Alchemy is a powerful blockchain developer platform providing a suite of developer tools. Developers building apps which interact with Ethereum can use Alchemy's powerful APIs to supercharge their apps, and leverage features not available in vanilla nodes. They also provide services like analytics, monitoring, alerting, logging and debugging. Today, a number of the top Dapps in the Ethereum ecosystem use Alchemy, and the company recently made their API available to the general public. We chatted to Nikil Viswanathan, CEO & Co-founder about the platform, how it works and the problems it solves. We also addressed the concerns around centralization and ecosystem resiliency. Topics covered in this episode: Nikil's background and how he got into cryptoThe Blockchain infrastructureWhy Alchemy chose to focus EthereumOn building developer tools, and what Alchemy offersHow it works on a technical level and how it’s different from what else is available on the marketWhat can users do with supernodesPlans for expanding into validation and other services in the futureConcerns for user privacyAdoption of Alchemy among crypto projectsNikil’s views on centralization concerns and ecosystem resiliencyHow Jay-Z become an investor/advisor and other interesting partnerships with AlchemyWhere to learn more and join AlchemyEpisode links: Alchemy WebsiteGet started on AlchemyAlchemy SupernodeAlchemy on TwitterNikil on TwitterSponsors: Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/364

Adan (Association for the Development of Digital Assets), is an organization which helps promote the development of the crypto industry in France, and more broadly in Europe. Its President, Simon Polrot, is also the Co-founder Ethereum France, which host the EthCC conference in Paris. The European Commission has released a regulatory proposal, MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets), which falls under The Digital Finance Package. The Adan team have been working hard to understand, dissect and establish positions with regards to this regulation. The scope of this MiCA is vast, and it covers nearly every type of activity which relates to cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, stablecoins, and security tokens in Europe. In addition to being broad, it puts enormous restrictions on the DeFi ecosystem by merely ignoring most decentralized use cases, making it nearly impossible for DeFi to continue existing as we know it. It's an important piece of regulation which would apply to almost every crypto asset company or issuer across the European continent, as well as companies who have customers or do business here. We chat to Simon who explains what the draft proposal means and the effects it will have on the European crypto industry. He also shares how the community can get involved in steering the regulation in favour of the industry before it's passed into law. Topics covered in this episode: Simon's background and how he became involved in cryptoAdan's mission in France en EuropeThe high level principles of crypto regulations in Europe and the frameworks already in placeThe EU Commission's Digital Finance Package explainedWhat MiCA is and who falls under this regulationHow the Commission identifies “token issuers”How MiCA affects DeFi stablecoins like DAIWhat are Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and how they are concerned by MiCAHow the regulations may impact mining and stakingHow MiCA favors financial institutions over startups in the crypto spaceWhy Simon thinks there is a positive side to this regulatory proposalWhat Adan is doing to raise awareness and lobby to amend this proposal and repair the issues arising out of the draft proposalHow crypto companies can take part in the work of getting this regulation amended before it passes into lawThe possibility for an alternative crypto finance ecosystem to emerge from this regulationEpisode links: Adan WebsiteAbout AdanAdan Webinar: Understanding the MiCA and Pilot Regime crypto regulationBecome a member of AdanAdan on TwitterSimon on TwitterSponsors: Algorand: Learn how to start building on Algorand – Free webinar on November 17th - https://algorand.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/362