About this episode
In this episode of Bullish on Bitcoin from 2025, Alexei sits down with Mr. Block — one of the most OG figures in Asian DeFi, core member at Curve and Puffer, and the man who has spent years bridging the East and West crypto communities. With roots going back to Bitcoin in 2012 and DeFi since the earliest days of Synthetix, THORChain, and Curve, Mr. Block brings a rare perspective that spans deep DeFi history and on-the-ground insight into Asia's crypto ecosystem.
From why Bitcoin DeFi is gaining traction now and how it compares to Ethereum's DeFi Summer, to the East vs West adoption split, to the spicy question of whether Bitcoin in DeFi will ever flip Bitcoin ETFs — this episode covers the full arc of where Bitcoin's financial future is heading and why BOB's hybrid L2 approach might be the key to unlocking it.
In this episode we discuss:
- Mr. Block's origin story: Bitcoin in 2012, growing Curve in Asia during the pandemic, and bridging East to West
- Why Bitcoin DeFi is gaining traction now: infrastructure, Taproot, rollups, and growing demand from 300M Bitcoin holders
- What makes Bitcoin DeFi attractive to Ethereum DeFi users — and why wrapped BTC demand is surging
- Asia vs West Bitcoin adoption: APAC retail experiments boldly, western retail is cautious, institutions flip the script
- The Bitcoin L2 flippening: could Bitcoin L2s rival Ethereum L2s in TVL within a few years?
- Who wins the battle for Bitcoin liquidity: Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin L2s, or hybrid designs like BOB?
- Why BOB's hybrid L2 design — combining Bitcoin security with EVM tooling — is uniquely positioned
- Bitcoin ossification vs Ethereum's continuous upgrades: is Bitcoin staying simple a feature or a limitation?
- Bitcoin as digital gold: why Mr. Block believes Bitcoin doesn't need to change — it just needs to be empowered
- BOB Gateway: one Bitcoin transaction to deploy BTC into any DeFi position, no bridging or gas decisions required
- Why centralized exchanges are still the default for Bitcoin — and how L2s will change that
- ETF Bitcoin vs DeFi Bitcoin: will on-chain ever flip ETF holdings, and does it even matter?
- The emerging third asset class: beyond securities and commodities, why tokens deserve their own legal framework
- DeFi Summer 2.0 powered by Bitcoin: why the conditions are finally right to recreate the magic
