DeFi Decoded - Crypto Crime Stoppers! With James Smith of Elliptic
Release Date: 07/21/2025
DeFi Decoded
Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Seamus Rocca, Executive Director and CEO of Xapo Bank. Listen in as they discuss Xapo’s evolution from the original Bitcoin cold-storage pioneer to a fully regulated private bank, its focus on serving emerging market clients seeking safety in Bitcoin and U.S. dollars, the integration of stablecoins and yield-bearing accounts as a bridge between crypto and traditional banking, the implications of Bitcoin ETFs and digital asset treasuries for institutional adoption, and how Xapo’s conservative, Bitcoin-first model is...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the flash crash earlier this month and record liquidation cascade triggered by sudden macro headlines, what it revealed about leverage and thin liquidity in crypto versus public markets, the continued divergence between Bitcoin/ETH strength and persistent altcoin weakness, structural issues in token economics and CEX listing dynamics that are driving project buybacks and decentralization pushes under the GENIUS Act, the rise of onchain venues like Hyperliquid and increasing TradFi integration,...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto with special guest Nick Cannon, VP of Growth at Gauntlet. Listen in as they discuss the rapid institutionalization of DeFi and the rise of onchain asset management, Gauntlet’s evolution from a risk modeling firm to a leading vault curator overseeing $1.6B in capital, the convergence of tokenized real-world assets through partnerships with Securitize and Apollo, shifting risk dynamics and security trends across DeFi protocols, the implications of the U.S. Genius Act for stablecoins and yield-bearing assets, and how Solana...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto with special guest Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates. Listen in as they discuss the forces reshaping our world. Tim shares why he views Bitcoin as a hedge against bad governance, how founders should diversify their treasuries after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and why stablecoins are accelerating crypto adoption. Tim explores the next frontiers of innovation, from healthcare and finance to space and transportation, and how AI, gene editing, and blockchain are driving a new wave of...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the fading premiums and potential consolidation wave in DATs following the Strive-Semler merger this past week, the liquidity and centralization risks emerging in altcoin DATs, the evolving debate over stablecoin regulation from the GENIUS Act to the CLARITY Act as bank lobbying intensifies, how banks might fit into a stablecoin-driven financial system, the surge of crypto IPOs with Circle, Gemini and BitGo, the custody economics underpinning institutional adoption, Coinbase’s forthcoming Base...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss Google’s launch of its AI Agent Payments Protocol with stablecoin support, how AI agents could become the next interface for the Internet and even decentralize crypto governance, the soaring valuations of prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi and the forces behind them, Forward Industries’ $1.65 billion financing to establish the largest Solana DAT to date, the broader trajectory of DATs and whether the momentum is sustainable, how strong fundamentals are colliding with bearish...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating convergence of crypto and Wall Street, the big opportunities and implementation challenges with onchain finance, Solana’s outsized rally following large SOL DAT announcements with ETFs on the horizon, a few of the inefficiencies that still exist in today’s crypto market, the widening disconnect between all-time high prices and deteriorating sentiment, whether looming rate cuts could meaningfully move the market, and more.
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Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Jim Hiltner, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at Superstate. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating adoption of tokenized real-world assets by issuers and investors worldwide, the Superstate origin story and its evolution, how tokenization democratizes access to U.S. dollar investment accounts, Superstate’s USTB and USCC onchain investment funds, the Opening Bell platform that enables public companies to tokenize their shares and why it stands out from other market offerings, Galaxy Digital’s launch of...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo, Chief Strategy Officer of Ava Labs. Listen in as they discuss Avalanche’s evolution since its inception, enterprise blockchain preferences between L1s versus L2s, the rapid growth of Avalanche’s tokenized real-world asset ecosystem, how stablecoins are acting as a Trojan horse for tokenization, some of the most exciting yet overlooked onchain use cases to watch, the future of stablecoins at scale as institutions and fintechs launch and integrate them into their businesses, a crypto...
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest David Tse, Co-Founder of Babylon. Listen in as they discuss the ongoing evolution of Bitcoin from a store of value and medium of exchange into a productive asset, how Babylon is leading the way with trustless Bitcoin staking and positioning it as a collateral superpower, the mechanics of Bitcoin staking, the launch of Babylon’s Genesis and the incoming wave of chains set to be powered by Bitcoin security, the risks of wrapped tokens and why Babylon’s trustless model matters, the potential symbiotic...
info_outlineJoin Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest James Smith, Co-Founder of Elliptic. Listen in as they discuss the genesis of Elliptic in 2013 and how it’s evolved since, its scaling strategy to support the explosion of new blockchain networks, the current state of onchain crime and whether the claim that only criminals use crypto holds any weight, the rise of geopolitical crypto cyberwarfare following the $90M Nobitex hack, how chain tracing has matured from a simple compliance tool to a form of defense tech, the company’s experience educating traditional financial institutions during the onboarding process, how the intersection of crypto and AI is reshaping threat vectors, predictions for the year ahead, and more.