Sept. 26, 2024

The Philosophy Behind Polkadot with Fabian Gompf of Web3 Foundation

The Philosophy Behind Polkadot with Fabian Gompf of Web3 Foundation

In this episode of The Smart Economy Podcast, host Dylan Grabowski is joined by Fabian Gompf, Chief Executive Officer of the Web3 Foundation. They dive into Polkadot's early days, how Parity drives Polkadot's ecosystem forward, and why enterprise giants are eyeing Polkadot. Fabian also shares applicable and less applicable uses for blockchain technologies, modular versus monolithic blockchains, and the recent uproar about the Polkadot ecosystem’s treasury spending.

The player is loading ...
The Smart Economy Podcast
In this episode of The Smart Economy Podcast, host Dylan Grabowski is joined by Fabian Gompf, Chief Executive Officer of the Web3 Foundation, created to nurture and steward technologies and applications in the field of decentralized web software protocols, particularly those that utilize modern cryptographic methods to safeguard decentralization for the benefit and stability of the Web3 ecosystem.

Join them as they discuss:

  • Polkadot's early days
  • Practical and impractical uses for blockchain technologies
  • Modular versus monolithic blockchains
  • Why enterprise giants are eyeing Polkadot
  • How Polkadot empowers its community
  • The recent uproar about the Polkadot ecosystem’s treasury spending
  • And much more!

Fabian brings vast experience in blockchain and decentralized technologies, having been VP at Parity Technologies before leading the Web3 Foundation. With degrees in electrical engineering and business administration, he is dedicated to advancing Web3 technologies and empowering users to own their data and control their digital lives. His efforts aim to develop innovative applications and support a fair, decentralized internet, aligning with the foundation's mission to enable the next billion users to embrace self-custody in Web3.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts; instructions on how to do this are here.


Episode Highlights:

  • [00:00:00] Introduction
  • [00:00:18] From Oxford to Ethereum
  • [00:05:38] Blockchain's evolution from cyberpunk dream to mainstream revolution
  • [00:13:26] How Parity drives Polkadot's ecosystem forward
  • [00:16:19] Modular versus monolithic blockchains
  • [00:22:01] Why enterprise giants are eyeing Polkadot
  • [00:26:52] Is blockchain gaming finally ready to go mainstream?
  • [00:35:02] How Polkadot empowers its community
  • [00:42:55] The Polkadot's treasury experiment that shook up the crypto world
  • [00:48:38] What’s next for Polkadot’s future funding?
  • [00:57:32] Why smaller, nimble teams succeed in Polkadot and Ethereum
Previous guests include: Rusty Matveev, Chief Strategy Officer at Calaxy; Andrew Lawrence, CEO and Co-Founder of Censo; Zac Townsend, CEO and Co-Founder of Meanwhile; Jesper Johansen, CEO and Co-Founder of Northstake; Tama Churchouse, COO of Cumberland Labs; Holly Wood of Boson Protocol; Sid Powell of Maple Finance; Chad Barraford of THORChain; and many others.

Check out our three most downloaded episodes:


Attention all blockchain, crypto, and Web3 professionals! If you're a founder, CEO, or expert doing something innovative in this space, we're interested in speaking to you! Apply to be a guest on our platform and connect with our vibrant community of blockchain professionals:  https://fame.so/nnt-guest

The Smart Economy Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at fame.so