Crypto Adoption Curve
By yieldkollector
Crypto Adoption CurveApr 21, 2021
Avalanche - Building the fastest proof of stake smart contracts platform with most validators
Avalanche is building a fast finality proof of stake smart contract blockchain that settles transactions in sub-seconds.
The frequent high gas prices on the Ethereum have shut out many crypto users and congested the network. With users and project teams both looking for alternatives, Avalanche has recently announced a massive $600mil incentive program to encourage more builders and users to try out its super fast L1 solution.
In this episode, Jay, the VP of Marketing at Ava Labs, explores with us the Avalanche ecosystem and popular dapps that we can use on Avalanche. To find more, please visit https://ecosystem.avax.network/
Goldfinch Finance - A decentralised credit platform for crypto loans without collateral
When most of world's trillion dollar credit market function on an uncollateralised basis, we in crypto have so far left this opportunity unaddressed. Goldfinch is one of the innovators going after this market opportunity by leveraging cryptoeconomic incentives and decentralised credit assessment processes.
Listen to my conversation with Blake and Mike, the two Co-Founders, to learn how can you borrow a stablecoin loan without the customary crypto collateral requirement. Or if you have credit analysis expertise, how can you pursue opportunities with the financial backing from Goldfinch's liquidity providers.
Learn more about the project
Maple Finance - Building a decentralised capital efficient institutional loan market
Did you know there were $20billion loans made by Genesis Trading in Q1 2021? Have you ever wondered what does it take to move from what is currently capital inefficient overcollateralized loans to under/uncollateralised loans in crypto? What unlocks would this capital efficient loan making process enable?
In this episode I chatted with Sidney Powell, CEO of Maple Finance, who spent much of his career in corporate lending business, on bringing together risk assessors, liquidity providers and institutional borrowers through incentives design and expertise requirements.
Find out more about Maple Finance:
Injective Protocol - Purpose built decentralised derivatives creation and trading platform
Have you ever traded a perpetual swap because it allowed you to gain a 10x capital efficient exposure to an asset or allowed you to implement a basis trading strategy. Why does decentralised perpetual swaps not work on Ethereum L1 yet found much success on a higher performant chain such as Ethereum L2s. What are some of the use cases of perpetual swaps in a crypto native setting?
In this episode I chatted with Eric Chen, the founder of Injective Protocol, a Cosmos and EVM compatible purpose built blockchain for derivatives creation and trading. We dived deep into the technology stack and cryptoeconomic incentives enabling market making, security and trading activities on the chain.
Institutional Crypto Market Evolution and Structure with Genesis Trading's Josh Lim
How did the crypto market evolve from the early 2010s to what it is today? In this episode I talked with Josh Lim about the market structure changes and the evolution of one of industry's heavyweight - Genesis Trading.
Genesis Trading is building a fully integrated prime brokerage platform for institutional crypto players. To learn more about the firm, go to https://genesistrading.com
Stratos Technologies - the research driven fund with deep fintech expertise and operating experience
Why does the crypto project only raise one round or a few rounds early in its life compared to a traditional startup? What are the underlying narratives in crypto VC market and what are their relative importance in relations to being a good investment at the right time?
These are some of the questions we talk about in this episode where I had the pleasure of explore VC investing with Rennick Palley, the Founder and CIO of Stratos Technologies. Rennick has a long track record in equity research and investing. He has led Stratos Technologies in early investments in Compound and other crypto projects that are likely to shape the evolution of the industry in the coming years. Listen to our conversation to learn more.
Stratos Technologies Website: https://www.stratoslp.com/
Stratos Twitter: https://twitter.com/StratosTec
Stratos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stratostec/about/
Medium Publication: https://medium.com/stratos-technologies
gumi Cryptos Capital - the $30mln fund discovering & landing deals before Silicon Valley luminaries
How does a crypto fund that is $30mil in size land the hottest crypto projects, such as OpenSea, Theta and Celsius, before or at the same time as the giants like Andreessen Horowitz.
In this episode, I had the pleasure to chat with Miko Matsumura, GP of gumi Cryptos Capital and a veteran Valley entrepreneur and investor, to discuss and dissect the secret behind its success and unicorn investments.
Miko also hosts his own show MikoBits. Do check it out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcvr_fLs0J9LEvK-BqLkiBA
DeFi Insurance Deep Dive with Coingecko's Lucius Fang
With over $40 billions locked inside DeFi and the TV constantly increasing, the total addressable market for insurance product is huge. Yet only a few hundreds of millions is insured. What are some of the market trends, product adoption challenges and opportunities in this largely untapped market?
In this episode I talked with Lucius Fang of Coingecko who has an actuary background and experience. He recently wrote a great article (https://www.coingecko.com/buzz/decent...) on the topic. We unpacked, explored and discussed various product features in the current market.
Rockaway Blockchain Fund - the $100 million crypto fund investing in global crypto pioneers
What do Vega, Terra, 1inch and Agoric have in common? They all have Rockaway Blockchain Fund as their investor. Based in Europe while investing globally, Rockaway has built an impressive portfolio. With corporate backing and an experienced and entrepreneurial team behind it, Rockaway is making bets on projects that aim to define the crypto space of the future.
In this episode, I talked with David Rakusan, Investment Manager at Rockaway Blockchain Fund, to dive into its investment process and focus.
Terraform Labs - UST, from zero to billions in traction and beyond
What does it take to go from zero to billions of dollars in tractions? The chart climbing L1 project Terra is seeing explosive growth in its ecosystem and product usage. Supported by real world as well as crypto users and tier-1 VCs such as Binance and Galaxy, Terra is setting its sight firmly on user adoption and value accrual for the Luna holders.
In this episode, I talked with the CEO and Founder Do Kwon about his journey and plans for the future.
Tomahawk VC - an entrepreneur lead VC that invests in global first teams
From building startups to leading growth hacking at Dfinity, Tomahawk VC leverages its network and firsthand entrepreneurial experience in supporting founders and teams.
In this episode, I talked to Claude Donzé about the current state of crypto and traditional VC markets, including insights and differences between the two.
FalconX - the institutional digital asset trading platform with deep liquidity and prime services
Have you ever wondered when you clicked on buy or sell button, who are the players that make your trade happen? What does institutional trading of crypto look like? What challenges does the industry face on the road to mass adoption?
In the episode, I spoke with Aya Kantorovich, Head of Institutional Coverage at FalconX, to unpack and discuss these subjects. FalconX (https://falconx.io), backed by the likes of Amex Ventures and Accel Partners, is looking to tackle the fragmentation of liquidity and lack of institutional grade trading infrastructure in crypto with its fully integrated product suite.
Edenblock - supporting globally disruptive implementations of blockchain technology
What does an institutional crypto VC do? What are its investment criteria and process? How does it add value to the companies it invests in?
In this episode, I talked with Lior Messika, the Founder and Managing Partner, of Eden Block, an European blockchain focused VC firm to unpack the evolution and landscape of blockchain VC market.
Securitize - the broker-dealer licenced digital securities management, issuance and trading platform
In today's nascent regulated digital securities market, very few players can offer a suite of fully integrated services that spans the whole lifecycle of digital securities.
Securitize, backed by Coinbase, has been pioneering and expanding its offerings in the space. Imagine if Coinbase would like to issue digital securities in the US to provide better liquidity for its shareholders prior to its IPO.
In this episode, I spoke with Jamie Finn to better understand the market and future plans.
Enjin - the platform for blockchain gaming and NFT development
Built for blockchain game developers, players and NFT creators in fashion and art - Enjin aims to tackle the broad NFT ecosystem with its enabling tools and markets. Through its Dapp wallet, game development tools, upcoming L2 solution and ecosystem partners, Enjin is building the infrastructures for the intersections of blockchain gaming and NFT assets. In this episode I spoke with Alex Russman from Enjin to look at the origin, progress and future plans of the project.
Centrifuge - enabling onchain asset backed credit funding for real world companies
Centrifuge is a technology platform that connects DeFi to real world assets using blockchain technology. It enable companies to bring their assets on chain via our own PoS chain and enable businesses to create an on-chain credit fund using the dApp Tinlake.
This is the first part of a multiple part series looking at the processes involved in onboarding and using the platform for both companies interested in tapping into the liquidity in DeFi and investors who would like to understand the various opportunities.
You can find out at https://centrifuge.io/ or https://discourse.centrifuge.io/
Rarible - a marketplace for NFT artworks and collectibles
Where do you go to create and sell your NFT artworks or insurance? What is the process for transforming traditional paintings to collectibles on blockchain? How do you program a unique unlockable feature for your NFT item? Who are the biggest selling artists in NFT space? Enter Rarible.
Backed by Coinfund, Rarible has been busy building an art focused NFT marketplace. In this episode I spoke with Alex Salnikov to look at the origin, progress and future plans of the project.
ShuttleOne - a DeFi solution to $1.5 trillion SME trade finance gap
ShuttleOne, backed by MakerDao and CMT Digital, is solving the $1.5trillion gap in SME trade financing. By integrating with Calista, GeTS’ cross-border logistics, compliance and financial requirements interface for supply chain stakeholders, ShuttleOne has processed over $1 million trade finance solutions since its entry into the market mid 2020.
In this episode I spoke with HongZhuang Lim, the CEO, to look at the history, progress and future ambitions of the company. Do follow @shuttle_one for updates
DoDo - the proactive AMM solving impermanent loss for liquidity providers
DoDo (https://dodoex.io), backed by Coinbase, Pantera and Binance, is solving Uniswap’s billion dollar problem. Uniswap has over $2billion liquidity staked to the platform. But almost all of it is suffering from impermanent loss that is far more than the trading fees generated. This inefficient use of capital is a major block to AMM’s efficiency.
Enter DoDo’s Proactive Market Maker, the smart AMM that takes Chainlink oracle price updates, concentrates liquidity around the market price and re-balances liquidity composition so that liquidity providers can always take out the same number of the tokens they put in.
In this episode I spoke with Diane Dai, the CMO, to look at the progress that has been made in making AMM’s far more efficient.
Frontier - the chain-agnostic DeFi functionality aggregator
Would you prefer going through 10 clicks to use a single DeFi product or clicking a single button from a mobile app that allows you to buy, sell, vote, sign and stake?
Frontier is tackling the complex landscape of DeFi product fragmentation and clunkiness by allowing users to execute DeFi functions from its simple mobile app.
In this episode I spoke with Ravindra Kumar, Founder and CEO, to look at the technologies and features that aggregate DeFi functionalities all in one place. To learn more please visit their website at https://frontier.xyz/
Consul Freight - the $1.5 trillion supply chain finance industry disruptor
How much value can be unlocked if there is a way to enable collateralised lending in trade finance through improving transparency and efficiency of existing processes that have oiled the wheels of global commerce for hundreds of years? Answer: trillions.
Consul Freight is tackling the antiquated trade finance market using blockchain enabled technologies to free up trillions of liquidity in the global supply chain.
In this episode I spoke with Ernesto Vila, Founder and CEO, to look at the technologies and blockchain applications that solve pain points for millions of SMEs involved in the global supply chain. To learn more please visit their website at https://www.consolfreight.io/
Plasm Network - a Polkadot smart contract platform with Optimism Rollup
What is a layer 2 scalable smart contract platform that provides EVM compatibility to Ethereum Dapps and offers Optimistic Rollups as a scalability solution. Welcome to Plasm Network (http://plasmnet.io/)
Plasm Network, backed by , is tackling vertical scalability problems on Polkadot with its EMV compatible Rollup solutions.
In this episode I spoke with Sota Watanabe to dive into the concept, development and future plans of the project. Join their Telegram group (https://t.me/PlasmOfficial) to learn more and get involved.
ArDrive - the Google Drive of permanent online data storage
What if an application can allow you to upload important legal documents, photos and articles to a cloud storage permanently so they cannot be lost or sensored? Welcome to ArDrive. (http://ardrive.io/)
ArDrive is building an access layer on the ArWeave’s (backed by Coinbase Ventures, A16z and Union Square Ventures) Permaweb to provide a decentralised, pay-once and permanent online storage for consumers.
In this episode I spoke with Philip Mataras to dive into the concept, development and functionalities of the project. Please join their discord (https://discord.gg/BdZfUcZ) to learn more and get involved.
GoodGhosting - gamified crypto savings account
What if there is a savings account that allows people to compete with each other and awards the winner? Welcome to GoodGhosting.(https://goodghosting.com/)
GoodGhosting is building a decentralised saving account platform that gamifies savings. The team is working on the first release and iterating on user feedback. In this episode I spoke with Rachel Black and Giel Detienne to dive into the concept, features, and future of the project.
Superfluid Finance - cashflow streaming, a new DeFi primitive
Have you ever thought about being able to pay for a service or a product - such as renting an in-game NFT item or paying for a membership service - not in a lump sum but instead in a constant stream of micropayments that you can cancel at any time?
Like Aave’s flash loan, having a constant stream of cash flow is a new primitive in DeFi. In this episode I spoke with Francesco Renzi and Michele D'Aliessi from Superfluid Finance (https://www.superfluid.finance/) to look at features and use cases of this brand new DeFi primitive.
The team is building out the product and helping developers to enhance their own applications. There is a very active Discord group where discussion is taking place. Please feel free to reach out to the team to discuss possible integration.
9Lives Arena - the Play2Earn blockchain/crypto NFT game pioneer
Welcome to 9Lives Arena, the Blockchain NFT Gaming pioneer that was here before NFT was in vogue. In this episode I spoke with Ralph Laemmche of 9Lives Arena (https://www.9livesarena.com/) - the well esteemed MMO PvP game - to look at the features and mechanisms that enable a Play to Earn in-game economy where savvy players can earn thousands.
The project is in closed alpha but has already seen the value of its limited items skyrocket in the marketplace. As it moves towards Steam Early Access, we look at upcoming additional features and gauge the outlook.