S4E8 Data Science in Web3 Gaming w. Helika CEO, Anton Umnov

Web3 gaming is just getting started, but most people think it's just about the protocol or the tokens... What about the DATA? We get a fascinating insight into what game developers need to create decentralised gaming economies... The team at Helika have worked with top studios like Yuga Labs, Proof of Play, Animoca Brands and many more, and have seen the early promise of Web3 gaming fall flat because of one particular challenge: DATA. Actually, it's more than just data. It's how to design, collect, interpret and act on data; as well as designing a coherent game economy that can work in harmony with a decentralised crypto economy. No mean feat. In this show we'll discuss: - The maturity of the Web3 gaming ecosystem - What makes Web3 hard for traditional game developers - The importance of data for Web3 games - What is different when it comes to decentralised games and digital assets - Best practices for data management in gaming - Advice to any company looking to build with Web3 tech

Want to meet the man who's trying to integrate ALL the Blockchains? That's no mean feat. Jan-Jaap Jager is transforming Web3 and making it easier for anyone to build Dapps on one or many different chains... We've said this before, but Web3 will never reach 'mass adoption' if applications are hard to develop, and we don't provide tooling for developers and teams who don't want to learn random Blockchain coding languages. Step forward Chainstack! It is their mission to make Blockchain development and infrastructure easy to use, and to give developers and organisations as much choice as possible when it comes to starting and supporting their Web3 journeys. Public. Private. Subnets. APIs. It's all here... In this show we'll cover: - The origins of Chainstack - The problems with building on Blockchains today - The importance of BaaS and SaaS for Web3 to scale - The most exciting or impactful use cases that Chainstack enables - What it takes to manage a portfolio of 25+ Blockchains - Advice to anyone looking to build Dapps or Blockchain offerings

DePIN is a sector where Blockchain tech is having a major impact. We talk this, and Filecoin’s 6-year history with Porter Stowell. Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks: In short, the democratisation of compute, storage, communication and more. Optimising existing industrial-grade infrastructure and also allowing individuals to participate in a P2P sharing economy. Sound interesting and disruptive? It is. Amazon and Google aren’t exactly quaking in their boots, but they’re watching with interest, and have been making moves in Web3 to make sure their legacy businesses doesn’t get blindsided by Blockchain. Filecoin has been leading the charge, particularly in storage, since 2017 and was one of the most love projects from Web3’s previous growth cycle. Porter gives us his take on the emergence of DePIN, what it REALLY takes to scale viable decentralised networks, as well as: - A Filecoin 101 for those who are new here - How to manage supply and demand in DePIN networks - The art of the ‘deal’ for B2B, large-scale storage - What more is needed for DePIN networks to become attractive to enterprises and a wider user base

Note: This episode contains at least 2 very important knowledge bombs about the importance of SaaS for Web3, and the art of dealmaking for chain partnerships! We've got more Blockchain infrastructure than we can possibly use... But is it USABLE? Tim from Venly will explain the importance of developer tools to make Web3 more accessible to everyone... Blockchains are brilliant. Tokens are tremendous. But development on most chains can be dire... Esoteric languages, confusing contracts, limited interoperability, and APIs that don't connect to anything legacy organisations actually use today. Venly are looking to change that. In this show we'll talk about: - The challenge of building with Blockchains today - What do we mean by 'tooling' for Web3 - What's in the Venly tooling stack - Example use cases where enterprises and projects are benefiting from SaaS / BaaS solutions - What more is needed to see wider Web3 adoption

How many Layer 1 Blockchains do you know that are mission-driven to support sustainability? VeChain might be the only one… Not only that, they’re the only Blockchain whose whitepaper was co-authored by BCG. This is a serious team, with serious ambitions, and Sunny Lu joins us to answer YOUR questions. Many Blockchains will say they are ‘sustainable’… Which is a common reference to the fact that their energy usage (through Proof of Stake Consensus) is 99% lower than Bitcoin’s. But are they driving change through enabling sustainability projects? VeChain are, and along with insights into the technology and the use cases, we talk about: - The history of VeChain - Why Blockchains uniquely benefit sustainability initiatives - Collaboration with BCG and how a top consultancy committed to writing a Web3 whitepaper - Blockchain incentive design, and how mature ‘X to Earn’ models have become in 2024 - What more is needed to see wider use of Blockchain and decentralised technology

Onboarding is one of the biggest UX challenges with Web3, and Mysten Labs think they've cracked it with zkLogin. Single sign-on but privacy-preserving. I'm joined by Kostas Chalkias (AKA Kostas Kryptos) to learn more... Google, Facebook and Apple have cornered the single sign-on (SSO) market in an attempt to improve UX but also capture more about YOU and what you do online... The emergence of Zero Knowledge technology paired with the existing SSO providers' tools can enable simple UX while protecting your ID and data. Curious? You should be. Join me and Kostas, where we'll talk about: - The problems with SSOs and credentials today - An introduction to zkLogin - Use cases and what can be built on top of zkLogin - A beginners guide to the Sui network - What more is required to see zk tech adopted more widely - Guidance for people building with Blockchain and zk

We'll never get to widespread adoption of Blockchain and Web3 unless we can make it easy for enterprises and governments to easily integrate the tech. AvaCloud (from Ava Labs) believe they have cracked this problem... I'm joined by Nick Mussallem, Head of Product for Ava Labs, who will share everything the Avalanche community has learned about Blockchain adoption. They have partnered with major enterprises, AAA games, top brands, and have a bustling Web3 ecosystem. AvaCloud is the Avalanche 'Blockchain as a Service' (BaaS) offering that aims to make adoption and integration of decentralised technologies easy-peasy. But what does that mean, and why weren't we doing this before? In this show we discuss: - The rise of Avalanche and why it's different to other Blockchains - The importance of Blockchain as a Service and how it helps - The creation of AvaCloud and what's 'in the box' - Use cases and real world examples of AvaCloud in action - Advice for anyone looking to build with Blockchain technology (Note: apologies for my audio quality - realised I wasn't using the podcast mic halfway through the show! smh)

Season 4 of BWSTW kicks off with the legendary Charles Hoskinson. He shaped the direction of Ethereum and Cardano, and now Midnight. So you'll want to hear what he has to say about what is needed for Blockchain and Crypto to properly scale... Charles is recognised as one of the leading thinkers when it comes to Web3, but is also the founder of a number of non-Blockchain businesses making use of disruptive technologies, so he brings a broad commercial perspective He also knows what it takes to scale Blockchain and Crypto ecosystems, from the code, to the community, to regulation and engaging with market intermediaries. In this show we talk about the path ahead for Blockchain technologies for further enter the mainstream, including: - What Charles has learned about adoption from his years with Cardano - The imperatives for further use of decentralised technologies - The main use cases where Blockchains can drive meaningful change - His vision for Midnight, and where a data protection Blockchain succeed where others have so far failed, and - Advice for enterprises and governments looking to engage with Web3, Blockchain & Dapps

Oh Mama! Who's ready to ROAST some Blockchains? Our favourite season-ending format is back, with some very special guests... This is where we cut loose, make fun of ourselves (and others), throw a little shade (in a respectful way) and generally find humour in the weird nuances of Blockchain and Web3. This time round, we're roasting the daft things that happen when the Bear Market comes around, token values drop, funding gets cut, scam projects get exposed, and dodgy 'influencers' start looking for work in AI or McDonalds... And to help stoke the fires, and bring the funny, I'm joined by some legendary Web3 OGs who have seen more than their fair share of stupid Blockchain things in their illustrious careers: Mathew Sweezey (The Enterprise Guy) Irina Heaver (The Crypto Lawyer) Diego Borgo (The Brand and Culture Guy) Sandra Helou (The Metaverse Builder) Keir Finlow-Bates (Architect & Engineer Extraordinaire) Emily Landon (The Web3 Recruiter) So join us for a light-hearted look at the ridiculous things that go on in our industry, peppered with some jokes, some war stories, and some predictions of when this Bear Market will end...

We finally did it! Charles Adkins, an enterprise innovation and blockchain veteran is finally going to bless the podcast, and share his view on why 300 Fortune 500's using NFTs is barely the start of Web3 adoption...If you don't know, Charles is the guy who advises the likes of Nike, Walt Disney, Red Bull, and Polygon how to drive success with emerging technology. And for the past year he's been helping Aptos to secure some of the world's most notable Blockchain collaborations.Is Blockchain dead? Does the Metaverse still need Web3 technology? Are all the projects and funds flowing into AI now?... We discuss this and more, including:- Why should the enterprise world be interested in Blockchain?- What makes a great Blockchain use case? - Why does Charles always have a copy of 'Move Over Brokers, Here Comes the Blockchain' within reach?- What is Aptos doing differently that is making enterprises take note?- What will drive wider adoption of decentralised technologies?- What advice would he give other chains or enterprises building with Blockchain technology