From Blackstone to Building Crypto’s Leading M&A Firm - JP Grabs, Areta
Release Date: 02/06/2026
From Blackstone to Building Crypto’s Leading M&A Firm - JP Grabs, Areta
Finality Crypto Podcast
Episode 10 of Builder’s Diary is live. In this conversation, host Juri Maibaum sits down with JP Grabs, Founding Partner at Areta, to explore the world of M&A in crypto through the lens of discipline, ambition, and long-term thinking. From growing up in Germany to studying in Europe's top finance universities in Frankfurt and St. Gallen, to building a career across BCG, Barclays, Partners Group, and Blackstone, JP followed a path shaped by precision and persistence. At the height of traditional finance, he chose to step into uncertainty and help build a new frontier by launching what...
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Yield, Staking, and the Institutional Takeover (Lookout Staking Summit 2026) - with Tobias Jung
Finality Crypto Podcast
Institutions are entering crypto through staking and stablecoin yield—changing how returns are generated and who’s participating. In today's episode, we sit down with Tobuas Jung from Staing Rewards to break down what this shift means, why it’s happening now, and what the Staking Summit reveals about the next phase of the industry. Apply to participate at Staking Summit 2026: - - - - - - DISCLAIMER All information presented in this podcast is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. This podcast’s content solely reflects the...
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How Hyve Makes Blockchain Actually Decentralized - with Douwe Faasen
Finality Crypto Podcast
In this episode, Juri Maibaum sits down with Douwe to unpack how Hyve is tackling one of crypto’s biggest blind spots: the hidden centralization of data and infrastructure. The conversation dives into how blockchain systems are secretly far more centralized than most people realize, why data layers have become the weakest link in decentralization, and how Hyve is rebuilding the stack from the ground up to make decentralization real — not just at the protocol level, but under the hood. Topics include: - Why most “decentralized” blockchains still rely on centralized data infrastructure -...
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2026 Crypto Predictions: Winners, Losers & the Next Market Phase
Finality Crypto Podcast
In this episode, Juri Maibaum is joined by Max Windhagen to break down how the crypto industry could evolve in 2026, covering market structure, macro conditions, institutional adoption, and ecosystem-level shifts. Topics include: Key lessons from 2025 and how they shape the year ahead The macro backdrop for crypto in 2026: inflation, central banks, and geopolitics Whether macro conditions turn into a tailwind or headwind for digital assets Institutional adoption and its impact on market structure and decentralization M&A and consolidation across crypto infrastructure and service providers...
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Why LATAM is a Champion in Blockchain Adoption - with Mariana Kotik (LNET)
Finality Crypto Podcast
In this episode from Sovereign Day in Buenos Aires 🇦🇷, we sit down with Mariana Kotik, Chief Commercial Officer at LNET, to explore why Latin America is leading the world in real-world blockchain adoption. LNET is a nonprofit organization based in Uruguay, created in 2021 as part of an IDB Lab–sponsored initiative to accelerate blockchain adoption across Latin America and the Caribbean. Mariana explains how ELNET acts as a bridge between governments, institutions, entrepreneurs, and the broader ecosystem to turn blockchain from theory into real solutions. We dive into LNET’s three...
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Celestia’s Comeback: Scaling Crypto to NASDAQ-Level Throughput - with Nick White
Finality Crypto Podcast
In this episode from Sovereign Day in Buenos Aires, we sit down with Nick White, COO of Celestia Labs, to discuss Celestia’s evolution, comeback, and long-term vision for modular blockchains. Recorded live at Sovereign Day, the conversation comes as Celestia approaches its two-year anniversary, reflecting on what the team got right, what surprised them, and where the broader crypto ecosystem stands today. Nick shares a candid perspective on industry optimism, slower-than-expected user growth, and why early signs of real-world adoption are finally beginning to emerge. We dive deep into: •...
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Is the Bull Market Over? State of The Trenches Episode 2 - with Max Windhagen
Finality Crypto Podcast
After a rocky start to November and a skipped Uptober, crypto markets have investors wondering if the cycle is running out of steam. In this episode, we dig into the data: staking ratios, ETF flows, price action, and the broader stock market, to separate signal from noise. No hopium, no fluff! Just what’s really happening in the trenches. Follow Finality: Follow Juri: Listen now on Finality: The Business Lens on Decentralized Networks. DISCLAIMER All information presented in this podcast is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial,...
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From Downtober to Bullish November? November Crypto Forescast, Solana’s ETF Moment, DAT Hype & the Great Consolidation - State of the Trenches
Finality Crypto Podcast
Welcome to State of the Trenches, Episode 1: “November Forecast.” We kick off this new weekly series with a deep dive into what’s really moving crypto markets as we head into the final stretch of 2025. Is November shaping up to be a bullish rebound after “Downtober”? We break down Solana’s historic leap onto Wall Street with Bitwise’s record-setting Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), Grayscale’s GSOL approval, and Western Union’s move to build stablecoin payments on Solana. We also unpack the hype around NEAR’s so-called Digital Asset Treasury (and why it’s not the same as a true...
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Microchains, AI Agents & the Economics of Linera — with Mathieu Baudet
Finality Crypto Podcast
In this episode of Finality, we explore how Linera is rethinking blockchain scalability and network economics for the next era of decentralized systems. Host Juri Maibaum sits down with Mathieu Baudet, Founder & CEO of Linera and former researcher at Meta’s Novi, to discuss how Linera’s microchain architecture enables ultra-low-latency transactions and why it might be the ideal infrastructure for AI agents and machine-to-machine economies. Together, they unpack: The origin story of Linera and the vision behind microchains How Linera’s shared validator model ensures...
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Can Modular Blockchains Be Profitable? - Celestia Revival Plan
Finality Crypto Podcast
Celestia, with its ticker $TIA, pioneered the modular blockchain thesis, separating consensus from execution and redefining how blockchains scale. Two years after its mainnet launch, how is the modular vision holding up, and can modular blockchains actually become profitable? What is a revival plan for $TIA? In this first Finality interview, Viet, Head of Developer Relations at Celestia Labs, joins Juri Maibaum to discuss the economics, adoption, and challenges of building sustainable modular infrastructure. Together, they unpack: How Celestia has evolved since its 2023 launch The...
info_outlineEpisode 10 of Builder’s Diary is live. In this conversation, host Juri Maibaum sits down with JP Grabs, Founding Partner at Areta, to explore the world of M&A in crypto through the lens of discipline, ambition, and long-term thinking. From growing up in Germany to studying in Europe's top finance universities in Frankfurt and St. Gallen, to building a career across BCG, Barclays, Partners Group, and Blackstone, JP followed a path shaped by precision and persistence. At the height of traditional finance, he chose to step into uncertainty and help build a new frontier by launching what became crypto's most successful M&A bank: Areta.
In this episode talk about: • The mindset behind leaving elite private equity to start something new • The balance between security and conviction in career decisions • How institutions may shape the next phase of crypto markets • How crypto M&A differs from traditional dealmaking A calm, honest look at risk, opportunity, and the quiet decisions that change a life.
DISCLAIMER
All information presented in this podcast is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. This podcast’s content solely reflects the producer's opinion, who is not a financial advisor. Investing in cryptocurrencies is risky.