The Contango Podcast

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Don: @DonNorburyFollow Shrapnel: @playShrapnelShrapnel is the world's first blockchain based triple A first person shooter game. It's built on avalanche and represents really a step change in quality from anything we've seen in the blockchain gaming space today. The team behind shrapnel has led productions on games like Call of Duty, BioShock, Halo, Star Wars and much more.The team is also building an equally interesting infrastructure that makes games like shrapnel possible. It's currently codenamed Game Bridge, but by the sounds of it, it may drive some monumental shifts in our ability to produce composable and upgradable blockchain games. The shrapnel token trap just went live on a number of exchanges, and by the looks of it, the community engagement thus far has been just crazy.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Josh: @JoshField Follow Josh Poole: @MissonPooleFollow Arcade: @Arcade2Earn Today's guest is Josh Poole, CEO at Arcade. Arcade is a GameFi platform that offers users the opportunity to earn rewards from web3 games through their mission pools architecture.Crypto.com Capital, KuCoin ventures, Merit Circle, and yours truly Contango digital assets. Most recently, Arcade had their ARK utility token listed on KuCoin. And now they're back to building. 

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Keith: @KeithSingery

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Mog Machine: @MogMachine Follow Corcel: @Corcel_XFollow TaoStats: @taostats

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Ethena: @Ethena_LabsFollow Conor: @ConorRyderHey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Connor Ryder, head of research at Ethena Labs. Ethena is solving one of the most pressing issues in Defi right now. They're developing a decentralized yield bearing stablecoin backed by Ethereum liquid staking token derivatives. Unlike Fiat backed stablecoins like USDC and USDT with opaque reserves, 0% yield sharing and unhedged regulatory and censorship risk.USDe has 100% on chain auditable reserves with no inherent confiscation risk unlike over collateralized crypto native stablecoins like FRAX and DAI, USDe is capital efficient and offers yield from both Ethereum staking derivatives and exchange based arbitrage. The STABLECOIN is minted by opening up delta neutral positions through onboarding long lost reserves and shorting Ethereum Perpetuals with 1X leverage.This creates a fixed price asset with added benefits of Ethereum staking yields alongside short arbitrage yield. The emergence of this digitally native decentralized dollar unlocks the power of the Internet bond, creating a yield curve that can be used to create permissionless on-chain savings products. The project has just raised a 6.5 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital 

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Energi: @Energi Follow Tommy: @TommyWorldPower Hey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Tommy Rostami, the founder of Energi. Energyi is an EVM compatible L1 protocol built with security at its core. It uses a security mechanism called Defense in Depth and has managed to remain hack free over the last three years. They've recently recorded over 1 million in stolen user funds that have been mitigated through their Energy Bureau of Investigations.Energy is to Etherium what Kusama is to Polkadot. It's a great place to deploy code and test smart contracts in the open without widespread risk of bugs and hacks. This conversation digs into blockchain security, the importance of decentralization and the mission of Energiand so much more. 

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Quai Network: @QuaiNetwork Follow Alan: @AlanOrwickI'm excited to share with you my conversation with Alan Orwick, co-founder at Quai Network. Quai Network is an incredibly ambitious project, looking to create a new crypto based global monetary system. There a proof of work blockchain aiming to improve on many of the paradigms invented by Bitcoin and by creating a more scalable monetary system without compromising on decentralization.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Kakarot: @KakarotZkEvmFollow Elias: @ETazouI'm excited to share with you my conversation with Elias Tazartes founder at Kakarot. Kakarot is a zero knowledge, Ethereum Virtual Machine implementation built on the Cairo coding language. It's designed to work out of the box with all developer tools and wallets built on Ethereum, and they've been open source since day one and will soon be implemented on Starknet Layer 2 and Layer 3.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Polemos: @Polemos_io Follow Sascha: @SaschaZeehee Hey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Sassha, the founder and CEO of Polemos. Polemos is an all in one platform for gamers looking to enter the blockchain gaming space. They are an information and education provider as well as an asset rental platform and a community of gamers voyaging into the world of blockchain games. Polemos is very much a top of the funnel resource for anyone from experts all the way down to those new to blockchain games.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Eclipse: @EclipseFNDHey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Veronica Buron and Grant Gerber of Eclipse. Eclipse is a customizable roll up provider for developers building decentralized applications. Their unique architecture allows developers unmatched customization, superior speeds and security when deploying their applications. Their testnet is already live and has over 30 applications building on top of it. At time of recording, they're also in the process of rolling out their self-service toolkit, which allows developers the ability to spin up and deploy Eclipse rollups in a fully self-sufficient way.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow EthSign: @EthSignFollow Xin: @RealYanXin I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Xin Yan founder and CEO at EthSign. It's projects like this that make me extremely bullish about the evolution of Web3 in our everyday lives. They're building critical infrastructure that feels like a logical leap forward for our online identities and our online ownership. EthSignis an all in one contract signing platform for Web3.Think DocuSign meets Carta but on-chain the product allows anyone to create, encrypt and distribute contracts with a simple to use U.I., and it allows signers to sign contracts from multiple wallets across multiple chains using their own private keys. They're also building a cap table management software called Token Table. This infrastructure makes it easy to deploy tokens, manage distributions, vesting contracts and much more.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Alt Layer: @Alt_LayerFollow Amrit: @Maqstik I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Amrit Kumar, Chief Operating Officer at AltLayer. AltLayer is a roll up as a service or RAAS provider. You might have heard of SAAS software as a service. This is roll up as a service and it's allowing teams to build and scale powerful web3 applications at a fraction of the cost.Their flexible deployment solutions allow for fast, secure and decentralized roll up deployment with Multichain support. In this episode, you'll learn what a roll up as a service is, how roll ups differ from app chains, the benefits and tradeoffs you'll have when making and deploying a roll up on Alt Layer. What a flash layer is and why it's important, what an L2 sequencer is, and why it's important to have a decentralized network of L2 sequencers.You'll also learn what alt layer has in store over the next 12 months and when mainnet listen to the end and you'll find answers to all of the above. 

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow ChainFlip: @ChainFlipFollow Simon: @SimonAHarmanHey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Simon Harman, founder and CEO at ChainFlip. Chain Flip is building a cross-chain decentralized exchange using just-in-time liquidity to facilitate native cross-chain swaps. The chain flip protocol maximizes capital efficiency to enable trades at an extremely competitive price with low slippage through their decentralized and permissionless network. Their mission is to displace centralized exchanges by creating a user-friendly capital-efficient environment to swap isolated assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, DOT, Solana, and more.Chain Flip has made vital improvements to the original Cross-Chain Liquidity Protocol Thorchain and has managed to secure backing from high-profile pieces like Blockchain Capital Framework, Pantera, Coinbase Ventures, Delphi, Digital, RFID, and many more. The protocol is already live on Testnet and will release on MainNet sometime later this summer. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Simon Harmon from ChainFlip.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow De.Fi: @DeDotFi Follow Micheal Rosmer: @MichaelRosmerI'm excited to share with you my conversation with Michael Rosner, founder at De.Fi. Not the industry sector, but the crypto super app detoxify formerly known as Defi Yield. This is in all definitions of the word a super app. It's meant for defi power users all the way down to beginners alike. The app can track and aggregate your wallets centralized and decentralized so you can get a full picture of your total crypto net worth in one place.It can allow you to easily send in swap tokens on over 30 chains. It can aggregate different lending and borrowing protocols, so you can compare and contrast yields across different protocols and deploy your capital into strategies that fit your needs. They've even built the industry's first antivirus is for Web3. It's a fully automated smart contract scanner that can scan smart contracts for vulnerabilities, cross-referenced from a database of over 9000 scams and hacked contracts in the industry.These tools in this platform are incredible. I use them on a daily basis and they can save any defi user tons of time and money. But best of all, it's all open source and it's totally free. You can go to de.fi to connect your wallet and protect yourself today. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Michael Rosmer.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Kado: @Kado_MoneyI'm excited to share with you my conversation with Emory Andrew, co-founder and CEO at Kado. The team at Kado is building Web3 native on ramping an off ramping infrastructure on Cosmos. Kado's product offering is regulatory compliance and speed and frictionless ability to onboard. They've even developed an easy to use hybrid API that allows developers to integrate Kado's onramp infrastructure directly into their apps.In the last two years, Kado has already onboarded over 50 apps using their API over 10,000 users and has transacted more than $30 million. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Emory Andrew of Cato.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Griffin: @AndergriFollow Archway: @ArchwayHQThe following is my conversation with Griffin Anderson, CEO of Phi Labs and the founder of the Archway Protocol. Archway is a layer-1 protocol built on Cosmos that's designed to reward the developers building on top of it. Unlike traditional L1's which only pay miners and validators for keeping the network secure, Archway also shares a portion of its fees generated with the developers building on top of it.Developers get paid based on the utilization of their apps, build better, apps get paid more, and share those profits with your users. This emerging new revenue sharing model is being called contract secured revenue or CSR and the Archway Team is pioneering it. CSR opens the door to a world of new sustainable business models like sponsored gas fees, carbon footprint offsets, liquidity, mining boost programs, rewards for content creators or developers, funding of core development, and even reduced or free DEX trading.Developers get paid based on the utilization of their apps, build better, apps get paid more, and share those profits with your users. This emerging new revenue sharing model is being called contract secured revenue or CSR and the Archway Team is pioneering it. CSR opens the door to a world of new sustainable business models like sponsored gas fees, carbon footprint offsets, liquidity, mining boost programs, rewards for content creators or developers, funding of core development, and even reduced or free DEX trading.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Coinweb:@CoinwebOfficial   Follow Toby: @TobyCoinwebHey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Toby Gilbert, founder and CEO at Coinweb. The team is building an innovative cross-chain computation platform that solves some of Blockchain's biggest challenges. But most importantly, they're building usable blockchain technology that's accessible for everyone. Their cross-chain layer2 allows users to mint cross-chain tokens without any coding knowledge needed.Their white-label wallet solution allows brands to easily create their own customizable wallet and create their own token economies. Their licensed on-ramp solution makes it easier to convert fiat currencies into crypto. CoinWeb is pioneering research and development in the space, and they've invented and deployed this cross-chain technology from scratch. They continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in web3 and will undoubtedly be an entry point for millions of new users in the space.Coin Web already has a working proof of concept, and they're already responsible for about 40 basis points of daily transaction volume on BNB. They're looking to launch their mainnet in Q1 of 2024. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Toby Gilbert.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Andromeda: @AndromedaProt The following is my conversation with Mant Hawkins and Brendan Cooper.They've built a no code smart contract developer based on modular smart contract blocks called ADOs or Andromeda Digital Objects. These ADOs can be connected together to create complex, smart contracts via their easy to use drag and drop UI. Multiple ADOs can be composed into single or multi-chain and can be used to solve many business problems and processes as well as create centralized applications and even decentralized applications.Andromeda is changing the way we think of blockchain development. They're making it easier for trillions of dollars of sideline capital to flow into web3, and they're enabling millions of developers the ability to port their skills from web2 into Web3. Andromeda went live on Testnet May 22nd of 2023, and they're looking to launch their native token at sometime this summer.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow IQ Protocol: @IQLabs_officialFollow Tom: @TirmanTomIQ Protocol is expanding what's possible with Web3 by building the world's first ever NFT rental marketplace. The platform offers gasless rentals, non collateralized rentals, automatic expiry and even fungible token rentals as well. As NFT has gained prominence in sectors like gaming, subscriptions, tickets and events bookings, tokenization of real world assets and more.IQ will be launching their native token in Q3 2023. New token holders will share in protocol revenue and earn real yield generated from the utility of that marketplace. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Tom Tirman.

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Fluent Finance: @FluentDAOHey, everyone. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with Bradley Allgood, founder and CEO at Fluent Finance, Fluent provides a two way bridge between traditional finance and distributed ledgers via their groundbreaking Stablecoin protocol with real-time proof of reserves, a consortium of global banking partners on board on chain onboarding, and one-click conversions from Fiat to Stablecoins. Fluent is building a regulated and decentralized solution for the Stablecoin market. 

Follow Contango: @ContangoDigitalFollow Mike: @MikeGrantisFollow Hypercycle: @Hypercycle_AI*Hypercycle valuations and information regarding raise was relevent at time of recording.  Hypercycle is one of the most innovative and ambitious projects that I've seen in my last 6 years of studying and investing in the blockchain space. They're building a peer to peer communication and payment system for AI's  to share information and value in a global, decentralized  AI network that is Singularity Net. Said another way. If each of these AI's is a neuron in the global decentralized brain,  Hypercycle would be the synapses that connect them.

Follow Contango on Twitter: https://twitter.com/contangodigitalFollow Resonate Finance on Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonatefinanceToday, I'm chatting with Rob Montgomery, founder and CEO of Resonate Finance,  a protocol enabling the creation and sale of yield futures.  So what are yield futures?  Well, typically a liquidity provider or market maker will deposit liquidity into a protocol and earn a variable yield based on those deposits  until eventually they choose to withdraw that liquidity. Now, with Resonate,  those liquidity providers have the option to lock up that collateral for a specific amount of time  and get paid a stable yield upfront,  allowing them to access those yield futures immediately.  This is all enabled through the minting of a financial NFT representing the locked liquidity position. Resonate Finance is currently raising their seed round; they're raising a $2 million at a fully diluted valuation of $10 million  on a mix of equity and token. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Rob Montgomery.

Follow Contango on Twitter: https://twitter.com/contangodigitalFollow Karate Combat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarateCombatKarate Combat is an up and coming hand-to-hand combat competitor to the UFC. It's based on a combination of stand up, fast paced, striking focused martial arts and is growing like wildfire across social media and in over 100 countries around the globe. Recently, the founders of the league opened a decentralized organization and transferred all league IP and ownership to the DAO by becoming the first ever sports league to be wholly owned and operated by a DAO. They're giving their fans the opportunity to play a non-trivial role in the growth and decision making process of the league. This is one of the most interesting deals I've looked at in my time at Contango, mainly because of the intrinsic connection it has to the real world. Karate Combat is a pioneer of true, decentralized ownership in sports. They are a master class in fan engagement and fan incentivization on full display, and if executed correctly, they will have every other major sports league on notice. Karate Combat just finished their seed round financing for the DAO and will be using the capital to add to the DAO balance sheet and to continue to grow their reach and influence of the league. So with that in mind, here is my conversation with Karate Combat.

Hey, everyone. Hopefully by now you've come to recognize Contango Digital assets as an emerging contender in the Web3 venture capital space. Our goal has always been to build and invest in innovative companies and drive global web3 adoption. A key factor in this mission is improving access to information, not just for our investors but for crypto enthusiasts everywhere. If we truly want to grow this industry, we need to shine a spotlight on emerging companies, researchers and investors that are driving this industry forward and solving some of the world's biggest problems. So for that reason, I'm excited to announce that Thursday, April 13th, Contango will be launching our very own podcast. We're calling it the Venture Alpha Podcast. We'll take you behind the scenes with project founders, VCs, researchers, and thought leaders as we identify diligence and discuss private investment opportunities at the bleeding edge of Web3.This podcast is your weekly dose of alpha on trends, breakthroughs, and things to look out for in the crypto industry as it evolves. Episodes will be released every Thursday on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen to your podcasts. So click below to follow the podcast and ensure you're the first to know when a new episode drops. This is the next step in our journey to drive Web3 adoption.And we would love to have you along for the ride. Thanks.