Alpha Leak | Connext Founder & Project Lead Arjun Bhuptani
🎙️ Meet The Nation | Connext Protocol
Arjun Bhuptani, Founder & Project Lead
Connext Protocol self-describes as “fast, non-custodial L1-L2 and cross-L2 communication,” with emphasis on making itself the “payment layer of the decentralized web.”
The story of Connext and Ethereum is truly an incredible one. It’s a lesson in Ethereum history, economics, cryptography, and publics goods all in one.
Arjun begins with explaining the genesis of Connext in 2017 as a bridge between credit cards and Ethereum ERC20 tokens. Then, the pivot to payment channels with Spankchain in 2018 and a refocusing on scaling Ethereum-native payments for real-world use-cases. Finally, we reach Connext in its current form, which is acting as a web of liquidity between any and every Ethereum L2 and EVM compatible blockchain.
Currently, Connext is building bridges between disconnected rollup chains (Loopring’s ZK rollups to Optimisms Optimistic Rollups, for example) with payment channels that allow for people to cross through rollups without having to go directly through the Ethereum L1.
After various Ethereum L2’s spin up and bring in user deposits, Connext is positioned to carry those user deposits across all the disconnected L2s.
I believe Connext is doing the hard part of crypto-economic development: the infrastructure that supports Global Public Goods.
Cool stuff, give it a listen!