The Delphi Podcast

GRASS (GetGrass.io) is a viral crypto AI project built on Solana that aims to scrape and validate internet data for AI training. The name 'GRASS' was chosen for its memeability and metaphors. The project addresses the scarcity of quality data and the control of web data by a few companies. It also tackles the unfairness of companies scraping data from residential networks without compens...

Josh, the co-founder of Astria, discusses the journey from data availability layers to building a shared sequencer network. He explains the concept of shared sequencing and its advantages, such as amortizing the cost of engineering and providing a competitive experience for rollup developers. He also addresses the trade-offs and constraints of using a shared sequencer, including the block time and...

Integral is a financial operations and accounting platform for companies with Web3 assets. It simplifies financial workflows and provides real-time access to financial information. The platform saves businesses time and frustration by automating tasks such as bookkeeping, payroll, and payments. Integral enables companies to manage their crypto assets, track transactions, and generate financial sta...

io.net is a distributed training and inference project built on Solana. They aim to solve the problem of the GPU shortage in the AI industry by building a decentralized network that connects underutilized GPUs from multiple sources. Ionet uses clustering technology to combine GPUs from different geographic locations, allowing for more efficient and cost-effective AI compute. They are attracting bo...

The conversation explores the concept of Layer 3 (L3) blockchains and their potential impact on the crypto industry. L3s offer unlimited customizations with near-zero gas fees, allowing for limitless creativity and experimentation. The discussion focuses on Degen, a community built on the L3 chain, and its journey from a tipping functionality on Forecaster to launching its own L3. The founders of...

In this conversation, Jeff from Nous Research discusses their work on open source models and the BitTensor subnet. They address the challenges of ranking models on platforms like Hugging Face and the need for a more reliable and commercially viable model ranking system. Nous Research has developed Nous Hermes, an open source model that can be fine-tuned to follow specific instructions. They also c...

Recorded Live at ETH Denver 2024, this conversation explores the intersection of crypto and AI, discussing the need for decentralized AI models and the challenges of achieving this. The participants highlight the importance of keeping AI open and driven by people, rather than organizations. They discuss the potential of blockchain and Web3 technology to enable new business models and address the l...

In this episode, Tommy and Santiago interview Ethan Sun, the co-founder of MyShell, a decentralized platform for creating and staking AI native applications. They discuss the evolution of AI over the past decade, the importance of consumer-facing applications, and the potential for AI to enhance daily life. Ethan explains how MyShell empowers creators to easily build AI experiences and the role of...

In this podcast, we dive deep into the world of Bitcoin scalability solutions with Orkun Kilic, the co-founder and CEO of Chainway Labs, the company behind Citrea - Bitcoin's first zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup. Orkun provides a detailed background on the journey that led to the creation of Citrea, explaining how recent upgrades to Bitcoin's protocol like SegWit, Taproot, and the Ordinals p...

In this episode, Keith Singery, a prominent validator and thought leader in the Bittensor ecosystem sits down with Tommy and Michael to share his unique perspective on the project's mission to democratize AI and create a decentralized alternative to the centralized models dominating the field. They delve into the intricate dynamics of Bittensor, including the incentive mechanisms that fuel th...

In this episode, Keone Hon dives deep on Monad, a high-performance Ethereum-compatible layer 1 blockchain focused on delivering high performance and drastically lower transaction costs. We discuss Monad's key technical innovations like MonadBFT consensus, parallel execution, and a custom database enabling 10,000+ TPS. Keone explains how these breakthroughs allow complex 100K gas transactions...

Simon Harman, founder of decentralized cross-chain swap protocol Chainflip, joins us for an in-depth discussion on the future of trading in crypto. We cover the motivation behind building a decentralized exchange focused on major layer 1 assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the technical challenges with supporting Bitcoin, and how ChainFlip achieves fast, no-slippage swaps. Simon explains ChainFlip&a...

Logan Jastremski, Co-founder of Frictionless Capital, sits down for an in-person podcast with Tommy to discuss scaling solutions for high throughput blockchains. They dive into integrated chains like Solana versus modular approaches like Celestia, balancing decentralization and performance, Layer 2 rollups, the differences between downtime and reorgs, and more. Logan breaks down his views from a f...

Guy Young joins Delphi Ventures' Yan Liberman to discuss Ethena’s novel approach to creating a stablecoin that is censorship-resistant, scalable, and yield-generating. We explore how Ethena achieves these goals through a crypto-native stablecoin called USDE that generates yield by collateralizing staked ETH and shorting ETH futures. The conversation provides unique insight into the mechanics...

AI innovation is accelerating rapidly, but centralized control threatens equitable access and distribution. Can decentralized coordination unlock AI's full potential? We explore this question with Upshot CEO Nick Emmons on his mission to decentralize AI models and architect mechanisms for specialized models to work together. We dive into Upshot's network architecture, machine learning pr...

Ala Shaabana joins us to discuss the compelling vision behind Bittensor - a decentralized network aiming to democratize access to AI models and development. He provides an inside look at the technical architecture and incentives powering this novel system. We delve into recent events highlighting flaws in centralized AI governance, using OpenAI's board drama as a case study. Ala contrasts thi...

Robert Leshner has been at the forefront of DeFi since founding Compound in 2017. Now he's on a mission to bridge traditional finance and crypto with his new venture, SuperState. In this episode, Robert provides an inside look at SuperState's plans to tokenize real-world assets like US Treasuries, allowing crypto protocols to access their yields. He explains why asset tokenization has be...

How do experienced crypto investors analyze and adapt their strategies over time? Get insights from Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder VC, on the firm's journey investing in crypto networks. From Bitcoin's early days to Ethereum's rise and now Solana, Chris explains their evolving philosophy. He shares thoughtful perspectives on building founder relationships, managing liquidity...

Co-founders of Offchain Labs, Ed Felten and Steven Goldfeder take us back to 2014, when a classroom idea sparked their vision for scaling before Ethereum even launched. Learn why they believe interactive fraud proofs provide unparalleled security guarantees compared to ZK-rollups, and dive into how these fraud proofs technically work. Gain valuable perspective from Felten and Goldfeder on the flaw...

Eli Ben-Sasson, Co-founder and President of StarkWare, joins this podcast episode to discuss scaling blockchains like Ethereum with ZK proofs and validity rollups. He provides an in-depth look at how StarkWare is using its Cairo language and ZK-VM to enable scalability, privacy, and computational integrity on Ethereum. Topics covered include: The role of Ethereum and validity rollups in the future...

On this episode of the Delphi Podcast, Tommy and Jose spoke with Antonio Juliano, founder of dYdX, about their goal to build the largest crypto exchange through a focus on decentralization and derivatives trading. They discussed dYdX's ambitious vision and the risks they are taking to achieve it, including building their own Cosmos-based blockchain called dYdX Chain. Antonio explained how thi...

Christopher Goes, co-founder of Anoma and Nomad, joins Tommy and Can to discuss how he envisions intents becoming the primary interface for blockchain applications. They explore how Anoma is building an architecture focused on user intents, rather than transactions, and how this enables greater composability, privacy, and flexibility. Chris provides his unique insight on the evolution of privacy,...

In this episode Tommy is joined by Travis Kling, founder of Ikigai Asset Management, he discusses his investigation into Binance. Travis breaks down the timeline of events at Binance over the past year, including large BTC transfers, executives leaving, and getting banned in multiple countries. He also explains why he believes there could be a liability mismatch and "hole" in Binance&apo...

Jose, Yan, Duncan and Ceteris discuss the craze of friend.tech, what it is, how it works and what it might bring to the table, as well as talk about Coinbase's new L2 and their views on ETFs, liquidity and the markets. Subscribe to the Hivemind podcast here Disclosures: Nothing said on The Hivemind is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. The podcast is strictly for informatio...

In this spirited debate podcast episode, Tommy is joined by Kyle Samani, Co-Founder of Multicoin Capital, and Nick White, COO of Celestia Labs, to discuss the future of blockchain infrastructure. Kyle lays out the case for integrated blockchain platforms like Solana and Aptos that optimize for scalability, while Nick argues for the flexibility of modular networks like Celestia. They dive deep into...