Ethena's L1 Shows Fat Apps Are on the Rise. Can They Beat Fat Protocols? - Ep. 804
Apps like Ethena are launching their own blockchains, raising the question: Do blockchains actually capture value, or do apps? Posted March 21, 2025 at 9:00 am EST. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Blockchains were supposed to capture the majority of the value in crypto. But what if that’s wrong? For years, the Fat Protocols Thesis argued that blockchains would be the biggest winners. But new data suggests that apps like Uniswap, Ethena, and others are now out-earning many networks. Are we watching the rise of “Fat Apps” instead? On this episode, Ryan Watkins, Co-founder at Syncracy Capital, talks about: Why the biggest apps are generating more revenue than many layer 1s Why Ethena is launching its own blockchain What this means for Ethereum, Solana & other L1s How blockchains can compete on value capture Thank you to our sponsors! BitKey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off FalconX Mantle EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Guest Ryan Watkins, Co-founder at Syncracy Capital Links Unchained: Ethena Labs and Securitize to Launch New EVM Blockchain for DeFi Syncracy Capital: Applications Capture Fees, Blockchains Store Value Hansolar’s tweet Pump.fun launches its own DEX