#346: Jack O’Holleran, CEO of SKALE Labs, on Web3 Gaming, The Current Ethereum Narrative, and Meme Coins vs. NFTs

06/24/24 • 40 min

Jack O’Holleran is the Co-Founder and CEO of SKALE Labs, a gas-less EVM-compatible blockchain designed for secure Ethereum scaling. Jack is a veteran Silicon Valley Technology entrepreneur with a deep background in machine learning/AI technologies and blockchain. Formerly, Jack co-founded Aktana in 2008 and led the company's transformation from a four-person startup to a global leader in the Analytics market category, boasting over 350 employees and serving an impressive roster of Global Fortune 500 clients with its AI and machine learning platform tailored to optimize sales and marketing decisions.

Jack first started working with digital assets in 2008 when he was instrumental in building a digital currency platform for Enterprise Resource Allocation and initially saw a big opportunity to bring scalability to the blockchain. Jack is a veteran Silicon Valley Technology entrepreneur with a deep background in machine learning/AI technologies and blockchain and a longstanding connection to web2 and web3 developers. ****As a previous starting receiver for the Nebraska Cornhuskers Football team, Jack is passionate about bringing blockchain technology to the sports industry to bring fans closer to their favorite teams.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- The state of Web3 gaming
- The power of casual games
- In-game economies
- Current state of Ethereum
- Gas-free, zero-cost minting
- ETH-based L2s
- Meme coins vs. NFTs
- SKALE’s recent partnership with Virtualness to bring fans of Liga1 to Web3
- SKALE’s partnership with Unity
- Empowering developers
- DeSci (Decentralized Science)

SKALE Network
Website: skale.space
Twitter: @SkaleNetwork
Discord: discord.gg/SKALE
Jack O'Holleran
Twitter: @jackoholleran
LinkedIn: Jack O'Holleran
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Previous Episode

#345: Vince Yang, CEO of zkLink, on The current state of L3s, What are ZK Proofs, and Aggregated Rollup Narratives

A bitcoin hodler & former engineer, Vince Yang's journey into crypto started with Bitcoin mining and gradually evolved into a deeper exploration of blockchain's potential and ZK Proofs. Vince is now the CEO of zkLink, a team dedicated to pioneering a decentralized trading reality of secure, unified liquidity with zkSnarks and blockchain's Layer 3 scaling solutions.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- The current state of L3 and the Aggregated Rollup Narratives
- Why do we need L3 and what do they do for Ethereum
- The modular narrative and decentralization
- Unifying blockchains
- What are ZK proofs?
- Real-life examples of ZK tech
- What are these L3s lacking?
- Destination of settlement
- Challenges in growing TVL
- zkLink Nova: From zero to $ 1 billion with the Aggregation Parade
zkLink
Website: zk.link
X: @zkLink_Official
Discord: discord.gg/zklink
Vince Yang
X: @zkVinceReal
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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.

Next Episode

#347: Eric Chen, CEO of Injective Labs, on Institutionalized DeFi, Tokenized RWAs, and Revolutionizing On-chain Trading

Eric Chen is the CEO and co-founder of Injective Labs, the core contributor to Injective. Before founding Injective, he worked as a cryptography researcher and trader at Innovating Capital, where he led market-neutral trading efforts in the blockchain space and invested in prominent companies such as 0x, ChainLink, and Cosmos. Eric possesses extensive knowledge of blockchain protocols and traditional finance, along with a deep understanding of both Eastern and Western blockchain-based protocols and communities.
Eric was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2023 for his significant work with Injective. He studied finance and computer science at NYU.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- Institutionalized DeFi
- The convergence of DeFi and TradFi
- Building the fastest L1 blockchain for DeFi
- High-yields in crypto
- Tokenized RWAs
- The need for consumer-based RWAs
- Burning $INJ tokens
- Micro vs. Macro environments
- The current state of crypto conferences
- H2 Outlook
- ETH ETF underscores legitimacy of the crypto industry
- Helix 2.0 upgrade
Injective Labs
Website: injectivelabs.org
X: @InjectiveLabs
Discord: discord.gg/NK4qdbv
Eric Chen
X: @ericinjective

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This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.
PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance.