Mike Novogratz is the CEO of Galaxy Digital, an investment bank targeting institutional investors, which he also founded. He was formerly a Partner and President of Fortress Investment Group LLC and prior to that Partner at Goldman Sachs. Considered quite the risk taker, he has made and lost many fortunes over the years. We chatted to Mike about the cross over between finance and blockchain, regulatory affairs, and of course, wrestling. Topics covered in this episode: Mike's background in wrestling and transition into financeHow he got into the crypto spaceHow Mike and Galaxy Digital are providing a link between crypto and traditional financeThe long term impact of crypto on the worldThe vision for Galaxy DigitalMike's views on the market cyclesEpisode links: Galaxy Digital Galaxy Digital on Twitter Mike on Twitter Sponsors: Chorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting-edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusoneParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - paraswap.io/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/407

Aztec Protocol enables private transactions on Ethereum. It uses a zero-knowledge proof system, allowing users to effectively create shielded representations of tokens, which can then be sent and redeemed for the underlying token. They recently launched Aztec 2.0 and their rollup service for Ethereum, zk.money. This allows users to submit Ether to the Aztec rollup contract with the options to shield, send privately, unshield and emergency ushield (escape hatch). The latest version also allows DeFi users to save gas and participate anonymously in DeFi transactions. We were joined by Zac Williamson, Co-founder and CTO, and Joe Andrews, Head of Product, from Aztec, to give us an in-depth look into the Layer 2 project and explain how version 2 of the protocol in a game-changer in terms of privacy and scalability. Topics covered in this episode: What has happened in the last year since Aztec were last on the showHigh-level overview of AztecHow the Aztec rollup works in DeFi applicationsThe challenges privacy introduces for DeFiSNARK, the core technology that powers AztecNoir (zkSNARK DSL)Episode links: Episode 335 - Aztec Protocol – Bringing Zero-Knowledge Transactions to Ethereumzk.moneyDiscordAztec on TwitterJoe on TwitterZac on TwitterSponsors: ParaSwap: ParaSwap aggregates all major DEXs and makes sure you beat the market price at every single swap and with the lowest slippage - http://paraswap.io/epicenter - paraswap.io/epicenterChorus One: Chorus One runs validators on cutting edge Proof of Stake networks such as Cosmos, Solana, Celo, Polkadot and Oasis. - https://epicenter.rocks/chorusoneThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Dev Ojha. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/405