Podcast Summary
This podcast episode features Lucas Tcheyan from Galaxy Research and Beimnet Abebe from Galaxy Trading. The discussion revolves around the Solana ecosystem, market trends, and the impact of inflation. The hosts also delve into the potential of decentralized finance (DeFi), the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the challenges faced by large multinationals. The episode concludes with a reflection on the hosts’ journey in the crypto industry.
Key Takeaways
Market Trends and Inflation
- Softening of Prices: The podcast highlights a decline in prices, including owners equivalent rent and cooling services. The decrease in airline fares and gas prices is also discussed.
- Inflation Figures: The hosts criticize the way inflation figures are reported, arguing that they are outdated and need to be adjusted for the 21st century. They express concern about the Fed’s reluctance to take strong measures to combat inflation.
- Market Expectations: The market does not seem to believe the Fed’s claims of being concerned about inflation, as evidenced by the pricing of future interest rate cuts. The market is expecting some premium or discount when it comes to pricing in cuts by the Fed.
- Impact on Lower-Income Individuals: The podcast discusses how inflation primarily affects the poor, while those with investable money can benefit from higher yields. Non-performing loans and default rates are increasing for lower credit score individuals.
Solana Ecosystem
- Technological Improvements: Solana has made significant improvements in technology, with no performance degradation or downtime issues in the past three quarters. The network has implemented updates such as stake-weighted QoS to deal with spam issues and local fee markets to prevent hotspot issues.
- Network Performance: The Solana network has shown impressive performance with increasing transactions per second (TPS) and the ability to handle more over time. Recent tests have shown no degradation issues and increased TPS on Solana, with volumes on Solana DEX reaching all-time highs.
- NFTs on Solana: The top collections of NFTs on Solana are no longer just scammy collections but include social brand plays and product utility-related NFTs. Compressed NFTs on Solana have brought down the cost of minting NFTs significantly, allowing for the deployment of a large number of NFTs at a low cost.
- Competition: Solana is primarily competing with Ethereum Layer 2 solutions and other Layer 1 blockchains. The main risk for Solana is that they need to establish themselves as a stellar product before Ethereum Layer 2 solutions reach the same level.
Sentiment Analysis
- Bullish: The podcast expresses a bullish sentiment towards Solana, highlighting its technological improvements, impressive network performance, and the rise of NFTs on the platform. The hosts also mention the growing Solana community and the potential of the platform to become the third major blockchain, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Bearish: A bearish sentiment is expressed towards the current inflation figures and the Fed’s approach to combating inflation. The hosts criticize the outdated reporting of inflation figures and express concern about the Fed’s reluctance to take strong measures against inflation.
- Neutral: The podcast maintains a neutral stance on the overall market trends, discussing the softening of prices, the market’s expectations of the Fed, and the impact of inflation on lower-income individuals. The hosts also discuss the potential of DeFi and the challenges faced by large multinationals without expressing a clear bullish or bearish sentiment.
