Lightspeed
Episodes
The Solana End Game | Anatoly Yakovenko & Lucas Bruder
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week we invite Anatoly Yakovenko & Lucas Bruder to the show for a discussion on the current state of Solana. We deep dive into the transactio...
Building Solana's Largest Perps DEX | Cindy Leow & Chris Heaney
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week we invite Cindy & Chris from Drift to the show to discuss how they're building the largest perps DEX on Solana. Enjoy! -- Follow Cindy: ...
How To Fix Solana | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week we discuss the state of the network, MarginFi drama, Uniswap vs the SEC, airdrops, Monad's $225 million raise & more. Enjoy! -- Follow M...
Why Are Solana Transactions Dropping? | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week we discuss why users are having more failed & dropped transactions on Solana. To hear all this & more, you'll have to tune in! -- Follow...
The Base Endgame: Crypto's Largest Layer 2 | Jesse Pollak
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week, Jesse Pollak creator of Base joins the show for a discussion on what the team have been building. As retail activity picks up on both S...
Solana vs Ethereum Fee Markets | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week, Dan & Mert discuss the current state of the network by deep diving into how transaction fees on Solana actually work, the ending of Jit...
Why DePIN Matters: Powering The Crypto Economy | Jon Victor
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Jon Victor Co-Founder of Ansa Research joins the show for a discussion on one of crypto's most exciting areas... DePin. We deep dive into w...
The Most Exciting Experiment In Crypto: Futarchy | Robin Hanson & Proph3t
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Robin Hanson & Proph3t join the show to discuss one of crypto's most exciting experiments... Futarchy. With the launch of MetaDAO, Proph3t ...
The AggLayer Thesis | Marc Boiron & Brendan Farmer
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Marc Boiron CEO of Polygon Labs & Brendan Farmer Co-Founder of Polygon join the show for a discussion on the evolution of Polygon, building...
The Jito Impact: Is Jito Saving Solana? | Jon Charbonneau
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week, Jon Charbonneau joins the show after Jito announced their suspension of their mempool function. We deep dive into solving the MEV probl...
Crypto Needs More Product, Investing In Great Founders | Craig Burel
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Craig Burel Partner at Reciprocal Ventures joins the show to discuss his journey from TradFi into crypto. We deep dive into Craig's thesis ...
The Return Of Meme Coin Mania | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gm! This week, Dan & Mert begin by discussing the return of meme coin season by asking an honest question: have more people used DeFi or meme coins? W...
DRiP: Crypto's Largest Application, Built On Solana | Vibhu Norby
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Vibhu Norby CEO of DRiP joins the show for a discussion on building one of crypto's most popular applications. We deep dive into the growth...
Who Are The Real Users In Crypto? | Mert Mumtaz, Dan Smith
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Mert & Dan discuss Colosseum's hackathon, why Solana needs to double down on building more applications, defining active users within crypto...
Solving Crypto's Oracle Problem | Chris Hermida & Mitch Gildenberg
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Chris Hermida & Mitch Gildenberg Co-Founders at Switchboard join the show for a discussion on how they're helping scale crypto's oracle inf...
Sports Betting Built On Solana | Nigel Eccles & Varun Sudhakar
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Nigel Eccles & Varun Sudhakar Co-Founders of BetDEX join the show to discuss how they are bringing online sports betting to crypto. We deep...
Solving Crypto's Scaling Trilemma | Arbitrum
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Steven Goldfeder & Rachel Bousfield join the show to discuss the Ethereum scaling roadmap, the origin story of Arbitrum, solving the scalin...
How Pyth Propogates Financial Data At The Speed of Light | Mike Cahill
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Cahill joins us to discuss how oracles have become the linchpin of crypto. Mike is a core contributor to Pyth, a highly optimized oracle network ...
How NEAR Is Building Crypto's Interoperability Layer | Illia Polosukhin
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Illia Polosukhin joins us to discuss how NEAR is building the blockchain operating system. NEAR first came to prominence in 2020 as an alternative Lay...
Farcaster: How Warpcast Could Become Crypto's First Mainstream App | Dan Romero
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Romero joins us to discuss how Warpcast could become crypto's first mainstream app. Warpcast is a crypto-enabled social app built on top of the Fa...
Post JUP Clarity: Why Solana Needs to Double Down on Product | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The most hyped airdrop in Solana's history happened last week: the JUP (Jupiter) token launch. We sit down to discuss what happened, how Solana perfor...
How Colosseum Will Accelerate Solana's App Ecosystem | Matty Taylor
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Matty Taylor joins us to discuss how Colosseum, the Y-Combinator of Crypto, will find, fund and accelerate Solana's next killer app. In this episode, ...
How Firedancer Will Unlock Solana's Scaling Roadmap | Lucas Bruder, Liam Heeger
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lucas Bruder and Liam Heeger join us to discuss how Firedancer will transform Solana. Lucas (the co-founder of Jito) and Liam (a core engineer at Jump...
Anatoly Yakovenko: A Deep Dive Into Solana 2.0
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Anatoly Yakovenko joins us for the most information-packed episode on Solana we've ever listened to. It's a masterclass exploration of Solana's archit...
Solana's Flywheel: Why It's Time to Reevaluate Your Solana Thesis | Santiago Santos
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Santiago Santos joins us to discuss his crypto investment thesis and conviction in Solana's adoption flywheel. Santiago is a prolific investor, co-hos...
The Mind Behind Madden NFL's Hit Stick Explains Game Design | Ian Cummings (Photo Finish)
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Cummings joins us to discuss how to build a sustainable crypto game. Ian has been in gaming for over 23 years, created NFL Madden's hit stick whil...
Why JUP Is Solana's Most Anticipated Airdrop | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jupiter's upcoming airdrop will be a watershed moment for Solana. Tune in to find out why! In this episode, we cover the JUP airdrop, the Saga 2 annou...
Solana Thesis: The Fastest Horse Rises From the Ashes | Ryan Watkins, Wilson Withiam
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Watkins and Wilson Withiam join us to discuss their Solana thesis and how crypto has just entered its next phase of adoption. Ryan is the founder...
Why Crypto Matters: Generative Tech Meets New Capital Formation | Josh Rosenthal
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Rosenthal joins us to discuss how crypto will unleash new business models, applications and markets! Josh is a historian, investor, founder and o...
Solana's Local Fee Markets Aren't Real | Eugene Chen
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Eugene Chen joins us to discuss why Solana's local fee markets aren't real. Well, they are real, but they don't yet work as advertised. Eugene is the ...
Kamino 2.0: Building Solana's Economic Hub | Marius Ciubotariu, Mark Hull
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Marius Ciubotariu and Mark Hull join us to discuss how Hubble 2.0 will become the economic hub of Solana DeFi. In this episode, we discuss Kamino's or...
2024 Predictions: Two of Crypto's Top Traders | Ansem, Joe McCann
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ansem and Joe McCann join us to discuss their top crypto market predictions for 2024. Ansem and Joe are prolific crypto investors who nailed this year...
Sui's Move: A New Blockchain Programming Paradigm | Sam Blackshear, Evan Cheng
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Blackshear and Evan Cheng join us to discuss how the Move programming paradigm will accelerate blockchain development. Sam and Evan are the founde...
Cube: The Solana Aligned CEX | Bartosz Lipiński
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bartosz Lipiński joins us to discuss how Cube is building the first crypto-native centralized exchange. Cube leverages MPC wallets, Solana's client (...
The MarginFi vs Solend Debate: Lessons From mSOL's Depeg
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rooter (co-founder of Solend) and Edgar (co-founder of MarginFi) join us to debate last week's mSOL depeg and how to implement risk management. Last w...
Taproot Wizards: How to Solve Bitcoin's Branding Problem | Udi Wertheimer
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Udi Wertheimer joins us to discuss Ordinals, Taproot Wizards and how to solve Bitcoin's branding problem. Udi is the co-founder of Taproot Wizards, a ...
Andre Cronje Unfiltered: The Founder of Yearn, Keeper Network and Fantom
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Andre Cronje joins us to discuss his drive to build crypt applications with real use cases. Andre has one of the most incredible stories in crypto and...
A Guide to Solana's New Paradigm | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Solana just had one of the craziest weeks in its history. Jito's airdrop has created a wealth (and attention) effect that has captured all of crypto. ...
Jupiter: The Aggregator Fueling Solana’s GDP | Meow
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Meow, the co-founder of Jupiter, joins us to discuss how Jupiter is building crypto's leading aggregator. Jupiter is a DEX aggregator on Solana that r...
Size Matters: How Meteora Will Multiply Solana's TVL | Ben Chow
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Chow joins us to discuss how Meteora will multiply Solana's TVL. Ben is the co-founder of Meteora and a Solana DeFi OG. In this conversation, we d...
How Hivemapper Can Outcompete Google Maps | Ariel Seidman
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ariel Seidman, CEO of Hivemapper, joins us to discuss how Hivemapper has built the most successful DePIN product in crypto. In just twelve months, Hiv...
Micropayments Are Crypto's Untapped Use Case | Ted Livingston (CEO of Code)
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ted Livingston joins us to discuss crypto's micropayments opportunity and Code's big announcement! Ted is a product legend who built the fastest-growi...
Airdrop Season: Can Solana Handle The Surging Demand? | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did Pyth's airdrop overwhelm the Solana network? Was the degraded user experience an application fault, the result of a crude fee market or a stabilit...
Finding Solana's Next Killer App | Emon Motamedi (Solana Labs)
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emon Motamedi joins us to discuss how Solana Labs hopes to find the next killer app. Emon leads product at Solana Labs and is the founder of Reddit's ...
Teleport: Breaking Big Tech's Network Effect | Paul Bohm
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Bohm joins us to discuss how decentralized marketplaces, like ride-sharing, can leverage crypto's coordination tools to compete against today's i...
The Solana Rally: What Everyone Overlooked | 0xResearch
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode is from our other favorite podcast, 0xResearch. Garrett joins the team to explain this month's Solana rally! We dive into Solana's dev...
Crypto’s Next Cycle: Solana’s Comeback vs Ethereum’s Head Start | Qiao Wang
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Qiao Wang from Alliance DAO (a web3 accelerator) joins us to discuss the applications and protocols that are primed to dominate crypto's next cycle. Q...
The SOL Bull Case: VanEck | Matthew Sigel, Patrick Bush
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew Sigel and Patrick Bush join us to discuss their recent report that predicts SOL to hit $335 by 2030. Matthew (head of crypto research) and Pat...
Has Solana Earned The Hype? | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Lightspeed's third "Roundup" episode, where Mert and Garrett discuss the top stories of the week and trends they are seeing in crypto. In t...
Why Solana Needs Privacy For Mass Adoption | Elusiv, Light Protocol
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jorrit Palfner and Yannik Schrade join us to discuss why privacy is required for crypto to go mainstream. Jorrit (Light Protocol's co-founder) and Yan...
Solana: The Global State Machine | Anatoly, Dan Albert, Amira Valliani, Noah Prince, Mert Mumtaz
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the opening presentation from Breakpoint 2023! You'll hear from Solana's top talent, including Anatoly, Dan Albert, Amira Valliani, No...
What Metrics Matter for Internet Native Money? | Tushar Jain
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tushar Jain joins us to discuss how he identifies crypto applications that both create AND Tushar Jain joins us to discuss how he identifies crypto ap...
Is Solana the Consumer Chain? | Kash Dhanda, Brandon Potts
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kash Dhanda and Brandon Potts join us to discuss how builders can leverage Solana's unique value proposition to be the go-to ecosystem for crypto's ne...
Solana's Compounding Advantage | Joel Monegro
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joel Monegro, co-founder of Placeholder, joins us to discuss Solana's compounding advantage. Joel is a crypto OG, a prolific writer (wrote The Fat Pro...
Solana vs Ethereum: Two Paths, One Endgame | Jon Charbonneau
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Charbonneau joins us to discuss how integrated and modular chains are on an inevitable path toward the same endgame. Jon is an investor and the mo...
The Rise of Crypto's Superapp | Fiskantes, Matti (Zee Prime Capital)
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fisk and Matti, from Zee Prime Capital, join us to discuss the rise of crypto's first superapp. In this episode, we cover the Fappening Thesis (supera...
Solana's Path to Mass Adoption: Gradually, Then All At Once | Mert Mumtaz, Garrett Harper
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Lightspeed's second "Roundup" episode, where Mert and Garrett discuss the top stories of the week and trends they are seeing in crypto. In ...
How Onchain Attribution Will Catalyze Crypto's Growth | Antonio García Martínez (Spindl)
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Antonio García Martínez joins us to discuss why onchain attribution and advertising are crucial to crypto's growth. Antonio is a prolific ad tech en...
The dYdX Appchain Vision: One of Crypto's Boldest Bets | Antonio Juliano
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Antonio Juliano, the founder of dYdX, joins us to discuss why dYdX is launching an appchain. dYdX has over $1T in exchange volume, 50%+ market share o...
Solving Crypto's Onboarding Problem | Arianna Simpson, Riyaz & Nass (Bastion's Founders)
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Arianna Simpson, Riyaz Faizullabhoy and Nass Eddequiouaq join us to discuss how crypto needs to shift its focus back to the user experience. We cover ...
Permissionless Frontends: The Rise of Crypto's Aggregators | Kain Warwick (Infinex)
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix and Infinex, joins us to discuss how permissionless frontends are crypto's next battleground. Crypto has the in...
How Helium Is Leading Crypto's DePIN Revolution | Abhay Kumar
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Abhay Kumar, the CEO of the Helium Foundation, joins us to discuss how DePIN and Helium are bringing undeniable utility to crypto. Helium is a DePIN p...
How SVM Adoption Impacts the Solana Thesis | Joe McCann, Mike Dudas
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joe McCann and Mike Dudas join us to discuss their Web3 investment framework. We cover Solana's core advantage and if SVM adoption impacts their thesi...
Web3 Gaming: A False Hope or Crypto's Path to Mass Adoption? | Ryan Wyatt
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Wyatt is the former Head of YouTube Gaming and President at Polygon Labs. He is a master at business development, strategy and product. In this e...
Anatoly Yakovenko: What's Next for Solana? | Permissionless II
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Anatoly joins Mert to discuss his 5-year vision for Solana. In this discussion, we cover Solana's changing narrative, Firedancer's performance, Solana...
Legacy vs Next-Gen Chains: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Avalanche | Luigi DeMeo, Patrick O'Grady
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Luigi DeMeo and Patrick O'Grady join us to discuss Avalanche's core thesis and roadmap. We cover Avalanche's cored design, why projects will leverage ...
Finding the Answer to Crypto's Biggest Problem | Ted Livingston, CEO of Code
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ted Livingston joins us to discuss how to build consumer crypto products that solve problems users actually care about. In 2009, Ted founded Kik, whic...
Solana's Emergence as a Payments Hub | Roundup
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Could Solana's payments narrative create the schelling point that drives new adoption? Welcome to Lightspeed's first "Roundup" episode, where Mert and...
Solana's Watershed Moment | Zeta Markets, Meteora, Hubble Protocol
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tristan Frizza, Marius Ciubotariu and Ben Chow join us to debate if Solana has hit an inflection point that will usher in new users and use cases. We ...
Monad: The EVM at Full Throttle | Keone Hon, Kevin G
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Keone Hon and Kevin G join us to discuss how Monad is scaling the EVM. Every project in crypto right now is launching an L2 or marketing how their exe...
The Art of Building Products Users Love | Jeff Morris Jr.
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Morris Jr. joins us to discuss how crypto can build products users love. Jeff is a venture capitalist and product genius who previously led Tinde...
The Next Chapter for Stablecoins | Nic Carter
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nic Carter joins us to discuss how digitized dollars are crypto's killer use case. We explore predictions for stablecoins, what people get wrong about...
Magic Eden: Is the 10K PFP Playbook Dead? | Zedd, Tiff and Rex
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are joined by the team from Magic Eden to discuss the state of NFTs. We cover what went wrong with the 10K PFP collections, royalty fees and ...
The Value of Modular Blockchains | Nick White, Neel Somani
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nick White (COO of Celestia) and Neel Somani (founder of Eclipse) join us to debate the tradeoffs of modular vs integrated blockchains. We cover the m...
Why Crypto Governance Sucks | Chase Chapman, David Phelps
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chase Chapman and David Phelps join us to discuss what crypto governance gets wrong. This is the most fun conversation we've had on Lightspeed yet! We...
Drift: Can This Solana DEX Compete With Binance? | Cindy Leow, Chris Heaney
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cindy Leow and Chris Heaney join us to discuss how Drift is building the #1 trading experience on Solana. In this episode, we cover Drift's core desig...
Solana’s Ultimate Vision | Anatoly Yakovenko
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Anatoly joins us to discuss why Solana is uniquely designed to utilize ever-increasing bandwidth and compute. We cover Solana's core thesis, how block...
Why Solana DeFi Is Crypto's Biggest Opportunity | Ansem
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ansem joins us to discuss why Solana DeFi is the best opportunity in crypto right now. Ansem is one of the top traders in the space who is a master of...
Ending the Modular vs Monolithic Debate | Kyle Samani
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Kyle Samani, the co-founder of Multicoin Capital and one of crypto's most independent thinkers. In this episode, we cover why "monolit...
DRiP: Crypto's Best Shot at Mainstream Adoption | Vibhu Norby
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by Vibhu Norby, the founder of DRiP, to discuss why DRiP is crypto's best shot at mainstream adoption. DRiP has already minted 18 million...
Compressed NFTs: Solana's Secret to Mass Adoption | Tensor's Co-founders
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we're joined by Ilja Moisejevs and Richard Wu to discuss how Tensor is building the #1 NFT marketplace in Solana and why compresse...
Balaji Srinivasan: Crypto Networks, Sovereignty and Decentralization with Akshay BD
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we're joined by Balaji Srinivasan and Akshay BD to discuss crypto networks, sovereignty and the practicality of decentralization. ...
Solana Defi 2.0: The Comeback | Jarry Xiao, Lucas Bruder, MacBrennan Peet
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Solana DeFi is having a resurgence, and Solana DeFi Summer is a narrative that's starting to emerge. What's the catalyst behind this resurgence, and i...
What Crypto Wallets Get Wrong | Armani Ferrante
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the first episode of Lightspeed! Armani Ferrante joins Garrett and Mert to discuss what crypto wallets get wrong. Armani is a product geniu...