🎙️ The Latest Development – The Summit Series Ep. 5

Cruising Salt Lake City in the Jeep with Josh from SP3ND (@SP3NDdotshop)

Pulling out of the MtnDAO office for Episode 5 of The Summit Series! Host Dirt sits down with Josh (aka @jpsychedelic369), co-founder of SP3ND — the easiest way to buy anything on Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and more using your stablecoins (no KYC, no debit card, no headaches).

From Texas boys building in Web3, to getting debanked and turning frustration into a real product, Josh breaks down:

How SP3ND works as your personal checkout concierge (paste any product link → pay in crypto → delivered anywhere)

Their insane 45% new-user retention rate (way above e-commerce averages)

The upcoming Shopify module, browser extension, agent integration, and plans to make shopping with crypto even more seamless

Why real customer service still matters in Web3

Delivering to 48+ countries, unexpected volume from Europe & Asia, and building a loyal cult community

Shot while cruising the beautiful streets (and mountain views) of Salt Lake City during MtnDAO — this is real talk, founder chemistry, and practical insights you can actually use.

If you've ever wanted to SP3ND your magic internet money on everyday items without swapping, fees, or friction… this episode is for you.

Timestamps

00:00 – Pulling out of MtnDAO

01:50 – Who is Josh & how he met his co-founder

04:30 – The SP3ND origin story (the debanking moment)

07:45 – How the product actually works

12:00 – User journey, retention, and organic growth

18:30 – Returns, customer service & why it matters

23:00 – Financial model, future roadmap & browser extension

28:00 – Unexpected countries are booming!

32:00 – Pitch day stories & live delivery stunt at MtnDAO

Guest:

Josh (@jpsychedelic369) – COO & Co-Founder of SP3ND

Follow SP3ND:

🌐 https://sp3nd.shop

X: @SP3NDdotshop

The Latest Development is presented by EXO

Hosted by Dirt

The Summit Series – filmed on location in Salt Lake City during MtnDAO

Drop a like if you're ready to SP3ND your stablecoins 👇

Comment your biggest crypto spending pain point — we'll reply!

#SP3ND #Stablecoins #Solana #CryptoShopping #AmazonWithCrypto #MtnDAO #Web3Ecommerce #SummitSeries

In Ep 4 of The Summit Series on The Latest Development podcast — presented by EXO and hosted by Dirt — we hit the road in a Jeep cruising up the stunning snowy Wasatch mountains surrounding Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joining Dirt is Mike MacCana, Solana Developer Relations at QuickNode, a cryptography veteran, former Node.js contributor, and deep Solana ecosystem builder (Solana Kite, Sandstorm Hackathon prize winner, and more).

This candid, unfiltered conversation covers:

- Mike's journey from avoiding crypto entirely (while running a cryptography/PKI/SSL optimization company from 2015–2020) → getting air-dropped ETH for Node.js contributions → discovering Solana's speed in late 2021 → quitting his equities trading platform job to build a Solana wallet.

- Early frustrations with slow blockchains vs. the "fast and cheap" promise that drew him to Solana.

- Deep dives into cryptography history (RSA origins, ancient ciphers, post-quantum tech) and schooling traditional cryptographers.

- Building privacy-preserving apps on Solana using Arcium — the encrypted supercomputer enabling confidential computing.

- Creating private on-chain elections (votes stay encrypted, only the winner/tally revealed at the end), blind commercial negotiations/auctions, and why Arcium feels like a game-changer for developers (just write normal Rust/Anchor code and get encrypted execution).

- Solana's unique "quadfecta" (fast, cheap, decentralized, with real users) vs. other chains, plus the emerging "quinfecta" with privacy.

- Everyday hidden Solana adoption (PayPal/Venmo users unknowingly holding Solana addresses for pyUSD), underexplored knowledge gaps, and Mike's mission at QuickNode: empowering Solana devs to build awesome stuff.

Shot entirely on-location with epic mountain views, canyon roads, and SLC vibes — this is crypto talk the way it should be: real, raw, and rolling through the Wasatch.

Timestamps (approximate):

- 00:00 – Jeep intro & safety vibes

- ~01:30 – Mike's pre-crypto cryptography world

- ~07:00 – Discovering Solana via Twitter Spaces

- ~12:00 – Building wallets & early Solana days

- ~20:00+ – Arcium deep dive: encrypted elections, blind auctions, Arcium magic

- ~Last section – Solana's edge, QuickNode role, and future of privacy onchain

If you're a Solana dev, cryptography nerd, or just love mountain drives with real builder convos — this one's for you.

Subscribe to The Latest Development for more builder-focused episodes from the front lines of decentralized tech. Presented by EXO.

Follow:

- Mike MacCana: https://x.com/mikemaccana

- QuickNode on X: @QuicknodeSolana | https://quicknode.com

- EXO: https://exotechnologies.xyz

#EXO #EXOTech #TheLatestDevelopment #Solana #QuickNode #Arcium #PrivacyOnchain #Crypto #Web3 #SolanaDevelopment #ConfidentialComputing #SummitSeries #SaltLakeCity #WasatchMountains

The Latest Development Podcast – Summit Series Ep. 3

Guest: Isaac from Chomp (@chompdotfyi)

Hosted by Dirt | Presented by EXO

Cruising up the snowy Wasatch mountains in the jeep, host Dirt sits down with Isaac from Chomp during the legendary mtnDAO crypto workshop in Salt Lake City. Filmed on-location as part of the high-energy gathering, this episode captures the raw builder vibes, mountain air, and unfiltered conversation that only happens at elevation.

Isaac dives deep into:

- How Chomp began as a crypto-native experiment but is now pivoting hard toward mainstream web2 audiences 🔥

- Building an "honesty layer" for the internet: a market that surfaces what people actually believe on subjective topics where opinions shift daily (no objective outcomes like traditional prediction markets)

- Why high "belief drift" spaces like daily reality TV episodes make the perfect proving ground (new episode = instant opinion flip = massive conversation)

- The Surprisingly Popular algorithm (from the 2017 Nature paper) and how Chomp’s game-theoretic design rewards honest takes + smart crowd predictions

- Three-part payout system: nail the crowd percentage, get bonus for surprisingly unpopular (but correct) minority views, reward novel/non-redundant opinions

- iOS app launch targeted for mid-April 2026 — starting with fun, addictive question formats.

- Chompy the mascot, limited-edition stuffies, the exclusive “Chompy’s Angels” Telegram crew, and Isaac’s closing mantra: peace, love, wellness, and radical honesty — in games and in life

Whether you’re grinding at mtnDAO, deep in crypto twitter, or live-tweeting your favorite reality show, this episode shows how incentives + blockchain can finally capture real human beliefs at internet speed.

Huge thanks to the entire mtnDAO crew for the unreal energy, connections, and mountain magic that made this Summit Series episode possible. Special shoutout to EXO for powering the series.

Follow Chomp:

Twitter/X: @chompdotfyi (spell out the dot!)

Website: chomp.fyi (stay tuned for launch updates)

Follow the show:

Subscribe for more Summit Series episodes — builder convos in the jeep, straight from mtnDAO and the slopes 🏔️⛷️

Timestamps:

00:00 – Jeep cruise + mtnDAO workshop intro

01:30 – Chomp’s origin story & shift from crypto to mainstream

04:30 – Targeting gossip, reality TV & rapid belief drift

08:00 – Why Love Island = Chomp rocket fuel

12:00 – Subjective belief markets vs classic prediction markets

18:00 – Surprisingly Popular mechanism breakdown

24:00 – Payout math: accuracy + surprise + novelty rewards

29:00 – Mid-April 2026 iOS launch & early question vibes

32:00 – Final thoughts: peace, love, honesty & living well

#mtnDAO #Chomp #SummitSeries #CryptoWorkshop #RealityTV #LoveIsland #PredictionMarkets #Solana #Web3 #HonestyLayer #EXO #SaltLakeCity #MountainBuilders