Into the Bytecode

#27 – Rebecca Rettig & Michael Mosier: genuine DeFi as critical infrastructure

This is my conversation with Rebecca Rettig and Michael Mosier. Rebecca is the Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Polygon Labs. Michael is cofounder of Arktouros and partner at Ex Ante.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro(00:01:38) - sponsor: Privy(00:02:59) - Rebecca's background, the Silk Road case, Aave, Polygon(00:07:22) - Michael's background, Department of Justice, FinCEN, Espresso Systems, the White House, ex/ante (00:15:12) - the current regulatory regime, Bank Secrecy Act, sanctions laws, miners/validators(00:29:30) - sponsor: Optimism(00:30:40) - genuine DeFi vs onchain CeFi, critical infrastructure(00:44:54) - Uniswap contracts, app vs protocol, wallet risk scoring, OFAC, Lazarus Group(00:54:19) - the Security Alliance (SEAL), white hats, working with the FBI(01:08:04) - why do this work, the ability to innovate in the US is a freedom(01:12:13) - crypto policy bootcamp(01:14:00) - outroThank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible:Optimism - https://optimism.ioPrivy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

#26 – Vitalik Buterin: making sense in a changing world

This is my conversation with Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro(00:01:07) - sponsor: Optimism(00:02:17) - micro prediction markets, community notes, AIs as participants(00:14:13) - decentralized social networks, zk identity, Dark Forest, and Frogcrypto(00:25:54) - the dense jungle(00:30:08) - sponsor: Privy(00:31:29)  - political instability, technology(00:34:16) - coordination and technology in climate(00:36:13) - AI, debugging and drawing, agency, security(00:44:02) - timeline for the singularity(00:52:36 ) -living to a 1000 years old(00:54:00) - brain-computer interfaces(01:02:15) - LojbanThank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible:Optimism - https://optimism.ioPrivy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

Hart Lambur: UMA, Across, Oval, and MEV capture for protocols

This is my conversation with Hart Lambur. We talk about Hart's path in building UMA (an oracle using schelling points to bring data onchain), Across (an intents-based bridge connecting ETH/L2s), and now Oval (MEV capture for oracle price updates).Timestamps:(00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:29) - Sponsor: Privy (privy.io)(00:02:50) - The idea maze, Goldman Sachs, RFQ systems, legal vs smart contracts(00:11:03) - UMA, schelling point and optimistic oracle(00:16:41) - Raising the seed round(00:19:38) - Across, intent-based bridging architecture(00:30:42) - Sponsor: Optimism (optimism.io)(00:31:52) - Oval(00:46:15) - MEV capture for protocols(01:01:22) - OutroThank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible: Optimism - https://optimism.io Privy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

Jesse Pollak: Base, Coinbase's path to building an L2

This is my conversation with Jesse Pollak. He led retail engineering at Coinbase for many years — building Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Wallet. More recently, he is leading the development of Base, Coinbase's L2 built on the OP Stack. Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro (00:01:43) - sponsor: Optimism (optimism.io) (00:03:07) - motivation behind Base (00:11:12) - pitching Base to the Coinbase exec team (00:14:24) - challenges of innovating on a schedule (00:17:54) - failing repeatedly to find the right answer (00:22:09) - decision to build an L2 with Michael (00:23:30) - convincing Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase’s CPO (00:24:59) - launching Base internally(00:31:58) - blockchains as serverless compute (00:36:53) - uniswap as a serverless API for currency conversion (00:39:30) - the power of small but leveraged teams (00:42:31) - how to straddle product building in the onchain and offchain world (00:45:25) - sponsor: Privy (privy.io) (00:51:22) - the significance of THIS moment in Crypto (00:53:56) - getting a 100M devs and 1B users onchain (00:57:02) - how the NFT UX will change with Base (01:10:13) - how crypto will be incorporated in applications (01:14:00) - the risk of onchain heterogeneity(01:17:27) - building privacy-oriented onchain platforms (01:26:00) - upgrading the financial system (01:28:33) - attending Quaker School (01:34:43) - relentless positivity in life (01:38:47) - building a better futureJesse Pollak:jesse.xyz on ETH - https://jesse.xyz/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/jessepollakGithub - https://github.com/jessepollakLinks:Base - https://base.org/Coinbase - https://www.coinbase.com/Brian Armstrong - https://twitter.com/brian_armstrongSurojit Chatterjee Coinbase’s CPO - https://www.coinbase.com/blog/welcome-surojit-chatterjee-coinbases-chief-product-officerOP Stack - https://stack.optimism.io/Uniswap - https://uniswap.org/Goldfinch - https://goldfinch.finance/Zora - https://zora.co/Thank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible:Optimism - https://optimism.ioPrivy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Produced by - https://spectral.toDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed. 

Liam Horne: Optimism, and why scaling Ethereum matters

This is my conversation with Liam Horne, former CEO and advisor to Optimism Labs.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro (00:00:59) - sponsor: Privy (privy.io)(00:03:35) - early influences, classmates with Vitalik in Waterloo(00:08:31) - Ethereum's potential and why scalability matters(00:10:06) - learning from Jeff Coleman(00:17:23) - defining a common language (00:21:06) - importance of community in Ethereum(00:26:34) - hackathons lead to progress(00:31:36) - collaboration as a core ETH value(00:38:30) - humility and collective learning(00:47:27) - building a public good(00:53:07) - building Optimism with Ethereum values(01:09:27) - sponsor: Optimism (optimism.io) (01:17:41) - decentralization is a journey(01:20:59) - staying true to your principles(01:32:51) - building something new is difficult(01:36:28) - Jing Wang(01:42:10) - Georgios KonstantopoulosLinks:University of Waterloo - https://uwaterloo.ca/(Almost) Everything you need to know about Optimistic Rollup by Georgios Konstantopoulos - https://www.paradigm.xyz/2021/01/almost-everything-you-need-to-know-about-optimistic-rollupETHGlobal - https://ethglobal.com/Thank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible:Optimism - https://optimism.ioPrivy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com Produced by https://spectral.toDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.