Welcome back to Chain Reaction, a podcast that delves into the world of crypto and interviews industry leaders to better understand the technology behind it. In this episode, Jacquelyn interviews Emin Gün Sirer, the founder and CEO of Ava Labs, a company that has raised over $640 million and is backed by firms like a16z and Polychain Capital.
Ava Labs created the layer-1 blockchain Avalanche, which allows developers to build multifunctional blockchains and decentralized applications with a focus on speed and low transaction costs. The blockchain is compatible with Solidity, a language developers use to code, and allows them to build projects that can communicate across multiple networks. Hundreds of projects are a part of the Avalanche ecosystem, ranging from decentralized exchanges like 1inch to digital asset security firms like BitGo.
In terms of total value locked (TVL), Avalanche is currently the seventh-largest blockchain, with more than $1.1 billion secured across a $5.72 billion market cap, according to CoinMarketCap data. The company sees its underlying tech as a key driver for developer attention. “Looking around I decided we have to come up with our own architecture for scaling that no one else seems to be pushing at the moment,” Gün Sirer said.
Since then, Ava Labs has had one major focus. “The north star for us is to digitize all of the world’s assets on the Avalanche blockchain,” Gün Sirer said. “That’s what we set out to do and that’s what I’m so excited about.”
Gün Sirer believes that in three to five years from now, the abundance of L1 blockchains will “be played out.” He notes that a good L1 must be decentralized, secure, and fast. “I think we’re in a good spot and I think people are going to converge,” he added.
During the podcast, Gün Sirer discusses his background, why he launched Avalanche in 2020, and how blockchains can scale more efficiently. He also talks about the broken layer-2 vision, the U.S. regulatory crackdown on crypto, Ava Labs’ growth in Asian markets, the blockchain’s partnerships and business development, and Ava Labs’ focal point for 2023 and beyond.
Chain Reaction releases new episodes every other Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PT. To stay up-to-date with the latest in web3 and crypto, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite pod platform.