Adam Carson

Based in Mexico, producer covering quantum computing, AI & robotics.
Got a tip on future tech? Let’s talk. Bylines: @BlockLayerCast.

[Adam Carson @punk4053]

Keeping an eye on @token_works - the builders behind @PunkStrategy and strategies that revolve around @cryptopunksnfts. The core mechanic is simple: a 10% trading fee gets recycled into accumulation + buy-and-burn loops, while still routing value back to creators.

Big update today: TokenStrategy now supports deploying ERC-20 strategies even if you don’t control the underlying token contract (key for renounced / immutable coins). If a non-owner deploys, the creator fee buys the underlying token.

Next up: IndexStrategies. First is $AB500STR — rotating buys across @artblocks_io 500 (3 days per collection, starting with Chromie Squiggles), with fees split between the strategy, $PNKSTR buy/burn, and royalties spread across 300+ artists.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

Let's check in with @token_works — the dev studio behind:

PunkStrategy (Sept. 2025) — Introduced $PNKSTR with a 10% trading fee. The protocol accumulates ETH, buys the cheapest CryptoPunk it can, and relists it for a 20% premium, 'round and 'round. Upon any sales, all proceeds are used to burn $PNKSTR.

NFTStrategy (Sept. 2025) — Extended the $PNKSTR playbook to a curated set of top NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins, and Chimpers, routing a portion of revenue back to original creators via onchain royalties.

TokenStrategy (Dec. 2025) — Unveiled a permissionless launchpad for deploying strategy tokens for NFT collections or ERC-20s you've created, debuting Recursive Strategies that buy and burn their own tokens.

~~ Analysis by @punk0439 ~~

Accordingly, TokenWorks is a team to watch in 2026, and they're already off to a hot start. Today they announced that anyone can now deploy any ERC-20 strategy they want.

This matters because previously the TokenStrategy platform would only let you deploy such a strategy if you controlled the underlying ERC-20 smart contract. However, projects renouncing control of their coins for immutability is a common pattern in the Ethereum ecosystem.

TokenWorks just "upgraded the TokenStrategy launcher to handle this case [...] If the Strategy is not deployed by the owner, the creator fee is also used to buy the underlying token."

Yet TokenWorks has something even bigger in the works for later this month: the arrival of IndexStrategies.

Like the name suggests, IndexStrategies will focus on buying a range of specific assets instead of just buying CryptoPunks, or just buying Bored Apes, etc.

The first IndexStrategy will be $AB500STR, which will accumulate works from Art Blocks 500, the 500 official generative art releases Art Blocks has facilitated.

$AB500STR will rotate through all @artblocks_io collections in sequence, starting with Chromie Squiggles. Each collection gets a three-day purchase window. If an NFT is acquired, or the window expires, the strategy advances to the next collection. Once all 500 projects have been cycled through, the loop restarts.

Like other NFT strategies, $AB500STR enforces a 10% trading fee, split between the strategy, buy-and-burns of $PNKSTR (as the ecosystem token), and creator royalties. The main wrinkle? The royalties are distributed evenly across the +300 AB500 artists instead of just going to one collection creator.

When sales occur after relistings, proceeds will be used to buy and burn $AB500STR, and this earn, buy, sell, and burn loop will run for as long as Ethereum runs.

This kind of setup is ideal for someone who wants long-term exposure to some of Ethereum's most iconic gen art collections without breaking the bank or manually curating buys.

$AB500STR is just the first of the IndexStrategies releases. In time, this model could be expanded in all sorts of directions. Consider tokenized Pokémon cards. Imagine a $BS1999STR that accumulates across the 102 cards of the legendary 1999 Pokémon Base Set series, all onchain.

We'll have to see where things go from here, but IndexStrategies do point the way to new cultural experiments. TokenWorks flips speculation so it's taxed into accumulation and royalties. Traders fund collectors, and artists get paid even when marketplaces don't enforce royalties. That's a really interesting dynamic worth tracking closely in the months ahead.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“What happens when someone inside one of the most iconic retail platforms of the last cycle sees its limits up close?”

@kenzixbt speaks with @jayendra_jog, Co-Founder of @SeiNetwork, to trace the path that took him from the early days of Robinhood in Palo Alto — through hypergrowth, the IPO era, and the shock of the GameStop moment — to building in crypto.

They discuss how witnessing the mechanics and constraints of traditional financial infrastructure firsthand reshaped his thinking, why the suspension of buys during one of retail’s most defining episodes left such a lasting impression, and how that experience ultimately pushed him toward systems designed to be more open, more resilient, and less dependent on centralized control.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“High-performance infrastructure only matters if it expands what users can actually do onchain — and makes that experience accessible at scale.”

@sachitakahara sits down with @jayendra_jog, Co-Founder of @SeiNetwork, to examine why parallelized execution is becoming increasingly important for the next generation of onchain applications.

From trading and DeFi to high-frequency user activity that simply breaks in low-throughput environments, they discuss how lower fees and greater execution capacity can fundamentally reshape the user experience — especially for smaller participants who are otherwise priced out.

They also explore how this plays out in practice through projects like Bancor’s Carbon DeFi, where Sei has emerged as the ecosystem driving the strongest activity and volume, underscoring how performance advantages translate into real adoption.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“Virtual machines are like cities — once they reach critical mass, they become magnets that are incredibly hard to displace.”

@dikshaarden catches up with @jayendra_jog, Co-Founder of @SeiNetwork, to unpack this idea at a deeper level — why systems with flaws can still dominate simply because that’s where the activity, liquidity, and people already are.

From New York and San Francisco to onchain environments like the EVM, they explore how network effects compound over time, why newer ecosystems struggle to pull users away even with better tech, and what it actually takes to break that inertia.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

This week’s episode features Jayendra Jog (@jayendra_jog), Founder of @SeiNetwork.

We dive into Jay’s journey from traditional finance at Robinhood to building Sei Network, and unpack how his view of markets, users, and product feedback shaped the way he thinks about blockchain infrastructure.

The conversation explores the parallels between established cities and virtual machines: why dominant systems like the EVM are so difficult to displace, what makes developers stay, and what it actually takes for a new ecosystem to earn attention.

We also dig into the need for higher throughput in Web3, how parallelization can help solve today’s performance limits, and why scalability matters if crypto applications are going to serve real users at a much larger scale.

Jay also reflects on the role of memecoins, not just as speculation, but as community-driven movements that can reveal how culture, attention, and network effects form onchain.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

Takeover: The Onchain Fee Market You Can Fight Over

Takeover gamifies trading fees on Base through Harberger taxation—creating a market where 100 tiles representing 1% fee shares are perpetually for sale. Holders must pay 5% weekly taxes to maintain control while traders compete to snipe mispriced assets.

Here's how the mechanism works 👇

~~ Analysis by @punk4053 ~~

The Harberger Mechanism

@flaunchgg stands out for paying creator fees in ETH and tokenizing revenue streams as NFTs. Takeover builds on this infrastructure to create a PvP market for trading fees.

Every coin launched gets a 100-tile grid. Each tile represents a 1% claim on all trading fees paid in ETH. Own a tile to earn from every trade—until someone buys you out.

Harberger Tax. Tiles use Harberger taxation to ensure continuous circulation. Owners must set public prices, allowing anyone to buy instantly at that price with no negotiation.

Tax Structure. Holders post USDC deposits and pay a 5% weekly tax based on their listed price. These taxes fund $TAKEOVER buybacks through the Boardroom. Deposits must remain funded—run out and you forfeit the tile to the open market.

The Strategic Dimension

Success requires accurate pricing. Each tile has a fundamental value based on its parent coin's fee generation.

At the 5% weekly tax rate, a tile generating $10 in weekly fees has an equilibrium price around $200—where tax costs equal income. Price too high and carrying costs drain your deposit; too low and someone snipes your tile.

This equilibrium shifts constantly with trading volume. Dying coins become expensive to hold; runners attract bidding wars. Profitability depends on predicting volume trends and adjusting prices or exits accordingly.

How to Try for Yourself

Newcomers should buy into existing grids before launching new coins. The $FLNCHY grid (Flaunch's mascot) routes 80% of trading fees to tile holders, making it an ideal starting point.

> Browse. Find a listed tile on the 100-tile grid. The $FLNCHY floor currently sits at 68 USDC.

>Buy. Input your listing price and deposit duration. Total cost equals buyout price plus initial tax deposit. Confirm the transaction.

> Monitor. Earn 1% of trading fees in real-time ETH payouts. Adjust listing prices defensively as volume changes to prevent sniping.

Zooming Out

Takeover represents one of the first live tests of Harberger taxation with calculable yield—where mispricing delivers immediate financial consequences. AI agents are expected to join the competition soon, accelerating this economic experiment into a larger battlefield for automated strategies.

[Dean W. Ball @deanwball]

Shoutout to the DoorDash employee who designed this dialog box with “ok” and “got it” as the options.

[beeple @beeple]

MASSIVE congrats on the opening of DATALAND today!!!

what @refikanadol and Efsun have built is absolutely stunning and will be a invaluable example of how digital art can invoke an emotional response and what it can be in an exhibition setting.

Their attention to detail in crafting this experience was insane and I super recommend everyone go check it out!!!

Huge congrats to everyone who made this happen!!! Super appreciate the dedication and devotion to pushing forward our space!!! 🙏❤️🦾

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“Proof of Collaboration = how strong the swarm is. Proof of Contribution = what each agent actually moved, with permanent on-chain audit trails.”

@ronbodkin (Founder, @TheoriqAI) joins @sachitakahara to break down trusted performance in Theoriq: actions are committed on-chain as non-repudiable evidence, and evaluators use transparent scoring rules over the full history—while the system stays open for specialized eval agents.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“DeFAI = DeFi as an agent economy: set the strategy, let agents execute, watch feedback in real time.”

@sachitakahara x @ronbodkin (Founder, @TheoriqAI) on how AI-run DeFi could bring smart-money infrastructure to everyone — not only institutions.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

In 2017, I stepped into Google Cloud’s CTO Office because I could feel the shift coming. AI wasn’t a feature — it was the next operating layer of the world. Google was leading that wave.

@kenzixbt in conversation with @ronbodkin (Founder, @TheoriqAI) about the Google years that sharpened Theoriq’s vision — and the early signals that made the AI trajectory impossible to unsee.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“Responsibility means steering crypto + AI toward outcomes that benefit everyone — and giving the community real power to set the course.” Our host

@dikshaarden in conversation with @ronbodkin (Founder, @TheoriqAI) on why responsibility in crypto + AI starts with governance from day one — so the future isn’t dictated by monopolies or closed-door incentives.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

New episode out today featuring Ron Bodkin (@ronbodkin) — CEO and Co-Founder of Theoriq (@TheoriqAI).

We explore the intersection of crypto and AI, the role of responsibility and governance, and how Web3 can reshape the future of artificial intelligence.

Ron shares his journey from Google to founding Theoriq and ChainML, reflecting on the shift from corporate AI leadership to startup innovation.

We also dive into agent collectives, AI standardization, decentralized AI metrics, and Theoriq’s core pillars — interoperability, composability, and decentralized innovation.

Ron also breaks down Proof of Contribution and Collaboration as trust-building mechanisms for AI, along with his perspective on token economics, governance, company culture, and the future of AI.

[Adam Carson @punk4053]

@BlockLayerPod

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

As far as NFT metadata is concerned, the ghosts of the past will continue to haunt us.

~~ Analysis by @punk5268 ~~

There are a variety of ways to underpin the media of NFTs. For durability I've always gravitated toward onchain projects, of which there are many shades:

• Semi-onchain — some metadata is stored onchain, but not all

• Hashed onchain — NFT contracts host a cryptographic hash that permanently references offchain data

• Hybrid onchain — a project deploys a separate onchain collection to archive an earlier offchain collection

• Fully onchain — all the data needed to display an NFT lives within the collection's smart contract

• Inchain — NFT visuals are generated live by fully onchain code at render time rather than stored as files

Each method has pros and cons. Yet broadly speaking, putting things onchain is costlier than offchain storage and requires more smart contract expertise.

As such, offchain storage, where only NFT tokens live onchain while their metadata is hosted on external platforms like IPFS or private servers, is the status quo for most NFT collections from the past 5 years.
The problem is that IPFS pinning often wanes with time, and many startups go bust and shutter their private servers. In these cases, only the tokens remain as worthless remnants that can no longer display their imagery.

There are plenty examples of lost NFTs from recent years, but you can see for yourself. The new NFTimeless app lets non-guest users get a condition report for their NFT collections showing which NFTs are offchain and broken.

For collections that are already broken, there's nothing to be done. But fortunately for projects with offchain storage that haven't been lost yet, they can employ a rising technique for retroactive durability that doesn't require deploying a second collection: ERC-4804.

This standard is like an HTTP-style system for Ethereum, introducing a new kind of URI web3:// that lets NFT metadata be fetched directly from smart contracts. The URI doesn't point offchain, but rather describes an onchain read.

When an NFT marketplace sees a web3:// URI, it can translate the provided ENS link into an eth_call, execute it against a smart contract, and treat the returned data as NFT metadata.

For example, imagine an NFT contract whose tokenURI(123) returns web3://testcollection.eth/tokenURI/123:

➢ A marketplace resolves testcollection.eth via ENS to an Ethereum address

➢ It calls tokenURI(uint256) on that contract with argument 123

➢ The contract returns JSON metadata (name, description, image, attributes)

➢ The marketplace renders the NFT using that data, just like it would with IPFS but without any offchain dependencies

This approach means metadata can be generated or stored entirely onchain, either in the same NFT contract or in a separate metadata resolver contract. The web3:// scheme makes calls verifiable and independent of any gateway staying online.

This is powerful because it's a straightforward way for old NFT collections to keep their original token contracts untouched, deploy new onchain metadata contracts, and update their baseURIs to point to the relevant web3:// ENS link. It's just a new pointer system, so no NFT migrations are needed.

After any updates, marketplaces would fetch metadata directly from Ethereum itself, and thanks to the URI anyone can reproduce the necessary calls forever.

This standard also matters because even projects that do store their art and metadata onchain have historically been forced to publish ipfs:// or https:// baseURIs as apps and wallets didn't know how to read anything else. Now these projects have a viable onchain alternative.

Another important wrinkle: @opensea just added support for ERC-4804. It's a big validation for the standard and an indication that it can gain serious traction from here. The minting platform Carve is already planning on adding support, and more integrations will follow.

As we look ahead, one thread I'll be watching is ERC-4804 adoption. It could quietly become one of the most important tools we've seen yet for NFT durability in the Ethereum ecosystem.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“After moving from Berlin to Silicon Valley, I found myself bored at a new school — so I started spending time at my dad’s SAP Lab: fast internet, endless reading, and the beginning of my love for technology.”

Our host @kenzixbt sits down with @michaelh_0g (@0G_labs) to trace his origin story — from early curiosity and a growing obsession with tech to his path into Web3, and ultimately, the founding of his company.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“DA layers really differ across three dimensions: performance, programmability, and AI-native design — because on-chain AI can’t operate in a world measured in mere megabytes per second.”

@sachitakahara catches up with @michaelh_0g, Founder of @0G_labs, to break down how 0G compares with Celestia, Avail, and EigenDA: why throughput needs to increase by orders of magnitude, how to move beyond the broadcast bottleneck, and why a decentralized storage network is essential for ultra-fast data ingestion and retrieval.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

“Back in 2016–17, crypto felt like a true idea factory — hundreds of experiments, zero gatekeeping, and pure creative energy.” Our host

@dikshaarden sits down with @michaelh_0g, Founder of
@0G_labs, to explore one of the most exciting parts of building in Web3: a culture shaped by experimentation first. They also dive into how tokenization creates new ways to fund and sustain projects — including open-source work — beyond the limits of the traditional Web2 business model.

[BlockLayer Podcast @BlockLayerCast]

This week’s episode features Michael Heinrich (@michaelh_0g), founder of 0G Labs (@0G_labs).

We dive into Michael’s journey from high school boredom to building 0G Labs, the first modular AI blockchain platform, and how an unconventional path shaped the way he thinks about leadership, focus, and company building.

The conversation explores how spiritual practices like meditation influenced Michael’s mindset as a founder, helping him build with more clarity, discipline, and long-term conviction.

Michael also breaks down the future of decentralized AI infrastructure, and why community-owned data and compute networks may become one of the most important foundations for the next era of artificial intelligence.

We dig into how 0G Labs is building AI blockchain tools and applications that connect decentralized networks, unlock data infrastructure, and make storage, machine learning, and AI systems more open for businesses and builders.

At its core, this episode is about the intersection of AI, crypto, data ownership, and founder psychology — and why the next wave of AI infrastructure may need to be decentralized from day one.

[Tyler Hobbs Studio @tylerxhobbs]

Happy 5th Birthday Fidenza!

[Adam Carson @punk4053]

@_N3on_Samurai_ @iconitoclub @Dojo_Kidz scam also