Leo Zhang (Alkimiya) on creating a market for Bitcoin blockspace (EP.542)

Leo Zhang, founder of Alkimiya, joins the show to talk about their Bitcoin fee exposure product. In this episode: 

• The evolution of Alkimiya
• Alkimiya’s current product approach
• Why solving Bitcoin transaction fee volatility matters
• How blockspace compares to conventional commodities
• What kind of market participants would want to long or short Bitcoin transaction fees?
• Avoiding manipulation in blockspace markets
• The decision to build on Base
• Reminiscing on the Ethereum gas token
• Building a fee product for Bitcoin as opposed to any other L1
• Leo’s long term views on Bitcoin fees
• Bitcoin season 2 and the cultural shift in Bitcoin
• Moderating views from maximalism to being a Bitcoin moderate
• The effect of Bitcoin L2s on fees
• Runes as a catalyst for Bitcoin fees
• The fee-transaction count feedback loop

About Alkimiya:

Alkimiya is a blockspace markets protocol that just released a novel mechanism for users to trade on Bitcoin transaction fees. Previously, users had no option but to accept fluctuating transaction fees. With Alkimiya, they can now profit from or hedge against these drastic swings.

Further reading: 

• • Infrastructure for Synthetic Blockspace