In this episode, we chat with Cem Ozer, founder of Sovereign Labs. We begin with Cem’s personal journey in crypto, and how this experience led him to build Sovereign Labs. We then discuss how developers evaluate the many permutations of rollups and blockchain frameworks available today, and where Sovereign Labs fits into this landscape. We dive int…

In this episode, we chat with Jacob Arluck, head of strategy at Celestia Labs, and Andrew Huang, founder of Conduit. We cover a number of topics in the modular blockchain space, starting with the impact of DA solutions on the rollup landscape and the budding partnership between Conduit and Celestia, the leading RaaS and DA solutions in the market r…

Tune in to episode 15 of the Blackstone Chambers Litigation Podcast, as Kieron Beal KC presents the Retained EU Law Conference Part 2. Joined by Naina Patel, Emily Neill, Ravi Mehta, Harry Adamson and Hollie Higgins, the panel explore the potential impacts of the REUL Act in key affected sectors. The REUL Act is the final chapter in a huge and comp…

Tune in to episode 14 of the Blackstone Chambers Litigation Podcast, as Kieron Beal KC presents recorded highlights from the 2023 Retained EU Law Conference. Joined by Tom de la Mare KC, James Segan KC and Gayatri Sarathy, the panel provides an insightful introduction to The Retained EU Law (REUL) Act 2023. The REUL Act is the final chapter in a hu…

In this episode, we chat with Emily and Alvin Hsia, co-founders of Shadow. We begin with their journey working on DeFi, MEV, an early idea to unify on-chain data, and their journey to building Shadow. They walk us through the challenges with events, their solution for developers, users, and data consumers, and other details on the product such as p…

In this episode, we chat with Ido Ben-Natan and Raz Niv, co-founders of Blockaid, a crypto security firm. They share their journey from the Israeli Defence Force cybersecurity unit to launching Blockaid, discussing their product and the importance of protecting web3 customers. Later, we dig into Blockaid's approach to a stealth launch, fostering a …

In this episode, we chat with Michael Shaulov, co-founder of Fireblocks. Michael revisits with us the early days of building Fireblocks and finding product market fit by solving customer pain points. We chat through both strategic and tactical approaches to building a B2B product in crypto, exploring lessons learned on early customer relationships …

In this podcast, Charlotte Kilroy KC examines the relevance of Lord Atkin’s famous dissent in Liversidge v Anderson [1942]AC 206 for lawyers and judges today. She highlights anti-terrorism legislation introduced in 2001 as part of the ‘war on terror’ and the Belmarsh case, deprivation of citizenship and the Shamima Begum case, and most recently the…

In this episode, we chat with Henri Stern, the co-founder and CEO of Privy. We begin with Henri’s personal journey in Crypto, how it led him to build Privy, and how his vision for Privy has changed over time. We then get into Privy’s product mindset, how the primitives it enables benefit both users and developers, and where the product goes from he…

Hanif Mussa KC of Blackstone Chambers presents recorded highlights of the 2023 Public Seminar Conference, featuring, George Molyneaux, Sarah Wilkinson, and Charlotte Kilroy KC. Listen in as George Molyneaux discusses standing in judicial review claims, including recent cases in this area and practical ways in which legal representatives can assist …

In this episode, we chat with Neel Somani, the founder of Eclipse. We begin with an overview of Neel's personal journey in Crypto, from exploring Cosmos and appchains, to thinking about Rollups-as-a-service, to now building an L2. We then dig into Neel's dream customer, Eclipse's go-to-market strategy, and how they are building a differentiated eco…

In this episode, we chat with Yi Sun, founder of Axiom. We begin with an overview of what Axiom does and the core problems it's solving for Ethereum applications. Then, we dig into Axiom's go-to-market strategy, some of the use cases they're supporting, and some of the capabilities they're building for in the future. We also explore the broader zer…

In this episode, we chat with Andrew Huang, founder of Conduit and Brandon Curtis, a long-time infrastructure builder and investor. We begin with a brief overview of Andrew’s background and what led him to build a Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) business. We then speak to the value proposition of RaaS businesses, compare them to previous iterations of b…

In this episode, we are joined by Blackstone Chambers’ Stephen Nathan KC, Tom Croxford KC, and Tom Hickman KC as they share their most memorable cases. Listen in as Stephen Nathan KC recalls his longest-running case, Kuwait Airways v Iraqi Airways Company. Stephen draws on his unique experience in court and his visit to Iraq. The several judgments …

In this episode, we chat with Scott Sunarto, the founder of Argus Labs and former co-creator of Dark Forest. We begin with an overview of the current landscape of Crypto Gaming and the crypto gaming primitives Scott is excited about. We also talk about what most crypto gaming investors are getting wrong and the narratives within crypto gaming he di…

In this episode, we chat with Aidan Salzmann and Vishal Talasani, the co-founders of Stride, the leading liquid staking protocol in Cosmos. Our conversation is a deep dive into Stride's long-term strategy, their execution-focused culture, and the lessons from building appchains. We also explore why Aidan and Vishal chose to build in Cosmos, lessons…

We are delighted to share Part II of the Blackstone Chambers’ Annual Employee Competition Seminar of The Litigation Podcast with Craig Rajgopaul, Sarah Wilkinson, and Emmeline Plews. In Part II, Craig Rajgopaul will discuss conspiracy claims and professional conduct issues. Sarah Wilkinson examines whether the new willingness to grant damages in lu…

We are delighted to share Blackstone Chambers’ annual Employee Competition Seminar in a two-part series of The Litigation Podcast. In these episodes, based on the 2023 Employee Competition Seminar, Tom Croxford KC introduces Paul Goulding KC and Diya Sen Gupta KC in Part I, and Craig Rajgopaul, Sarah Wilkinson, and Emmeline Plews in Part II. In Par…

In this episode, we chat with Rune Christensen, the founder of MakerDAO. We dive into his ambitious Endgame plan, the long-term roadmap for MakerDAO, and the motivation behind these decisions. In particular, we talk about his new stablecoin and governance token, new subDAOs, and his role spearheading these initiatives. This episode offers clarity f…

In this episode, we chat with Diogo Monica and Nathan McCauley, the co-founders of Anchorage Digital. We discuss numerous topics, starting with their unique partnership and what they learned from working together at Square and Docker. We then dive into the founding story behind Anchorage Digital, the story of the initial seed round, and scaling the…

In this episodes, we chat with Christopher Goes, the co-founder of Anoma and Namada. Christopher has a wealth of knowledge about privacy in crypto, and has previously contributed to the Zcash and Cosmos ecosystems. We discuss the different "eras" of privacy dating back to 2017, and how Anoma and Namada builds upon the existing state of privacy rese…

In this episode, we are joined by Blackstone Chambers’ Michael Beloff KC, Ian Mill KC, Catherine Callaghan KC, and Tim Parker as they share their most memorable cases. Listen in as Michael Beloff KC recalls his first case, representing the band Love Affair. In this amusing account, he shares the satisfaction of achieving his first successful outcom…

In this episode, Larry and I chat with Matteo Leibowitz, Ventures Lead and former Strategy Lead at Uniswap. We discuss Matteo's research into DeFi at The Block, and how that led to his move to Uniswap to 2020. We also dive into what the day-to-day of a Strategy Lead at a major DeFi protocol looks like, and how Uniswap developed a dominant market po…

In this episode, we chat about the MEV landscape in Osmosis with Dev Ohja, founder of Osmosis, and Barry Plunkett, founder of Skip. Osmosis has had a very unique, first-principles approach to dealing with MEV, attempting to mitigate "bad" forms while allowing the protocol to internalize" good" forms. We discuss how MEV has been an important theme f…

In this episode, we chat with Lakshman Sankar, contributor to Personae Labs, an R&D lab focused on applying zero-knowledge technology to advance digital identity. Lakshman has been a long-time Crypto researcher, and was previously at the Ethereum Foundation. In this episode, we chat about Personae's new private voting tool - HeyAnoun, and the first…

In this episode, we chat with Travis Scher, founder of North Island Ventures. Travis has been investing in crypto startups since 2015, and has a wealth of experience across many market cycles. We go into detail about what Travis looks for when evaluating early stage startups, his experience at Digital Currency Group, and the importance of ethics/in…

Join Ian Mill KC, Mark Vinall, Celia Rooney, and Rayan Fakhoury as they discuss the shape of music litigation, past and present, with key lessons learned from recent cases including cases involving Ed Sheeran, Rudimental, Culture Club and Rihanna. This episode examines topics such as: the relevance of access for copyright cases in the digital age, …

In this episode, we chat with Stani Kulechov, the founder of Aave. We cover the history of Aave, from the transition of ETHLend to Aave, to its current positioning as the leading lending project in DeFi. Aave has had a unique journey, and this episode goes into the nitty-gritty details behind the scenes. We also cover Stani's thoughts on Aave Gover…

In this episode, we chat with Mike Ippolito and Jason Yanowitz, the founders of Blockworks. Since 2018, they've built Blockworks up into one of crypto's largest and most prominent media companies. We dive into the early history, various product lines today, and where they see Blockworks in the future. They also share valuable feedback on how crypto…

Join Andreas Gledhill KC and he explores the implications of the recent case Re Compound Photonics Group Ltd; Faulkner v. Vollin Holdings Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1371. One of the most contentious issues in the law of obligations has been the role of good faith in contract law: When is an obligation of good faith implied? And in cases where it is either…

In this episode, we chat with Sam Hart, longtime contributor to the Cosmos hub and author of the ATOM 2.0 whitepaper. We talk about the history of Cosmos and how its governance has evolved since inception. We also discus how protocol narratives evolve over time, and how Cosmos' story compares to that of Ethereum and Bitcoin. Lastly, we talk about t…

In this episode, Leona Powell will discuss challenges when applying for search orders in fraud cases following the Court of Appeal’s decision in TBD Ltd v Simons. In particular, Leona will explore how to address the need for urgent inspection of documents in the wake of that case.By Blackstone Chambers

In this episode, we chat with Joe Lallouz, the head of Coinbase Cloud and founder of Bison Trails. We cover the history of Bison Trails from early inception to acquisition by Coinbase, as well as broader thoughts on the crypto infrastructure landscape. We also discuss the staking industry's evolution over time, and how Bison Trails' value propositi…

In this episode, Tom Leary will be discussing the recent developments of Authorised Push Payments (APP) fraud. Tom looks at how APP fraud victims may be protected through claims against the victim's bank, claims against the fraudster's bank, and regulatory changes that are coming soon.By Blackstone Chambers

In this episode, Luka Krsljanin will be discussing what happens after you’ve obtained a freezing order and the types of orders you can obtain for further disclosure or further evidence. Luka will explore this in two-parts – (I) How you can get further disclosure orders and (II) The order for attendance at court to be cross examined.…

Robert Anderson KC will take you through dissipation in the context of freezing orders, specifically what evidence can legitimately go into that section of the affidavit in support of the application for a freezer, dealing with the risk of dissipation. This episode discusses: · What constitutes a risk of dissipation? · What is the purpose of a free…