Long regarded as an impending black swan, Tether has successfully weathered out the contagion and bank runs caused by Luna’s collapse in the depths of the 2022-2023 bearmarket. Since then, a large portion of Tether’s reserves has been shifted to treasury bills, which are the closest dollar proxy, positioning Tether among the top 20 holders of T-bills, worldwide. However, navigating the Tether FUD was not the first rodeo for Paolo Ardoino, as he has also previously led Bitfinex, which successfully recovered after a $72M hack, back in 2016. The worldwide adoption of USDT, especially in emerging markets and developing economies, serves as a testament to Tether’s commitment to create a product with tangible real-life applications. Topics covered in this episode: Paolo’s backgroundHow Bitfinex succeededDEX vs. CEX UXEntrepreneurship and company cultureFounding Tether and its use casesExpanding Tether’s cross-chain supportTether’s reserves and long-term visionStablecoin wars: BUSD & USDCDecentralized stablecoins and bank runsThe potential of diversifying physical backingHolepunch & Keet - the P2P renaissanceIncentivising P2P interactionsEpisode links: Paolo Ardoino on TwitterTether on TwitterBitfinex on TwitterHolepunch on TwitterKeet on TwitterSponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.ioChorus One: Chorus One is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.oneThis episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst.

One of the most important hurdles to mass adoption is represented by blockchain scalability, which also hinders the real-life utility of its numerous applications. While there are different solutions being experimented with, one should not overlook the importance of security and decentralisation. Saga introduces the concept of chainlets, interoperable Cosmos-based sovereign blockchains that share the security of Saga’s mainnet validator set. The majority of their parameters are fully customisable, allowing developers to tweak them towards their own needs. Saga’s main focus is building their very own Web3 gaming ecosystem, providing game devs the scaling needed to unlock their full potential and creativity. Topics covered in this episode: Rebecca’s background and Saga overview‘Infinite’ horizontal scalabilitySaga chainlets and their focus on blockchain gamingSaga validators and fee modelBuilding a gaming ecosystem. UGCValidator & infrastructure challengesSaga mainnet rollout$SAGA token launch and airdropTakeawaysEpisode links: Rebecca Liao on TwitterSaga on TwitterSponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.ioChorus One: Chorus One is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.oneThis episode is hosted by Felix Lutsch.