"Ethereum is Power to the People" with Jason Chaskin from the Ethereum Foundation | ZEROPOD S3 E1
Jason Chaskin is the newly minted head of app relations at the Ethereum Foundation, and he joins ZEROPOD as our first guest of season 3!In this conversation, host Toady Hawk chats with Jason about his journey from the halls of high finance to the trenches of ETH hackathons, his new EF role helping apps survive and thrive, and why he believes that Ethereum is uniquely positioned to bring power back to the people. If you enjoy this episode, you can collect an onchain version right here and support our ongoing work. --- Timestamps: 00:00 Why Ethereum? Open networks vs Big Tech servers 02:00 Introducing Jason + his background 02:44 Growing up in Connecticut, sports & early life 03:29 College years at Illinois, studying finance 07:00 First exposure to crypto during the ICO era 08:54 Corporate banking and investment banking disillusionment 11:30 Discovering crypto podcasts & influences 13:01 COVID money-printing → aha moment for Bitcoin & Ethereum 14:13 Entering NFTs and first onchain experiences 15:05 Learning to code + ETH Global hackathons 16:33 How Jason taught himself (CS50, Patrick Collins course) 17:22 Pivot point: job applications & rejection at Privy 18:18 Blogging, Farcaster channels, and breaking into EF 21:59 Landing a role with the Ethereum Foundation 22:42 Announcing his new role: Apps Relations & Research 24:59 What the new EF focus means for apps & use cases 27:03 Why stablecoins on Tron succeeded & lessons for ETH 30:03 Should Ethereum fight for stablecoin market share? 32:11 The bull case for apps on Ethereum 34:43 Vitalik’s vision, decentralization, and values 39:23 Are stablecoins bullish or bearish for Ethereum? 40:29 Favorite Vitalik blog posts + public goods funding 46:01 Why Ethereum is a counterbalance to centralization 49:41 Competition with Solana & L1 debates 53:10 Are L2s parasitic to Ethereum? 57:12 EF’s L1 vs L2 scaling roadmap explained 59:59 What new blockspace should be used for (apps, experiments) 1:01:21 Bull case for Farcaster & community building 1:03:50 Thoughts on Nouns DAO and funding public goods 1:09:37 Ethereum’s biggest challenges ahead 1:12:49 EF restructuring and adapting to regulation 1:16:28 Why EF is leaning into ecosystem support & comms 1:18:54 Reflections on FTX, regulation, and industry reputation 1:19:41 Looking ahead to 2025: apps, stablecoins, institutions 1:21:49 Lightning Round Q&A (food, music, hobbies, books, travel, inspirations) 1:28:06 Closing thoughts --- Podcast produced, edited and hosted by Toady Hawk. Zero Rights Reserved and Open Source (Just like Ethereum)Cover art commissioned from the talented @0xAprilia Funding provided by The Yellow Collective on Base, an onchain culture club for curious creators and artists. Find out more at yellowcollective.xyz.
AI, Movies, and Marketing Insights: A Conversation with Matt Hixson
In this episode, I sit down with Matt Hixson, founder of Telegance and veteran of enterprise software, to explore the rise of AI and its ripple effects across industries. With over 17 years leading initiatives in social media and analytics—including a decade working closely with YouTube and Google—Matt brings a unique perspective on how data is shaping the future. We dive into: 🎬 How AI is transforming movies and storytelling 🎨 What it means for creativity and creator tooling 💼 The impact on jobs, disruption, and new opportunities 📊 Why social data is a marketing goldmine for businesses Matt’s journey from CPA to entrepreneur and AI thinker makes for a fascinating conversation about technology, culture, and the future of work. If you enjoy the episode, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of tech, creativity, and culture.
Swap Fees Drop, Casting Changes, and Typos as Proof of Humanity: GM Farcaster ep276 Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Swap Fees Drop, Casting Changes, and Typos as Proof of Humanity: GM Farcaster ep276 Wednesday, August13, 2025 From our ChatGPT Intern: Back from beachy lighthouses and palm trees, Adrienne and NounishProf returned to fix mini app glitches live on air, and celebrate @pplpleasr’s Emmy like proud crypto parents. Meanwhile, @ted reclaimed her leaderboard throne, Farcaster turned into a wallet powerhouse, and everyone quietly wondered if saying "Farcaster" on Twitter triggers algorithmic exile. Full Show Notes and Links on YouTube Copyright 2025 cc-by GM Farcaster - reuse/remix allowed with attribution and link back to GMFarcaster.com. NOTE: Cryptocurrencies are often volatile assets. Nothing in this episode should be considered financial advice and is for educational and entertainment purposes. Nothing should beconsidered investment advice, nor solicitation to buy or sell any assets. NFA, DYOR. Chapters: 0:00:00 GM 0:03:49 crypto Emmy 0:05:18 FC news 0:23:59 Base news 0:30:23 mini app safety 0:47:37 L1 debate1:01:22 GMFC to GNS
Signals & Storytelling: Farokh on Prediction Markets and Presidential Moments
I sat down with Farokh Sarmad, President of DASTAN and visionary behind Myriad Markets, to dive deep into: Media & community: How Myriad is reimagining reader participation by rewarding engagement and realigning media incentives. Farokh laid it all out at Consensus—saying “the participant actually gets a piece… gets reputation on-chain” instagram.com Prediction markets: From Polymarket to niche events, Farokh explored the future of decentralized event-driven finance, tying it into crypto culture, all while redefining how creators and communities interact Acquisitions & integration: How DASTAN is building across platforms like Rug Radio and Decrypt, integrating prediction tools into media ecosystems. And THAT one big interview: The world-leading moment when Farokh interviewed Donald Trump on X Spaces—the first crypto-company-affiliated presidential interview. Trump declared a vision of America becoming the “crypto capital of the world,” and Farokh pressed in on context, intent, and what it all means.
Between Two Chains Ep 3: Future of Blockchain Interoperability with Zero Knowledge (Reka, RISC Zero)
In our third episode of Between Two Chains, we speak with Reka from RISC Zero about zerok-knowledge (ZK) proofs and their application in blockchain interoperability. Reka explains the benefits of verifiable compute and how it relates to ZK, how ZK can enhance the connectivity between over 350 blockchains, and potential future developments once interoperability is fully solved. Between Two Chains is a four-part miniseries produced by Rehash and co-hosted by LayerZero, where we explore whether blockchain interoperability is solved.
Proof of BASED with Garrett Skrovina, founder of $BASED | ZEROPOD S2E17
Garrett Skrovina has worn a lot of hat, from Roc Nation exec to CoinDesk strategist, and now Head of Crypto at Laser, the engineering studio behind some of Base’s biggest drops and projects. In this episode of ZEROPOD, host Toady Hawk delves into Garrett's story and learns all about the memecoin he launched last year called $BASED — a fair-launch experiment with a special history and an exciting future. We hope you enjoy! --- This episode of ZEROPOD was sponsored by The Yellow Collective, a culture club for artists and creatives on Base. Learn more at yellowcollective.xyz.
GM Farcaster ep264 Wednesday July 9, 2025 with @tike from Noice
GM Farcaster ep264 Wednesday July 9, 2025 with @tike from Noice From our ChatGPT Intern: Technical glitches couldn’t stop Prof and Adrienne from streaming live in their “New England B&B chic” backgrounds to cover everything from leaderboard dog drama (shoutout Everyday Bailey!) to vertical video anxiety and programmable social chaos. The highlight? TK from Noice joined to chat about their recent airdrop while Adrienne admitted she'd rather write scripts tounfollow 2,311 people than figure out how to post a 30 second clip of her own face. Full Show Notes and Links on YouTube Copyright 2025 cc-by GM Farcaster - reuse/remix allowed with attribution and link back to GMFarcaster.com. NOTE: Cryptocurrencies are often volatile assets. Nothing in this episode should be considered financial advice and is for educational and entertainment purposes. Nothing should be considered investment advice, nor solicitation to buy or sell any assets. NFA, DYOR. Chapters: 0:00:00 GM 0:04:18 rewards0:06:44 FC news0:26:13 @tike from Noice
Episode 16 – Inside Farcaster: Why Culture Comes First with Dan Romero
In this conversation, Coach Coale and Dan Romero discuss leadership, management, and the importance of culture in organizations. Dan shares his journey from a small town in Massachusetts to becoming a founder at Farcaster and his experiences at Coinbase. They explore the challenges of managing teams, the significance of hiring practices, and the necessity of maintaining a strong company culture. Dan emphasizes the importance of communication, decision-making, and the cultural immune system in fostering a productive work environment. The discussion also touches on the pay-it-forward mentality prevalent in Silicon Valley and how it shapes the startup ecosystem.
"Roller Coasters Before Gift Shops" | A ZEROPOD Spotlight on LAWL from CC0 Studios
Join JackWyldes and Toady Hawk for a casual chat between three zero rights maxis, as they interview LAWL about his copyright-free animation shop CC0 Studios and their newest show, The Normal MFer.
Context S4: The Metropolitan Museum of Art - The Most Visited Museum in America Dives into NFTs
Blake speaks with The Metropolitan Museum of Art team who recently released Art Links, marking The Met’s first foray onto the blockchain. Art Links is a 12-week game that invites you to connect the dots between seeming disparate art works (whether centuries apart, completely different mediums, etc.) according to different themes, rewarding you in the form of NFT badges and IRL prizes. Blake has played religiously every week, and has learned a tonne! 3 of the project leads are here to talk about the game: Destinee Filmore, Assistant Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met, Brett Renfer, The Met's Senior Project Manager for Emerging Technologies and Audrey Ou, co-founder and CEO of TRLab. They dive deep into the project, from how long it took to plan and launch, to the intended audience, to why they chose Base, to the art they included. Blake also couldn’t resist asking Destinee about if (and when) the Met will collect their first crypto art works. If you want to get a read on the traditional art world and how they are engaging with NFTs…you can’t really get bigger than this. The Met is the most visited museum in America, and one of the most important cultural institutions in the world. Art Links: https://artlinks.metmuseum.org/about TRLab: https://x.com/trlab_ Blake Finucane: https://x.com/blakefinucane Boys Club Newsletter: https://tooonline.beehiiv.com/
Revolutionizing Governance: How Futarchy is Shaking Up the Crypto World with Proph3t from MetaDAO
Send us a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2097132/open_sms) This week we dive into the intriguing world of on-chain decision-making with our guest, Proph3t. In this episode, we explore the concept of Futarchy, a governance system that replaces traditional voting with trading in markets to make decisions. Proph3t, an engineer with a background in Ethereum Blockchain and smart contracts, shares insights into how Futarchy can be a game-changer for DAOs, enabling more rational decision-making by optimizing for token value. We also touch on the challenges and interesting developments within this innovative governance model, including the role of AI and prediction markets. Join us as we unravel this complex yet fascinating topic that’s gaining traction within the crypto community. Learn more about Futarchy (https://bush-fascinator-6cd.notion.site/MetaDAO-Proph3t-1ac723e01edd81a4ae08f02dbd95f1d3) 08:18 Proposal Failure and Decision Strategy 16:30 Optimizing for Future Metrics 19:40 DAO Proposal Voting Dynamics 22:57 Pricing Impact on Token Decisions 32:22 Optimizing Growth Through Futurchy 34:00 Governance Models: Dual Approach 46:22 AI Aggregation and Decision-Making 52:44 Prediction Markets Indicate Government Shutdown 57:56 Polymarket's Viral Strategy 01:05:04 ICO Incentive Misalignment Problem 01:10:37 Solana Presale Fraud Solution 01:17:20 Innovative AMM and Shared Liquidity 01:18:31 Blockchain Innovation Enthusiasm ___ Music & Sounds By: Gramajo (https://www.sound.xyz/gramajo/releases) CastOff/Episode Discussion, here (https://t.me/+oy6j0NBQObsyZjEx). Want more content? Subscribe to my newsletter, Gramajo's Weekly (https://paragraph.xyz/@0xgramajo). Support the show (https://hypersub.withfabric.xyz/s/onchainalien) Want to give me feedback on this podcast? Please click here (https://tally.so/r/3NpGqW).
"Every Agent Deserves a Wallet" Kevin Leffew (Coinbase AI BD Lead) on ZEROPOD s2e15
AI agents want to buy things. The internet tells them to ask a human.Coinbase’s Kevin Leffew joins ZEROPOD to talk wallets for agents, crypto-native payments, and why AgentKit might be the missing link between AI and autonomy.
Linda Xie on How Mini-Apps Are Helping Farcaster Take on Web2 Social Media
Legacy social media platforms lock you in, control your audience, and exploit your data. Farcaster aims to fix those problems. But how can it attract developers and users in an already saturated media environment? Developer Ecosystem Lead Linda Xie joined the show to explain: How Farcaster addresses social media’s structural flaws How Farcaster’s mini-app ecosystem is helping to grow the user base The most popular apps taking off on the platform How the whole crypto community could benefit from gathering on Farcaster Why she believes crypto communities belong on open, portable networks And why her family’s history helped her grasp the significance of Bitcoin in 2011
Coinbase Wallet’s Bold Bet on Creators: A Sneak Peek at the Future of Onchain Media
In this lightning talk from the Onchain Creator House, Aneri Amin, a Product Manager at Coinbase Wallet, dives into the groundbreaking features of the new Coinbase Wallet, designed specifically for creators. After years of frustration in the Web2 world, Aneri shares how Coinbase Wallet is transforming the creator experience with powerful new tools that include: - A social feed powered by Farcaster for seamless content sharing and community engagement across apps - Mini-apps that elevate content creation beyond text, images, and videos, and into interactive experiences - Messaging groups that give creators direct access to their followers - A completely revamped wallet for managing crypto, discovering new trades, and more Join Aneri as she takes you through this exciting new chapter in the creator economy. This is just the beginning—get a first-hand look at the beta release and be part of shaping the future of onchain media!
