Adeniyi Abiodun, co-founder and CPO of Mysten Labs, returns to Glitchwire to give us a dive deep into the evolution of the Sui blockchain and its ambitions to build a better internet.
In this catchup episode, Adeniyi shares key milestones since Sui’s mainnet launch in May 2023, including its rapid developer adoption and groundbreaking innovations like ZK Login and Enoki, which streamline blockchain access for Web2 users.
The conversation explores Sui’s vision as a global coordination layer, its competitive stance against traditional tech giants versus other L1 blockchains, and the crucial role of a seamless developer experience in shaping the future of Web3. Adeniyi also shares Mysten Lab's latest development – Walrus – a decentralized storage solution and data availability layer that empowers developers to build scalable, engaging experiences from the back-end to front. From the shifting ad model in gaming to the broader implications of decentralized data management, this episode also unpacks the trends and technologies set to define Web3 in 2025 and beyond.
Leonard Tan, CTO and co-founder of Web3Auth, shares his journey from a career in finance to programming and the creation of Web3Auth – a pluggable wallet infrastructure for Web3 wallets and applications.
Leonard discusses the role of social logins in bridging Web2 and Web3, the evolution of digital identity, and the challenges of balancing user experience with security. He also talks about the importance of user feedback in shaping solutions for the crypto space and Web3Auth’s focus on SDK development and enterprise applications.
We explore:
In this episode, Marissa Trew interviews Guy Young, the founder of Ethena Labs, to unpack the protocol’s meteoric rise and its impact on the synthetic dollar landscape.
Ethena, a synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum, took the crypto industry by storm in 2024, rapidly accumulating over $3.5 billion in total value locked (TVL) within the first few months since its launch.
Guy shares his journey from traditional finance to crypto and explains how Ethena distinguishes itself from fiat-backed stablecoins with its decentralized, high-yield approach. They discuss Ethena's associated risks, its target customer, and how the protocol navigates an evolving regulatory landscape post-US election. Guy also offers his candid take on the competitive landscape within the stablecoin/digital dollar space, and what lies ahead for DeFi.
In this episode, Marissa Trew speaks with Anurag Arjun, the co-founder of Avail, described as the “unification layer of web3”. Anurag was arguably one of the pioneers of the L2 movement as co-founder and chief product officer of Polygon, the Ethereum layer 2.
In this interview, Anurag shares his path into the crypto space, his thesis on L2s and rollup frameworks, and why he believes the industry must embrace modularity and interoperability to unlock its full potential.
Anurag describes how Avail aims to bridge this gap as a "unification layer," and how modularity gives developers the flexibility to innovate within their niches.
Marissa Trew interviews Luca Prosperi, CEO and co-founder of M^0, an on-chain protocol powering the first open federation of crypto dollar issuers through interoperable money middleware. Learn how M^0 is on a mission to revolutionize digital money creation by introducing unparalleled transparency and efficiency.
Drawing from his 20 years in banking, Luca challenges the conventional narrative that traditional finance is broken, but simply slow to innovate.
Get insights into why the stablecoin market is still in its infancy, te hidden risks lurking beneath their surface, and their pivotal role in shaping our financial future.
And, we address the delicate balance between traditional finance and DeFi, the territorialism that prevents these industries from collaborating effectively, and the innovations that could redefine how we think about money.
In this episode, we dive into the world of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) with the Helium Foundation's COO, Scott Sigel. Scott breaks down the concept of DePIN and its transformative potential in merging blockchain with physical networks.
We discuss how Helium is blazing this trail by overcoming the limitations of traditional infrastructure networks, offering real-world utility in IoT applications like flood detection, air quality monitoring, and asset tracking.
Scott also explains how Helium’s community-driven approach, powered by Solana, sets it apart, and how DePIN is poised to bridge the gap between blockchain and global connectivity.
Tune in to learn how Helium is pioneering a new era of decentralized, hyper-connected infrastructure.
Azeem Khan, co-founder of Morph, shares his insights on the challenges and opportunities of blockchain L2s, emphasising the need for differentiation, understanding cultural nuances, and building region-specific solutions.
Key highlights include:
Azeem calls for a shift from vanity metrics to genuine developer support and strategic marketing, focusing on creating compelling stories and products that appeal to a wider audience.
Stephen Smith, Head of Protocol at Tools for Humanity takes us deep into the development of WorldChain, a blockchain designed to protect our digital personhood in an era dominated by AI. Steven explains how WorldChain harnesses blockchain to prioritize human-verified transactions over automated bots, how the iris-scanning orbs that emerged around the world work to protect our privacy, not invade it, and what to expect from WorldChain's ambitious roadmap in the coming months.
This episode, we speak to Rushi Manche, the co-founder of Movement Labs – a team that aims to accelerate the growth and adoption of the Move programming language in blockchain development.
Rushi shares his sharp takes on the limitations of Ethereum's virtual machine, why security has been a critical, but overlooked element of blockchain development, and how the Move VM addresses that vulnerability.
He also gives his take on the evolution of blockchain frameworks, from monolithic to modular to integrated, and why he believes Move lies at the epicentre of it all.
Plus, hot takes on the importance of degen culture, founder-led community growth, and striking the balance between competition and collaboration.
Yat Siu, the founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, delves into the transformative potential of digital property rights and Web3 for reshaping capitalism into a more equitable system. Reflecting on his upbringing in a divided Europe and his extensive experience in the tech industry, Yat shares how these experiences have shaped his understanding of capitalism's evolution and its shortcomings.
The episode also explores the technical and societal challenges of Web3 and blockchain technology, including the balance between individualism and collective benefits, and the importance of transparency in promoting ethical behaviour. Yat also builds the case for the necessity for financial literacy and educational initiatives to help people navigate and embrace these emerging technologies.
Host Marissa Trew speaks to Beryl Li, the co-founder of Yield Guild Games – the world’s first and biggest web3 gaming guild that focuses on building community, game discovery and developing vital web3 skills. Starting with Axie Infinity, YGG has expanded its reach to encompass 80 other game titles, attracting a diverse community of gamers, influencers, moderators, and managers. Beryl talks us through the origin and mission behind YGG, being: fostering community, discovering new games, and nurturing Web3 talent.
YGG aims to bridge the tech gap in emerging economies by providing access to Web3 gaming and upskilling community members. Beryl also discusses how the web3 gaming space has evolved since 2021 and why 2024 is the year where we'll see big things happen.
Sean Lee is the ex-CEO of Algorand and currently serves as a Senior Advisor for the Crypto Council for Innovation. In this episode, he discusses his experience leading the foundation of a prominent layer one blockchain and the critical importance of a community-driven governance model. We also explore the roles and relationship between innovators and regulators, Asia's distinct advantage, and predictions for the year ahead.
Key takeaways:
Aptos launched its mainnet in October 2022, raised over $350 million in funding and has a current market cap of almost $3 billion. In this episode, we speak to Avery Ching, the CTO and co-founder of Aptos Labs about his vision of building Aptos as a general-purpose blockchain for the next billion users, its integration with AI, the oncoming wave of blockchain modularity, and the deeper challenges surrounding regulation.
We discuss:
Leah Callon-Butler is the director of Emfarsis, a Coindesk columnist and a board member of the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA). Needless to say, her expertise in the web3 gaming space is unparalleled. Following the release of the 2023 BGA Industry Report, we ran through the key findings and what they mean for the road ahead.
On this episode, we cover:
Devon Ferreira is a seasoned marketer, working across global brands like Oakley and Disney, before acting as CMO to major web3 institutions, Avalanche and Immutable.
In this interview, he relays the lessons he's learned throughout the course of his web2 + web3 career. He explains why web3 marketing is not fundamentally different to traditional marketing. The criticality of human psychology. Why web3 marketing needs to change. And what brands need to do to strengthen their position as the market recovers.
Born out of the Meta Diem project and the creation of the Move programme language, the Sui blockchain currently boasts over $300m in venture funding with a valuation in excess of $2b since its mainnet launch in May 2023, attracting the eye of many investors, developers and users alike.
In this interview, co-founder and CPO of Mysten Labs, Adeniyi Abiodun shares:
With the growing prevalence of fake news and AI-generated images that are capable of deceiving even the most scrutinising eye, how do we discern truth in this digital age? Alejandro Navia, CEO and co-founder of now media, proposes that the answer lies in tokenised media.
In this episode, Alejandro outlines how blockchain technology can be used to verify information, protect creators, and act as the medium through which storytelling is preserved online. Beyond the tech, this conversation explores wellbeing and spirituality in web3, the plight of the thought leader, and the importance of authenticity in our shared humanity.
On this episode, we are joined by William Falcon, the founder and CEO of Lightning AI – an open-source Python library that provides a high-level interface for popular deep learning framework PyTorch. Described as the "operating system" for AI, Lightning AI has enabled developers to train, deploy, and ship AI products at rapid pace. Throughout this conversation, William shares how his experience in the military, and how academia informs his approach to building and running what he describes as "the Mac of AI". We also delve into the regulatory and ethical challenges that surround the open-source vs. closed AI debate, the risks that come with building a technology in our image, and how we use AI to build a more progressive world.
Meet the brilliant Sterling Crispin, a conceptual artist and software engineer whose work explores “computational beauty of nature, and our conflicting cultural narratives about the apocalypse”. In this episode, we dig into how Sterling marries these seemingly disparate worlds through his works – across art, code, blockchain, AI and finance – to explore the countless ways our collective futures might unfold.
This episode, we are joined by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Trevor Traina. His latest venture is Kresus – a new crypto wallet “super app" designed to onboard the masses in a "goof proof" way. In this interview, we discuss the role crypto wallets play as the first layer of interaction between people and the blockchain, and how it just might be the way we onboard mainstream users. We also discuss how Trevor's political background influences his outlook on the web3 industry at large, and what needs to happen on the regulatory front to ease this technology's path to mass adoption.