Unchained Episode 942 Summary

Title: MegaETH Just Had Its Public Sale. Can It Succeed in Building a Web2-Like Experience?
Date: November 7, 2025
Host: Laura Shin
Guests: Shuyao Kang (Co-founder, MegaETH), Amir Almeimani (Head of Ecosystem, MegaETH)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into MegaETH—a new Ethereum Layer 2 chain branding itself as the first "real-time blockchain." Laura Shin explores with MegaETH’s co-founder Shuyao Kang and Head of Ecosystem Amir Almeimani what sets MegaETH apart technically and philosophically, their startup-like approach to public token sales, how they're attracting builders, and whether MegaETH can succeed in finally delivering Web2-level user experience and novel apps for Web3. The conversation also covers their unique approaches to decentralization, tokenomics, public allocation, anti-sybil measures, ecosystem growth, and native stablecoin plans.

Main Discussion Points and Insights

MegaETH’s Mission and Distinction in Web3

• Web2-Like Performance in Web3:
  MegaETH’s core pitch is enabling “real-time,” interactive, Web2-like app experiences on-chain by making radical improvements in blockchain latency and UX.

  • “Solana has about 400 ms latency. Arbitrum has 265 ms. Omega on our testnet right now is 10 ms. That means you can actually unlock immense capital efficiency... This is why we call MegaETH the first real-time blockchain.”
    — Shuyao Kang (00:00, 05:33)

• Moving Beyond Typical L1/L2 Paradigms:
  They intentionally avoid framing MegaETH strictly as a Layer 1 or Layer 2, emphasizing performance and enabling genuinely new applications over old debates about blockchain layer architecture.

  • “People kind of harken back to archaic models of L1, L2. What you should be optimizing for is creating an execution environment that allows for net new experiences.”
    — Amir Almeimani (02:44)

• Breaking the dApp Monotony:
  They're critical of industry stagnation since DeFi Summer—citing repeated copy-pastes of the same apps and a lack of innovation. MegaETH exists to allow both new assets and new interactive paradigms for users.

  • "Every time you have a new chain, you have the same set of applications ... can you bring new assets to trade or create net new experiences and net new assets onto blockchain?"
    — Shuyao Kang (03:22)

Key Technical Differentiators

• Radical Improvements in Latency:
  The chain’s primary technical boast is latency (10ms), orders of magnitude faster than competitors.

  • “On our testnet right now [latency] is 10 milliseconds and that means you can unlock immense amount of capital efficiency … all the interaction feels real-time.”
    — Shuyao Kang (05:33)

• Novel Data Structures:
  The innovation stemmed from a ground-up critique of EVM bottlenecks, particularly the Merkle Patricia Trie, leading to a complete data structure rewrite.

  • “My co-founder Elon... realized the bottleneck was the Merkle Patricia Trie. So we completely rewrote our data structure...and that eliminates 99% of the slowness.”
    — Shuyao Kang (05:33)

• Sequencer Design (Centralized, With Rotation):
  MegaETH uses a centralized sequencer for speed, with the intention of periodic rotation (“rotating sequencer”) for censorship resistance, aligning more with real-world finance models than with pure decentralization dogma.

  • “We are a centralized sequencer that is building on a maximally decentralized base layer [Ethereum]... what we are trying to do is maintaining one sequencer that's running at any time, but because the sequencer can be rotated, that introduces censorship resistance in a very clever way.”
    — Shuyao Kang (10:21, 11:59)

Philosophy on Decentralization and Tradeoffs

• Not Anti-Decentralization, But Pro-Pragmatism:
  MegaETH sees their approach as a pragmatic hybrid. Layer 2s, in their view, can be more secure than some L1s, since attacks require bribing the entire Ethereum validator set.

  • “Layer twos are more decentralized than many layer ones... for a layer two... to do evil, you have to bribe the entire validator set of Ethereum and that's a lot more costly.”
    — Shuyao Kang (10:21)

  • “Decentralization is not this binary thing... At the end of the day, what matters is censorship resistance and escape credibility.”
    — Amir Almeimani (11:59)

MEGA Tokenomics

• Utility Beyond Governance:
  MEGA is not just for “valueless governance;” it’s the mechanism for rotating sequencer access (staking), bidding for low-latency slots (“proximity markets”), and ecosystem governance.

• KPI (Milestone-Based) Vesting for Founders:
  Founders' tokens vest based on hitting measurable milestones, not just on a time schedule.

  • “I do not believe a founding team deserves to take 20% of a protocol token after...two or three years. I believe in a model where if a team does really well, they earn their extra token. So...we’re taking only 9%...with a handsome earn out if the protocol does really well based on KPIs.”
    — Shuyao Kang (13:58)

• No Inflation:
  Fixed token supply, with no emissions or further dilution. (20:02)

• Proximity Markets:
  Stakers can “bid” for minimal latency (physical/data center proximity to the sequencer) for their applications.

  • “You can stake... and decide how close you are to the sequencer, because the closer you are ... the faster your transaction gets executed.”
    — Shuyao Kang (13:58)

Public Token Sale Design & Participant Selection

• Transparent, Multi-Round Public Sales:
  MegaETH orchestrated several public rounds, including auction mechanisms and NFT sales to prioritize retail price discovery over VC “table dictation.”

  • “The philosophy behind doing this public sale is to make sure retail consumers, investors are participating in price discovery instead of...VCs who dictate price ... and by the time the token launches, it's billions...even though it's all copy pasta.”
    — Shuyao Kang (22:04)

• Selection Algorithm, Not Airdrops:
  Participation wasn't open to all but rather hand-picked, scored, or algorithmically weighted based on a mixture of social proofs, on-chain activity, and ecosystem support.

  • “We build an algorithm ... it was very mathematical so we can point people to their score and be like, this is exactly what you're getting.”
    — Shuyao Kang (29:03)

• No "Mercenaries":
  Avoided airdrops and wide public a allocations to sidestep “mercenary” participants who’d immediately dump.

  • “Airdrops simply incentivize the wrong behavior...we're very focused and very intentional as far as who has access to those additional incentives...same people who've demonstrated demand to have actual skin in the game.”
    — Amir Almeimani (30:53)

• Anti-Sybil Measures:
  MegaETH heavily monitored and fought sybil attacks using Bubble Maps, internal tools, and Echo; claims to have detected and banned large clusters of fake KYC attempts.

  • “In terms of like exact numbers...there are certainly clusters throughout the public sale where it was just very clearly a single individual trying to sybil with 4–600 KYC accounts.”
    — Amir Almeimani (38:12)

Native Stablecoin (USDM) and Chain Revenue Philosophy

• A Unified, Native Stablecoin:
  Amir and Shuyao argue stablecoins will be central to scaling chain usage, improving UX, and actually aligning chain/app incentives.
  • “Revenue is being generated from priority fees. The issue is priority fees come at direct odds with the actual applications giving users the best possible user experience ... so let's tie a unified stablecoin to solve this ... and have it be the anchor when it comes to transactions."
    — Amir Almeimani (40:12)

Mega Mafia Accelerator: Cultivating Meaningful Innovation

• Hands-On, High-Conviction Ecosystem Building:
  The "Mega Mafia" program is a year-long, immersive accelerator bringing handpicked, non-forking, innovator founders together to build new things only possible on MegaETH. In-person residencies are core—“we live together in Berlin, Chiang Mai...Copenhagen.”

  • “The sole purpose of MegaETH is to give birth to novel applications. But we are not application builders, we are chain builders ... So with that philosophy, we started the Mega Mafia program. The goal is to find the best builders and live with them.”
    — Shuyao Kang (41:43)

• Showcasing What’s Possible: Real App Examples:
  Examples included:

  • Euphoria: Real-time, gamified binary options (“trading Brick Breaker/Snake”).
    “You get to click on the grid where you think the price feed will go ... if it hits, you win the trade. If not, you lose. It’s something that will resonate beyond just crypto.”
    — Amir Almeimani (46:28)
  • Blitzo: Gamified payments app where users can “coinflip” real transactions, potentially paying double or nothing, enabled by near-instant finality.

Memorable Quotes

• “Latency is the most important performance metric... For all the past 8 years, everybody talks about throughput... It does not deliver actual benefits to builders. What really matters is latency.”
  — Shuyao Kang (05:33)

• "We want people to see what we appreciate in a community...these are folks that have been with us over a year. Their actions are what we want people to look to."
  — Amir Almeimani (34:28)

• “Finding real human hearts. Once you find them, you have to treasure them.”
  — Shuyao Kang (39:10)

• "I'm hoping once we're live, you actually have this inflection point ... the start of the first real time applications ... making Mega the home for the apps that will onboard the next million normies who don't even know they're using crypto rails."
  — Amir Almeimani (53:47)

Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:00–04:23: MegaETH’s purpose, the problem with crypto app stagnation, and the drive for Web2-like experience.
• 05:10–08:49: Technical design shifts: Latency, data structure overhaul, sequencer rationale, and tradeoffs.
• 09:54–13:09: Nuanced decentralization discussion, rotating sequencers, regulatory pragmatism.
• 13:58–20:33: Token mechanics—utility, staking, proximity markets, KPI-based founder vesting, fixed supply.
• 21:25–26:01: Public sale philosophy and execution, reflections and lessons (esp. the NFT “Fluffle” round).
• 27:26–34:46: Public sale participant selection: social scoring, transparency, “missionaries vs mercenaries.”
• 37:13–39:32: Anti-sybil strategies and results.
• 40:12–41:34: USDM stablecoin and sustainable chain economics.
• 41:43–46:01: The Mega Mafia accelerator’s vision and process.
• 46:01–50:36: Showcase of standout ecosystem apps (Euphoria, Blitzo).
• 50:36–54:45: Next steps, unlock timelines, vision for MegaETH’s broader impact.
• 55:22–56:01: MegaETH brand, swag, creative ethos.

Conclusion

MegaETH positions itself as a radical break from “copy-paste” app stagnation on blockchains, promising fundamental improvements in real-time interactivity and developer experience. By prioritizing latency, embracing pragmatic decentralization, and rethinking both tokenomics and community selection, they hope to set the conditions for “Gen Z and Gen Alpha” friendly financial and social apps with mainstream appeal.

Their high-touch, hands-on approach extends to ecosystem nurturing via the Mega Mafia accelerator and app selection, while their tokenomics and sale process seek to avoid the common pitfalls of VC over-dominance and mercenary airdrop chasers. With their mainnet and a bevy of experimental apps incoming, MegaETH is a high-conviction bet on breaking the mold and onboarding the next million into crypto without them ever realizing it.

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Solana: 400 ms latency. Arbitrum: 265 ms. Omega on testnet: 10 ms... This is why we call MegaETH the first real-time blockchain.”
  — Shuyao Kang (00:00)

• “If you want to create a system that can rival Web2, you have to make these tradeoffs. Decentralization is not something... immediately lost because you’re making them.”
  — Amir Almeimani (11:59)

• “The megatoken... is very much a dynamic token in that regard. We wanted it to have a pretty integral role in how the system behaves.”
  — Amir Almeimani (19:27)

• “We wanted to be very open on what we do as a team... For years we've had mucky tokenomics... No one knows where airdrop goes. We just wanted to be very open.”
  — Shuyao Kang (34:04)

• “Airdrops simply incentivize the wrong behavior... We're very focused and intentional as far as who has access to those additional incentives: the people who've demonstrated demand to have actual skin in the game."
  — Amir Almeimani (30:53)

• “Finding real human hearts. Once you find them, you have to treasure them.”
  — Shuyao Kang (39:10)