The Gwart Show | Blockspace Media

Zcash Resurgence, Privacy, and Quantum w/ Zcash cofounder Ian Miers

Zcash cofounder Ian Miers discusses zero-knowledge proofs, why Bitcoin's public ledger creates massive privacy problems, how SNARKs enable trust without exposure, quantum computing threats to cryptocurrency, identity and reputation systems, and why a blockchain needs privacy to function as actual money. Notes: • Zcash launched as first industrial zero-knowledge proof application • Zero Coin published 2013 (before Ethereum or SNARKs existed) • Quantum computers need thousands of qubits to break RSA • Blockchain transparency makes Bitcoin "Twitter for bank accounts" Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:19 What's Ian up to? 01:25 Creating Zcash 05:59 Why ZK tech is a big deal? 08:34 Zero knowledge proofs & Bitcoin 10:36 Verifiability vs privacy 14:02 The 2025 Zcash resurgence 17:20 Other research 20:45 Stablecoins & real world assets 24:15 Ellipsis Labs Ad 25:02 Regulation 28:57 Government privacy overreach 33:11 Zcash proposals & current development 35:51 Swaps 39:29 Zcash as medium of exchange? 41:37 The possibility of privacy on Bitcoin 43:53 Other privacy tech? 50:18 Monero vs Zcash 53:37 Developer block rewards 57:12 Developer rewards & adoption 59:39 Quantum risks 1:02:45 Quantum timelines The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges.  Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ⁠⁠ellipsislabs.xyz⁠⁠ [http://ellipsislabs.xyz/]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Monad Launch w/ Keone Han & Kevin McCormick

Keone Han and Kevin McCormick from Monad Foundation join us to talk about their upcoming mainnet launch on November 24th, why building quality infrastructure takes years not months, their unique Momentum grants program that prioritizes user acquisition costs and retention over vanity metrics like TVL, and how to maintain team focus when crypto Twitter operates on a two-day attention span.Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: • Monad mainnet launches November 24, 2025 • Momentum grants focus on cost-per-user acquisition • Team values long-term building over quick releases • Testnet ecosystem includes 15+ applications Timestamps:00:00 Start01:20 Why Monad ICO now?02:55 Vibe check06:37 Time to market12:28 What makes Monad unique?14:47 Node count & requirements17:34 Open source & centralization20:15 Monad vs ?23:28 Could ETH borrow from Monad?28:07 Token valuation34:02 Winner take all?34:46 Attracting users42:39 Attracting partners with $$$45:53 Airdrop & community51:14 Monad momentum54:13 Monad apps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Why High Frequency Traders Are Leaving Wall Street

Annanay Kapila, CEO & Founder of QFEX, joins us to talk about his journey from high-frequency trading at Flow Traders and Tower to building a revolutionary exchange platform. We discuss how crypto market structure solves traditional finance inefficiencies, his Y Combinator experience, regulatory strategy, 100X leverage mechanics, prediction markets, and why sports betting actually works. Launching December 2025. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: • Tower did half of all major exchange volume • QFEX raised funding through Y Combinator • YC takes 7% equity for $125K investment • Bitcoin trades at 100X leverage on exchanges • S&P futures limited to 10X leverage • QFEX waitlist hit 10,000 people Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:03 Annanay Kapila 02:08 Y Combinator 05:23 Market inefficiencies 09:03 Designing QFEX 12:50 Hyperliquid & Perps 18:30 Zero fees vs UX 22:36 Sharp flow & fees 27:12 Intermediating market makers 34:26 Misaligned incentives 40:53 Perps use cases 45:52 Perps vs Options 49:33 Market fragmentation 58:47 Kalshi vs Polymarket 1:06:23 KYC 1:10:37 Are prediction markets useful? 1:13:02 Wrap The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges.  Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ⁠⁠ellipsislabs.xyz⁠⁠ [http://ellipsislabs.xyz/]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Perpification of Everything

Kaledora Linn, Co-Founder at Ostium, joins us to talk about revolutionizing onchain trading by bringing traditional finance assets like stocks, commodities, and FX to DeFi through perpetual contracts. We explore why perps are superior to tokenization for trading, the evolution from single-asset to cross-asset platforms, how macro news drives modern volatility, capital efficiency challenges, and why retail traders prefer perps over options. Plus institutional use cases and the future of "perpification." Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: • Ostium offers up to 200:1 leverage • Mirror had billions in open interest on stocks • Synthetix was heavily over-collateralized with SNX • Perps dominate over options in crypto markets • Post-COVID macro drives cross-asset volatility Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:17 Kaledora Linn - Co-Founder of Ostium 10:01 Ostium's synthetic model 25:08 How Ostium works 35:52 Ellipsis Labs 37:56 KYC & identifying toxic traders 43:01 Market makers 45:22 Price oracles 47:22 Funding rates 52:00 Synthetic vs. on-chain order book 55:29 Weekday markets closing 59:25 On-chain price discovery 1:01:42 24/5 markets 1:03:14 Scaling the market The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges.  Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ⁠ellipsislabs.xyz⁠ [http://ellipsislabs.xyz/]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Restaking's Killer App w/ DeFi Dave

DeFi Dave, Head of Growth at Cap Money, joins us to talk about how Cap found product-market fit for restaking. Dave breaks down Cap's three-sided marketplace connecting stablecoin users, market makers (operators), and risk takers. Operators access undercollateralized loans backed by restaked ETH/BTC, paying 8-11% to beat their strategies. If they fail, risk takers eat the loss—users stay protected. We also dive into lore building, why most restaking hype was overblown, and how Cap brings Wall Street on-chain. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com Notes: - Cap has $15-20M currently lent to operators - Operators pay 2-4% premium fees to risk takers - Total borrowing costs range from 8-11% hurdle rate - Risk takers earn 6-7% all-in real yield - Uses EigenLayer and Symbiotic for restaking layer Timestamps: 00:00 Start 01:12 Who is DeFi Dave? 02:19 What is Cap? 07:31 Restaking & yield 09:22 Yield range 11:48 Institutional flows 12:50 Cap vs Wildcat 14:07 Legal recourse? 15:42 Staked CUSD vs CUSD 16:25 Current operator marketcap 17:08 Loan terms 19:42 CUSD vs Others 21:48 Ready for institutional capital? 23:59 Other staking use cases? 27:26 Stablecoin regulation 30:23 Collateralization 32:09 Lore building 35:38 The power of belief 41:29 What does Dave do all day? 43:56 Competitive advantage 47:57 What are Caps? 49:08 Gwarts opinion on Cap The Gwart Show is sponsored by Ellipsis Labs. Backed by Paradigm, Electric Capital and Haun Ventures. The founders, Eugene and Jerry, have experienced Citadel Jane Street in the Solana Core team since launching their order book DEX, Phoenix. They’ve done over $80 billion in trading volume by making onchain order books competitive with centralized exchanges. Ellipsis is hiring for New York-based engineers. Work with a small focus team who are results driven, collaborative, and use a modern stack. If you’re an engineer who wants to work on infrastructure that’s already proven itself in the market, go to ellipsislabs.xyz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]