🎙️ METACAST: Top Crypto Podcasts of December 2022

January 2nd 2023

Check a quick overview of what we’ve been listening to last month!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Check a quick overview of what we’ve been listening to last month!

Ethereum in 2023 with Vitalik Buterin. Vitalik unpacks his recent essay, “What in the Ethereum application ecosystem excites me,” and his thoughts around why crypto villains are getting worse, what Ethereum’s most scalable use case is, why he plans to say ‘Ethereum’ rather than ‘crypto’ in 2023, how Ethereum solves the big bad identity problem, and why he thinks “simple DeFi good, complicated DeFi bad.”
The bull case for Ethereum IV with Justin Drake, DCinvestor, & Anthony Sassano.
Anna of Zero Knowledge explores the topic of Ultrasound Money with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation.
Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes.
How will the FTX collapse affect Silvergate? A bear and a bull debate.
Coinbase’s VP of Business Development for Ecosystem and Listings, Dan Kim, leads a discussion on whether or not the United States is losing the battle to be the best place for crypto projects to list their tokens on exchanges like Coinbase.
Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG).
Is this the endgame? with Itay Vinik, a Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer at Equi, an alternative investment platform that brings investment strategies to accredited investors.
Proof of Solvency with Kostas Chalkias, co-founder and chief of Cryptography at MystenLabs.
The bull case for modular blockchains with the co-founder of Fuel Labs and Celestia, John Adler.
The future of decentralized social media with Stani Kulechov of Lens Protocol.
Why mainstream media sucks & how to fix it with Saagar Enjeti, a Co-Host of an American populist, anti-establishment political news and opinion series called, Breaking Points with Krystal Ball as his co-host.
Decentralized music platforms with Roneil Rumberg of Audius.
Making ReFi real with Jahed Momand.
Decentralized identity with Gregory Rocco of Spruce.
Idena Network with its founder Andrew.
Dune Analytics — the open data platform with Fredrik Haga.
Quadratic Voting with Tim Daubenschütz.
BitGo’s Mike Belshe on what’s next for WBTC & crypto custodians.
Sam Williams, the co-founder and CEO of Arweave, on storing files on-chain for eternity.
Juan Benet, the founder of Protocol Labs and the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System, was featured on the Defiant podcast.
Gensyn — the deep learning compute protocol with Ben Fielding & Harry Grieve.
Crypto Thesis for 2023 with Ryan Selkis of Messari.
Anna and part-time Zero Knowledge co-hosts Tarun, Guillermo, Josh, and Kobi, get together for a casual catch-up and have a look back at 2022.
Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during the last year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future.
Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023.
Epicenter hosts — The bear is back: Recollections from 2022.
A special Bankless episode — the biggest moments in 2022 for crypto.
And much more!

Around the Block

Around the Block Ep 41: New Token Listings with Dan Kim, Luke Lombe & Daniel Forester: Coinbase’s VP of Business Development for Ecosystem and Listings, Dan Kim, leads a discussion on whether or not the United States is losing the battle to be the best place for crypto projects to list their tokens on exchanges like Coinbase. Joining him for the conversation are Luke Lombe, founding partner at Faculty Group and Daniel Forester, partner at the tech-focused law firm, Orrick.
Around the Block Ep 40: What the Midterms Mean for Crypto: In this episode of Around the Block, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong hosts Kara Calvert, Coinbase’s Head of US Policy, Chris Lehane, Chief Strategy Officer at Haun Ventures and Marta Belcher, President of the Filecoin Foundation. They discuss the results of the election, what to expect next, and how they can work with policymakers to establish rules that protect crypto investors and users.

Unchained

Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge — Ep. 435: Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more.
2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year — Ep. 434: What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023.
How Much Prison Time Is FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Facing? — Ep. 432: Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, discusses all the charges that Sam Bankman-Fried is facing and their potential outcomes.
How Will the FTX Collapse Affect Silvergate? A Bear and a Bull Debate — Ep. 431: Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it.
Why the Legal Process for FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Could Take Years — Ep. 430: TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory & policy at Bain Capital Crypto, discusses how the legal process for Sam Bankman-Fried in the wake of the FTX scandal could play out.
Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? — Ep. 429: Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and co-founder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Samuel Andrew, crypto author and analyst, talk about the financial situation at Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The collapse of FTX has dealt crypto lender Genesis another major blow, with the firm halting withdrawals and DCG stepping in to help. Now the two face a range of suboptimal outcomes in the face of massive debts. Ahluwalia and Andrew discuss what could come next, and what should be learned from the recent debacles.
Adam Cochran on Why Crypto Prices Will Be Down Bad for the Next Six Months — Ep. 427: Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, talks about the collapses suffered during this year, their impacts on big traditional finance players, and what’s coming in the crypto markets in the near future.

The Chopping Block:

The Chopping Block: Was FTX a Scam From the Very Beginning? — Ep. 433: Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Robert Leshner, and Tarun Chitra were joined by Laura Shin to chop it up about the latest news.
The Chopping Block: SBF Wants to Win in the Court of Public Opinion. Will He? — Ep. 428

Bankless

Ethereum in 2023 with Vitalik Buterin: Vitalik Buterin is your friendly neighborhood Ethereum developer, an alfalfa male who thinks we should rename Gas to Mana. In this episode, Vitalik unpacks his recent essay, “What in the Ethereum application ecosystem excites me,” and his thoughts around why crypto villains are getting worse, what Ethereum’s most scalable use case is, why he plans to say ‘Ethereum’ rather than ‘crypto’ in 2023, how Ethereum solves the big bad identity problem, and why he thinks “simple DeFi good, complicated DeFi bad.”
Bull Case for Ethereum IV with Justin Drake, DCinvestor, & Anthony Sassano: A lot has changed since the previous “Bull Case for Ethereum” episode. The fourth installment comes at one of the most pivotal moments in crypto’s history. The industry is still reeling from the collapse of FTX and macro uncertainty looms. But with the merge behind us and so much to look forward to on the Ethereum roadmap it’s still hard not to be bullish. What’s 2023 going to look like? Justin Drake, DC Investor, and Anthony Sassano give us their bull case for the new year and beyond.
Why Mainstream Media Sucks & How to Fix It with Saagar Enjeti: Saagar Enjeti is the Co-Host of an American populist, anti-establishment political news and opinion series called, Breaking Points with Krystal Ball as his co-host.
Is This the Endgame? with Itay Vinik: Itay Vinik is the Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer at Equi, an alternative investment platform that brings investment strategies to accredited investors. Is this the endgame? This is the central theme of this episode. Further, they dive into Itay’s outlook on 2023 and beyond.
Senator Pat Toomey’s Concerns about the SEC & Crypto: The Bankless hosts brought on thsir first United States senator, Sen. Toomey. He’s a senator from Pennsylvania, a ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committees. He’s also crypto-friendly. Hear how Capitol Hill is digesting the FTX collapse,and what America’s crypto competition looks like currently.
Crypto Thesis for 2023 | Ryan Selkis: Ryan Selkis is presenting his Crypto Theses for 2023 on the State of the Nation. Every year, Ryan publishes a massive document that wraps up the year in the industry, and looks forward to what’s coming next. After an insane 2022, what does 2023 hold in store? Ryan Selkis of Messari brings the answers.
2022’s Biggest Crypto Moments: Tap in for a special Bankless Episode — the biggest moments in 2022 for Crypto.
Alpha Leak | The Bull Case for Modular Blockchains: In this episode, the hosts are joined by Co-Founder of Fuel Labs and Celestia, John Adler. Fuel is the fastest modular execution layer and Celestia is the first modular blockchain network. John and David explore how modular blockchains are shaping the future of the space, what Fuel is, why it’s different than other L2s on Ethereum, why John believes Fuel is the leading L2, and so much more.
Phantom Wallet on Ethereum: The Phantom Wallet is coming to Ethereum. Adding diversity and a smooth user experience to the DeFi wallet landscape, CEO Brandon Millman and CTO Francesco Agosti join the hosts to discuss the migration to Ethereum, expansion into Polygon, the team’s design philosophy, and the future of Phantom.

Green Pill:

Rollups:

Zero Knowledge

Episode 259: 2022 End of Year Wrap with Co-Hosts: Anna and part-time Zero Knowledge co-hosts Tarun, Guillermo, Josh and Kobi, get together for a casual catch-up and have a look back at 2022. They trace Jan to today in both the zk community and the larger ecosystem, discussing the highs and the lows, focusing on the major events which stood out to them. If you think the team missed anything, let us know by replying to our tweet announcing this episode of the Podcast.
Episode 258: Ultrasound Money & VRFs with Justin Drake: Anna explores the topic of Ultrasound Money with Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation. They kick off with updates on his work in VDFs, MEV and censorship resistance, alongside his particular interests in ZK and how the progress VRFs have made can be applied in Ethereum’s POS architecture. They then dive into the original concept of Ultrasound Money and where Justin sees it progressing to in the future, including the current status around issuance.
Episode 257: Proof of Solvency with Kostas Chalkias: Anna explores the topic of proof of solvency with Kostas Chalkias, co-founder and chief of Cryptography at MystenLabs. They cover Kostas’ background in Cryptography and explore his work on proof of reserves, otherwise known as proof of solvency. They cover Kostas’ background in Cryptography and explore his work on Proof of Reserves, otherwise known as Proof of Solvency. They review past Proof of Solvency models using ZKPs and look at the protocols that major centralized exchanges are currently using. Then they dive into the security vulnerabilities, privacy issues, and general bugs that Kostas and his collaborators have identified in these protocols and their recommendations on how to better build Proof of Solvency systems.
Episode 256: New ZK Use Cases with Dan Boneh: I this episode, Anna and Kobi Gurkan chat with Dan Boneh, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford and Director of the Stanford Center for Blockchain Research. They discuss Dan’s more recent work in ZK Tech, both in education and in research, and review innovative use cases both Dan and his students have been working on since the last episode.

Epicenter

Epicenter Hosts — The Bear Is Back: Recollections From 2022: This year has been quite a rollercoaster for the crypto industry. From the long-awaited success of the Ethereum Merge to the spectacular collapse of FTX, this year has been full of lessons, resilience, and insights. This is also one of a few bear markets where activities and developments continue to feel vibrant across the board, while long-term adoption and regulations seem evermore uncertain. With that backdrop, the hosts sit down for a conversation on the current state of crypto and look back on 2022. The topics range from the general public sentiment to key developments within the industry, as well as exciting themes that the hosts are looking forward to in the upcoming future. Throughout the conversation, the hosts also express concerns over the issues with privacy and regulations, and how the ecosystems can resiliently move forward.
Fuel Labs — Modular Execution Blockchains with Nick Dodson: As crypto adoption increases, so does the pressing need for blockchain scalability. Monolithic blockchains provide data availability, consensus and execution on a single, base layer, which makes scaling them a difficult endeavour. Multiple layer-2 (L2) scaling solutions have been proposed to address computation and/or data availability, but they reach the same design bottlenecks: limited bandwidth, account state models, sequential transaction processing, etc. Modular blockchains separate the core functionalities, redesigning them as customizable building blocks. This allows for greater flexibility and scalability, adapting blockchain structure to its intended function. The Epicenter hosts were joined by Nick Dodson, CEO and co-founder of Fuel Labs, to discuss modular execution layers and how they approach different aspects of blockchain design and scalability.
Dune Analytics — The Open Data Platform with Fredrik Haga: Dune Analytics is a platform aggregating blockchain data, making data easier to query and understand for the larger public. Over the past years, Dune has become the go-to tool for blockchain analytics, as well as the home of a community of dune wizards numbering in the thousands, with its fundraising at a 1 Billion valuation as a testament to the growth of the project over the past 4 years. In this episode, the hosts are joined by the project’s co-founder, Fredrik Haga. They discuss the products Dune Analytics offers, why it’s hard to aggregate data that in principle is public, and how a community of data wizards was built in a grassroots effort. They also chatted about product focus and vision for the future, as well as useful lessons for bootstrapping a project on a shoestring budget.
Gensyn — The Deep Learning Compute Protocol with Ben Fielding & Harry Grieve: Artificial Intelligence is a fascinating field that has made tremendous development over the past few years. From GPT-3 to Dall-e and Stable Diffusion, the vastness of the scope of applications for AI and neural computing is becoming clearer than ever. At the base layer, there is a need for a decentralized p2p AI computing platform that provides flexible access to the wider public. Gensyn sets out on the mission to provide just that by building a marketplace protocol for AI computing — ultra-low cost, hyper-scale, permissionless. In this episode, they are joined by the project’s co-founders Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve. We take a deep dive into the current landscape for AI and AI computing, the reasonings and trade-offs in building Gensyn, the protocol’s focus and edge cases, and how the protocol is utilizing blockchain technology as both an incentive layer and a credibly neutral platform.

The Unstoppable Podcast

The Future of Decentralized Social Media with Stani Kulechov at Lens Protocol: On the latest episode, the Unstoppable Podcast hosts were joined by Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO at Aave, an open-source and non-custodial liquidity protocol.
22 Lessons Learned From “The Unstoppable Podcast” in 2022 with Josh Gordon at Unstoppable Domains: Every industry will be affected by NFTs in the future, but it will take time to understand the true value that NFTs provide in each industry.
Best of the Month: November 2022: The month of November has come to an end, and the year 2022 is almost through. That means it’s time for another monthly update, where we’ll recap the fascinating, insightful and entertaining conversations we’ve had on the Unstoppable Podcast in the last month.

The Defiant

Notorious Threadooor Adam Cochran explains his Crypto Shopping and Shorting List: Adam Cochran is an investor at Cinneamhain Ventures but he’s probably most known for his extensive and viral threads on Twitter. He discusses the FTX collapse, and more.
BitGo’s Mike Belshe on What’s Next for WBTC & Crypto Custodians: Mike Belshe is the CEO of BitGo, a digital asset custodian, wallet, and also the issuer of wrapped Bitcoin. In this conversation with Mike, he discusses the role of custodians, especially in a period in the industry where several centralized crypto entities have crashed and have become insolvent. He also dives into wrapped Bitcoin losing its peg against Bitcoin.
Sam Williams On Storing Files On-Chain For Eternity: Sam Williams is the co-founder and CEO of Arweave. Arweave enables you to store data, applications, and documents forever. He dives into the profound use cases on Arweave, what he says to those that say Arweave might be too expensive to store certain files, how Arweave is used to store NFTs so that they can live forever, and how you can earn money with Arweave.
Juan Benet is Working to Upgrade the Heart of The Internet with Blockchains: Juan Benet is the founder of Protocol Labs and the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System, a peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data. He’s also the creator of Filecoin, a storage network incentivized by crypto. Both of Juan’s ventures are hugely ambitious as they are in direct competition with the basic rails of the internet, with protocols such as HTTP and data giants like AWS.

MISC

4 Trends to Watch in Crypto in 2023 — Kinjal & Yuan, Blockchain Cap, Ep 223: Blockchain Capital is one of the earliest and leading venture capital firms in the blockchain industry. Today, Blockchain Capital manages $2 billion in AUM, and has invested in some of the largest blockchain companies like OpenSea, 1inch, and Aave. On Blockcrunch, they have Kinjal Shah and Yuan Han Li, Partner and Associate at Blockchain Capital to share with us: 4 verticals they think will take off in 2023, a framework for investing in different verticals, making Web 3 development more accessible for builders.