Beyond The Blocks NEU Blockchain

It`s so easy to look at the vastness of the web3 space and be overwhelmed by it all: there are so many things to learn, so many things to trade in, so many different experiences that people in web3 have. I've felt intimidated by that for a long time, and one of my favorite cures for that is to find someone who’s way deeper in than I am and listen to their war stories.   Today I had a great conversation with Jack Diefenbach. Jack is the leader of the Polygon Boston Guild, a community for Polygon enthusiasts, and a really knowledgeable guy about blockchain and crypto. 

I originally planned to drill down on Polygon with Jack, but we ended up taking detour after detour until an hour had passed and I learned a whole set of things I didn’t expect to. I hope you have as much fun listening to this episode as I had recording it. 



Jack's Twitter:

https://twitter.com/0xLobstah

Jack's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-diefenbach/

Polygon Boston Guild:

https://telegram.me/+xArZXI_ll9FlNzQx



Timestamps: 

(0:00) - Intro 

(2:45) - Understanding crypto through data 

(6:31) - Dusting 

(9:03) - The pros and cons of mental models 

(14:28) - There’s SO much to learn in web3 

(24:26) - Crypto bear and bull markets 

(35:01) - How Jack got into web3 

(40:07) - Why blockchain is beautiful 

(46:37) - Stories about crypto trading 

(53:47) - How to build conviction 



DISCLAIMER: No content in this episode should be construed as financial or legal advice. Like any investment, crypto can be risky, so make sure to do your own research before jumping in! 

Decentralized value is often the first thing to come to mind when you think about web3. But how often do you think about decentralized storage? Arweave is a protocol building out the storage layer for the permanent web, or permaweb. For a few dollars, you can host any file, from the Bible to a full-blown website, for over two hundred years. But no matter how cool a protocol is, it’s worthless without its ecosystem. 

That’s where Tate Berenbaum comes in. Tate is a builder through and through. He’s made tons of projects on Arweave, and is now the founder of Community Labs, a venture studio fleshing out the infrastructure of Arweave. 

In this episode, we talk about how Arweave works, his experience building in the ecosystem, and how he’s transitioned from a builder to a leader of builders. 



Timestamps:

(0:00) - Intros 

(1:10) - Arweave and the permaweb 

(8:42) - What makes Arweave scalable  

(17:11) - How Arweave fits into the web3 ecosystem 

(20:06) - Starting a venture studio 

(26:17) - How Arweave attracts web2 developers 

(28:31) - Dropping out of college 

(33:41) - Building yourself vs. helping others build 

(37:15) - Choosing what to build 

(40:45) - What to look for in builders 

(43:20) - Learning how to lead and build culture 

(54:04) - Favorite Community Labs product 

(55:48) - Brave browser 

(57:54) - Nerding out about WebAssembly 

(1:02:52) - The best builders are curious 

You’ve probably talked to people who invest in Bitcoin. But how often can you talk to people who contribute to Bitcoin?  

Ethan Heilman is the CTO of BastionZero, a cryptography PhD, and a huge Bitcoin nerd. He’s researched security flaws in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and worked to repair those flaws. But besides being super knowledgeable on the security of Bitcoin, he’s also tapped in to the history, values, and community of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.  

In this episode, we get a sneak peek into Ethan’s passion for Bitcoin, the developers who maintain its codebase, and why Bitcoin has kept going strong for all these years. This is an episode where I get to share a really unique perspective with you guys, so I hope you enjoy it.  



Timestamps 

(0:00) - Intros 

(1:20) - How Ethan fell in love with Bitcoin and the history of digital currencies 

(8:29) - How Bitcoin bootstraps its value 

(13:42) - Fixing security vulnerabilities in the Bitcoin protocol 

(17:54) - Looking into the bitcoin-core codebase 

(27:31) - Culture of the Bitcoin dev community 

(30:17) - How to disclose vulnerabilities to a decentralized protocol 

(39:24) - Weird Bitcoins in Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet 

(42:24) - Cryptocurrencies are naturally resilient 

(51:42) - Why cash-like currencies are good 

(57:38) - Bitcoin maxis 

(1:04:00) - How to contribute technically to the Bitcoin community 



DISCLAIMER: No content in this episode should be construed as financial or legal advice. Like any investment, crypto can be risky, so make sure to do your own research before jumping in! Additionally, nothing Ethan Heilman says reflects the official opinions of BastionZero.

One of the strongest features of blockchain is its ability to store data immutably: to preserve the history of a transaction for the rest of time. I’m here with my friend Ryan Hawkos to talk about one of the strongest use cases for that immutability: on-chain records. 

Ryan is the director of operations for VXTechnologies, a startup which leverages blockchain to secure the public and private data of institutions. He’s also putting together the Boston Blockchain Hub, a resource for anyone looking to get involved with the Boston blockchain community. 

In this episode, we talk about why it’s valuable to store data on-chain, the global reach of blockchain, the mindset builders need for user-centric products, and how people like you can become a part of Boston’s crypto clan. 

Timestamps: 

(0:00) - Intros to Ryan and VXTechnologies 

(5:18) - Private vs public digital records 

(11:55) - Blockchain for global currency 

(17:53) - Breaking into the African market 

(20:26) - Why simplicity is important for web3 products 

(24:40) - The technology behind VXTechnologies 

(28:02) - End product > implementation 

(35:43) - Boston blockchain community 

(44:51) - Outro 

Learn more:

VXTechnologies: https://verifyforx.com/

Boston Blockchain Hub: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-blockchain/



DISCLAIMER: No content in this episode should be construed as financial or legal advice. Like any investment, crypto can be risky, so make sure to do your own research before jumping in! 

Have you ever tried to help your dad set up a Trezor wallet? Or wasted hours trying to turn your crypto into cash? Spending more than five minutes onboarding yourself into web3 will show you that UX (user experience) in the space kinda sucks. But given how sophisticated blockchain technology is, why is its UX so bad? Does it have to be that way, and what effects does that have on users and the promise of blockchain? I’m here with Max Lyman today to tackle these questions. 

Max, also known as Crypto Jesus, is the co-founder and CEO of Solon Labs. At Solon, Max is building an interface to the web which is crypto-native from the ground up. It delivers on the blockchain’s promise of decentralization while also achieving an intuitive and value-maximizing UX. 

In this episode, we talk about how UX has been done and how we can make it better. We also touch on what makes blockchain essential for its users around the world, and use the story of blockchain and UX to make new insights into human nature. 



Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro 

(1:47) ERC-4337 and smart contract accounts 

(9:16) Maximizing arbitrage opportunities with smart contract accounts 

(17:34) Centralized frontends to decentralized contracts 

(19:51) The importance of decentralization 

(22:03) Value of good UX and challenges getting there 

(29:36) How to design for non-technical users 

(36:10) Crypto Jesus origin story/first blockchain project 

(45:35) The history of Web3 demographics 

(48:46) Advice for people getting into blockchain 

(50:17) Trustlessness and human nature 



Learn more:

Max's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Crypto__Jesus_

Solon Labs: https://www.solon.network/

Gary Gensler hates it. Ethereum maxis and computer geeks love it. What is staking? What makes it the foundation of the Ethereum protocol? Why doesn't the SEC like it? We address all these questions and more in this episode with Steve Flanagan.

Steve is an engineer at Figment, a crypto staking provider for institutions, and someone deeply knowledgeable and passionate about Ethereum and staking. That depth of knowledge comes through in this episode, and no matter how much you think you know now, you WILL learn something new: We cover the fundamentals of staking, how it secures Ethereum and influences its tokenomics, the responsibilities of stakers, and details about the Ethereum protocol itself.



Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro and catching up 

(3:03) What staking is, and why it matters 

(8:21) Proof of stake vs. proof of work 

(12:44) Blockchains and censorship resistance 

(19:27) ETH staking: security or asset? 

(23:59) How to stake ETH 

(26:29) Figment’s approach to staking 

(33:53) Rewards for staking  

(39:50) ETH’s tokenomics 

(46:34) Memecoins 

(49:18) Shapella upgrade and what it means for ETH 

(57:04) Execution and consensus layers of the Ethereum protocol 

(1:03:55) Steve’s experience with entrepreneurship 

(1:11:00) Advice for people getting into blockchain 



Learn more:

Steve's Twitter: https://twitter.com/flevestanagan

Figment: https://figment.io/



DISCLAIMER: No content in this episode should be construed as financial or legal advice. Like any investment, crypto can be risky, so make sure to do your own research before jumping in! Additionally, nothing Steve says reflects the official opinions of Figment.