Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

Neufund CEO Zoe Adamovicz joined us to discuss how Neufund is creating a platform to allow companies to sell tokens backed by actual company equity. Topics covered in this episode: Neufund’s thesis of the revolutionary implications of token equity The difference between ICOs and Equity Token Offerings (ETO) Why from a regulatory perspective ETOs are uncomplicated How Neufund’s token Neumarks serves to build a community How the Initial Capital Building Mechanism is bootstrapping the ecosystem The long-term vision of creating a global stock market Episode links: Neufund Neufund Whitepaper Neufund Light Paper Neufund | ICBM Commit Page German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on ICOs and cryptocurrencies This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/211

Chaincode Labs Founder Alex Morcos joined us to discuss his journey, the role of the company in Bitcoin’s development and the views that drive his work. Topics covered in this episode: Alex’s background in high frequency trading as a founder of Hudson River Trading How Alex first learned about Bitcoin The vision of Chaincode Labs Why Bitcoin represents our only chance of creating digital gold Why Bitcoin’s resistance to change is one of its core features Why the NYA & SegWit2x approach was misguided How getting consensus around a hard fork blocksize increase could work Why Alex is not excited about the efforts to use blockchains in banks Episode links: Chain Code Labs, Inc Twitter Alex Morcos Why Bitcoin doesn’t need a solution – Alex Morcos – Medium No2x: Centralized Services – Alex Morcos – Medium No2x: Full Nodes – Alex Morcos – Medium This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/210

Scaling public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is a long standing technical challenge. In this episode, we cover Zilliqa which has pioneered a design to scale public blockchain throughput with the number of nodes by sharding the blockchain. Sharding has been hitherto proposed as a scaling technique by Ethereum. Zilliqa is one of the first projects to propose a concrete design with an operational testnet processing a couple thousand transactions per second across several shards. Our guests, Xinshu Dong (CEO) and Amrit Kumar (Crypto Lead), walk us through the objectives, protocol design and fundraising structure of this innovative project. We also briefly cover Zilliqa’s novel approach to designing a smart contract language and execution environment. Topics covered in this episode: Sharding as a scaling technique Different kinds of sharding, including state sharding and non-state sharding How Zilliqa works under the hood – consensus algorithms & transaction processing Zilliqa’s novel approach for a smart contract language Details of a new cryptocurrency, Zillings Episode links: Zilliqa Website Zilliqa Blog Zilliqa Whitepaper Prateek Saxena and his research group at NUS Singapore This episode is hosted by Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/209

For the very first time, all three Epicenter hosts found themselves in the same location. After attending Ethereum’s DevCon 3 in Cancun, we were at a Cosmos Retreat and discussed the conference, retreat, state of the Ethereum ecosystem and recent Parity hack. Topics covered in this episode: Recap of Ethereum’s DevCon 3 conference Current state of Ethereum The most interesting new projects at DevCon The post-DevCon Cosmos retreat The internet of blockchain thesis The case for blockchain’s having sovereignty The massive loss of funds due to Parity’s flawed multisig contract The pros and cons of an Ethereum hard fork Episode links: Ethereum Developers Conference (Devcon3) Cosmos - Internet of Blockchains Many Chains One Ecosystem Slides Many Chains One Ecosystem - YouTube "Ethereum Client Bug Freezes User Funds as Fallout Remains Uncertain - CoinDesk" Parity Multi-Sig Wallets Deployed After 7/30 Issue : ethereum Paritytech - Security Alert This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/208

We are joined by Micah Winkelspecht, CEO and Founder of Gem. What started as a Bitcoin API in 2014 has evolved into a leading provider of blockchain solutions for enterprise. Gem addresses the problem of digital data silos and the complexities they introduce when companies and individuals collaborate and share information. Their product, GemOS, provides a full-stack blockchain middleware platform which allows companies to build applications on top of blockchains protocols like Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric. Topics covered in this episode: Micah’s background and how he got involved in the Bitcoin space How the company and product have evolved to support his original vision How blockchain technologies are transforming process digitization The siloed identity problem and what complexities it introduces for people and companies How GemOS is addressing fundamental issues in health care and insurance How blockchain technologies can support regulated industries Micah’s insights on creating awareness among enterprise clients The importance of building ecosystems and network economies which enterprise can leverage Episode links: Gem.co This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/207

Energy markets form a complex ecosystem of actors. Wholesale energy producers create energy through various means, grid operators transport electricity over long distances and deliver it to homes and businesses, who buy it from local utility companies. The utilities act as resellers in this scheme and take on much of the financial risk associated with selling a commodity which is consumed long before payment settlement from consumers. However, utilities have high operation and marketing costs and charge a high markup on the electricity they buy from wholesalers. Karl Kreder, Co-founder of Grid+, a Consensys project, joins us to talk about how blockchain technology can help disintermediate utilities and allow consumers buy electricity directly from producers. The Grid+ Agent is a hardware device which sits in your home, is connected to your energy meter and can interact with the power grid. The Agent has built-in logic allowing it to respond to your energy needs and predict usage. It is also equipped with a Trusted Execution Environment and a wallet which keeps private keys secure and can make near real-time payments to the network. Topics covered in this episode: Karl’s background and how he became part of Consensys Energy A high-level overview of the energy market and the different players in this ecosystem Where lie the inefficiencies and how they can be improved The challenges facing the energy market today The Grid+ Agent and its functionality How the Grid+ Agent works and how it interacts with the grid Other potential applications for the Grid+ Agent The economics of the Grid+ smart contract and how it handles risk The Grid+ token sale Episode links: Grid+ Grid+ Whitepaper What is Grid+? - YouTube This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/206

Galen Wolfe-Pauly, CEO of Tlon, shares insights on Urbit, a groundbreaking project aiming to reinvent the internet through personal servers. He discusses its 15-year evolution and the philosophy that contrasts traditional internet architectures. Key topics include Urbit's unique components—Nock, Hoon, and Arvo—and its governance system likened to a digital republic. Galen envisions a future of decentralized social networks where users regain control over their data, promising a radical shift in how we interact online.

As the ICO boom continues to drive funding and interest in cryptocurrencies, mainstream consumer applications are increasingly looking towards tokenization. One of these was social network Pepo, founded by veteran entrepreneur and previous founder of fab.com Jason Goldberg. Faced with the difficulties of integrating blockchain, they decided to start Simple Token – a company focused on building easy solutions for mainstream applications to use blockchain. Simple Token CEO Jason Goldberg and Chief Technology Strategist joined us to discuss the case for branded token, Simple Tokens architecture and the balance between easy user experience and decentralization. Topics covered in this episode: Jason’s long history as an entrepreneur and the turbulent story of fab.com The perils of raising too much money How the quest to tokenize social network Pepo lead to founding Simple Token The opportunity in tokenizing mainstream consumer applications How Simple Token uses Ethereum and sidechains to allow companies to issue branded tokens How Simple Token backs branded tokens through a staking contract on Ethereum The economics of Simple Token and upcoming ICO Episode links: Simple Token | The Bridge between Cryptocurrencies and Consumer Apps. Jason Goldberg - This Week In Startups Simple Token Pitch Deck Simple Token Technical Whitepaper On the Rebound from Epic Failure – Hacker Noon Simple Token Telegram Channel This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/204

Nasdaq is one of the largest and most well known financial institutions in the World. As the second-largest stock market by market capitalization, Nasdaq is also one of the leading software companies in capital markets, providing its Nasdaq Financial Framework to exchanges all around the globe. Fredrik Voss, VP of Blockchain Innovation at Nasdaq, joins us to discuss how Nasdaq is leveraging blockchain technologies to propel itself into the future. Having invested in Chain and Stratumn, Nasdaq is taking a very hands-on approach, building products which it integrates into the various software solutions they sell. Topics covered in this episode: A high-level overview of Nasdaq as a stock exchange and software company Nasdaq’s thesis regarding blockchain technologies The potential challenges ahead What blockchain technologies bring to regulators regarding oversight and auditing Nasdaq’s Venture Program and its investment thesis Why Nasdaq chose to invest in Chain and Stratumn Types of applications built in partnership with Chain and Stratumn Fredrick’s views on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) Episode links: Why Nasdaq Is Even More Optimistic About Blockchain Than It Was 3 Years Ago Inside Linq, Nasdaq's Private Markets Blockchain Project Nasdaq Executive Fredrik Voss Optimistic About Blockchain in Capital Markets Fredrik Voss, Nasdaq Vice President – About Blockchain This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/203

For many years, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were regarded as little more than a nerdy curiosity by the financial world. But with the rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the process of cryptocurrencies becoming a recognized asset class has begun. One person at the forefront of this transformation is Ari Paul. Previously a portfolio manager at the University of Chicago’s $8 billion endowment, he recently left to start the cryptocurrency hedge fund BlockTower Capital. He joined us for an insightful conversation about one of the biggest trends in the industry. Topics covered in this episode: Ari’s background as a portfolio manager at the University of Chicago The difficulties of investing in cryptocurrency for a large endowment Why he started the cryptocurrency hedge fund BlockTower Capital How to construct a cryptocurrency portfolio The hedge fund vs the VC model in the cryptocurrency space Why cryptocurrencies represent an exceptional investment opportunity The operational complexities of running a crypto hedge fund Why an avalanche of institutional money is entering the blockchain space Episode links: The Cryptocurrency Investor Blog How to Think About Investing in Cryptocurrency: Why Exceptional Opportunities Exist How to Think About Investing in Cryptocurrency: What needs to exist Table Selection | The Cryptocurrency Investor The Wall Street Moment | The Cryptocurrency Investor BlockTower Capital Twitter - Ari Paul This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/202