
Hosted by Blockspace Media · EN

David Hoffman, Podcaster at Bankless, joins us to talk about the evolution of crypto from a naive 2017 dream to the harsh reality of 2026. We dive into the "blockchain, not Bitcoin" rebirth, the death of Discord-led communities, and why Wall Street's tokenization is missing the point. David shares his excitement for AI-driven capital markets, the innovative app ecosystem on MegaETH, and why his portfolio remains heavily weighted in ETH despite the nihilistic market sentiment. Notes: * Ryan Sean Adams took a 3-month sabbatical. * David Hoffman's portfolio is still mostly ETH. * Bankless VC fund downsized to 15-20 checks. * China is aggressively increasing gold reserves. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:23 State of crypto 03:21 What's still exciting 08:14 Crypto's original vision 12:57 Community going away? 19:16 Hyperliquid 20:44 What are L2's actually being used for? 25:17 Ordering transactions 27:26 Ellipsis Labs Ad 28:14 Future of media 33:28 Money leaving the crypto space 35:41 Risk & return math 39:41 Bankless Ventures 45:07 Possible bright spots? 50:15 Future of Bankless 58:21 Bankless regrets 1:01:31 Fully changing his mind 1:04:28 Crypto's end game is here? 1:07:51 ETH: bull or bear? 1:10:40 David's personal portfolio? The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform. Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs.xyz/careers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucas & Hersch from World Markets joins us to break down why crypto trading infrastructure is fundamentally broken: how fully onchain order books, unified risk engines, and capital-efficient design could reshape perps trading. Chapters: 0:02 Intro & guest background 1:28 From exchanges to hedge funds 3:26 Monad vs MegaETH decision 5:00 Why L2s beat L1s for trading 6:49 DeFi security flaws explained 10:29 How onchain traders find alpha 18:01 What World Markets actually is 21:59 1010 Crash explained 28:13 Why centralized exchanges fail 47:48 The 50% basis trade example 53:00 Hersch finally gets to speak The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Ellipsis Labs builds the most efficient on-chain markets. Their orderbook and Prop AMM products have delivered price improvement to hundreds of billions of dollars in retail volume. Now, they are bringing their expertise to build Phoenix, the best on-chain perpetuals platform. Ellipsis Labs is hiring New York-based engineers. If you're an engineer looking to work with a proven team in making DeFi better, go to ellipsislabs dot xyz slash careers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Resnick, Lead Economist at Anza, joins Gwart to talk about optimizing Solana for financial markets. He discusses the shift from Ethereum, the mechanics of MCP to stop censorship, and how "ACE" (Application Control Execution) empowers apps. Max discusses dominance of Prop AMMs, the controversy around block packing, and how Solana plans to compete with Hyperliquid in the perp market. Notes: - Binance retail fee is ~10 basis points- Prop AMM execution gap up to 10 bps- Humidify quotes 0.1 bps spreads Timestamps:00:00 Start00:28 Anza experience02:10 What's Max working on?05:41 New respect for development08:42 MCP > MEV12:33 Validators & toxic flow15:14 MCP status16:32 Writing code18:20 ACE21:30 Taker speed bump & Hyperliquid23:47 Oracle updates24:13 On-chain co-location26:38 Priority fee27:01 Deny list28:23 Tighter than Binance33:18 Spreads36:23 Prop AMM winners38:33 SEP & Solana40:40 MEV report44:55 User costs of MEV47:26 Block time reduction50:30 Transaction packing58:45 Prop AMMs & breaking composability1:01:23 Hyperliquid1:03:48 Solona slipping on Perps The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges. Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ellipsislabs.xyz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bitcoin developer Brandon Black (ReardenCode) analyzes the reality of the quantum computing threat to Bitcoin. He explains the timeline for potential encryption breaks and why the sky isn't falling just yet. Brandon explains proposed solutions like BIP 360 and OP_CAT, and we debate whether Satoshi's stash will eventually be stolen or confiscated. Notes: * RSA keys moved from 1024 to 4096 bits * 2-3k logical qubits needed to break ECC * Logical qubits need 99.999% accuracy * Biggest quantum factored number is ~15. * BIP 360 new BC1Z address type. Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:25 The Quantum discussion 02:43 Initial thoughts on Quantum 06:51 How would a Quantum computer work? 11:10 Quantum vs conventional computing 14:25 Rearden's general take on Quantum 16:29 Why so divided on issue? 20:13 Error correction 22:42 You gave it the answer already 25:36 It's not scaling! 30:06 Easily readable research? 34:24 The "hidden" quantum computer 38:08 Crab market = roll FUD dice 39:59 TradFi is jumpy 41:01 The plan 42:57 What is "bitcoin working"? 46:13 Screeching about Core Devs 48:21 Core team & gatekeeping 53:12 BIP 360 56:19 Are MY keys safe now? 1:01:20 Satoshi's coins 1:05:04 Opinions in the community 1:10:56 Bitcoin upgrades coming? The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges. Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ellipsislabs.xyz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vladimir Novakovski, CEO of Lighter, explains their pivot from AI to a high-speed DEX. He addresses the controversy behind their zero-fee model and how ZK circuits ensure verifiability. Vlad says they're surprised at the success of Forex on Lighter, future plans for options and fixed income, and addresses community questions about token value and equity rights. Notes:- Spent 18 months building tech stack- 1,000+ trading shops in contact with Lighter- Polymarket has "pretty efficient" pricing Timestamps:00:00 Start00:35 Surprises of success02:50 Winning Perp DEX Season06:30 Regulations11:49 What parts need to be on-chain?16:57 Sidecar21:35 Forex trading flows24:35 Spot markets28:03 Future of zero fees31:15 Public book & toxic flow36:44 Standardizing Perp DEXs40:16 Paths to revenue45:47 User acquisition & tokens49:28 The Hyperliquid Standard56:24 Dealing with trolls The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges. Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ellipsislabs.xyz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices