With special guest, Hemi CEO Jeff Garzik.

This week’s special edition of Midweek with Max brought together Hemi co-founders Max Sanchez and Jeff Garzik for an engaging live AMA session. Hosted by Rick Lagarde, the episode delved into Hemi’s progress, technical updates, and broader perspectives on blockchain and decentralized systems. The session opened with updates from Max on Hemi’s ongoing engineering efforts. The team is making significant strides toward a testnet upgrade that will enhance the Hemi Virtual Machine (hVM) and introduce new endpoints for developers. The infrastructure migration to a new provider is expected to deliver greater reliability and scalability, addressing previous stability challenges. Additionally, final Bitcoin tunnel contracts have been sent for auditing, with plans to test their deployment on the network soon.

In this episode of Midweek With Max, CEO Jeff Garzik shared his journey from being an early Bitcoin Core developer to co-founding Hemi. Known for his work alongside Satoshi Nakamoto and contributions to the Linux kernel, Jeff also discussed his passion for macroeconomics and the critical role of decentralization in shaping financial systems. His anecdotes about Bitcoin’s early days, including celebrating Bitcoin’s parity with the US dollar, provided a fascinating glimpse into the cryptocurrency’s origins.

A key highlight of the discussion was Hemi’s approach to combining the strengths of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Max emphasized Hemi’s focus on leveraging Bitcoin’s security and Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem to create interoperable solutions. The introduction of hBTC will allow users to engage in DeFi applications, while plans to tunnel the Hemi token into Ethereum are in development.

The session also explored some wild philosophical themes. Jeff reflected on privacy’s importance in emerging technologies, emphasizing its role in enabling freedom of thought and action. Both co-founders shared their thoughts on the evolution of blockchain, with Jeff addressing concerns about blockchain’s growth. They also touched on the future of memecoins and NFTs, noting their cultural significance and economic implications.

Finally, the co-founders addressed community questions on Hemi’s roadmap, proof-of-proof mining mechanics, and participation in future events. With mainnet on track for Q4, the team is actively engaging with the community to ensure a strong and collaborative launch.