10 Years of Ethereum

10 Years of Ethereum - Episode 1: Foundation Stories
Hosts: Chinmay Patel & Marvyn Paul
Guests: Josh Stark (Community Lead, Ethereum Foundation) & Jason Chaskin (Researcher, Ethereum Foundation)
Date: May 22, 2025 (Bitcoin Pizza Day!)

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our 10-week celebration of Ethereum's 10th anniversary! In this special kickoff episode, we sit down with two key figures from the Ethereum Foundation - Josh Stark, who heads community initiatives, and Jason Chaskin, a researcher leading the new Ecosystem Intelligence Team.

This isn't just another crypto podcast - it's a celebration of the builders, dreamers, and community members who've shaped Ethereum from an ambitious whitepaper into the global platform it is today. Josh and Jason share their personal journeys into Ethereum, from Jason's ICO-era skepticism to his banking career pivot, and Josh's transition from law to becoming a cornerstone of the Ethereum ecosystem.

We explore the unique challenges of building at the Ethereum Foundation, the delicate balance between decentralization and coordination, and get insider perspectives on exciting developments like the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, interoperability solutions, and the symbiotic relationship between Layer 1 and Layer 2s.

Whether you're a longtime Ethereum builder or just discovering the ecosystem, this conversation offers rare insights into how one of crypto's most important organizations thinks about the future while staying true to its community-first ethos.

[02:00] Jason's journey from skeptical college finance major to EF researcher
[04:00] Josh's transition from law to Ethereum via the 2015 rabbit hole
[11:00] Josh's pre-EF work: Bitcoin ATM operations, ETH Global founding, and L4 (early state channels)
[14:00] Jason's ETH Global NYC 2022 experience - finding his tribe in the bear market
[17:00] Josh's dual focus: building EF communications & leading Trillion Dollar Security Initiative
[20:00] Jason's evolution to leading the new Ecosystem Intelligence Team
[22:00] The unique challenge of winning without controlling - EF's delicate balance
[24:00] New KPIs: Why stablecoin market share matters for Ethereum's future
[27:00] Interoperability as a key coordination function
[31:00] The Danny Ryan story - from web developer to Merge architect via open calls
[33:00] Forums and channels: ETH Research, Ethereum Magicians, Farcaster
[36:00] Developer opportunities: Build Guild, hackathons, and getting paid in ETH
[38:00] Scout Game - gamifying open source contributions
[41:00] Jason's call for renewed experimentation and big thinking
[41:30] Jason's top 3 Farcaster apps: micro-tipping, GeoGuesser, and Paragraph
[43:00] Josh's three-bucket framework: Platform strength, application ecosystem, and distribution
[46:00] Scaling values through technology, not just philosophy
[48:00] The email analogy - how base layer properties keep platforms honest
[50:00] EF's symbiotic relationship with Layer 2 teams
[52:00] The speed of progress - from $1+ L2 fees to micro-transactions in one year
[53:00] Interoperability progress: Succinct's 12-second Ethereum block proofs
[55:00] Final advice: Reach out, try new products, support experimentation