"Taming the Wild West" with Serpin Taxt, founder of Ethos | ZEROPOD S2 E14

Welcome back to another episode of ZEROPOD, this one featuring Serpin Taxt, the ambitious young founder of a new protocol called Ethos, which aims to help solve the age-old problem of who to trust (and who not to) in the onchain space. Host Toady Hawk talks about his childhood, his career in web 2, and his goals for Ethos, namely, to tame the wild, wild west of the crypto space… just a bit. So without further ado, let’s go learn about the mythos behind the Ethos. —- Timestamps: 00:00 - The $9B Problem: Scams, Trust, and the Wild West of Crypto 02:25 - Welcome to ZEROPOD: Meet Serpin Taxt, Founder of Ethos 05:00 - Inventor Dreams and Web2 Career 08:00 - Escaping B2B SaaS 11:00 - Discovering Ethereum: Interoperability and Smart Contracts 13:30 - When Crypto Finally Clicked 15:00 - Inspiration from Friend.Tech and the Birth of Ethos 17:00 - Reputation is Everything: Why Trust Signals Matter 19:10 - Realizing a Bigger Vision 21:00 - A Wild West Without Accountability 24:00 - Proof-of-Stake for People: Ethos’s Core Mechanism 26:30 - Avoiding Mob Rule: Risk, Reputation, and Social Slashing 29:00 - Open Moderation and Algorithmic Challenges 31:00 - Reviewing ETH Wallets, Twitter Accounts, and Beyond 33:30 - Identity, Anonymity, and the Risk of Sockpuppets 36:00 - Using Ethos in the Wild: Kaito, Bots, and Reputation vs. Attention 39:00 - Why It's Hard to Call Out Scammers (but Why We Must) 42:00 - The Power of Named Reviews vs. Anonymous Drama 44:00 - NFT Ethics, Gotcha Culture, and the Chaos Incentive 46:00 - Social Slashing 101: How It Works in Ethos 49:00 - Toward Financial Slashing: The Next Big Risk Layer 51:00 - Onboarding: Slow Growth 53:00 - Staying Power: What Keeps Users Coming Back Daily 56:00 - Finding People to Vouch For (and How to Ask for Vouches) 58:30 - Using the Chrome Extension for Discovery and Reviews 1:00:00 - Integrations 1:02:00 - Building Influence Onchain: Ratings for Businesses, Not Just People 1:04:00 - Alpha Drop? Business Leaderboards Are Coming 1:06:30 - Why Ethos Launched on Base 1:12:00 - The Token Question: Contributor XP, Incentives, and Future Possibilities 1:14:25 - Wrap-Up --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

A Faster, Cheaper Way to Pay

For generations, credit cards have set the speed limit for digital payments made by consumers and businesses around the world. From metal “charge plates” used to run up a tab at a department store; to the Diner’s Club card, which created a groundbreaking, cross-business credit network for everyday purchases; to the rise of digital payments connecting all corners of the world… nothing has felt more frictionless than paying with credit.Until now. Because stablecoins (cryptocurrencies that are pegged to a fiat currency) are making digital payments faster and cheaper than they’ve ever been. And they’re changing what’s possible at every scale of our payments ecosystem — from an international corporation making B2B payments, to a small business selling artisanal tree pots, to a parent sending remittances to family members across borders.We’ll learn how the rise of the credit card changed consumer expectations of what it means to pay for goods and services. Then we’ll dive into the concrete uses of stablecoins that could signal a new revolution in the speed and ease of payments and open up new tools for growth and stability across the world.

What Americans Are Missing: Coinbase's European Growth Strategy

In this episode, we explore Coinbase's role in shaping the European crypto landscape with a focus on regulation, stablecoins, and the future of web3. Our guest, Come Proust-Boucle, Coinbase’s Country Manager for France, shares insights on how Europe’s approach to crypto regulation sets it apart from America. How does Coinbase plan to leverage that tp provide compliant, trusted products and drive mass adoption of crypto across Europe? We also discuss the community culture of Base, payment systems and developer tools that bring more apps on-chain. Visit www.thinkingonpaper.xyz for more.

Running an Onchain Music Label ft. Cooper Turley

Cooper Turley is the founder of Coop Records, an onchain record label at the intersection of Web3 and music. He's reshaping the Web3 music scene by bringing artists onchain. Cooper also invests and advises, collects NFTs, and was featured in Fortune's 2021 NFTy 50 list of influential figures in the NFT space. The crypto scene in Tokyo (00:02:36) Coop discusses the crypto community in Japan and the technological advancements compared to the US. Onchain record label (00:04:48) Coop explains the concept of onchain record labels and the motivation behind starting Coop Records. Artist selection process (00:08:03) Coop describes the curated approach to selecting artists for Coop Records and the importance of traditional success. Factors for going viral onchain (00:14:23) Coop discusses the factors contributing to the success of going viral onchain and the use of onchain ad campaigns. Challenges and partnerships (00:18:20) Coop addresses the challenges of competing with traditional music platforms and the partnerships with other record labels. Onchain record label success (00:20:16) Exploration of the success criteria for onchain record labels, emphasizing collective value sharing among artists, collectors, and curators. NFTs and social acceptance (00:22:31) Insights into the social acceptance of NFTs, the value of collecting songs, and the concept of onchain reputation. Midnight Diner event series (00:25:57) Description of the event series in LA, focusing on the integration of crypto experiences with music events and the distribution of onchain music. Challenges and concerns in the crypto space (00:30:24) Discussion about concerns regarding consumer applications, the sustainability of crypto platforms, and the need for broader adoption. Artists: Baker Grace, 33 Below, Daniel Allan, Skrillex, Post Malone, RŌHKI, lyrah. RŌHKI Anime Trailer Mentioned: Sound.xyz, Adam Levy, Coinbase, Warpcast, MetaMask, Boost, Layer3, Nifty Gateway, OpenSea, Mint.Fun, Helix Records, Th3rd Brain, R&R records, Onchain $Summer, Base, Hypersub, Paragraph.xyz, Midnight Diner. Until next time, - Kaloh

S9 E2 | A New Era of Media Without Algorithms or Ads w/Grace Guan (Unlonely)

In this episode, we’re speaking with Grace Guan, co-founder of Unlonely, a web3 livestreaming platform, about web2 vs web3 media, inner workings of YouTube algorithms, and how traditional media platforms can stop exploiting creators by getting rid of ads and algorithms in this new iteration of media we’re building in web3.

Doodles Moves to Base ft. Jullian Holguin and Jesse Pollak

The following episode is made possible thanks to DEGEN. 🎩 --- This episode welcomes Julian Holguin, CEO of Doodles, and Jesse Pollak, contributor #1 at Coinbase’s Base network. This episode is truly based. We spend our time together uncovering why Doodles is migrating their IP and consumer crypto application to Base and what NFT holders can expect moving forward. I hope you enjoy our conversation.