{"podcast":{"title":"Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies","slug":"epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755","podcast_index_feed_id":918755,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/10901e500/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://epicenter.tv","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/44360864/0371a674fc039595.jpg","author":"Epicenter Media Ltd.","episode_count":671,"summary":"Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view. Epicenter is hosted by Sebastien Couture, Brian Fabian Crain, Friederike Ernst, Meher Roy and Felix Lutsch. Since 2014, our episodes have been downloaded over 8 million times.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-03T20:19:20.862625+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755"},"episode":{"title":"Why Only 3 Builders Control All of Ethereum","slug":"why-only-3-builders-control-all-of-ethereum","published_at":"2026-05-01T14:25:16+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755/why-only-3-builders-control-all-of-ethereum","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/epicenterpodcast/episodes/Why-Only-3-Builders-Control-All-of-Ethereum-e3ihdj8","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/10901e500/podcast/play/119108648/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-27%2F422953559-44100-2-ed4ebf8dcaa56.mp3","summary":"In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Kubi Mensah, CEO and co-founder of Gattaca, the company behind Titan Builder. Kubi sheds light on the highly competitive and often opaque world of Ethereum block building, explaining how Gattaca evolved from a centralized exchange proprietary trading firm to one of the three dominant builders responsible for constructing the vast majority of Ethereum blocks today . They dissect the true "journey of a transaction," revealing why over half of all Ethereum transaction value bypasses the public mempool in favor of private order flow auctions and MEV-protection services . Kubi explains the intricate mechanics of top-of-block bidding by high-frequency DeFi arbitrageurs, the necessity of extreme latency optimization, and the "flywheel effect" that makes block building a natural oligopoly . Finally, the discussion turns to the future of the Ethereum roadmap, unpacking how upcoming upgrades like ePBS (enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation) and FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) aim to permanently alter the power dynamics between block builders, validators, and originators . Topics 04:15 Transitioning from TradFi Trading to Ethereum Block Building 09:30 Redefining the Builder: Relays and Order Flow Auctions 15:00 Unpacking the Mempool: Public vs. Private Transactions 21:45 The Anatomy of a Block & "Top-of-Block" Arbitrage 27:10 How Builders Pay Proposers to Win Auctions 35:20 The Oligopoly: Why Only 3 Builders Dominate Ethereum 42:15 Trust in the Dark Forest: Handling Searcher Bundles 49:00 The Convergence of Builders and Solvers 55:30 The Impact of ePBS, FOCIL, and Pre-confirmations Sponsors: Lido V3 introduces stVaults: a modular staking infrastructure that lets builders and institu…","meta_description":"In this episode, host Friederike Ernst is joined by Kubi Mensah, CEO and co-founder of Gattaca, the company behind Titan Builder. Kubi sheds light on the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3547,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755/episodes/why-only-3-builders-control-all-of-ethereum/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-learn-about-crypto-blockchain-ethereum-bitcoin-and-distributed-technologies-918755/why-only-3-builders-control-all-of-ethereum.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}