Tom Shaughnessy and Jordan Clifford on Layer 1 Wars, Token Economics and a Shift to Applications
The big story of 2019 was "quiet" building. When it comes to 2020, however, watch out for fireworks.

Tom Shaughnessy is a co-founder of Delphi Digital as well as the host of the Chain Reaction podcast. Jordan Clifford is managing director of Scalar Capital.
In this end of year interview for The Breakdown, Tom argues that the big story of 2019 was actually the fact that it was all about "quiet" building. When it comes to 2020, however, watch out for fireworks.
Tom predicts we’ll see a major increase in the Layer 1 smart contract platform wars, as well as growth in the perceived importance of token economic design. Meanwhile, Jordan argues that the crypto industry is likely to see a shift back to development at the application layer.
More For You
Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Juventus Fan Token Slides Over 13% After Tether Bid Rebuff, Even as Club Shares Surge

Juventus Football Club shares surged after stablecoin issuer Tether made, and was rebuffed on, a €1.1 billion takeover bid, while the club’s fan token saw a double-digit pullback.
What to know:
- Juventus' fan token (JUV) fell over 13% after Tether's €1.1 billion takeover bid was rejected.
- Tether's proposal valued Juventus at a 21% premium, marking a significant crypto-backed move into sports.
- Juventus shares rose 14% following the bid's rejection, while the club continues to face financial challenges.











