Sebastian Bürgel, vice president of technology at Gnosis and founder of Hopr, shares his cypherpunk perspective on the state of Ethereum, privacy and Web3 as we kick off 2025. He also explains why Gnosis attracts so many ideologically motivated builders and how Hopr plans to mix up the VPN space with mixnets.
(00:00) Introduction to The Agenda podcast and this week’s episode
(01:49) What is Gnosis Chain?
(03:38) Gnosis wants to empower individuals
(09:53) Cypherpunk perspective in 2025
(14:17) Role of privacy in blockchain and Web3
(19:20) Why Sebastian thinks Ethereum is broken and how to fix it
(22:53) Hyperfinancialization of crypto: How far is too far?
(29:00) Hopr and “transport-level privacy”
(32:37) Hopr mixnet vs. traditional VPNs
(41:39) Do DApps need to be reconsidered?
(48:05) How will Hopr work with law enforcement?
(52:45) Advice for regular people and blockchain builders
(56:24) Where to follow Sebastian, Gnosis and Hopr
The Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung, with post-production by Elena Volkova (Hatch Up). Follow Cointelegraph on X (Twitter) at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he made the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.
Follow Sebastian on X at @SCBuergel.
Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.
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The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast’s participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.
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