New episode with Patrick Collins, Cyfrin
Crypto Native — conversations with the most interesting and impactful builders in crypto, hosted by Future Alisha
Hi!
I haven’t published anything since 2021 (which is when you signed up as a subscriber) and a lot has changed in crypto over the past few years. The timing felt right to revisit Crypto Native, a video podcast where I talk to the most interesting and impactful builders in crypto.
If you’re still here, in crypto, I hope these conversations and resources will improve your day-to-day experiences in this space.
- Alisha
Patrick Collins, co-founder of Cyfrin, on security, open source, and education
My first episode of Crypto Native is a conversation with Patrick Collins. Patrick has changed so many lives through his work, launching thousands of careers in the process. Apologies in advance for talking about hardware wallets for too long!
Patrick Collins is the co-founder of Cyfrin, a leading crypto security firm, and the lead educator for Updraft — Cyfrin’s free platform for learning blockchain and smart contract development. Patrick (and Cyfrin) are constantly shipping open-source tools that improves security for both developers and users.
Timestamps
01:14 How do we make smart contracts safer and better
05:58 Hardware wallet quest
21:53 In real life security at crypto conferences
33:00 Our system is better (than traditional finance)
34:44 Open Source Software in Ethereum (Geth, Solidity, Vyper)
36:01 Cyfrin’s mission and approach to supporting Ethereum
37:22 Cyfrin Updraft
40:00 Hacks and crypto’s reputation
44:40 Improving practices around protocol launches (insurance, monitoring, disaster recovery)
52:29 Traits to look for when hiring
References
A list of tools, sites, products, and people referenced in this episode.
Cyfrin Updraft
If you’re looking for a source of knowledge to help you onboard as a smart contract developer or security researcher, Cyfrin Updraft is an incredible resource. If you are non-technical, I would still recommend checking it out to help build out your basic understanding of what’s happening when you’re interacting with crypto. The craziest part is that it is FREE! Wild.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that I see posts on my timeline weekly of people that have gone through Updraft talking about how life changing it has been for them. Here are some examples from the last week.
Safe Hash
Safe Hash is a tool created by Cyfrin to make it easier to verify SAFE transacations. Here is a link to the Github repo and here is a Youtube video that walks you through the process.
[For Developers] Don’t store private keys in plain text!
This is something Patrick feels very strongly about, and with good reasons. Developers have lost thousands as a results of storing private keys in .env files which are immediately exploited.
There are a number of resources to walk you through alternatives, including this Youtube video or this video which is part of Cyfrin Updraft.
Hardware Wallet Reviews on wallet.page
Wallet.page is a site where Patrick is aggregating outcomes of a bunch of the research he has done on hardware wallets. So far, no hardware wallet gets a double thumbs up, but there are one or two that are “good enough”.
Patrick just tweeted about looking for someone to help with this site if you know anyone that might be interested.
The “good enough” hardware wallets
Mentioned at xxx, Patrick calls out the GridPlus Lattice 1 for being the best at decoding call data.
There is also mention of Keystone, who took onboard Patrick’s feedback after one of his reviews, and improved their wallet as a result.
Wise Signer Snap
At 30:46, Patrick mentioned the Wise Signer Snap, a tool to decode call data which can be used with Metamask.
