The Gwart Show | Blockspace Media

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, Noah Goldberg of Theia Research, joins us to dive deep into the world of liquid token markets. Noah breaks down why the "token premium" is unsustainable, how his firm evaluates fundamental value in DeFi applications, and why the market structure creates perverse incentives. He explains why on-chain finance hasn't supplanted traditional finance as quickly as many e...

Welcome back to The Gwart Show! Today, Santisa @Tiza4ThePeople from Lucidity joins us to discuss market neutral strategies in DeFi. He breaks down how his fund extracts alpha from stablecoin pairs and incentive programs while maintaining a risk-neutral position. We dive into the sophistication behind monitoring protocols, identifying opportunities through on-chain analysis, and why DeFi tokens rar...

Welcome back to the Gwart Show! We got Round II of the Crypto VC debate with Gwart and Haseeb. Are tokens actually worth anything? Do VCs provide real signal value? What's the right benchmark for success? The conversation gets spicy as they examine Dragonfly's portfolio performance, discuss whether tokens truly capture value, and question if early-stage crypto investments can ever live up to their...

Welcome back to the Gwart Show! Today we have Haseeb Qureshi and Tarun Chitra about whether VC-funded tokens are vaporware or valuable investments. They tackle fundamental questions about crypto market structure, token valuation models, and the long-term economics of L1 blockchains. Is there a carrying capacity for tokens? Are smart contract platforms overvalued? Will L1s converge to their utility...

Welcome back to The Gwart Show! Today, Jarry Xiao, co-founder and engineering lead at Ellipsis Labs, joins to chat tradfi to crypto infrastructure. Jarry dives deep into Phoenix, their central limit order book on Solana, and introduces Atlas - their purpose-built blockchain for financial applications. The conversation touches blockchain trading challenges, the economics of validator networks, and...

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, @rajivpoc from @hiFramework joins us. We discuss the L1 trade narrative (“not cooked”), the influx of talented builders entering crypto, and dynamics between VCs and retail investors. Rajiv offers perspectives on Hyperliquid's success, the future of memecoins, and why Bitcoin-based financial products represent a massive opportunity. He also shares his optimistic o...

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, we are joined by Guy, the founder of Ethena, one of crypto's fastest-growing stablecoin projects, which reached $6 billion faster than any dollar-pegged asset in history. We discuss how Ethena's synthetic dollar works by capturing funding rates from perpetual futures markets, why they've embraced centralized exchanges while maintaining neutrality, and their ambiti...

Welcome back to The Gwart Show! Today, Andrew Bailey–fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute– joins Gwart to discuss Bitcoin's role as resistance money, the philosophical implications of cryptocurrency, and why simplicity might trump utility in digital assets.  Follow our guest on Twitter: @resistancemoney TOPICS -Bitcoin as Resistance Money -Philosophy in Cryptocurrency -Stablecoins vs Bitcoin -Et...

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, Willem from Botanix Labs joins us to discuss their pioneering "spider chain" approach for Bitcoin's second layer. Unlike traditional rollups, Botanix creates a decentralized network of multi-sig validators to bring EVM capabilities to Bitcoin while maintaining censorship resistance. Willem explains why decentralization matters for DeFi applications, how their vali...

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, joins us to discuss how Bitcoin functions as essential "money dictators can't stop" for human rights activists worldwide. With nearly 18 years at HRF, Alex shares fascinating stories of Bitcoin adoption in authoritarian regimes, his journey from skeptic to advocate, and why Bitcoin—not general...

Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Welcome back to The Great Show! Today, we finish the second half of our chat with Felipe Montealegre from Theia Research on traditional private equity valuation methods and crypto investing. We explore fundamental analysis in DeFi, token valuations, shareholder rights, and the evolution of crypto markets. Felipe shares insights on...

Welcome back to The Great Show! Today, Felipe Montealegre from Theia Research joins to discuss traditional private equity valuation methods and crypto investing. We explore fundamental analysis in DeFi, token valuations, shareholder rights, and the evolution of crypto markets. Felipe shares insights on identifying quality revenue streams, evaluating moats, and building sustainable value in the cry...

Welcome to The Gwart Show! Today, Jacob Phillips, founder of Lombard Finance, joins us to talk Bitcoin staking. From Babylon protocol's approach to Bitcoin security to Lombard's role in creating liquid staking derivatives, we chat about Bitcoin as a productive asset. Plus thoughts on technical infrastructure, market dynamics, and Bitcoin staking in DeFi. TOPICS • Bitcoin Staking Mechanisms • Babyl...

Welcome back to The Gwart Show! Peter van Valkenburgh breaks down Coin Center's legal battle against the DOJ's crackdown on privacy tools like Tornado Cash. From First Amendment rights to money transmission laws, we explore how these cases could alter development. Peter explains why software isn't money transmission and how these prosecutions threaten innovation in America. 🐦Follow our guests on...

In this deep dive episode, Kevin Mills from Triton Liquid Fund joins us to examine the fundamental value of Ethereum through multiple analytical frameworks. Building on John Pfeifer's influential 2017 paper, Kevin explores cash flow models, equation of exchange, and the internet bond theory to assess ETH's true value. The conversation challenges popular narratives around monetary premium and quest...

Happy Sunday and welcome back to The Gwart Show. Today we are joined by Jordi Alexander, founder of Selini Capital, discusses HyperLiquid's success, the future of AI in crypto, market making strategies, and shares insights on Ethereum's potential changes and Solana's surprising performance. Follow our guests on Twitter:@gametheorizing 00:00 Start 00:56 Jordi intro 01:23 Selini Capital 03:11 Prop s...

Steve Lee from Spiral and Ren from Electric Capital join The Gwart Show to talk Bitcoin consensus! We cover how Bitcoin changes, stakeholder weight, and the future of protocol upgrades like covenants. Follow our guest on Twitter: @moneyball @0xren_cf Read our paper: https://bitcoin-cap.github.io/bcap/ 00:00 Start 01:00 Introductions 03:01 Partnering for the paper 04:25 Motivation to write paper 08...

Today we’re joined by Uma Roy of Succinct Labs to discuss ZK-VM technology, the upcoming prover network, and the alternative scaling paths. We got into rollup architectures, Bitcoin integration, and the landscape of ZK proofs in crypto. Follow our guest on Twitter: @pumatheuma 00:00 Start 00:53 Who is Uma? 01:16 What's a ZKVM? 03:07 Starkware vs Prover Network 04:20 How does it work? 05:28 Who pla...

Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of Starkware, joins The Gwart Show to discuss Ethereum L2s and Bitcoin scaling solutions. We go through rollup controversies, Starkware’s airdrop drama, and how we might actually scale protocols through ZK proofs and STARKs. Lastly, we touch on OP_CAT, which the Starkware team has been pushing behind the scenes. Follow our guest on Twitter: @EliBenSasson 00:00 Start 00:44 Guest...

Charlotte, creator of Milady NFTs, discusses building a counter-cultural art movement, embracing controversy, fostering community through derivatives, and aiming for "thousand-year dynasty" influence across tech, politics, and culture while rejecting traditional VC-backed NFT models. Follow our guest on Twitter: @CharlotteFang77 00:00 Start 01:01 Who is Charlotte Fang? 01:29 Inspiration for Milady...

Welcome back to The Gwart Show! Today we are rejoined by Jon Charb of DBA. A fellow podcaster and SOL bag holder, Gwart digs into Jon’s recent blog post on Ethereum’s future, community alignment, value of ETH, and Bitcoin rollup development. Follow our guest on Twitter: @jon_charb 00:00 Start 00:41 ETH's North Star Blog Post 03:57 Is SOL a true competitor? 05:44 WTF is a settlement layer? 09:35 Ma...

Max is leaving Ethereum, and we have the details. On this Gwart Show special filmed at Pubkey in NYC, Max and Eugene join Gwart to go through Max’s decision to leave Ethereum dev shop Conensensys in favor of a Solana client which frankly we don’t know how to spell or pronounce. We go through Ethereum’s major problems basically one-by-one in this 1.5 hour show, finishing with a Holiday Special game...

Justin Drake joins us as the dust settles on his ‘Beam Chain’ pivot (?) for Ethereum. Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation joins The Gwart Show! We discuss his Beam Chain proposal, covering improvements in block production, staking mechanics, and cryptography. He explains the path toward more efficient validation and the future of Layer 2 scaling solutions. Follow our guest on Twitter: @drakefj...

Can we get Ethereum without tradeoffs? Probably not but we’re gonna try. This week we’re joined by MEV searcher and developer 0xprincess to discuss “trustless order flow operations layers,” or how 1-second block times with no protocol changes or L2s can happen today. Later on we get into Wintermute, Flashbots and chain order flow. Follow our guest on Twitter: @0x9212ce55 Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00...

Rebecca Rettig, Chief Legal Officer at Polygon Labs, joins The Gwart show to discuss crypto regulation, the future of DeFi, stablecoins, and the impact of upcoming elections on crypto policy. Deep insights into regulatory challenges and opportunities in the evolving crypto landscape. Note this show was recorded before the election occurred! Follow our guest on Twitter: @RebeccaRettig1 Timestamps:...