454 min

Sports Betting Built On Solana | Nigel Eccles & Varun Sudhakar

This week, Nigel Eccles & Varun Sudhakar Co-Founders of BetDEX join the show to discuss how they are bringing online sports betting to crypto. We deep dive into the problem BetDEX solves, finding product market fit, scaling a sports betting competitor, why BetDEX chose to build on Solana & more! -- Monad is a fully EVM compatible Layer 1 blockchain that can support 10,000 real transactions per second. Monad aims to open up the design space for the EVM to support high fidelity DeFi, consu...

Feb 22, 202452 min

Solving Crypto's Scaling Trilemma | Arbitrum

This week, Steven Goldfeder & Rachel Bousfield join the show to discuss the Ethereum scaling roadmap, the origin story of Arbitrum, solving the scaling trilemma & what trade-offs exist between decentralization, security & scalability. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Access Protocol is the best way to discover premium content from crypto's top publishers and independent creators. Access Protocol has reinvented content monetization, meaning you can access this p...

Feb 21, 20241 hr 7 min

How Pyth Propogates Financial Data At The Speed of Light | Mike Cahill

Mike Cahill joins us to discuss how oracles have become the linchpin of crypto. Mike is a core contributor to Pyth, a highly optimized oracle network integrated with 50+ chains and over 300 apps. In this episode, we cover crypto's oracle problem, why Pyth launched an SVM appchain, how Pyth ensures high-quality publishers, Pyth's Wormhole integration, how to monetize financial data, the RWA opportunity, where Chainlink went wrong and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (01:07) The Value of Financial M...

Feb 15, 202456 min

How NEAR Is Building Crypto's Interoperability Layer | Illia Polosukhin

Illia Polosukhin joins us to discuss how NEAR is building the blockchain operating system. NEAR first came to prominence in 2020 as an alternative Layer One that is laser-focused on abstracting the complexities of onchain infrastructure. Since then, Illia (who is one of the brightest minds in crypto) and the NEAR team have transformed NEAR into crypto's interoperability layer. In this episode, we discuss NEAR's journey from AI to crypto, why NEAR scales via sharding, NEAR's chain abstraction and...

Feb 13, 20241 hr 6 min

Farcaster: How Warpcast Could Become Crypto's First Mainstream App | Dan Romero

Dan Romero joins us to discuss how Warpcast could become crypto's first mainstream app. Warpcast is a crypto-enabled social app built on top of the Farcaster protocol. Warpcast offers a Twitter meets Reddit-like experience that leverages the composability, permissionless innovation and embedded finance of crypto. In this episode, we discuss how Dan decided to focus on Social, how Farcaster works, why "Frames" are a massive developer unlock, the Warpcast and Farcaster business model, the onchain ...

Feb 08, 20241 hr 22 min

Post JUP Clarity: Why Solana Needs to Double Down on Product | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper

The most hyped airdrop in Solana's history happened last week: the JUP (Jupiter) token launch. We sit down to discuss what happened, how Solana performed, the controversy, what's next and why it's time for Solana to double down on product! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:36) The JUP Airdrop: What You Need to Know (17:03) Why Solana Needs to Double Down on Product (24:10) Access Protocol Promo (25:12) Is Solana’s Performance Really Needed for Every App? (30:57) Writing, Twitter and Findin...

Feb 06, 202450 min

How Colosseum Will Accelerate Solana's App Ecosystem | Matty Taylor

Matty Taylor joins us to discuss how Colosseum, the Y-Combinator of Crypto, will find, fund and accelerate Solana's next killer app. In this episode, we discuss why Matty is launching Colosseum, tactical tips for founders, why Solana is the best ecosystem to build applications, how to participate in Colosseum and Matty's #1 advice for discovering a startup idea. - - (00:00) Introduction (01:07) Leading Solana Lab’s Growth Team and Hackathons (7:08) Why Are People Hyped for Colosseum? (12:50) The...

Feb 05, 202432 min

How Firedancer Will Unlock Solana's Scaling Roadmap | Lucas Bruder, Liam Heeger

Lucas Bruder and Liam Heeger join us to discuss how Firedancer will transform Solana. Lucas (the co-founder of Jito) and Liam (a core engineer at Jump working on Firedancer) are two of the most talented developers in the Solana ecosystem. In this episode, we cover Solana's scheduler challenge, blockspace market dynamics, how Jito impacts transaction efficiency, Firedancer's goal and impact on client diversity, governance, validator profitability, applications for Jito's Stakenet and more! - - (0...

Feb 01, 20241 hr 10 min

Anatoly Yakovenko: A Deep Dive Into Solana 2.0

Anatoly Yakovenko joins us for the most information-packed episode on Solana we've ever listened to. It's a masterclass exploration of Solana's architecture and roadmap. We discuss the Saga Chapter 2, fee market optimizations, Jito and MEV, validator profitability, Solana's end game, Firedancer and client diversity, token extensions and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:01) Saga Chapter 2 (10:00) Access Protocol Lab (11:01) DAS London Plug (11:58) Solana Fee Market Optimizations (20:...

Jan 30, 20241 hr 20 min

Solana's Flywheel: Why It's Time to Reevaluate Your Solana Thesis | Santiago Santos

Santiago Santos joins us to discuss his crypto investment thesis and conviction in Solana's adoption flywheel. Santiago is a prolific investor, co-host of Empire and one of the most respected minds in crypto. In this episode, we discuss Santi's crypto thesis, Solana's incredible flywheel, scarcity vs abundance, if decentralization matters, Santi's favorite investment themes and more! - - (00:00) Introduction (1:19) Why Crypto Matters (4:42) How to Build and Keep Conviction (15:36) Santi’s Solana...

Jan 25, 20241 hr 10 min
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