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- 2 weeks ago59 min
Why Only 3 Builders Control All of Ethereum
In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Kubi Mensah, CEO and co-founder of Gattaca, the company behind Titan Builder. Kubi sheds light on the highly competitive and often opaque world of Ethereum block building, explaining how Gattaca evolved from a centralized exchange proprietary trading firm to one of the three dominant builders responsible for constructing the vast majority of Ethereum blocks today . They dissect the true "journey of a transaction," revealing why over half of all Ethereum transaction value bypasses the public mempool in favor of private order flow auctions and MEV-protection services . Kubi explains the intricate mechanics of top-of-block bidding by high-frequency DeFi arbitrageurs, the necessity of extreme latency optimization, and the "flywheel effect" that makes block building a natural oligopoly . Finally, the discussion turns to the future of the Ethereum roadmap, unpacking how upcoming upgrades like ePBS (enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation) and FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) aim to permanently alter the power dynamics between block builders, validators, and originators . Topics04:15 Transitioning from TradFi Trading to Ethereum Block Building09:30 Redefining the Builder: Relays and Order Flow Auctions15:00 Unpacking the Mempool: Public vs. Private Transactions21:45 The Anatomy of a Block & "Top-of-Block" Arbitrage27:10 How Builders Pay Proposers to Win Auctions35:20 The Oligopoly: Why Only 3 Builders Dominate Ethereum42:15 Trust in the Dark Forest: Handling Searcher Bundles49:00 The Convergence of Builders and Solvers55:30 The Impact of ePBS, FOCIL, and Pre-confirmationsSponsors: Lido V3 introduces stVaults: a modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institutions deploy custom staking vaults, while staying anchored to stETH as a shared liquidity layer.Get started building with Lido V3 today: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenterBlock Space Forum: https://blockspace.forum/
- Apr 13, 202656 min
Institutional-grade yield on USD, BTC, and Gold?
In this episode, host Sebastian Couture is joined by Torab, CEO of Move Industries, to discuss the tension of radical transparency and the decision to scrap Movement's complex L2 architecture in favor of a sovereign L1 powered by the Move VM. He explains how this transition drastically reduced latency and AWS infrastructure costs while improving the builder experience.The conversation explores Movement's core thesis: "Move is for Money". Torab argues that general-purpose L1s are becoming saturated and that Movement's true product-market fit lies in the Global South, serving nations battling currency devaluation. They discuss the implementation of AI agents for continuous security auditing, the "Move Alliance" for ecosystem financial alignment, and why the industry must move past "decentralization theater" to offer pragmatic, yield-bearing stablecoin products to users who actually need them. Finally, Torab teases the upcoming roadmap, including institutional-grade yield on USD, BTC, and Gold. Topics00:00 Intro & Context04:15 The Movement Turnaround09:30 Why Movement Pivoted15:00 The Move VM & Overcoming Developer Friction21:45 AI Agents for 24/7 Security Audits27:10 The Global South35:20 Currency Devaluation & The Demand for Stablecoins42:15 The Move Alliance49:00 Pragmatism vs. Decentralization 55:30 Roadmap: Bringing Yield to USD, BTC, and GoldEpisode LinksTorab on X: https://x.com/utorabyouMovement: https://movementnetwork.xyz/NEAR: https://near.ai/Sponsors:NEAR AI Cloud now lets developers deploy OpenClaw—the rapidly growing open-source AI agent platform—inside Trusted Execution Environments, providing hardware-level encryption with cryptographic attestations. With OpenClaw on NEAR AI Cloud, you can run agents with cloud convenience, but without traditional cloud data exposure. No hardware to manage. No trust assumptions required. Learn more at near.ai.
- Mar 30, 202655 min
Inside Nansen's AI Trading Agent Platform
In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen, to explore the platform's radical pivot from passive on-chain analytics to active, AI-driven agentic trading. Alex unpacks the technical hurdles of labeling over 500 million addresses, the transition from raw data into harmonized insights, and why true alpha now lies in attribution rather than raw data . He explains how Nansen uses ClickHouse databases and a mix of algorithmic heuristics, agentic teams, and human specialists to maintain the highest industry precision. The conversation dives deep into the intersection of LLMs and blockchain, exploring how standard AI models lack domain-specific common sense and why Nansen augments them with real-time data and visual "artifacts". Alex introduces "Nansen Gym," a simulated historical replay environment for training trading agents and teases the upcoming release of "Smart Money 2.0", which aims to predict future profitable addresses with 2-3x uplift on precision. Finally, they discuss the existential risks of AI, the striking parallels between open-source AI and early DeFi, and why Alex believes agentic trading will be the absolute default by 2028. Chapters00:00 Intro & Context04:15 Nansen's Evolution & Agentic Trading09:30 Harmonizing Data & The Attribution Layer15:00 Deterministic vs. Inferred Labeling (Uniswap vs. Binance)21:45 Evaluating AI Agents: LLMs as Judges27:10 User Privacy & Public Blockchain Realities35:20 Building a Unified Trading OS42:15 Smart Money 2.0: Predicting Which Wallets Win49:00 The Limitations of Vanilla LLMs in Crypto55:30 Nansen Gym & Time-Traveling AI Agents59:45 The Open Source AI vs. DeFi Parallel LinksAlex Svanevik on X: https://x.com/ASvanevikNansen: https://www.nansen.ai/NEAR: https://near.ai/Sponsors:NEAR AI Cloud now lets developers deploy OpenClaw—the rapidly growing open-source AI agent platform—inside Trusted Execution Environments, providing hardware-level encryption with cryptographic attestations. With OpenClaw on NEAR AI Cloud, you can run agents with cloud convenience, but without traditional cloud data exposure. No hardware to manage. No trust assumptions required. Learn more at near.ai.
- Feb 27, 20261h 11m
Agentic AI Takes Crypto to the Next Level?
In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by John Paller, founder of ETH Denver, to reflect on nine seasons of North America's largest Ethereum gathering and where the ecosystem goes next. John shares his "red pill" moment in 2016 and the subsequent realization that Ethereum was not just a corporate efficiency tool, but a way to rewire the global economic system. He discusses the evolution of the Biddle meme and how ETH Denver has become a market-driven aggregator for crypto's shifting narratives, from DeFi summer to the current era of institutional adoption.They delve into a candid critique of the Ethereum Foundation’s "Infinite Garden" philosophy, with John arguing for more "structural vision" and actionable roadmaps to compete with the aggressive narratives of chains like Solana. The conversation highlights Agentic AI as the ultimate "Trojan Horse" for mass adoption, enabling a future where users interact with sovereign bots rather than complex private keys. Finally, John explains his Regulation Membership proposal to the US Congress, aiming to provide a federal securities exemption for on-chain cooperatives and restore true economic agency to the "little man." Topics00:00 Intro & Context04:15 Recruitment Tech to Ethereum: John’s Genesis Story09:30 Inventing the "Biddle" Meme at Denver 201815:00 Is Ethereum a "Neo Casino" or a Settlement Layer?21:45 Critiquing Idealism: The Infinite Garden vs. Reality27:10 Why Solana is Not "Sufficiently Decentralized35:20 Agentic AI: The End of signing Transactions manually42:15 The Roman Catholic Church & Institutional Co-opting49:00 German Cooperative Culture & On-Chain Credit Unions 55:30 Regulation Membership & The SEC Challenge59:45 Zero Knowledge Identity & Privacy RightsLinksJohn Paller on X: https://x.com/PallerJohnETH Denver: https://www.ethdenver.com/Opolis: https://opolis.co/Lido: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenterNEAR: https://near.ai/ Sponsors: 1. Lido V3 introduces stVaults: modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institutions deploy custom staking vaults, while staying anchored to stETH as a shared liquidity layer. Get started building with Lido V3 today: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenter2. NEAR AI Cloud now lets developers deploy OpenClaw—the rapidly growing open-source AI agent platform—inside Trusted Execution Environments, providing hardware-level encryption with cryptographic attestations. With OpenClaw on NEAR AI Cloud, you can run agents with cloud convenience, but without traditional cloud data exposure. No hardware to manage. No trust assumptions required. Learn more at near.ai.
- Feb 22, 202657 min
Should All Your Financial Assets be on Blockchain?
In this episode, host Sebastian Couture is joined by Chris Yin, CEO of Plume Network, to deconstruct the current state of Real World Assets (RWAs) and why the sector is at a pivotal inflection point. Chris argues that most RWA projects today are functionally "worse on-chain" because they lack liquidity, composability, and the "crypto-native" user experience that made stablecoins successful. He details how Plume is solving this through a custom L1 stack and the Nest vault protocol, which tokenizes high-yield assets like Brazilian credit card receivables and oil production for a global market.They explore the friction between traditional finance and DeFi, highlighting why private credit's long duration makes it unsuitable for the "looping" and leverage that drives crypto demand. Chris explains the significance of Plume’s SEC Transfer Agent license and its role in bridging the gap between regulated funds and permissionless rails. Finally, the conversation tackles the "bleak" vs. "optimistic" future of crypto, asking whether the industry will maintain its core principles of self-custody and decentralization as it searches for a "new daddy" in institutional capital.Topics00:00 Intro & Context04:15 The Job of a Founder: Finding Change09:30 Crypto Natives vs. TradFi Suites15:00 Stablecoins: The Only RWA That Matters (Today)21:45 The Bottleneck: It’s Not Tokenization, It’s Demand27:10 Why Build an L1 for Assets?35:20 SEC Transfer Agent License Explained42:15 Nest Alpha: Blending Oil, Credit, and T-Bills49:00 Is Leverage Sustainable for Institutions?55:30 The Exodus: Will Crypto Values Survive?LinksChris Yin on X: https://x.com/chriseyinPlume Network: https://www.plumenetwork.com/Nest: https://nest.plumenetwork.com/NEAR: https://near.ai/Sponsors:NEAR AI Cloud now lets developers deploy OpenClaw—the rapidly growing open-source AI agent platform—inside Trusted Execution Environments, providing hardware-level encryption with cryptographic attestations. With OpenClaw on NEAR AI Cloud, you can run agents with cloud convenience, but without traditional cloud data exposure. No hardware to manage. No trust assumptions required. Learn more at near.ai.
- Feb 15, 202658 min
Something better than USDC for your Ethereum?
In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Michael Svoboda, CEO of Liquid AG, to discuss Liquity V2 and the launch of the BOLD stablecoin. Michael explains how Liquity maintains a governance-free, immutable architecture to provide "sovereign dollars" that are not dependent on human committees or centralized backstops. He introduces user-set interest rates, a novel DeFi primitive where borrowers determine their own rates to balance their cost of capital against the risk of being redeemed by stablecoin holders. They explore the technical mechanics of the BOLD stablecoin, its multi-collateral backing of ETH and LSTs, and why the protocol funnels 100% of fees directly to users rather than extracting rent. Michael also shares his analogy of crypto-native stablecoins as "electric engines" that offer a fundamentally different risk profile from traditional banking rails. Finally, the conversation dives into the impact of global regulations like MiCA and why the future of finance belongs to peer-to-peer credit markets.Topics00:00 Intro & Context04:15 Why Banking is Under Pressure09:30 From V1 to Liquity V215:00 User-Set Rates Explained21:45 Redemptions & Peg Stability27:10 Collateral Risk: ETH & LSTs35:20 Cefi vs. Defi Risk Spectrum42:15 Is Immutability Dogmatic?49:00 Revenue Distribution & Self-Sustainability55:30 Non-USD Stables & Global ShiftsLinksMichael on X: https://x.com/svobodamichaelLiquity: https://www.liquity.org/Bluechip: https://bluechip.org/Lido: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenterSponsors: Lido V3 introduces stVaults: modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institutions deploy custom staking vaults, while staying anchored to stETH as a shared liquidity layer. Get started building with Lido V3 today: https://lido.fi/stvaults?mtm_campaign=epicenter
- Feb 1, 202657 min
Is The Future of Ethereum Centralised and Censored?
In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Thomas Thiery, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, to discuss EIP-7805 and the implementation of FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists). Thomas explains how the rise of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) has created a centralized builder market where a few actors now control over 85% of Ethereum's block production, creating a dangerous bottleneck for censorship. FOCIL addresses this by empowering a decentralized committee of 16 validators to mandate transaction inclusion, making any block that ignores these lists invalid. They explore the "Tornado Cash" moment and the risks of "silent censorship" for competitive or regulatory reasons. Thomas explains why FOCIL intentionally prioritizes the public mempool over MEV-heavy transactions to prevent the system from being co-opted. Finally, the conversation looks at the future of the Ethereum roadmap, including the Osaka fork and the technical trade-offs between inclusion lists and long-term privacy solutions like encrypted mempools. Topics00:00 Intro & FOCIL04:15 MEV & Centralization09:30 The Builder-Searcher Pipeline15:00 Silent Censorship Risks21:45 FOCIL Architecture & Committees27:10 Validity Rules for Attestors35:20 Spam Protection & Invalid TXs42:15 FOCIL vs. Encrypted Mempools49:00 EIP-7805 Status & Fork Timelines55:30 Future: PQC & ZK EVMLinksThomas Thiery on X: https://x.com/soispoke Ethereum Foundation: https://ethereum.foundation/ EIP-7805 (FOCIL): https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7805 Gnosis: https://gnosis.io/Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis has been building core decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem since 2015. With the launch of Gnosis Pay last year, we introduced the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Start leveraging its power today at http://gnosis.io
- Jan 25, 20261h 0m
How Will Stablecoins Replace Traditional Banking
In this episode, we are joined by Zach Abrams, CEO of Bridge, to unpack the infrastructure behind the next generation of global payments. Zach discusses Bridge’s mission to move stablecoins beyond mere trading use cases and into core financial services, a vision that recently led to its landmark acquisition by Stripe . He explains how stablecoins function as an innovation at every layer of the money stack, enabling payments that are fundamentally faster and cheaper than legacy systems like ACH or SEPA. They delve into the technical "puzzle pieces" of payments, from the inefficiencies of FBO bank accounts to the "cheat code" of compounding growth in the stablecoin sector. Zach introduces the concept of Stablecoin Orchestration and details why the current USDC/USDT duopoly is unaligned with high-velocity payments due to rent-seeking burn fees and AUM-focused models . Finally, the conversation explores the future of consumer finance, where non-custodial wallets act as bank replacements and a pluralistic ecosystem of local, company-issued stablecoins challenges the dominance of the US dollar Topics00:00 Intro & Context04:15 Legacy Rails vs. Stablecoin Innovation09:30 The "Cash App" Hack & Payments Creativity15:00 Why Bridge Joined Stripe21:45 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Startup Needs27:10 Stablecoin Orchestration & Issuance Explained35:20 The Duopoly Problem: Why USDC/USDT Isn't Enough42:15 Orthogonal Competition: The "Europe" of Stablecoins49:00 Wallets as the New Primary Bank Account55:30 Regrets of a "Child of the Depression" FounderLinksZach Abrams on X: https://x.com/ZCAbramsBridge: https://bridge.xyzStripe: https://stripe.comGnosis: https://gnosis.io/Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis has been building core decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem since 2015. With the launch of Gnosis Pay last year, we introduced the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Start leveraging its power today at http://gnosis.io
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About Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies
Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view. Epicenter is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Meher Roy and Felix Lutsch. Since 2014, our episodes have been downloaded over 8 million times.
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