212093
Lyron Co Ting Keh
@lyronctk #212093
founder @seismic // product-focused cryptography // rookie years @ stanford, google
215 Follower 71 Following
Replacing checking accounts with crypto accounts by 2030
Is a good adoption goal for developed countries
The path we're betting on rn is:
1. Pick up scraps. Focus on what's underserved by traditional processors, i.e. payments hit with high flat fees / bad corridors / big chargeback rates / recurrent censorship. Probably 1% of consumer payments
2. Experiment on scraps. Try to induce new financial behavior with tiny 1%
3. Find lightning-in-bottle with scraps. Some crazy interaction catches and crypto claims the other 99%
Is a good adoption goal for developed countries
The path we're betting on rn is:
1. Pick up scraps. Focus on what's underserved by traditional processors, i.e. payments hit with high flat fees / bad corridors / big chargeback rates / recurrent censorship. Probably 1% of consumer payments
2. Experiment on scraps. Try to induce new financial behavior with tiny 1%
3. Find lightning-in-bottle with scraps. Some crazy interaction catches and crypto claims the other 99%
I've always wondered who these middlemen are who we're so excited to fade
Turns out there are a lot of em, and we’re pretty good at fading em
Example, what happens when you swipe a credit card:
Turns out there are a lot of em, and we’re pretty good at fading em
Example, what happens when you swipe a credit card:
stanford's two flagship crypto classes discontinued
gg
bear market things 😮💨😮💨
gg
bear market things 😮💨😮💨
no way you can justify having 100 engineers on a pre-launch chain
ethereum pow == 7 devs
solana mainnet beta == 9 devs
"buT tHEy haD nO cOMpetition" lmao
ethereum pow == 7 devs
solana mainnet beta == 9 devs
"buT tHEy haD nO cOMpetition" lmao
> Crypto is for payments and defi
> Crypto is for making markets
Accurate when we were small. Now similar vibe to “internet is for communication”
Crypto's already delivered a handful of differentiated user experiences. Many more to come WOOO
> Crypto is for making markets
Accurate when we were small. Now similar vibe to “internet is for communication”
Crypto's already delivered a handful of differentiated user experiences. Many more to come WOOO
Crazy question raised by traitor tracing:
How much money would it take to betray your friend?
Traitor tracing is the best mitigation we have for server side privacy breaches (the core of the MPC v TEE discussion)
MPC == "server that stores your data" is split between 10 people, users are hoping they don't get together to peek
TEE == "server that stores your data" is a fancy box that's hard to break in to, users are hoping Google doesn't peek
Unclear which one's better. Both are bad for the same reason: peeking historically hasn't been punishable
Not good. Crypto rests on bad actors getting punished. It's why staking is so important
How to make peeking punishable? For TEEs, there's no active proposal. For MPC, there is, and it's called traitor tracing.
Traitor tracing == a way for a someone to prove their friend peeked via math
i.e. If me and my buddy peek together. We're both traitors. My buddy can turn on me and slash me to oblivion
How much money would it take to betray your friend?
Traitor tracing is the best mitigation we have for server side privacy breaches (the core of the MPC v TEE discussion)
MPC == "server that stores your data" is split between 10 people, users are hoping they don't get together to peek
TEE == "server that stores your data" is a fancy box that's hard to break in to, users are hoping Google doesn't peek
Unclear which one's better. Both are bad for the same reason: peeking historically hasn't been punishable
Not good. Crypto rests on bad actors getting punished. It's why staking is so important
How to make peeking punishable? For TEEs, there's no active proposal. For MPC, there is, and it's called traitor tracing.
Traitor tracing == a way for a someone to prove their friend peeked via math
i.e. If me and my buddy peek together. We're both traitors. My buddy can turn on me and slash me to oblivion
The only valid reason to make a new L1:
a) You want the influence that only an L1 has
b) You want to use this influence to create a new asset category
A GREAT reason
Should be used instead of technical reasons that are closer to sleight of hand than anything:
1. Doing something new?
>> That's an execution layer improvement- what L2s are for
2. Faster finality?
>> Finality for validator set becomes preconf for decentralized sequencer set, w/ no deterioration in reorg resistance
3. Higher throughput?
>> Probably won't outpace danksharding roadmap with real tx demand
4. Better decentralization?
>> Lmao will the bottleneck really be Ethereum's decentralization
a) You want the influence that only an L1 has
b) You want to use this influence to create a new asset category
A GREAT reason
Should be used instead of technical reasons that are closer to sleight of hand than anything:
1. Doing something new?
>> That's an execution layer improvement- what L2s are for
2. Faster finality?
>> Finality for validator set becomes preconf for decentralized sequencer set, w/ no deterioration in reorg resistance
3. Higher throughput?
>> Probably won't outpace danksharding roadmap with real tx demand
4. Better decentralization?
>> Lmao will the bottleneck really be Ethereum's decentralization
"Wtf, we already scrapped TEEs in 2019, how can people forget" - common complaint floating around now
Isn't accurate. Current discourse isn't "forgetting" and pushing the same approach again.
The landscape has completely changed since 2019:
- [1] Alternative risks to not deploying enclaves have increased. Eg: risk of casino winning
- [2] Complementary technologies that patch up enclave shortcomings have been productionized. Eg: zkVMs
- [3] Clearer now that exotic forms of cryptography won't get the job done anytime soon. Eg: attribute-based encryption
- [4] New virtualization-based enclave designs available. Eg: TDX
This is technology. Trying old ideas again under new conditions is the backbone of our innovation cycle.
If "we've tried that already" was our industry's motto, we wouldn't have Tesla, Oculus, or even Bitcoin.
Isn't accurate. Current discourse isn't "forgetting" and pushing the same approach again.
The landscape has completely changed since 2019:
- [1] Alternative risks to not deploying enclaves have increased. Eg: risk of casino winning
- [2] Complementary technologies that patch up enclave shortcomings have been productionized. Eg: zkVMs
- [3] Clearer now that exotic forms of cryptography won't get the job done anytime soon. Eg: attribute-based encryption
- [4] New virtualization-based enclave designs available. Eg: TDX
This is technology. Trying old ideas again under new conditions is the backbone of our innovation cycle.
If "we've tried that already" was our industry's motto, we wouldn't have Tesla, Oculus, or even Bitcoin.
TEEs are picking up steam! Tricks we use in our system to get the "best" security model we can:
[1] Scary to depend on a small set of unstaked nodes to verify a computation. Alleviate via multiple confirmation rules like TEE attest -> TEE attest and ZKP -> TEE attest and ZKP and ...
[2] Scary to depend on cloud providers with kill switches. Alleviate by spreading TEE networks across different centers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and imposing a lower bound % for independent SGX nodes.
[3] Scary to depend on hardware manufacturers to not backdoor. Alleviate by secret sharing across nodes with different chips, though this only works if decryption conditions don't require the secrets themselves.
[1] Scary to depend on a small set of unstaked nodes to verify a computation. Alleviate via multiple confirmation rules like TEE attest -> TEE attest and ZKP -> TEE attest and ZKP and ...
[2] Scary to depend on cloud providers with kill switches. Alleviate by spreading TEE networks across different centers (AWS, GCP, Azure) and imposing a lower bound % for independent SGX nodes.
[3] Scary to depend on hardware manufacturers to not backdoor. Alleviate by secret sharing across nodes with different chips, though this only works if decryption conditions don't require the secrets themselves.
Does someone have a tool to port my follows to Farcaster?
i.e. If I'm following someone on Twitter, I also want to follow their FC account
i.e. If I'm following someone on Twitter, I also want to follow their FC account
de-evolution of chain summoners w/ seed funding:
satoshi w/ $0 ==> shipped bitcoin
vitalik w/ $100k ==> shipped ethereum
toly w/ $3M ==> shipped solana
our gen w/ $150M ==> shipped a milly followers on @farcaster
satoshi w/ $0 ==> shipped bitcoin
vitalik w/ $100k ==> shipped ethereum
toly w/ $3M ==> shipped solana
our gen w/ $150M ==> shipped a milly followers on @farcaster
Voice model for chatGPT 4o solves writer's block
Just spoke to my phone for two hrs and absolutely churned ideas
e.g. Jupiter 10m ago: "So you're toying with launching a little brother currency to tokenized $NVDA, I'm still unclear on the interface, mind being more specific?"
Just spoke to my phone for two hrs and absolutely churned ideas
e.g. Jupiter 10m ago: "So you're toying with launching a little brother currency to tokenized $NVDA, I'm still unclear on the interface, mind being more specific?"
GREAT article by Nathan Allman
Centered around a useful observation re how people use tokenized RWAs in the real world
(lizard brain explanation below)
Centered around a useful observation re how people use tokenized RWAs in the real world
(lizard brain explanation below)
Hats off to the founders who could compete in the valley, but choose to take on real bodily risk distributing product in a developing country
I grew up PH & I still get spooked by most of the stories I hear
I'm too soft to be digging escape tunnels to neighboring countries
I grew up PH & I still get spooked by most of the stories I hear
I'm too soft to be digging escape tunnels to neighboring countries
the type of optimism we need rn
16831
Small Brain
@0xsmallbrain·17:06 17/06/2024
God there is too much stupid stuff to make
my notifs are on
web2 optimizes for unregretted user-minutes
web3 optimizes for unregretted user-dollars
web3 optimizes for unregretted user-dollars
ready2scoop
545
Amir
@amirbolous·00:20 12/06/2024
Claiming my /scoop profile with address: 0x75559239e3DFF280D8bFdAcE05d9e4051aAc4734
let the scoop wars begin 🍦
let the scoop wars begin 🍦
Main driver of everyday crypto adoption in the US won't be payments, it'll be payouts
Crypto has a clear pitch for non US citizens: access to USD
What about for US citizens? They already have native USD and the rails to spend it
So, not spending. What about earning?
Crypto has a clear pitch for non US citizens: access to USD
What about for US citizens? They already have native USD and the rails to spend it
So, not spending. What about earning?
Not all meme coins are ponzis
DOGE / WIF / DEGEN aren't
Diff? They aren't zero sum. They meaningfully expand the market for cultural artifacts
Lot of launchpads today optimized for PnD
Genuine opportunity in creating a launchpad that's optimized for making the next DOGE
DOGE / WIF / DEGEN aren't
Diff? They aren't zero sum. They meaningfully expand the market for cultural artifacts
Lot of launchpads today optimized for PnD
Genuine opportunity in creating a launchpad that's optimized for making the next DOGE
CEXs take "owning the user relationship" to the next level
At least in the traditional world I don't need to go through Bank of America to use Youtube
CB is already steamrolling the rollup part of the stack, now might with wallets too
Happy they're good actors (for now)
At least in the traditional world I don't need to go through Bank of America to use Youtube
CB is already steamrolling the rollup part of the stack, now might with wallets too
Happy they're good actors (for now)
Underrated reason for lack of consumer builders:
Embarrassing to tell your mom / girlfriend / mentor / deli guy what you do
I milk the fact that "cryptography" sounds fancy to regular people
Can't spin @friendtech.eth, even though it was the most interesting experiment of 2023
Embarrassing to tell your mom / girlfriend / mentor / deli guy what you do
I milk the fact that "cryptography" sounds fancy to regular people
Can't spin @friendtech.eth, even though it was the most interesting experiment of 2023
why do we call them "intents" lol
just say cross-chain swaps
just say cross-chain swaps
Have been using this framework when thinking about consumer:
Hit crypto native dapps let users buy something that goes up
Breakout apps that we've seen have either innovated along 1) how to buy, or 2) what to buy
Has helped me get in the greenfield mindset for both:
Hit crypto native dapps let users buy something that goes up
Breakout apps that we've seen have either innovated along 1) how to buy, or 2) what to buy
Has helped me get in the greenfield mindset for both:
working on a startup is so fun
it’s like a hackathon but it never ends
it’s like a hackathon but it never ends
Privacy is all or nothing (at the technical level).
You can't have one component here or there be private. The entire value chain needs to be.
Any kink in the chain demolishes privacy guarantees.
Why? Quick example. Suppose you had a DEGEN position on Base worth $1M.
...
You can't have one component here or there be private. The entire value chain needs to be.
Any kink in the chain demolishes privacy guarantees.
Why? Quick example. Suppose you had a DEGEN position on Base worth $1M.
...
Classic case of progress: zkVMs
2022 -> We all thought proving general instruction set would never get close to hand rolled
2024 -> Chumps like me who learned to draw a polynomial with R1CS have 0 edge
Never fade 50 nerds w/ interesting problem + piggy bank of small country
2022 -> We all thought proving general instruction set would never get close to hand rolled
2024 -> Chumps like me who learned to draw a polynomial with R1CS have 0 edge
Never fade 50 nerds w/ interesting problem + piggy bank of small country
*L2s == rapidly shrinking pie*
Playbook used to be: launch L2 w/ centralized sequencer, don't launch token, upgrade multiple times in search of PMF
Now will likely see: launch L1 w/ Proof of Authority, don't launch token, upgrade multiple times in search of PMF
Same thing
Playbook used to be: launch L2 w/ centralized sequencer, don't launch token, upgrade multiple times in search of PMF
Now will likely see: launch L1 w/ Proof of Authority, don't launch token, upgrade multiple times in search of PMF
Same thing
Is there any tool that imports all of your twitter followings to farcaster?
I want to re-follow everyone, but going through each one is a pain
I want to re-follow everyone, but going through each one is a pain
> If you can't go right, go left
Been spamming this one liner from @amirbolous. Roadmap PROGRESSING.
bad
_ _ _ _
/ \
good / \ good
_ _ _ _ _ / \ _ _ _ _ _
Been spamming this one liner from @amirbolous. Roadmap PROGRESSING.
bad
_ _ _ _
/ \
good / \ good
_ _ _ _ _ / \ _ _ _ _ _
How to avoid accidentally 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲
Sounds silly, but surprisingly easy to do if you're not vigilant.
One small tweak in a seemingly unrelated module and suddenly kim jong is salivating.
To prevent this, we now ask two questions prior to shipping:
Sounds silly, but surprisingly easy to do if you're not vigilant.
One small tweak in a seemingly unrelated module and suddenly kim jong is salivating.
To prevent this, we now ask two questions prior to shipping:
Run the EVM in an MPC.
Would be a significant contribution if someone pulled this off.
Why? We're increasingly seeing a reliance on TEEs for shielding smart contract info.
Uncomfortable security model. EVM in an MPC alleviates these concerns.
...
Would be a significant contribution if someone pulled this off.
Why? We're increasingly seeing a reliance on TEEs for shielding smart contract info.
Uncomfortable security model. EVM in an MPC alleviates these concerns.
...
Favorite two liner from Research Day yesterday:
Chris Goes: “The world gave crypto a finite amount of goodwill. We’re consuming it at an alarming rate.”
Shoutout to all the goodwill production factories (RWAs). You’ll have reinforcements soon WOO!
Chris Goes: “The world gave crypto a finite amount of goodwill. We’re consuming it at an alarming rate.”
Shoutout to all the goodwill production factories (RWAs). You’ll have reinforcements soon WOO!
"We have reached feature parity with web2" always prompts an adverse reaction bc of the knee jerk nOo stOP BEing sKeuOMORPHic thINK nATive DOn't cOmParE.
I appreciate the intent but it's wrong.
Parity when inheriting the properties of blockchains is a big deal.
I appreciate the intent but it's wrong.
Parity when inheriting the properties of blockchains is a big deal.
The acacia plant is diabolical.
1. Needs ants for defense.
2. Produces nectar to incentivize ants to come.
3. An enzyme in the nectar changes the ant's digestive system so it can no longer eat other food.
Now that's real vendor lock-in.
Who built this? They open for roles?
1. Needs ants for defense.
2. Produces nectar to incentivize ants to come.
3. An enzyme in the nectar changes the ant's digestive system so it can no longer eat other food.
Now that's real vendor lock-in.
Who built this? They open for roles?
Revisiting the Proof of Solvency work from 2022 right now- doesn't seem correct to spend more time there.
Instead of starting with a CEX and giving it DEX-like guarantees here and there, likely better to start from a DEX and figure out how to make it compete with a CEX.
...
Instead of starting with a CEX and giving it DEX-like guarantees here and there, likely better to start from a DEX and figure out how to make it compete with a CEX.
...
Generally a fan of biometrics-backed authentication.
Although they do create some weird incentives for targeted attacks.
ie if a thief came by
I'd rather be able to hand over a hardware key than be forced to hand over an eyeball lol.
Although they do create some weird incentives for targeted attacks.
ie if a thief came by
I'd rather be able to hand over a hardware key than be forced to hand over an eyeball lol.
Not a believer of "too much money is a bad thing" for startups.
P(squandering | team) isn't affected by raise amount when founder discipline + advisors remain constant.
I know a team with a $50mm chest w/ $250k monthly burn. As disciplined and focused as ever.
P(squandering | team) isn't affected by raise amount when founder discipline + advisors remain constant.
I know a team with a $50mm chest w/ $250k monthly burn. As disciplined and focused as ever.
Partially homomorphic encryption is ridiculously under-utilized.
It opens up a massive swath of use cases via strong concurrency and minimal data leakage.
And you can get it with just 256 lines of circom.
...
It opens up a massive swath of use cases via strong concurrency and minimal data leakage.
And you can get it with just 256 lines of circom.
...
Am on a patriotic streak:
1) Had to use my blue passport for the first time since citizenship, 14 yr immigration process for the family
2) Had a friend take us around the Oval Office, used the toilet in the same building as the leader of the free world
U•S•A 🦅U•S•A 🇺🇸!!
1) Had to use my blue passport for the first time since citizenship, 14 yr immigration process for the family
2) Had a friend take us around the Oval Office, used the toilet in the same building as the leader of the free world
U•S•A 🦅U•S•A 🇺🇸!!
𝟏 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 >> 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧
Did 0xPARC's Hack Lodge in college. Changed the game for me. So much so that we (@seismic & @argus) replicated the lodge's core tenets w/ a group of UPenn builders last week.
Did 0xPARC's Hack Lodge in college. Changed the game for me. So much so that we (@seismic & @argus) replicated the lodge's core tenets w/ a group of UPenn builders last week.
I remember all these posts after the last crash saying "lesson learned, we should stop looking at TVL and start looking at organic tx vol".
These posts went viral- there was consensus. A hard fork of evaluation metrics.
Turns out that fork was actually Ethereum Classic. Whoops.
These posts went viral- there was consensus. A hard fork of evaluation metrics.
Turns out that fork was actually Ethereum Classic. Whoops.
What are people's rankings for [today's] strongest crypto network effects?
Mine: 1) brand, 2) capital, 3) composability
With #1 mattering a lot more than #2. Likewise with #3
Mine: 1) brand, 2) capital, 3) composability
With #1 mattering a lot more than #2. Likewise with #3
Have met VCs before whose DD consists of looking me in the eye and asking me if I'm going to be big.
And honestly, their funds rip.
And honestly, their funds rip.
Crypto affordances that end users can feel, the dependency graph:
[3] Ownership. What you buy / build can never be taken away from you && can move freely between ecosystems. Then users can really feel compounding w/ network effects.
<depends on>
[3] Ownership. What you buy / build can never be taken away from you && can move freely between ecosystems. Then users can really feel compounding w/ network effects.
<depends on>
Feature request: bolding + italicizing casts.
May need Farcaster protocol upgrade though
May need Farcaster protocol upgrade though
It's a hell of a feeling to see a high performing group of people push a vision that was on a proverbial napkin a year ago.
efficient ecdsa (2022) --> spartan ecdsa (2023) --> sapir ecdsa (2024)
relentless
reminds me of bruce lee's "one punch practiced a thousand times"
relentless
reminds me of bruce lee's "one punch practiced a thousand times"
54
lucky
@lsankar.eth·17:00 28/03/2024
the 'zk app' community (of which I consider myself a part) frequently overcomplicates things
simple mechanisms are often how technologies reach adoption (think of the AMM as the starting point for dexes)
{membership proof + arbitrary sig} circuit (i.e. sapir-ecdsa https://github.com/personaelabs/sapir )is our AMM
simple mechanisms are often how technologies reach adoption (think of the AMM as the starting point for dexes)
{membership proof + arbitrary sig} circuit (i.e. sapir-ecdsa https://github.com/personaelabs/sapir )is our AMM
A cryptographic "discipline" ladder.
We drew this after losing two pilot partners by being overzealous researchers.
(1 / N)
We drew this after losing two pilot partners by being overzealous researchers.
(1 / N)
