Scroll's Path Forward Amid Airdrop Controversy: Sandy Peng on the Scroll Open Initiative
Sandy Peng, co-founder of Scroll, tells us the journey of building one of the most anticipated Ethereum Layer 2s, their focus on ZK rollups for scalability, and the unique value proposition of high security, decentralization, and low costs. Sandy discusses Scroll's transition from general purpose chain design to supporting specific use cases driven by ecosystem builders and founders. They explore challenges and lessons from Scroll's recent token airdrop, emphasizing the importance of clear communication, equitable distribution, and fostering a vibrant community. Sandy highlights the Scroll Open initiative and their long-term vision to create a thriving "city" for innovation and talent in the blockchain space.
Chapters
00:00 - Sandy Peng on Scroll's Rise
00:30 - Scroll’s Evolution and 2025 Vision
01:30 - The Founding Story of Scroll
02:30 - Why ZK Rollups?
04:00 - Scroll's Unique Edge in the L2 Space
07:00 - Transition to Use Case-Specific Chains
09:00 - Scroll's Vision for Builders and Founders
11:00 - Sub-Cent Costs and High Security Explained
15:00 - Decentralization: Scroll’s Progress and Plans
20:00 - Governance and the Role of Scroll Tokens
25:00 - Airdrop Lessons and Community Feedback
35:00 - Reflections on Token Distribution Trends
46:00 - Layer 2s and Ethereum’s Value Narrative
50:00 - Scroll Open: Building the Future Economy
58:00 - Scroll's Big Picture Vision
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Amid a crowded sector, Scroll's Sandy Peng says L2 ecosystem success hinges on having a quality team
Sandy Peng is the co-founder of Scroll.
In this episode, Peng discusses scaling Ethereum and particularly emphasizes the importance of business insight and experience outside of crypto in driving application-level innovation.
OUTLINE
00:00 Intro
01:07 Peng's Journey to Scroll
04:27 Peng's Regulatory Background
07:52 Industry Headwinds
10:31 Ethereum Scaling Competition
15:00 Consumer Crypto Apps
16:49 Improving Crypto UX
23:06 Stepn's Success
26:11 ZK Advantages
29:45 Scroll's Roadmap
34:14 Closing Thoughts
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Crypto in Hong Kong with Sandy Peng
Joining us today from Hong Kong is Sandy Peng. Sandy is here to tell us what crypto is like on the other side of the world, walking us through regulations, adoptions and bringing us fully up to speed on the landscape in Hong Kong.
For many of us this episode is a 0 to 1 moment in understanding around crypto in Hong Kong and more broadly China. ----- 🏹 Airdrop Hunter is HERE, join your first HUNT today https://bankless.cc/JoinYourFirstHUNT ------ 📣 Bankless Podcast Survey: https://forms.gle/Ai5qpCJjQPhAErPr8 ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
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⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
🔗 CELO | CEL2 COMING SOON https://bankless.cc/Celo
----- RESOURCES
Sandy https://twitter.com/SandyPeng1 ----- CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 5:53 Hong Kong History 10:08 What is Hong Kong Like 12:27 Why Hong Kong is Successful 15:28 Innovators and Regulators 19:11 HK & China Relationship 26:35 Why is HK opening its Doors to Crypto 28:52 Crypto in HK 37:21 Has HK Put Its Foot on The Gas? 40:42 The Silicon Valley Of China 43:08 Stablecoin Legislation 45:08 How Crypto Friendly is HK? 46:54 Why Move To HK? 50:50 DeFi 54:46 Crypto Projects in HK 56:33 Watch The Debrief ----- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Scroll zkEVM Mainnet Launch with Sandy & Toghrul
The rollup wars are alive well! Scroll just launched their zkEVM to Ethereum mainnet. We invited Scroll's Co-Founder, Sandy Peng and Scroll's Senior Researcher, Toghrul Toghrul Maharramov on the show.
In today's episode, we discuss why Sroll is exciting, how it is different than other rollups. what’s next, and of course, wen token.
----- 🏹 Airdrop Hunter is HERE, join your first HUNT today https://bankless.cc/JoinYourFirstHUNT
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------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q4
🦊METAMASK PORTFOLIO | MANAGE YOUR WEB3 EVERYTHING https://bankless.cc/MetaMask
⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
🔗 CELO | CEL2 COMING SOON https://bankless.cc/Celo
----- TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro 6:04 Scroll Mainnet Live 6:30 Why Is Scroll Mainnet Unique? 9:25 EVM Equivalence Importance 16:30 Apps Compatibility 17:50 Importance of Scroll Rollup 20:17 Why ZK is the Holy Grail 26:30 What to do on Scroll & Why Scroll 32:47 Stitching L2s Together 39:40 What's Next For Scroll 44:30 Toghrul Disagreements 49:00 Wen Token? 50:00 Closing & Disclosures
----- RESOURCES:
Sandy https://twitter.com/SandyPeng1
Toghrul https://twitter.com/toghrulmaharram
----- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
The zkWars | zkSync & Scroll
The zkWars are heating up. With 3 different teams recently announcing their zkEVM, we’re joined by Alex Gluchowski of zkSync and Ye Zhang of Scroll.
Optimism’s Ben Jones cohosts as we explore why zkEVM is such a big deal, the respective roadmaps to mainnet, and of course… wen token?
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------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 3:15 Crypto 101 10:00 Alex and Ye 13:25 zkSync 18:20 Scroll 22:30 What's Different about zkSync 31:10 What's Different about Scroll 37:15 zkProof Performance 41:30 Decentralizing Provers 46:30 Approaching Developers 57:07 Challenges to Upgrading 1:03:40 Vibe Check 1:09:20 Centralized Keys 1:17:45 Closing
------ Resources:
Ben Jones https://twitter.com/ben_chain
Alex Gluchowski https://twitter.com/gluk64
Ye Zhang https://twitter.com/yezhang1998
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
zkEVM L2s Will Scale Ethereum | Scroll
In today’s episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by the founders of Scroll - Sandy Peng, Ye Zhang and Haichen Shen - to discuss how ZK tech will scale Ethereum. Scroll is a general-purpose zkEVM rollup that combines Ethereum’s security with drastically reduced fees and low latency.
We start the conversation with a deep dive into zero-knowledge tech, the power of validity proofs and the different L2 scaling techniques. The team then explains Scroll's advantage, the difficulty of building a general-purpose L2 and why Scroll’s “EVM equivalence” is a massive breakthrough for Ethereum developers. Scroll has been flying under the radar, but they won’t be for long. Don’t miss this conversation on the most sci-fi tech in crypto.
- -
Follow Scroll: https://twitter.com/Scroll_ZKP
Follow Sandy: https://twitter.com/SandyPeng1
Follow Ye: https://twitter.com/yezhang1998
Follow Haichen: https://twitter.com/shenhaichen
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Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel
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--
Referenced in the show:
Layer-2 for beginners
https://gourmetcrypto.substack.com/p/layer-2-for-beginners?s=r
Optimistic vs ZK Rollups
https://blog.matter-labs.io/optimistic-vs-zk-rollup-deep-dive-ea141e71e075
--
(00:00) Intro
(05:00) Scroll, a zkEVM Rollup
(05:26) Why Is zk Tech Interesting?
(07:58) Optimistic vs ZK rollups
(10:26) The Evolution of ZK Tech
(13:27) zkSync and Starkware
(20:26) Where Is Scroll Today?
(22:09) The Scroll Team
(24:16) Moats In An Open-Source Industry
(26:42) General-Purpose vs App-Specific Rollup
(28:44) Paraswap Ad
(29:44) Creating The Best Developer Experience
(32:12) Working With The Ethereum Foundation
(36:02) What Scroll Will Enable for Web3
(41:22) China and Web3
(46:17) Building and Investing
(47:19) What's Next For Scroll?
--
Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Melania Trump’s NFT, Reddit to go public + Twitter’s Tony Haile: news & product evolution | E1347
First Jason covers Melania Trump launching an NFT series (02:27) and Reddit just filing to go public(13:10). Then, Twitter's Tony Haile joins (24:14) to talk about selling his startup Scroll to Twitter, helping lead Twitter's product team (37:07), Twitter's roadmap and more.
(TWTR SPC) Tip Jar, Basecamp And Doge
We talk about the Tip Jar and all the other big changes Twitter has been making. We get into the Basecamp brouhaha and also why I didn’t end up covering it this week. We talk about Dogecoin with someone who was there at the beginning of the project. And we even have an actual newsmaker on the show. At the very end, we talk to Tony Haile, founder of Scroll, which, if you’ll remember, just got acquired by Twitter this past week.
Sponsor:
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