In this episode of Deeply Intents, I talk to Josh Bowen [founder of Astria]. We begin the conversation discussing Josh’s background as an SWE at Google and his experience working on The Graph and Celestia before founding Astria. We discuss shared sequencers, the regulatory environment, and existential questions around use cases. Next, we move to a robust discussion on product design, application categories, vertical integration, and regulatory arbitrage. Later, we discuss live and dead players, as well as upcoming trends such as mobile apps and spend-focused adoption strategies. We conclude the conversation on MEV metagames, including the minutiae of PBS auctions. 

Timestamps

(00:48) – Folding at home
(02:45) – Data Availability 101
(07:45) – Most startups are an act of desperation
(12:04) – The shared lazy sequencer
(19:00) – Scaling bottlenecks
(21:00) – Navigating regulations
(25:10) – Existential question of use cases
(29:45) – Pragmatic product design
(37:14) – The victory of the social technology
(43:00) – Perps, yield bearing stables, & reg arb
(47:49) – Equity perps and 24/7 trading
(50:49) – FX trading onchain
(54:59) – Prediction Markets
(57:48) – Payments
(1:05:39) – Orderflow and vertical integration
(1:18:28) – Venture funding game
(1:26:16) – Growth strategies
(1:32:17) – No one knows what they are doing
(1:43:00) – Live and Dead Players
(1:48:13) – Mobile apps and wearables
(1:57:43) – Airdrops and growth mechanisms
(2:05:46) – Referrals and adoption strategies
(2:18:24) – MEV Metagames
(2:25:57) – Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions

Disclaimer
Nothing in this episode should be interpreted as financial, technical, or legal advice. The host does contract work for Heliax, a public goods laboratory, focusing on Anoma.