insights from a blockchain developer, researcher & investor
exploring emerging opportunities in decentralized finance
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Celestia | Modular AppChains
Celestia is one of the most widely used scaling solutions for projects that need high throughput, cheap transactions on a dedicated decentralized public blockchain. The aim is for “developers to deploy their own blockchain as easy as deploying a new smart contract” This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not…
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Premia Finance | DeFi Analysis Report 🔍
In this analysis we will be looking at Premia Finance and the potential of DeFi options protocols. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Premia at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Are…
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Smol dApp | MultiSafe MultiChain MultiSig Wallets
Smol dApp is like a swiss army knife of useful tools for DeFi. Their main offerings are: The product we are going to look at todays is their flagship MultiSafe wallets. This is a GnosisSafeProxy contract which requires a set number of wallets to sign off on a transaction before it goes through. For example…
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ApeX Pro | DeFi Analysis Report
ApeX Pro is a non-custodial decentralized orderbook exchange which is part of the ByBit group. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to ApeX at time of writing. Do your own research, not investment advice. What Is ApeX Pro?…
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Hardhat vs Foundry
I started developing solidity with Truffle, then moved to Hardhat, then moved to Foundry, then moved back to Hardhat before eventually settling using both on a regular basis. In this article I’ll talk about the benefits and disadvantages of Hardhat and Foundry so you can make an informed decision about which framework is better for…
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The Definitive Guide To Enshrined Rollups
I believe that in the future 90%+ of transactional volume will go through enshrined rollups. So let’s take a in-depth look at what this technology is and how it is going to help Ethereum scale to a billion users. What Is An Enshrined Rollup? Enshrined rollups are a scaling solution being proposed by core developers…
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Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Bitcoin & Ethereum
Calculating the intrinsic value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets is challenging due to its intangible nature. In this analysis I’m going to discuss common methods of calculating intrinsic value and then create a model using a combination of the methods. tl;dr based on the models described below: Methods Of Calculating Intrinsic Value Store…
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Book Summary: Launch by Jeff Walker
I first read this book nearly a decade ago when it was called “The Product Launch Formula” but decided to revisit the updated version to go over some principles about launching products online. Here is a write up of my notes from the book which is available on Amazon. tl;dr Launch Takeaways Launch Book Notes…
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The Essential Checklist For Deploying A New Token
In this article we are going to look at all the things that need doing when launching a new token to create a token deployment checklist for developers and founders. At the end there is a big list of all the token listing sites that you can submit your new token to. Unit Tests &…
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Solidity Tutorial | Gas Paying NFT
The challenge is to create a NFT contract that charges 1 ETH to mint but then stores the entire amount as collateral in a liquid staking token. As staking rewards come in they get distributed to the holders of the NFTs. At any time a user can burn the NFT to reclaim the 1 ETH.…
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Web3 PWA Boilerplate | How To Create Next Generation dApps
One of Web3’s biggest issues is getting around the centralization of app stores and their stringent terms on the commission requirements for digital asset payments and transfers. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in my opinion are the best solution as it allows you to install dApps directly on to a mobile device without using the app…
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Chainlink CCIP | Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol
From all the announcements at ETHcc, the release of Chainlink CCIP as a direct competitor to LayerZero for cross-chain communications and bridging technology, is perhaps the most interesting. The inherent security risks associated with bridging technology means that Chainlink are in a good position to leverage their brand and security record to gain traction in…
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Biggest Misconceptions About Crypto User Demographics
Due to my blog and YouTube channel I get detailed analytics on crypto user demographics. In this article I’ve compared my own data with other accounts, studies and published demographic information. My Demographic Data Here are some screenshots from Google Analytics and YouTube. My content is almost solely focused on blockchain, web3, crypto. This data…
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Using Ethereum To Offset Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint
Never have I sounded more like an Ethereum maxi, but there is a point beyond the provocative title. In this post I’m going to explore the potential for investors to use carbon credit tokens on Ethereum to offset the electrical consumption of BTC mining on their Bitcoin holdings. This novel idea provides the opportunity to…
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Friend.Tech Trading Bot
I made a few hundred dollars with this trading bot when Friend.Tech launched. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to take advantage of system trading web3 opportunities. James On YouTube Watch On YouTube: https://youtu.be/SLh8SN5DRc4 |Subscribe tl;dr Takeaways Trading On Friend.Tech Friend.Tech is a web3 social trading game. You can buy shares in…
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Spark Protocol sDAI | DeFi Analysis Report
Does earning 8% on your DAI stablecoin holdings sound too good to be true? Let’s take a look at how Spark Protocol is offering this APR using MarkerDAO’s Enhanced Dai Savings Rate system. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any…
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Book Summary: Mastering The Market Cycle By Howard Marks
In crypto we live and die by the four year market cycle and I read this with the ambition to learn from someone who has decades of experience and seen cycles play out across multiple markets. Here is a write up of my notes from the book which is available on Amazon. tl;dr Mastering The…
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Value Averaging vs Dollar Cost Averaging
One of the most recognized techniques for investing is dollar cost averaging. A process where you invest equal amounts over set periods i.e. $100/month. A less well known strategy is value averaging which when compared across multiple markets and time frames is more effective. In this article I discuss the concept of value averaging, the…
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A Close Look at PYUSD | Implications Of The PayPal Stablecoin
In August 2023 Paypal unveiled their new stablecoin, an ERC20 token built on Ethereum. The code is open source, the contract is verified on Etherscan, it’s a real token which is going to be available to Paypal’s 435m users. What Is pyUSD & How Does It Work The Paypal stablecoin was developed in partnership with…
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How To Shuffle A Deck Of Cards In Solidity
In this post I explore how to simulate the shuffling of a deck of cards, addressing the challenges of randomness and predictability in a solidity smart contract environment where every input and output is part of the public record. Whether you’re looking to create an on-chain poker game, a collectible card game, or you’re simply…
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The Secrets Web3 Marketers Use To Launch New Crypto Projects
My previous background in digital marketing and now having worked in the blockchain sector for 6 years provides unique vantage point on the differences between conventional and web3 marketing. Successful crypto projects create communities of advocates who act as micro-influencers championing the cause. In this article I’ll discuss why “build it and they will come”…
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Crypto Travel Rule | Creating A Surveillance State
From the 1st September 2023 the crypto travel rule will come into force in the UK, the EU is holding a grace period with plans to bring it in towards the end of 2024 and it’s already in place in the US, Canada and other parts of the globe. What Is The Crypto Travel Rule…
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Card Payments For Crypto With Wert
One of the challenges cryptocurrency projects face is the seamless integration of traditional payment systems, such as credit/debit card payments, into their crypto based ecosystems. The issue derives from the potential for fraud because card payments can be reversed long after the transaction has taken place, while crypto transactions are immutable. This is a write…
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Tokenized US Treasuries | Ondo Finance vs MatrixDock
Tokenized US treasuries offer a yield on stablecoin holdings and with rising interest rates they are quickly gaining traction in DeFi markets. In this article I want to look at two projects to see how they compare and how the real world asset ecosystem is shaping up. Real World Assets In the last six months…
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How Many People Own Bitcoin & Ethereum?
No one can provide an exact answer to “how many people own Bitcoin” or “how many people own Ethereum” because a single user can have multiple anonymous addresses on the network. We can however analyse the data available in block explorers, company reports and research posts to make an estimate. tl;dr estimates based on the…
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Automate Solidity With MEV
There are no cron jobs in Solidity or native to the Ethereum blockchain. To automate Solidity code we can either use an external service/oracle or we can incentivise MEV searchers to complete tasks efficiently on our behalf. This type of Solidity automation is very common and used widely across liquidation systems which require reliable, fast,…
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Solana SoLang Tutorial | How To Deploy Solidity On Solana
In this SoLang tutorial I’ll show you how to deploy Solidity code on Solana. We will start by setting up a dev environment before looking at some of the nuances in writing SoLang contracts. I’ll end on a few security considerations and a comparison to developing on Solana with SoLang vs Rust. Setting Up A…
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Aevo Decentralized Options Platfor
Aevo is a hybrid decentralized options protocol running an off-chain orderbook with trades routed through a dedicated EVM appChain and settled on Ethereum mainnet. The exchange is built by the Ribbon Finance team who plan to migrate Ribbons products to Aevo options. For traders and market makers it offers a decentralized alternative to Deribit. How…
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Hop Exchange | DeFi Analysis Report
Hop Exchange is a bridging protocol that facilitates cross-chain token transfers by utilizing a network of bonders. I first heard it mentioned in a keynote by Vitalik at ethGlobal Waterloo. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not hold any exposure to Hop…
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Infura vs Alchemy
Most users connect to blockchains using RPC node services. This is sometimes taken care of in the background, for example Metamask uses Infura nodes to send and receive transactions. Web3 developers use custom RPC nodes for their deployment scripts and transactions. Operating the nodes requires a reliable infrastructure service, and two of the most popular…
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ETHx Stader Labs | DeFi Analysis Report
ETHx from Stader Labs is a solution committed to decentralization and keeping Ethereum accessible, reliable, and rewarding. Having just launched ETH stakers earn 1.5x staking rewards and $800,000 in DeFi incentives across various protocols for the first month. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and…
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Conic Finance | DeFi Analysis Report
The latest development in the Curve Wars is the establishment of a new player. Conic Finance is gaining traction and becoming a significant player in the stable swap ecosystem. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not have any allocations at time of…
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Building LayerZero OFT Tokens In Solidity
LayerZero OFT tokens are a new standard for cross-chain assets. OFT’s (Omnichain Fungible Tokens) are not actually tokens themselves, but rather a set of instructions that tell LayerZero how to transfer tokens between different blockchains. In this tutorial we will be building a LayerZero OFT ERC20 token using Solidity and Remix. How LayerZero OFT Tokens…
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XRP Legal Case | What It Means For Developers
In this article I’m going to be breaking down the document filed by judge Torres yesterday and consider what it means to developers working in the blockchain and web3 space. Highlights From The Ruling The full document is available here:https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/SEC%20vs%20Ripple%207-13-23.pdf I’ve picked out some highlights Programmatic SalesHaving considered the economic reality of the Programmatic Sales,…
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Uniswap v4 Hooks
Hooks in Uniswap v4 are external contracts that execute specific actions at certain points during the execution of a liquidity pool. These hooks provide flexibility and customization options for developers to create additional features for liquidity pools. Uniswap v4 hooks can be used to: A 3rd party developer can write a solidity hook contract with…
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crvUSD Curve Stable | DeFi Analysis Report
Curve finance recently launched their own stablecoin crvUSD. I was lucky enough to meet one of the developers working on crvUSD at ethDenver and have been impressed with the product and how it has been rolled out. It is an algorithmic stablecoin with massive potential backed by one of the biggest names in DeFi, let’s…
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3 Ways To Raise Web3 Funding
In this article I’ll explore 3 ways in which you can raise funds for your project with web3 products. Membership NFT A NFT is a non-fungible token, they are often represented as a unique image which can contain additional rights such as: To execute a NFT drop, the following steps can be taken: If any…
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Solidity Error Codes | Not Always What They Seem
I get a lot of comments from Solidity tutorial videos and in Github issues asking how to resolve common solidity error codes. In this article I’ll go through some of the most frequent solidity issues, what they mean and how to resolve them. UNPREDICTABLE_GAS_LIMIT This is the most common and confusing error in Solidity The…
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FTX 2.0 ReLaunch
FTX 2.0 is a proposed relaunch of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The FTX exchange was a profitable business, earning a small percentage from trading fees. However depositors funds were used to cover up losses from partner trading firm Alameda Research. Alameda also provided market maker services across all…
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Raft Finance | DeFi Analysis Report
This DeFi analysis report for Raft Finance follows up on my analysis and investment in Lybra Finance. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post and I do not have any allocations at time of writing to Raft or the R stablecoin. Do your own research, not…
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Can London Become A Crypto Hub?
Earlier this week one of Silicon Valley’s largest VC firms Andreessen Horowitz announced it would be opening an office in London for their a16zCrypto arm. In this article we will look at how well positioned the UK is relative to the rest of the world to become a fintech capital and hub for the blockchain…
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Lybra Finance | DeFi Analysis Report
Lybra Finance allows stETH stakers to mint the eUSD stablecoin which has a 7.2% APY. This is a write up of my internal research notes, this is not a sponsored post however I have purchased an allocation of LBR Lybra Finance’s governance token in my personal portfolio. Do your own research, not investment advice. Update…
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Raising Funds For Your Blockchain Project
For founders looking to raise capital there are a number of options which we will explore in this article. Private Round A private round is where a founder will outreach and pitch their concept to investors in the space. For raises under $100k angel investors can provide initial funding to get a project started. For…
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Prisma Finance | acUSD an LST backed stablecoin
Prisma Finance is a DeFi project that aims to maximize the potential of Ethereum liquid staking tokens (LSTs). It introduces a stablecoin called acUSD, which is over collateralized by liquid staking tokens. The stablecoin is designed to be capital-efficient and offers additional incentives through integration with Curve and Convex Finance. This is a write up…
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Assessing Smart Contract Security Auditors
A smart contract audit can cost anything from $5,000-$250,000 USD. Within this range there is a wide range of services, some offer better value for money than others. In this article I will go through the options for founders looking to hire an auditor and some of the checks you can do to ensure you…
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Proposer Builder Separation
Proposer Builder Separation (PBS) is an Ethereum concept that aims to reduce relay centralization and redirect a proportion of MEV to validators staking Ethereum. In the current Ethereum network, validators are responsible for both proposing and building blocks. They are incentivised to coordinate with 3rd party MEV protocols which order the transactions in the blocks.…
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Alchemix Self-Repaying Loans
Imagine a financial system where your loans automatically pay themselves off, interest-free and without the need for monthly repayments. Alchemix is a synthetic asset protocol run by community DAO. This is a write up of my research notes and is not sponsored in any way. I currently at time of writing have no stake in…
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Mastering Volatility In Crypto Markets
Volatility represents the degree of price fluctuation within a crypto asset, reflecting the magnitude of price changes over a given period. It is the source of both risk and opportunity, capable of testing the nerves of even the most experienced investors. Understanding the nature of volatility is paramount, for it is through this lens that…
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Effective Altruism | Leveraging Innovation & Transparency for Social Good
Effective altruism is a philosophy rooted in maximizing the positive impact of our actions to improve the lives of others. It has gained significant traction in recent years, especially among proponents in crypto circles who resonate with the data driven approach. This article explores how effective altruism, when combined with innovation and transparency, becomes a…
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Gnosis Safe | The Most Secure Multisig Wallet For Your Crypto
Gnosis Safe multisig wallets are used by institutions and individuals to hold some of the largest quantities of funds on the Ethereum network. The free to use wallet includes multisignature functionality for enhanced security and control over digital assets. It is developed by Gnosis, a blockchain technology company based out of Switzerland and Germany, known…
