From the very beginning, Cosmos set out to provide an alternative to the monolithic blockchain architecture proposed by Ethereum. Cosmos SDK was the cornerstone of this vision, as it allowed developers to spin up blockchains effortlessly. Its modularity enabled custom, self-sovereign chains to become a reality. And, instead of being a jack of all trades, those chains were centred around a sole purpose, thus transforming them into appchains. In turn, as the ecosystem grew, appchains had to be interoperable with one another, but this was already a core feature of Cosmos, via IBC. Before Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap, appchains were thought to be a much-needed scaling solution. However, with the advancements of zero knowledge technology, the Cosmos SDK now faces another set of challenges as it navigates the market demand for L2 scaling solutions. We were joined by Marko Baricevic, Cosmos SDK product lead, to discuss the development philosophy behind the Cosmos Hub and how appchains evolved over time. Topics covered in this episode: Marko’s backgroundCosmos SDK’s history and high-level overviewCosmos SDK modules and VMsEthereum’s & Cosmos’ development philosophiesCosmos SDK value prop and use casesCosmos SDK vs. other frameworks (e.g. Substrate)Token value accrual and the fragmentation dilemmaUsing the Cosmos SDK to build rollupsCosmos SDK vs. Avalanche’s HyperSDKAdoption of fraud proofs and validity proofs by the Cosmos SDKEpisode links: Marko Baricevic on TwitterCosmos on TwitterCosmos SDK on TwitterInterchain Foundation on TwitterBinary Builders on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Meher Roy & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/510

After a 2021 frothy bull market, NFTs are currently experiencing the depression phase of the market cycle. However, despite the fact that only NFT art has truly found its product-market fit, NFTs in general represented the consumerist moment for crypto. In addition, they also provided a solution for tokenising real world assets (RWA) and intangibles, potentially penetrating markets worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. Moreover, similar to digital art, the advent of AI poses a challenge when it comes to establishing provenance, but this represents another utility for NFTs, as they can be traced back to their origin, given the public nature of blockchains. We were joined by Stephen Young and Storm from NFTFi, to discuss the general state of the NFT market, future prospects for NFT development and how their P2P NFT lending platform unlocks new sources of liquidity in this bear market. Topics covered in this episode: Stephen’s & Storm’s backgrounds and what allured them to NFT financeNFT market overviewTokenised real world assets (RWA)NFTFi’s peer-to-peer vs. peer-to-pool modelsHow other DeFi derivatives apply to the NFT marketNFT vs. fungible token market sizeBlur’s BlendNFT royaltiesNFT lending protocols differencesHow escrow contracts affect NFT ownership and utilityNFTFi roadmapInterest rates for different collectionsNFT art marketAI artCollateralizing RWAEpisode links: Stephen Young on TwitterStorm on TwitterNFTFi on TwitterThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/508