Galaxy Brains – "Open Blockchains Are The Future" w/ Mert

Host: Alex Thorn (Galaxy Digital Research)
Guest: Mert (Co-founder & CEO of Helios)
Date: April 9, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Galaxy Brains dives into the current state and future of open blockchains, with a focus on Solana, privacy, permissionless ecosystems, quantum threats, and AI-accelerated security risks. Alex Thorn sits down with Mert of Helios, a prominent crypto builder and thinker, to explore Solana's competitive positioning, upcoming technical upgrades, debates around permissioned vs open chains, and the profound role of cryptography and information theory in economic progress. The episode opens with a sharp look at the geo-economic and commodity market impacts of the recent Middle East ceasefire, featuring insight from Bimnet Abibi (Galaxy Trading).

Market & Geopolitical Discussion

Guest: Bimnet Abibi, Galaxy Trading
[01:37 – 18:29]

Geopolitical Backdrop: Middle East Tensions & the Strait of Hormuz

• Ceasefire Dynamics ([02:09])
  • Markets have been “ping ponging on headlines,” with geopolitical concerns far outweighing fundamentals (Bimnet).
  • There is hope for a permanent ceasefire between the US, Israel, and Iran, though skepticism remains as to its durability:

    “Do I think it holds over the medium term? Probably not. …But I do think you will get to a permanent ceasefire in the next two weeks.”
    — Bimnet [03:30]

• Commodity Implications ([03:52])
  • Ongoing disruptions to Middle East oil, energy, and petrochemicals are causing elevated prices in food, fuel, and critical chemicals (e.g., ammonia, helium, sulfuric acid).
  • Notable knock-on effects: Surging costs for food, transport, plastics, and semiconductors due to supply chain blockages.
  • Governments expected to hoard supplies post-reopening of the strait, leading to further price volatility.
• On-the-Ground Reports ([08:42])
  • Citing a Citrini Research analyst’s trip, Alex notes that while the Strait isn’t “officially” closed, Iran controls de facto passage:

    “The main takeaway…was that actually the Strait is open if Iran lets you through it.”
    — Alex [10:36]

  • Rumors about crypto payments for safe passage appear overstated; most ship access has been negotiated through unlocked diplomatic funds.
• Long-Term Peace Outlook ([13:52])
  • “Lasting peace…is a long ways off,” cautions Bimnet, noting enduring regional hostilities and risks.
  • Market expectation: Short-term optimism if a ceasefire holds, but significant caution for the medium term.
  • “For the entirety of my life there’s been conflict in the Middle East. …I don’t have a huge level of confidence that you are not going to have a re-spark of the tensions.”
    — Bimnet [08:04]

The Future of Open Blockchains

Guest: Mert, Helios
[18:33 – 59:00]

Solana’s Competitive Position in Blockchain Ecosystems

[20:04]

• Solana vs Ethereum vs Hyper Liquid

  • Mert clarifies the need for precise terms: Hyper Liquid usually refers to a specific perpetuals trading app, not a blockchain.
  • Solana is viewed as the most “product-oriented” platform, ideal for entrepreneurs who want to build and iterate on crypto-native applications.

    “[Solana] is just like the best place to build a crypto business.”
    — Mert [22:28]

  • Recognizes that other platforms are optimal for different use cases (e.g., Ethereum for higher trust assumptions/rigorous decentralization; Hyper Liquid for synthetics with liquidity).
  • Most non-synthetic, user-facing crypto apps with high traction are disproportionately on Solana.

• Onchain Platform Maturity

  • Crypto has matured into differentiated platforms, paralleling historical platform competition (e.g., Windows/Mac, PlayStation/Xbox) where 3–4 main players coexist based on trade-offs.

    “…Some good for some things and others better for other things.”
    — Alex [24:09]

Debates on Permissioned vs Open Chains

[24:36]

• On DLT Permissioned Chains like Canton or Tempo

  • Mert strongly rejects closed (permissioned) blockchains as viable competition:

    “The second you bring permissions into it, you just don’t necessarily need a blockchain….Why not just use PayPal’s APIs?”
    — Mert [26:56]

  • Permissioned models replicate Web2 architectures (access lists, APIs) and fundamentally lose the unique advantages of public blockchains — composability and open innovation.

• Open, Composable State as a Value Prop

  • Blockchains shine by enabling global, composable, and programmable money and markets:

    “Blockchain is really just API for Money, right? Or I call it the API for capitalism.”
    — Mert [26:56]

Technical Upgrades: Solana’s Multiple Concurrent Proposers (MCP)

[29:40]

• What is MCP?
  • A proposed change to Solana’s consensus, moving from a single-leader-per-slot model to allowing multiple concurrent block proposers.
  • The aim: dramatically increase censorship resistance; no single validator can exclude a transaction.

    “MCP is really fundamentally a way of increasing censorship resistance.”
    — Mert [32:06]

  • The proposal is in debate—community is cautious due to complexity and potential risks.

Inflation and Staking Rewards Debate

[33:58]

• On Solana’s Token Inflation
  • Distinguishes between dilution from unlocks (early VC funding) and regular protocol-level inflation.

    “The dominating factor is really the unlocks … their effects will not be nearly as much as it was before.”
    — Mert [34:39]

  • Considers earlier proposals to make inflation dynamic (tied to staking rates) as too complex; proposal failed, noting this as evidence of true onchain governance decentralization.
  • Current inflation is declining year over year, with the existential monetary debate fading in urgency.

The Quantum Computing Threat to Blockchains

[38:49]

• Recent Breakthroughs
  • Recent papers show Shor’s algorithm may be easier to implement than thought, raising concern about all blockchains’ cryptographic security.
• Risk Management Mindset
  • Mert on the “fat tail” risk:

    “…The benefit to preparing … is basically zero, but the cost is basically infinite. …There must at least be a plan for this.”
    — Mert [39:26]

• Technical Tension
  • Post-quantum signatures are huge compared to current standards, potentially harming blockchain throughput.
  • Solana’s tests show ~90% throughput drop if PQC was implemented today, but Mert remains optimistic:

    “If such a thing occurs, you must rethink the system design from first principles... By that point [in 10 years] Solana will have scaled…”
    — Mert [43:46]

AI & Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

[46:43]

• On AI Models (Anthropic’s Mythos, etc.)

  • Reports of next-gen models finding “thousands of zero days” is likely a mix of truth and marketing.

    “The odds of that are almost certainly 100% [that there are undiscovered vulnerabilities]. As long as humans are writing code, there are going to be issues…”
    — Mert [46:43]

  • AI will accelerate both discovery of vulnerabilities and the improvement of security hygiene.
  • Notes the need for a proactive, industry-wide push to harden wallets and infrastructure (“it’s kind of wild to me [how] we are storing wallet seed phrases on...chrome extensions” [47:35]).

• AI Centralization vs Open Source Decentralization

  • Discussion of whether open source models will close the gap or if big, closed models will dominate due to a “capital edge”.

    “I think there is a world in which you have local data centers that are much more decentralized...But again, you’re always going to run into the same problem, that the giants have this weird capital edge over you.”
    — Mert [53:52]

Blockchains as Engines of Economic Progress (“Cipher Capitalism”)

[55:23]

• On Permissionless Blockchains and Economic Knowledge
  • Mert’s compelling thesis: Blockchains are the “meta machinery” that enables capitalism to operate at planetary scale, by maximizing the bandwidth and minimizing the noise of economic knowledge transfer.

    “With blockchains you have a system that is in premise a giant financial computer that can be used by everybody, but controlled by nobody. …[It’s] the perfect evolution of that information system that you can use to evolve capitalism.”
    — Mert [55:23]

  • Emphasizes that the promise is not in any particular product, but in the possibility for anyone to build, transact, and innovate, without gatekeepers:

    “Crypto is…the rails for improving economic knowledge and its propagation.”
    — Mert [58:30]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Mert on Open Blockchains:
  “Blockchains are not just money transfer. They're the API for capitalism.” [26:56]
• On Permissioned Chains:
  “If you bring permissions into it, you just don’t need a blockchain.” [26:56]
• On Quantum Risks:
  “The risk is real, but the panic is overblown.” [41:55]
• On AI Vulnerabilities:
  “As long as humans are writing code, there’s just going to be issues in information transfer between the mind and the, let’s say, the transistors.” [46:43]
• On the Ultimate Promise:
  “With blockchains…you can actually scale capitalism from not just America, but to the entire world.” [57:45]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:37] Market impacts of Middle East ceasefire (Bimnet)
• [08:42] Citrini Research: Strait of Hormuz realities
• [18:33] Interview begins: Mert on Solana’s place in L1 landscape
• [24:36] Debate: Open vs Permissioned blockchains/civilization-scale platforms
• [29:40] Solana’s Multiple Concurrent Proposers proposal unpacked
• [33:58] Solana staking rewards/inflation mechanics and governance
• [38:49] Quantum computing as cryptographic threat to blockchains
• [46:43] AI, Mythos & zero-day gamechangers for crypto
• [55:23] Blockchains as systems for global knowledge propagation and economic evolution

Tone & Style

The episode balances technical depth with big-picture vision. The hosts and guest maintain a candid, sometimes playful but always intellectually serious tone, with healthy skepticism, optimism for open systems, and a strong bias toward first principles thinking and voluntary, P2P progress. Mert’s analogies (blockchains as “API for capitalism,” cryptoeconomics as a communications channel) make conceptual clarity accessible and memorable.

Summary Takeaway

Open blockchains are not just technologically superior—they are a new substrate for global economic progress. While risks (quantum, AI, geopolitical) loom, the radical composability and permissionless innovation offered by platforms like Solana represent the next leap in scalable, information-rich capitalism. The industry must remain vigilant, adaptable, and, above all, open.