Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies
Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view. Epicenter is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Meher Roy and Felix Lutsch. Since 2014, our episodes have been downloaded over 8 million times.
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Tokenization of All Financial Assets on Plume Network
<p>In this episode, host Sebastian Couture is joined by Chris Yin, CEO of Plume Network, to deconstruct the current state of Real World Assets (RWAs) and why the sector is at a pivotal inflection point. Chris argues that most RWA projects today are functionally "worse on-chain" because they lack liquidity, composability, and the "crypto-native" user experience that made stablecoins successful. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>He details how Plume is solving this through a custom L1 stack and the Nest vault protocol, which tokenizes high-yield assets like Brazilian credit card receivables and oil...
Something better than USDC for your Ethereum?
<p>In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Michael Svoboda, CEO of Liquid AG, to discuss Liquity V2 and the launch of the BOLD stablecoin. Michael explains how Liquity maintains a governance-free, immutable architecture to provide "sovereign dollars" that are not dependent on human committees or centralized backstops. He introduces user-set interest rates, a novel DeFi primitive where borrowers determine their own rates to balance their cost of capital against the risk of being redeemed by stablecoin holders. </p><p><br /></p><p>They explore the technical mechanics of the BOLD stablecoin, its multi-collateral backing of ETH and...
Is The Future of Ethereum Centralised and Censored?
<p>In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Thomas Thiery, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, to discuss EIP-7805 and the implementation of FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists). Thomas explains how the rise of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) has created a centralized builder market where a few actors now control over 85% of Ethereum's block production, creating a dangerous bottleneck for censorship. FOCIL addresses this by empowering a decentralized committee of 16 validators to mandate transaction inclusion, making any block that ignores these lists invalid.</p><p> </p><p>They explore the "Tornado Cash" moment and the risks of "silent c...
How Will Stablecoins Replace Traditional Banking
<p>In this episode, we are joined by Zach Abrams, CEO of Bridge, to unpack the infrastructure behind the next generation of global payments. Zach discusses Bridge’s mission to move stablecoins beyond mere trading use cases and into core financial services, a vision that recently led to its landmark acquisition by Stripe . He explains how stablecoins function as an innovation at every layer of the money stack, enabling payments that are fundamentally faster and cheaper than legacy systems like ACH or SEPA.</p><p><br></p><p> They delve into the technical "puzzle pieces" of payments, from the inefficiencies of...
Buidl Europe 2026: The State of Decentralization
<p>In this episode, recorded live at Buidl Europe 2026, host Sebastian Couture leads a panel with Ben Lakoff (Bankless Ventures), Richard Muirhead (Fabric Ventures), Aurora Orellana (G20 Strategies), and Matthew Arrow (Dark Forest). Together, they tackle the existential question facing the industry: can Cypherpunk values like self-custody and permissionless survive as multi-billion dollar institutions become the primary drivers of adoption?</p><p><br></p><p><br>The discussion delves into the tension between individual sovereignty and the regulatory reach of organizations like the FATF, which they describe as a "Goliath" accountable to no one. They explore the concept of the "...
The Death of Altcoins & Bitget’s New "Universal Exchange"
<p>In this episode, host Brian Crain is joined by Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, to discuss the exchange's rapid ascent and its ambitious roadmap for 2026. Gracy shares her journey from a mathematics background and journalism into the C-suite of a top-tier exchange, detailing Bitget's growth from a team of 150 to over 2,200 employees. She outlines the concept of the "Universal Exchange" (UEX) a unified platform where the boundaries between crypto, tokenized equities, and commodities effectively disappear.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>They explore how Bitget is leveraging Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI-driven advisory...
2025 Rewind: End of the Infinite Money Glitch and Looking Ahead to 2026
<p>In this episode, hosts Sebastien Couture, Brian Crain, and Friederike Ernst gather for their annual wrap-up to discuss the end of the "infinite money glitch": the era where tokens traded at billions without proven product-market fit. They explore the 2025 "spring cleaning" that devastated the altcoin market and the quiet, efficient entry of web2 incumbents like Revolut and Stripe. The discussion centers on the industry's maturation into a space where protocols are finally judged on their ability to generate real revenue and growth.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>The team analyzes the 2025 "spring cleaning" of altcoins alongside...
Solving The AI Black Box: ZK-Proofs in Defence Tech
<p>In this episode, host Sebastian Couture is joined by Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh, CEO of Lagrange, to explore the intersection of frontier cryptography and national security. Ismael discusses the transition of zero-knowledge (ZK) technology from a "token-centric" crypto tool to a vital component of defense, specifically focusing on its role in securing autonomous drone swarms and closing the hypersonic missile gap.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>They delve into Deep Proof, Lagrange's ZK-machine learning library, which facilitates verifiable AI execution while protecting sensitive model intellectual property and private input data. Ismael introduces the concept of "...
Aztec's Rebirth, The $61M Token Sale & Programmable Privacy on Ethereum
<p>Fresh off the launch of the Ignition Chain and a successful community-led $61M token sale, Aztec Network co-founder Zac Williamson joins Friederike Ernst to unpack the "existential" journey of building programmable privacy. Zac opens up about the "sacrificial altar" moment where the team decided to kill their live product, Aztec Connect which had 60k users because they realized true decentralized privacy required rebuilding from scratch rather than iterative upgrades.</p><p><br></p><p><br>They dive deep into the architecture of the new network, which utilizes a hybrid state model (encrypted UTXOs for privacy, public accounts for transparency...
Will stablecoins end the US debt Crisis?
<p>Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin joins Friederike Ernst to discuss why we are at the "end of a supercycle," a chaotic transition period where legacy institutions are finally adopting blockchain rails not just for efficiency, but for survival. They explore the "inevitable convergence" where the US government may actively rely on stablecoins to absorb debt, effectively using crypto to extend the lifespan of the dollar. At the same time, banks scramble to compete with self-custodial wallets.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p> Joe also details the structural evolution of Consensys, from an "organic blob" incubating projects like Gnosis...
