web3 with a16z crypto

with @mg_486662 @riyazdf @nassyweazy and @smc90

This week’s all-new episode digs into recent high-profile hacks that took place in the crypto space over the last week -- we not only dig into what happened, including a more technical breakdown of the how and how we know -- but also cover the categories and issues specific to (and not specific to!) web3 security; as well as solutions and advice for builders.

We also touch on related trends and topics such as the role of open source; communications around hacks, as well as social media status signaling; and much more. Throughout, we try to help tease apart what’s hype/ what’s real, as well as the signal vs. the noise, in the narratives out there...

Joining host Sonal Chokshi this week are experts from the a16z crypto security team, including: security engineer Matt Gleason; CTO Riyaz Faizullabhoy; and CISO Nassim Eddequiouaq -- both of whom previously worked at Facebook, Anchorage, and Docker [Nass also appeared on an earlier episode of this show, on evolving NFTs & security, available here].

But for this episode, just to quickly recap for your context, the hacks we’re specifically covering are:

• The hack of the Nomad bridge -- which connects several different blockchains including Avalanche, Ethereum, Evmos, Moonbeam, and others – with reported range of between $185-$190M stolen;
• The hack of the Slope wallet -- a non-custodial, browser-based wallet that was reported to affect nearly 8000 users on Solana as well as other ecosystems -- with reported range of between $4.5-8M stolen. It occurred a week ago and Slope just posted their latest update today confirming some of the details in this episode (which was recorded a few days earlier).

As a reminder: None of the following is investment, business, tax, or legal advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @RMcElhenney @cdixon @smc90

This first live taping of 'web3 with a16z' took place an event hosted by a16z crypto & Adim during NFT NYC June 20, 2022 -- with special guest Rob McElhenney* in conversation with Chris Dixon and Sonal Chokshi. Given the theme of "decentralized media"/ "decentralized content creation", the conversation covers decentralized creativity and collaboration; community, creator access; IP and evolution of the internet; and where NFTs and web3 specifically comes in... do we really need web3 for this?
We also touch on topics such as the metaverse, storytelling across mediums, managing writer’s rooms, favorite TV shows, nostalgia, and much more.
*Rob McElhenney is the creative force behind It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the critically-acclaimed FXX comedy series in which he co-stars and serves as executive producer and writer; the fifteenth season premiered in December 2021, breaking the record as the longest-running live-action television sitcom in history. He is also the creator, executive producer, and star of Mythic Quest, the acclaimed comedy series that debuted on Apple TV+ (co-created by Megan Ganz and Charlie Day, and a co-production of Ubisoft and Lionsgate Television); it was recognized as one of the best new series of 2020. McElhenney is the co-founder and co-chairperson of Adim, which brings web3 technology to creative development to build a new model and value network for creators and collaborators to have a stake in the success and evolution of what they create -- initially through a scaled network of writer's rooms and through a platform for a broad character ecosystem.

**As a reminder, none of this is investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @dennnnnnnnny @smc90

We know that technology has changed art, and that artists have evolved with every new technology — it’s a tale as old as humanity, moving from cave paintings to computers. Underlying these movements are endless debates around inventing versus remixing; between commercialism and art; between mainstream canon and fringe art; whether we’re living in an artistic monoculture now (the answer may surprise you); and much much more.

So in this new episode featuring Berlin-based contemporary artist Simon Denny -- in conversation with a16z crypto editor in chief Sonal Chokshi -- we discuss all of the above debates. We also cover how artists experimented with the emergence of new technology platforms like the web browser, the iPhone, Instagram and social media; to how generative art found its “native” medium on blockchains, why NFTs; and other art movements.

Denny also thinks of entrepreneurial ideas -- from Peter Thiel's to Chris Dixon's Read Write Own -- as an "aesthetic"; and thinks of technology artifacts (like NSA sketches!) as art -- reflecting all of these in his works across various mediums and contexts. How has technology changed art, and more importantly, how have artists changed with technology? How does art change our place in the world, or span beyond space? It's about optimism, and seeing things anew... all this and more in this episode.
As a reminder: none of this is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.
SHOW NOTES:

with @jessepollak @NoahCitron @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next era of the internet by the team at a16z crypto, that includes me, host Robert Hackett.

Today’s episode covers the bustling area of “layer 2” rollups, a technology for scaling “layer 1” blockchains such as Ethereum. Joining us is Jesse Pollak, who previously led engineering for Coinbase’s retail side and who now is the company’s head of protocols where he founded and leads the popular layer 2 rollup Base.

We’re also joined by Noah Citron, an engineer at a16z crypto who works on many open source projects and protocols, and who closely tracks developments in this area.

Our conversation digs into the shifting history and future of Ethereum, the arrival of upgrades like EIP-4844, experiments in futarchy, and the difference between leading — and innovating — inside companies versus within decentralized communities. We also discuss the challenges of winning developer mindshare, how to refine business metrics and measures, understanding the tangled interactions between rollups and bridges, and whether you should ever hyphenate the word “onchain.”

Resources for references in this episode:

• jessepollak.com — Jesse Pollak's personal website
• "A rollup-centric Ethereum roadmap" by Vitalik Buterin (Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians, October 2020)
• "The Coinbase Secret Master Plan" by Brian Armstrong (Coinbase, September 2016)
• "Proposed milestones for rollups taking off training wheels" by VItalik Buterin (Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians, November 2022)
• L2Beat — dashboard of the state of the layer 2s
• DefiLlama — dashboard of the state of DeFi
• Relevant Dune dashboards relating to layer 2s
  • Ethereum blobs
  • Ethereum blob fee market
  • DEX cross-chain metrics
  • Farcasters users transactions by chain
• "How rollups *actually* work" by Kelvin Fichter (ETHGlobal Scaling Ethereum Summit, March 2023)
• "Rollups are L1s (& L2s) a.k.a. how rollups *actually actually actually* work" by Jon Charbonneau (Mirror.xyz, May 2023)
• "Rollups, Rigor, and Reality" by Kevlin Fichter (kelvinfichter.com)
• "Futarchy: Vote Values, But Bet Beliefs" by Robin Hanson (George Mason University, August 2000)
• "Ethereum Rollup Improvement Proposals (RIP)" (Github)
• Ethereum EIP-4844 (Github, March 2023)

As a reminder none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @cdixon @pmarca @bhorowitz @rhhackett

Welcome to the web3 with a16z podcast. Today's episode is the final installment in our limited series on Read Write Own, the new book by a16z crypto founding partner Chris Dixon. Today's episode features Dixon in conversation with a16z cofounders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen. Their discussion covers the internet’s corporate takeover and how that affects startups, creativity, and innovation; blockchains as inheritors of the open source ethos; where AI comes in; and the next battleground in global politics. This episode is a crossover from the Ben & Marc Show, which you can find and follow on the a16z YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts.

Resources for references in this episode:

• "How an economic moat provides a competitive advantage" by Chris Gallant (Investopedia, August 2023)
• "The dynamics of network effects" by D'Arcy Coolican and Li Jin (a16z, December 2018)
• "Skeuomorphism" (Interaction Design Foundation)
• "How to rebuild social media on top of RSS" (Hacker News, December 2022)
• "Cardinal conversations: Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel on 'technology and politics'" (Hoover Institute, January 2018) [see @ 29:00]
• "Peter Thiel: AI is communist" by Dan Primack (Axios, February 2018)
• "Sam Altman seeks trillions of dollars to reshape business of chips and AI" by Keach Hagey and Asa Fitch (Wall Street Journal, February 2024)
• "Join a union—but also join a DAO" by Daisy Alioto (The Nation, December 2021)
• Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto by Aaron Bastani (Verso, June 2019)
• "Friedrich Hayek and the price system" by Randal K. Quarles ("The Road to Serfdom at 75" conference, November 2019)
• Pandora's Box: A Fable from the Age of Science "Part 1. The Engineers' Plot" by Adam Curtis (BBC, June 1992) [see @ 25:00]
• "Going from web2 to web3: 'Your take rate is my opportunity'" by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, August 2021)
• "Blockchain & internet glossary (A–Z): Key terms from Read Write Own" by Chris Dixon and Robert Hackett (a16z crypto, February 2024)
• "Why decentralization matters" by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, February 2018)
• "The ...