How does Aleo envision empowering users with greater control over their digital identities?

Join us as we speak with John, Product Manager at Aleo. In a nutshell, Aleo is the leading developer platform for building fully-private, scalable, and cost-effective decentralized applications.

Tune in to learn about John’s professional journey, the evolution of Aleo over time, zPass, their imminent Mainnet launch and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Aleo’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/AleoHQ

Link to Aleo’s website
👉🏻 https://aleo.org/

Episode Breakdown

00:30 - How would you explain the vision behind Aleo to a 5-year old?

03:00 - What was your background prior to joining Aleo?

04:30 - Did your previous roles in the Air Force and in Fintech help you hit the ground running at Aleo?

06:45 - Would you be able to provide a quick primer and overview of Aleo?

08:00 - At what stage of the development process is Aleo currently? 

09:30 - As you are fast approaching Mainnet launch, what role has security played in successfully bootstrapping the protocol?

13:30 - What is the coolest thing that has been proposed to be built on Aleo so far?

16:30 - What is zPass and why should users be excited for its imminent release?

20:00 - Is zPass the sovereign and decentralized answer for users when faced with the threat of centralized information management by governments and corporations?

23:00 - Will users have to undergo an educational phase to truly appreciate the ownership of information and how to effectively mobilize it in the future digital economy?

25:00 - What use cases will zPass be able to unlock for users?

29:00 - What are the main differences, in terms of roles and responsibilities, between the Aleo Foundation and Aleo Systems?

31:00 - In terms of what next, what can we expect to be shipped by the Aleo team in 2024?

What role does Account Abstraction play in enhancing Holdstation’s UX?

zkSync’s Deep-Dive series aims at shedding light on projects building on zkSync and to learn from the minds behind them.

Join us as we speak with Trung, Co-Founder and Product Manager at Holdstation. In a nutshell, Holdstation combines a Web3 wallet for storing, swapping, and managing your tokens with a Perpetual DEX.

Tune in to learn about Holdstation Wallet and DeFutures’ key features, how they leverage Account Abstraction, what the team has in store for 2024 and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Holdstation’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/HoldstationW

Link to Holdstation’s website
👉🏻 https://holdstation.com/

Link to zkSync’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/zksync

Link to zkSync’s website
👉🏻 https://zksync.io/

Episode Breakdown

01:00 - What was your background prior to co-founding Holdstation?

02:30 - How do Account Abstraction and ERC-4337 enhance the capabilities of Holdstation, both in terms of Holdstation Wallet and Holdstation DeFutures, and what benefits do they bring to your users?

06:00 - What roles do paymasters and seedless recovery play within your Holdstation Wallet?

08:00 - How does building on zkSync enhance the UX for Holdstation users?

11:00 - How has Holdstation’s UI and UX improved over the last 6 months since going live on Mainnet?

13:30 - What is Holdstation Launchpad and would you be able to elaborate on how it will contribute to the broader zkSync ecosystem?

16:00 - How does Holdstation structure feedback and comments from users ahead of rolling out new product features and iterations?

18:00 - In terms of feedback, have you noticed any country-specific or community-specific patterns and trends?

20:00 - Has the CopyTrade feature been rolled out yet and, if so, what traction has it seen to date?

22:00 - Can zkSync users expect 150x leverage when using Holdstation DeFutures?

24:00 - What sort of traction has Holdstation DeFutures seen to date and what role have the Affiliate programmes played in reaching such heights?

26:30 - How does Holdstation aim to bring TradFi traders over to DeFi?

28:30 - What is the Paymaster Alliance?

32:00 - What is the Holdstation Brokerage Module and when will it be rolled out?

34:00 - In terms of roadmap for the new year, what can users expect to be shipped in 2024?

How does Holyheld plan on bridging the gap between on-chain primitives and TradFi?

zkSync’s Deep-Dive series aims at shedding light on projects building on zkSync and to learn from the minds behind them.

Join us as we speak with Anton, Co-Founder at Holyheld. In a few words, Holyheld is working on connecting on-chain primitives with traditional finance, offering a cash account with debit card and personal IBAN that you control from any self-custody wallet you own.

Tune in to learn about Holyheld’s cash account, what to expect from the team in 2024 and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Holyheld’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/holyheld

Link to Holyheld’s website
👉🏻 https://holyheld.com/

Link to zkSync’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/zksync

Link to zkSync’s website
👉🏻 https://zksync.io/

Episode Breakdown

01:00 - What was your background prior to co-founding Holyheld?

04:30 - Would you be able to provide an overview of the decentralized payments space?

08:30 - Would you be able to provide a detailed product review, highlighting key characteristics and benefits of Holyheld’s solution?

13:00 - How does Holyheld's cash account cater to the needs of both crypto-savvy users and those more accustomed to traditional banking?

20:00 - In terms of future partnerships, what can we expect going forward and what are Holyheld’s key criteria for the selection of the right partners?

24:00 - What key lessons did the Holyheld team learn from establishing operations in Europe, and how will these insights shape your expansion into new markets?

29:00 - What features of the ZK Stack are you currently leveraging?

32:00 - In terms of roadmap, what can users expect from the Holyheld team for 2024?

How does GRVT’s hybrid crypto derivatives exchange (HEX) ensure greater capital efficiency and deeper liquidity?

zkSync’s Deep-Dive series aims at shedding light on projects building on zkSync and to learn from the minds behind them.

Join us as we speak with Hong, CEO at GRVT. In a nutshell, GRVT is a hybrid crypto derivatives exchange (HEX), offering self-custody trading, lightning-fast execution, deep liquidity, capital efficiency, and competitive fees.

Tune in to learn about GRVT’s hybrid exchange and its key features, how they leverage zkSync’s Validium technology and much more. Enjoy!

Link to GRVT’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/grvt_io

Link to GRVT’s website
👉🏻 https://grvt.io/

Link to zkSync’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/zksync

Link to zkSync’s website
👉🏻 https://zksync.io/

Episode Breakdown

01:30 - What was your background prior to founding GRVT?

04:00 - Was the idea to start GRVT a product of some of the major failures of centralized exchanges, such as FTX, or what?

05:30 - Can you elaborate on how GRVT's hybrid exchange model combines the benefits of centralized and decentralized exchanges?

13:00 - Where does the ambition of becoming an institutional grade platform stem from?

19:30 - Would you be able to provide an overview and roadmap for the new year? What can users expect to be shipped by GRVT in 2024?

23:30 - Why do you think the current timing is right for GRVT to enter the market and hit the ground running?

27:00 - What role does zkSync’s Validium technology play in your solution and was zkSync’s focus on security one of the driving factors behind your decision to build there?

30:00 - Are you looking to leverage the amalgamation of TradFi and crypto native talent for the growing GRVT team?

33:00 - Why the name GRVT for the project?

35:00 - What are some of the main values of GRVT’s culture and ethos?

How can Vest Exchange’s zkRisk engine enabled cheaper fees compared to other DEX’s?

zkSync’s Deep-Dive series aims at shedding light on projects building on zkSync and to learn from the minds behind them.

Join us as we speak with Justin, CEO at Vest Labs. Simply put, Vest Labs is the team behind Vest Exchange, a fully trustless and autonomous decentralized perpetual futures exchange designed for secure and capital efficient trading. 

Tune in to learn about Vest Exchange’s key features, their reason to build on zkSync and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Vest’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/VestExchange

Link to Vest’s website
👉🏻 https://www.vest.exchange/

Link to zkSync’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/zksync

Link to zkSync’s website
👉🏻 https://zksync.io/

Episode Breakdown

01:00 - What was your background prior to founding Vest Labs?

03:00 - What made you decide to make the switch from Web3 investor to Web3 entrepreneur and builder?

05:30 - How were you able to find your niche and vertical of choice within the extremely vast and varied crypto landscape?

08:00 - Would you be able to provide an overview of the Dexes’ market and identify some of the main problems that are currently holding DeFi back?

13:00 - Was the spark that led you to found Vest fuelled by a conceptual motive or a more practical one?

16:00 - Would you be able to provide an overview of Vest Exchange’s zkRisk engine?

19:00 - What led you to develop the Premia concept and what role does this component play within the zkRisk engine?

21:00 - Would you be able to elaborate on Vest’s capacity to add tail assets compared to other dexes?

23:00 - Would you be able to provide an overview of the new product features that users can expect to be shipped from Vest at the beginning of 2024?

26:30 - What made you decide to build on zkSync?

28:00 - How did you settle on the name Vest for the project?

29:00 - How were you able to find like-minded individuals to share Vest’s vision with?

31:00 - In your role as a leader at Vest, how do you handle the responsibility of sometimes having to make tough decisions?

34:00 - What can we expect from Vest in the near future?

Will the future of computing be decentralized and serverless?

Join us as we speak with Tom, Co-Founder and CEO at Fluence Labs. Simply put, Fluence Labs has developed an institutional grade decentralized serverless compute network that frees computation from centralized cloud providers

Tune in to learn about Tom’s Web3 journey, centralized vs. decentralized computing, Fluence’s imminent launch and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Fluence’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/fluence_project

Link to Fluence’s website
👉🏻 https://fluence.network/

Episode Breakdown

00:30 - How would you explain the work and vision behind Fluence Labs to a 5-year old?

02:00 - Would you be able to provide some context on the centralized vs. decentralized computing discussion?

06:30 - Do you highlight centralized computing institutions' capacity to censor content at will when you are pitching Fluence?

12:00 - Would you be able to elaborate on the relationship between Fluence and regulators to date?

15:00 - Once Fluence will go live, what applications do you think will be built on top of Fluence and what use cases do you foresee being unlocked by these applications?

22:00 - Would you be able to provide an overview of the decentralized computing market and elaborate on where Fluence Labs fits in?

26:00 - What sectors stand to benefit the most from innovation brought forward by Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks and what use cases can be unlocked by the decentralization of such infrastructure?

28:30 - In terms of what next, what can we expect from Fluence Labs in 2024?

How will Vega Protocol democratize market creation and access?

Join us as we speak with Barney, Co-Founder of Vega Protocol. Simply put, Vega is the derivatives layer for Web3 — a purpose-built appchain for decentralized derivatives trading, intended to serve as a full-stack DEX, supporting a variety of market types and assets.

Tune in to learn about Barney’s transition from TradFi to DeFi, Vega’s iterations over time, what to expect next from the protocol and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Vega’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/vegaprotocol

Link to Vega’s website
👉🏻 https://vega.xyz/

Episode Breakdown

00:30 - How would you explain and present Vega to a 5-year old?

03:00 - What was your background prior to founding Vega?

05:00 - Given your transition from TradFi to DeFi, would you be able to categorise some of the main differences and similarities between the two?

08:00 - Given your experience in TradFi, how challenging was it for you to develop a DeFi protocol with particular features and characteristics?

12:00 - Has luck played a factor throughout the different iterations that Vega has experienced to date?

15:30 - Would you be able to provide a broad overview of Vega’s journey to date?

20:00 - What sort of traction has the platform seen to date?

22:00 - Would you be able to walk us through the end-to-end process if a user wanted to create a new market on Vega? 

24:00 - To what extent has the Vega community explored the possibility of creating new markets?

25:30 - What are some of the ambitions and goals for the Vega team in 2024?

29:00 - What new utilities will the Vega token unlock for holders in the future?

31:00 - What’s next for Vega?

How does the Enso team rapidly and consistently roll out new features, driven by user feedback?

Join us as we speak with Connor, Founder at Enso Finance. Simply put, Enso is a unified DeFi API that enables you to interact with all DeFi primitives conveniently.

Tune in to learn about Enso’s vision for the future of DeFi, Connor’s eventful crypto journey and much more. Enjoy!

Link to Enso’s Twitter page
👉🏻 https://twitter.com/EnsoFinance

Link to Enso’ website
👉🏻 https://www.enso.finance/

Episode Breakdown

00:30 - If you had to explain Enso to a 5-year old, how would you go about it?

01:40 - What prompted you to start Enso in the first place?

03:40 - Why the name Enso for the project?

05:00 - In terms of product development, where are you at currently?

06:40 - How many integrations has Enso been able to secure to date?

08:00 - Do you always listen to what your user base has to say when thinking about shipping new features?

10:00 - As a founder, how have you been able to develop over time a stronger ability to constructively respond to feedback mechanisms by iterating and delivering a stronger product as a result? 

13:00 - How was Enso been able to develop the ability to continuously listen to feedback provided by the users and iterate accordingly?

14:30 - How do you categorise feedback from users at Enso and is there a system in place to prioritise and address these accordingly?

18:00 - How have you been able to put together a team of individuals well-suited and well-equipped for continuously shipping new product features?

22:00 - What was your background prior to founding Enso?

27:00 - How has it been building and growing a Web3 project in Switzerland? 

30:00 - In terms of what next, what can we expect from Enso in the near future?