About the episode
Kevin chats with FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens. Serum, created by FTX, is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and ecosystem that brings unprecedented speed and low transaction costs to decentralized finance. It is built on Solana and is completely permissionless.
About our guest

Topics covered
Links from the episode
Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange | FTX
Build Crypto Apps That Scale | Solana
Cryptocurrency Exchange to Buy Bitcoin and Ether | Gemini
Simple Crypto Trading for Everyone | Matcha
The Original Global Crypto Exchange | Bitstamp
Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Exchange | Kraken
Ripple Margin Trading – Buying XRP with Leverage | Coin Guru
What is the Fastest Blockchain and Why? Analysis of 43 Blockchains | Aleph Zero
An Introduction to Binance Smart Chain (BSC) | Binance Academy
The Secret Behind Ethereum Gas Prices | Paxful
A Comparison of Decentralized Exchange Designs | The Control
What Moore’s Law Means Today | The Enterprisers Project
Powering the Innovation of Money | Terra
What is True Seigniorage Dollar (TSD)? | Medium
Decentralized Liquidity Protocol | THORChain
How Rollups Could Make Ethereum Cheaper to Use | Decrypt
Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) | Investopedia
Dogecoin Holders Should ‘Tip’ Wildly to Help Widen the Community Base, Says Co-Creator | Benzinga
Show notes
What are FTX and Project Serum, and why do we need more decentralized crypto exchanges?[00:53]
How did Sam get started in the world of crypto?[05:08]
What opportunity did Sam identify in the crypto market when he was working in arbitrage?[08:14]
How did this arbitrage opportunity fluctuate between 2017 and 2019?[09:58]
What frustrations with the status quo of crypto trading coaxed Sam into the consumer market?[12:06]
What value was Sam hoping consumers would find in FTX?[15:38]
Did embracing Solana early on bring FTX an influx of new users?[17:10]
“Come for the SOL, stay for the DOGE.”[17:36]
What problems did embracing Solana help solve?[18:13]
How fast should DeFi be?[25:54]
Why was the Serum Project created, and how does it differ from FTX proper?[30:22]
What’s the function of Serum’s token? How is it earned and staked?[34:15]
What’s the function of FTX’s token, and how is it sourced?[35:16]
What is one of the most interesting FTX features not currently available on FTX US?[35:58]
How are shares tracked and verified behind the scenes at FTX?[37:55]
Crypto projects Sam finds interesting.[47:47]
What really determines the market cap for a token?[49:42]
Where does Sam see FTX and Serum in the next five years or so?[53:13]
People mentioned
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