Business Breakdowns
Episode 9 Ethereum: Into the Ether
Business Breakdowns

Episode 9: Ethereum: Into the Ether

Ethereum: Into the Ether

Justin is a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation. We cover what differentiates Ethereum from Bitcoin, the increasing number of projects being built on the Ethereum platform, and what a shift from proof of work to proof of stake means for Ethereum.

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[00:03:02] - [First question] - What a blockchain is on a fundamental level

[00:04:36] - A core overview of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin blockchain

[00:06:40] - Proof of work and why security is so important

[00:08:38] - How much miners spend to secure the network

[00:10:20] - Early days of Ethereum and what separates it from Bitcoin

[00:12:02] - Vitalik’s role in the rise of Ethereum

[00:13:14] - What can currently be built on top of the Ethereum blockchain

[00:16:28] - Gas fees and an overview of ETH as a triple point asset

[00:19:42] - What generates ETH and decides its value

[00:22:36] - Defining proof of stake, how it works, and staking incentives

[00:25:10] - Yields from staking ETH in the form of newly minted tokens and tips

[00:29:15] - Load to power ratio of the Ethereum network

[00:33:38] - Terms for staking your ETH and how much is expected to be staked

[00:39:19] - Sequence of events when using ETH to buy an NFT

[00:43:13] - Transaction fees and how they’re calculated when buying and selling ETH

[00:46:11] - Pros and cons of high network demand while trying to scale the Ethereum blockchain

[00:50:41] - Defining money and why Ethereum’s design makes it optimized to become an economic engine

[00:55:11] - Defi Pulse - The Decentralized Finance Leaderboard

[00:55:47] - Ethereum’s rigorous decentralization standards and best in class proof of stake

[00:58:57] - Overview of Bitcoin Wrapped and ETH as the native currency writ large

[01:01:16] - A further in-depth analogy to better understand the Ethereum network

[01:05:19] - Potential competitors and new DeFi blockchain innovation

[01:08:27] - Key lessons for builders when studying Ethereum and decentralized finance

Ethereum: Into the Ether

Introduction

Patrick
Today's episode is an experiment. Rather than focusing on a business, we will be breaking down the cryptocurrency, Ethereum. Launched in 2015, Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain like Bitcoin, but is far more programmable, meaning other applications and currencies can be built on top of it. Its native cryptocurrency is Ether, which today stands as the second most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Perhaps even more interesting, transaction fees on the Ethereum network have recently approached $15 million per day, meaning there's a real and growing demand to use the Ethereum network. In this Breakdown, we explore what differentiates Ethereum from Bitcoin, the increasing number of projects being built on the platform, and what a shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake means for Ethereum. To help me break down Ethereum, I'm joined by Justin Drake. Justin is a key researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, and one of the smartest people I know on Ethereum and cryptocurrency more broadly. Justin helped popularize the notion of Ethereum as ultrasound money. And we'll dive into that and so much more. I hope you enjoy this breakdown of Ethereum.

Key Concepts

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