Podcast Summary
In this podcast, Lukas Schor, co-founder of Safe, discusses the evolution and future of Safe, a multi-wallet on Ethereum that holds over $100 billion in assets. He delves into the potential of smart accounts in Web3, the role of Safe in DAOs, and the concept of a wallet-specific rollup. Shore also highlights the importance of user experience improvements and the potential of hybrid custody.
Key Takeaways
Safe’s Evolution and Future
- Origins and Growth: Safe started as a spin-off from Gnosis, a project focused on building prediction markets on Ethereum. It has grown to hold over $100 billion in assets and has over 8 million accounts. The $GNO token currently has a market cap of over $1 billion and a fully diluted valuation of around $2.7 billion.
- Future Plans: Safe aims to become a composable wallet infrastructure under the hood of many solutions, enabling different wallets or applications to leverage account abstraction and smart accounts. It is also developing new features such as L2 optimization, network abstraction, and user experience improvements.
Smart Accounts in Web3
- Benefits: Smart accounts offer improved security and usability compared to externally owned accounts, allowing for features like multi-factor authentication and pass keys. They enable features like batch transactions and sponsored transactions, improving the user experience.
- Future Potential: The goal is to make smart accounts the core of Web3, offering a more secure and user-friendly approach to managing crypto assets. There is an opportunity with smart accounts to start from scratch and optimize for the future user.
Safe’s Role in DAOs
- Current Role: Safe has become an integral part of DAOs, with over 90% of DAOs using it to secure their funds. Its programmable nature allows for the transformation of a project into a DAO, giving users a say in treasury management through smart accounts.
- Future Role: Safe aims to be a wallet infrastructure provider rather than just a wallet provider, with many projects building on Safe and users not needing to know they are using Safe.
Wallet-Specific Rollup
- Concept: The concept of a wallet-specific rollup is discussed, which allows for multi-signature capabilities and the ability to interact with assets on different networks. Wallets themselves may have their own rollups, allowing for better tooling and cross-chain interactions.
- Benefits: Users’ assets can be on any network, as the wallet-specific rollup is primarily for user interaction and authentication.
Hybrid Custody
- Concept: The idea of hybrid custody is introduced, where users start with a custodial setup on a centralized exchange but can make their first steps on-chain with a wallet that has the exchange as a recovery mechanism or secondary signer.
- Benefits: This approach could potentially bring more users onto Web 3 by improving the user experience and providing a more secure way of managing assets.
Sentiment Analysis
- Bullish: The overall sentiment of the podcast is bullish. Lukas Schor expresses optimism about the future of Safe and the potential of smart accounts in Web3. He also highlights the growing role of Safe in DAOs and the potential of wallet-specific rollups and hybrid custody.
- Neutral: While Shore is optimistic about the future, he also acknowledges the challenges and trade-offs involved in optimizing for old users or onboarding to something new. He emphasizes the need for user experience improvements and the importance of a measured approach in the development of Safe.
