Archebyte

Hosted by Archetype, Katherine Wu

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Jan 2024

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About the show

Archebyte is a series of high signal conversations with the most innovative builders and strongest minds ushering in the decentralized future. Hosted by Archetype’s Katherine Wu, each episode explores the latest advancements across the entire crypto industry. Join us as we dive deep into everything from protocols and infrastructure to consumer apps and regulation.

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32 recent

January 31, 202449 min

Dmitriy Berenzon: Crypto Infra, ZK, and Working with Founders

Ash sits down with Archetype’s newest team member, Dmitriy Berenzon, for a wide ranging conversation. The two discuss the crypto ecosystems of NYC and SF, hardware becoming cool again, weird stuff at the intersection of AI and blockchain, and being both thesis and founder driven. Dmitriy is the newest Partner here at Archetype, and will be driving research, investments, portfolio support, and fund strategy. He was previously a Research Partner at 1k(x), where he focused on research, investments, and working with founders on fundraising, business development, and token model design. 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:05 Dmitriy’s background 3:18 NYC vs. SF crypto ecosystems 8:30 What Dmitriy is on the lookout for in 2024 10:49 Today’s crypto infrastructure 12:46 UX and abstraction 15:17 Building for consumers and crypto-natives 19:13 DePIN, DeVIN, and hardware becoming cool again 23:47 Digiphysical 27:16 Modular vs. monolithic 30:34 Will Solana become modular? 32:46 ZK potential 39:16 AI meets crypto 44:31 Being thesis and founder driven 47:49 Outro 👋 FOLLOW US Ash: https://twitter.com/AshAEgan Dmitriy: https://twitter.com/dberenzon Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc 🌐 LINKS Archetype: https://www.archetype.fund/ - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

January 10, 202418 min

Crypto in 2024: What's Next?

Another rollercoaster of a year in crypto has come and gone. To kick off 2024, we reached out to some founders and builders to get their takeaways from 2023 and perspectives on where crypto is headed in the new year. Our guests for this episode are: Ash Egan, Founder of Archetype Asta Li, Co-founder of Privy Nick Johnson, Lead Developer of ENS Sheila Warren, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation There’s a lot to be excited about, but some common threads formed around web3 social, onchain gaming, continued progress on the UX front, and crypto finally reaching consumers in a meaningful way. 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:15 Biggest crypto developments 12:03 Themes we’re excited about 14:25 Predictions for this year’s crypto apps 15:18 What keeps us excited 👋 FOLLOW US Ash: https://twitter.com/AshAEgan Asta: https://twitter.com/asta_li Nick: https://twitter.com/nicksdjohnson Sheila: https://twitter.com/sheila_warren Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu 🌐 LINKS Archetype: https://www.archetype.fund/ Privy: https://www.privy.io/ ENS: https://ens.domains/ CCI: https://cryptoforinnovation.org/ - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

December 13, 202330 min

Hart Lambur of Across Protocol: Intents and the Future of Interop

On this episode of Archebyte, Katherine Wu and fellow Archetype team member, Nick Pai, are joined by the CEO and co-founder of Risk Labs, Hart Lambur, to talk bridges, L2s, and interoperability. Hart and Risk Labs are best known for creating UMA, an optimistic oracle, and Across Protocol, a crosschain bridge. In the multichain future that is quickly becoming the present, infrastructure like oracles, bridges, and sequencers play crucial roles. But, these tools that are meant to facilitate interoperability between blockchains still have plenty of room for improvement. During our conversation, we dig into the problems that bridges currently face, how Across is designed to mitigate them, and what a safer multichain ecosystem looks like. Hart and Nick give their thoughts on centralized, decentralized, and shared sequencers, intents, and the role aggregators play in regards to bridges. They also answer the loaded question - are bridges L2s? 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:10 The bridging problem 5:30 How Across works 8:15 Making safe bridges 15:31 L2s and centralized vs decentralized sequencers 20:05 Sequencer misconceptions? 23:35 Aggregators in bridging 27:03 L2 metrics for success 👋 FOLLOW US Hart: https://twitter.com/hal2001 Nick: https://twitter.com/mountainwaterpi UMA: https://uma.xyz/ Across: https://across.to/ Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu 🌐 LINKS UMA: https://uma.xyz/ Across: https://across.to/ Risk Labs: https://risklabs.foundation/ - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

November 29, 202321 min

Ismael H.R. of Lagrange: ZK Big Data

On this episode of Archebyte, Ash Egan is joined by Lagrange’s founder and CEO, Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh to talk zero knowledge, storage proofs, and unlocking blockchain data. Today, blockchains have a difficult time leveraging data from other chains, but Ismael and Lagrange are working to fix that. Leveraging ZK and storage proofs, Lagrange enables blockchains to better utilize blockchain data itself, removing the need to leverage offchain sources and the security risks that come with doing so. Ismael walks us through using blockchains as databases, shifting trust from provers to verification layers, crosschain data access, and what all of this means for the future of crypto and onchain applications. 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:00 Crosschain data 3:05 Storage proof unlocks and limitations 6:40 Future storage proof use cases 10:34 Zero knowledge and inheriting trust 12:34 Advancements in ZK 14:45 Lagrange’s focus? State of crosschain data, block headers 18:56 How Ismael thinks around building a team 20:15 Where to learn more 👋 FOLLOW US Ismael: https://twitter.com/Ismael_H_R Lagrange: https://twitter.com/lagrangedev Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Ash: https://twitter.com/AshAEgan 🌐 LINKS Lagrange Site: https://www.lagrange.dev/ Rec Proofs: lagrange.dev/recproofs Lagrange Docs: https://lagrange-labs.gitbook.io/lagrange-labs/overview/what-is-the-lagrange-protocol - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

November 15, 202339 min

Elias Simos of Rated: Creating Reputation for Machines

Until now, we have had almost no way of evaluating Ethereum validator performance. This lack of accessible data around nodes and their operators has been keeping users, builders, investors, and other validators in the dark about the very health of the Ethereum network. But Elias Simos and the Rated team have created a solution. Elias joins us today to shed light on the state of Ethereum infrastructure. He explains the importance of accessible blockchain infrastructure data, how Rated turns that data into usable performance ratings, and how the idea came about in the first place. We also discuss the challenges that come along with building a product like Rated in a multichain world, and Elias sends us off with some advice for staying sane while working in crypto. 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:39 Actors in proof of stake 9:52 Rating onchain performance 17:21 Node, validator, and operator reputation 23:08 Multichain reputation 29:18 Health of the network 32:08 Staying sane as a crypto founder 👋 FOLLOW US Elias: https://twitter.com/eliasimos Rated: https://twitter.com/ratedw3b Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu 🌐 LINKS Rated Explorer: https://www.rated.network Elias’ Personal Site: https://eliasimos.xyz/about - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

November 1, 202342 min

Shea Ketsdever of Flashbots: The MEV Supply Chain

Welcome back to Archebyte! We’re kicking off Season 4 with a deep dive into the MEV supply chain, SAUVE, order flow auctions, and the future of programmable privacy with Shea Ketsdever from Flashbots ⚡🤖 There has been A LOT of excitement around the MEV world lately, and Flashbots is one of its biggest contributors. Shea demystifies the MEV supply chain, walks us through each of its steps and actors, and explains just how important it has become to Ethereum (around 95% of all transactions currently pass through it). Zooming out, Shea breaks down the MEV supply chain’s key ingredients of privacy and commitments, how they are used to create programmable privacy, and how they might be leveraged for other uses in the future. We also talk about SUAVE, MEV centralization risks, the privacy-efficiency frontier, and more! 📬 To keep up with the latest from Archebyte and receive articles and research from the rest of the Archetype team, subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iCApL2 - - - - - - - - ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:34 The “right” way to pronounce MEV 2:00 Shea’s background 2:32 The MEV supply chain 9:14 What is MEV? 13:30 Privacy-Efficiency Frontier 18:19 Programmable privacy 20:10 MEV-Share and Order Flow Auctions 22:53 Evolution of the MEV landscape 27:35 SUAVE 37:53 Other use cases for SUAVE 40:45 Follow Shea and Flashbots! 40:58 Outro 👋 FOLLOW US Shea: https://twitter.com/SheaKetsdever Flashbots: https://www.flashbots.net/ Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu 🌐 LINKS Flashbots Docs: https://docs.flashbots.net/ Flasbots Writing: https://writings.flashbots.net/ Flashbots Protect https://docs.flashbots.net/flashbots-protect/overview Flashbots Forum: https://collective.flashbots.net - - - - - - - - DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

May 31, 202334 min

Rallying for Sensible Crypto Regulation with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was also a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Hester joins us today to give us some insight into the SEC and the regulatory world. She explains the many challenges that come along with trying to regulate the crypto industry, including lack of time and resources, a potential desire to push the industry abroad, and navigating the US’s complicated existing financial regulations. Hester also agrees that regulatory progress is failing to keep up with crypto while reinforcing the idea that the industry requires new regulations outside of existing securities laws. We later discuss Hester’s Token Safe Harbor proposal, which lays out a potential path for new crypto projects to gradually work towards decentralization without fearing SEC enforcement. We also touch on fostering innovation, the pros and cons of decentralization, and the best ways of communicating with the SEC and Hester herself. 🔗 FOLLOW US Archebyte: https://twitter.com/archebyte Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu Hester: https://twitter.com/HesterPeirce | https://www.sec.gov/about/commissioners/hester-m-peirce 🌐 LINKS Hester’s Token Safe Harbor Proposal - https://github.com/CommissionerPeirce/SafeHarbor2.0 ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:10 Crypto regulation issues 6:18 Is the US falling behind? 9:20 No one wants frauds and scams 12:05 Hester’s Token Safe Harbor proposal 16:55 “Come in and register” 20:00 Communicating with the SEC 22:00 How 2022 changed the perception of crypto 24:20 Decentralization pros and cons 26:27 SEC proposals 28:20 What regulators and the crypto industry should know about each other 33:32 Reaching out to Hester 34:03 Outro DISCLAIMER : The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

May 24, 202328 min

Creating the Open Metaverse with Justin Melillo

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Justin Melillo, co-founder and CEO of Mona. Mona is an infinite network of immersive experiences with a focus on openness, decentralization, and creator/developer ownership. A lifelong artist with a focus on computer animation, visual FX, and immersive content, Justin has worked at companies like DreamWorks and Magic Leap, designed tour sets for artists like Drake and Sia, and worked on various AR experiences. When he found blockchain and NFTs several years ago, he saw it as a real alternative for digital artists outside of design work, freelancing, or working for a studio. He then combined these worlds, alongside friend Matt Hoerl, to bring Mona to life. During our talk, we dive into Justin’s view of the metaverse and its many challenges, opportunities, and misconceptions. Justin also tells us about building for a metaverse-native generation, we look at the future of AR and VR, and we talk about how much we love Tears of the Kingdom. 🔗 FOLLOW US Archebyte: https://twitter.com/archebyte Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Justin: https://twitter.com/justinmmelillo Mona: https://twitter.com/monaverse ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:48 Justin’s Background 5:20 How Justin sees the metaverse 8:41 What is Mona? 11:23 Creating unique and immersive experiences 16:35 The future of the metaverse, VR, and AR 18:03 The metaverse-native generation 20:16 Games can be art (and we nerd out over Tears of the Kingdom) 26:05 Metaverse misconceptions 26:41 Check out Mona! 27:26 Outro DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

May 3, 202326 min

Harnessing Blockchain Data with Jonathan Kau

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Jonathan Kau, Co-founder of Satsuma, a blockchain indexing and query platform. We begin our conversation with Jonathan walking us through his founder journey and a 101 lesson on blockchain data. We discuss the unique challenges that web3 developers face and explore how Satsuma can ease some of those challenges. We also touch on the challenges of selling to DAOs and navigating their unique decision making processes. We discuss the importance of giving customers a voice in shaping the product, while still maintaining a strong sense of direction and opinion about the solutions being offered. 🔗 FOLLOW US Archebyte: https://twitter.com/archebyte Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Jonathan: https://twitter.com/jonathankau Satsuma: https://twitter.com/satsumaxyz ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:03 Founding Satsuma 3:12 Blockchain data 101 6:46 Challenges for web3 developers 8:07 EVM compatibility 9:19 Satsuma 10:38 How Satsuma works 11:22 Centralized vs. decentralized data providers 14:57 Building Satsuma in a bear market 16:57 Satsuma’s building strategy 19:48 Doing business with DAOs 23:57 Jonathan’s advice for aspiring founders 25:24 Outro DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

April 26, 202330 min

Building Crypto Infra for Institutions with Aya Kantorovich

On this episode of Archebyte we are joined by Aya Kantorovich, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Fractal, to discuss crypto’s history, what it’s like to be a founder in the industry, and the importance of building institutional grade crypto infrastructure. As a former founding member of FalconX and current Co-CEO of Fractal Clearing, Aya deeply understands the role that institutions play in the world of crypto. She begins our conversation by highlighting exactly that before giving us a quick (but fantastic) history lesson on the crypto industry as a whole. As Aya explains, institutions have been playing a major role in the space for several years now. They bring with them not only capital and knowledge of the traditional financial world, but needs around privacy and quality assurance that require more robust tools to be created. While we have certainly seen some less savory companies give cefi a bad rap, Aya believes that we are beginning to see a new wave of robust, institutional grade crypto tooling that will more strongly honor crypto’s fundamentals of transparency and self custody. We close out our talk by exploring how Fractal is helping bring this vision to reality, explaining the need for disintermediation, and discussing the many hats that founders wear. 🔗 FOLLOW US Archebyte: https://twitter.com/archebyte Katherine: https://twitter.com/katherineykwu Archetype: https://twitter.com/archetypevc Aya: https://twitter.com/aya_kantor Fractal: https://twitter.com/fractalclearing | https://www.fractalprotocol.org/ ⌛ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:49 Welcome Aya 1:23 Institutional crypto adoption 3:39 Does crypto need institutions? 5:24 Bringing crypto to the mainstream user 6:47 History of crypto infrastructure 19:10 Fractal 21:40 Onboarding users 23:57 Building for institutions in a crypto-native way 26:16 Aya’s experience as a founder DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.