The Crypto Conversation
Brave New Coin’s Crypto Conversation talks to the key people creating the Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency future. Hosted by Andy Pickering, learn how this rapidly evolving industry is reshaping the world as we move towards decentralized finance, NFTs and Web3.
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Nibiru - The Next Era of Money
09/18/2025
Nibiru - The Next Era of Money
Unique is a co-founder of Nibiru, the Web3 hub ushering in the next era of money. Nibiru is a blockchain and smart contract hub with DeFi, RWAs, and more. Why you should listen Nibiru is a Layer-1 blockchain built with performance and usability in mind. It uses the Cosmos SDK and is EVM-compatible, meaning developers used to Ethereum tooling can easily drop in. Its architecture is designed to deliver high throughput, secure smart contract execution, and interoperability via the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol — letting it talk to other chains in the Cosmos ecosystem. Nibiru Offers a suite of structured products that simplify complex DeFi strategies into easy to use one click vaults for users just starting their DeFi journey while enabling advanced DeFi natives with all the complex tools to create their own strategies. All of this is tied together with Nibiru VM, an execution layer combining different environments enabling developers with different focuses to build seamlessly on one platform. What sets Nibiru apart is how it integrates DeFi primitives, such as derivatives (perpetuals), spot trading, oracle modules, and a native stablecoin nUSD, more tightly into its core than many competitors. Rather than “bolting on” such features, they aim to make them first-class components in the system. The native token NIBI powers staking, governance, and transaction fees, and validators also act as oracles to feed the system real-world price data. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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CoinTerminal - Buy Before the Market
09/16/2025
CoinTerminal - Buy Before the Market
Patrick Carey is the CTO of CoinTerminal, the industry's only launchpad with no token staking requirements. Why you should listen CoinTerminal positions itself as a crypto launchpad built for everyone — no staking, no gating, just open access. Anyone with a crypto wallet can join presales for new tokens without needing to lock up collateral or hold platform-specific tokens. Their model is refreshingly straightforward: find promising early-stage projects, contribute via IDOs (initial DEX offerings), and claim tokens once they launch — with the option for refunds if things don’t pan out. They’ve funded 80+ ventures, distributed over $80 million, and already attracted more than 620,000 investors. What sets CoinTerminal apart is their “no bar, no hidden fees” ethos. There’s no minimum play beyond the $100 opening ticket, and they promise prices up to 10× lower than public listing. Transparency is baked in: winner selections are randomized and verifiable, and they publish transparency reports. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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BOB - The Gateway to Bitcoin DeFi
09/14/2025
BOB - The Gateway to Bitcoin DeFi
Alexei Zamyatin is the co-founder of BOB, the gateway to Bitcoin Defi. Bob’s hybrid model aligns with both Bitcoin and Ethereum, fusing the strengths of both networks to put BTC at the heart of DeFi. Why you should listen Bitcoin has long been the undisputed heavyweight in value, but its role in DeFi has been embarrassingly small—just 0.3% of total value locked (TVL), compared to Ethereum’s ~30%. BOB positions itself as the answer to this imbalance: a secure, hybrid, multichain gateway aiming to capture the roughly $750 billion in “latent capital” locked out of Bitcoin-native DeFi. By providing seamless access to yield and liquidity across chains, while preserving Bitcoin’s ethos and combining it with Ethereum-style programmability, BOB wants to make Bitcoin DeFi not just possible—but massive. To overcome the trust and fragmentation issues holding Bitcoin back, BOB introduces two key innovations. First, native BTC DeFi powered by Bitcoin staking finality and the BitVM bridge—meaning BTC on BOB is literally just “BTC,” not wrapped or custodial. Second, a revolutionary Bitcoin Intents system and hybrid vaults let users swap between native BTC, wrapped BTC, and DeFi positions—or deploy BTC into strategic yield-bearing vaults—with a single transaction. Together these features unify experience and security, enabling any EVM-compatible chain to integrate BOB and unlock trustless, composable Bitcoin DeFi. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Yieldschool - Invest in the Primary Crypto Asset Markets
09/11/2025
Yieldschool - Invest in the Primary Crypto Asset Markets
Frank Hepworth is the CEO and Founder of Yieldschool. Yieldschool helps high-net-worth investors build responsible crypto allocations with proper risk management and strategic positioning. Why you should listen Yieldschool is a specialist educational and consultancy service aimed at serious crypto investors. Its core proposition is guiding clients to the “primary crypto markets”—that stage where crypto assets are first issued, before zigzagging through traditional retail exchanges—enabling users to acquire assets earlier and generally cheaper. Led by founder Frank Hepworth, a regulatory lawyer with experience in guiding crypto exchanges and involvement in launching early crypto ETFs, the operation offers angel-investor-style insights, supported by a full-time research and consulting team with TradFi and crypto backgrounds. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Turnkey - Private Key Management Made Simple
09/09/2025
Turnkey - Private Key Management Made Simple
Bryce Ferguson is the founder of Turnkey. Turnkey provides secure, flexible, scalable wallet infrastructure. Turnkey is private key management made simple. Create wallets, sign transactions, and automate onchain actions, all with one elegant API. Why you should listen Turnkey provides secure, flexible, scalable wallet infrastructure, offering developers an elegant API to create wallets, sign transactions, and automate on-chain actions. Built on non-custodial principles and leveraging Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), Turnkey ensures that private keys remain fully under the users’ control while also delivering enterprise-grade performance with low latency (around 50–100ms) and high availability (99.9% uptime). Their infrastructure supports multichain operations and is designed for scale—capable of signing millions of transactions in minutes, and able to power embedded wallets seamlessly across diverse applications in DeFi, payments, developer tooling, consumer apps, and AI agents. Turnkey is on a mission to secure the open internet by building verifiable, programmable primitives for crypto applications. The founding team brings deep expertise from their work at Coinbase Custody, and together they’ve amassed over 100 years of experience in cryptography, security, and low-level systems design. In June 2025, Turnkey raised a $30 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Crypto (with support from Sequoia, Lightspeed Faction, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute, and Variant), reaffirming its vision to provide open, composable, developer-friendly infrastructure for the next generation of crypto services. Turnkey recently earned recognition as one of CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies, underscoring its growing influence and leadership within the financial technology landscape. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Radix - Radically Different DeFi
09/07/2025
Radix - Radically Different DeFi
Radix DLT is a Layer-1 distributed ledger—think blockchain for DeFi, but without the clunky blocks. It's built from the ground up to make decentralized finance smoother, safer, and more scalable. Why you should listen Radix DLT is a full-stack Layer-1, distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform purpose-built for the next wave of decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 development. Unlike traditional blockchains, Radix isn't chained to blocks—it's a true DLT leveraging its novel Cerberus consensus algorithm, offering atomic composability across shards and effectively limitless scalability. That means DeFi dApps can interoperate seamlessly in a single transaction without choking on traffic—Radix is engineered to scale to the needs of global finance. Radix isn’t just about raw speed—it doubles down on usability. On the user side, the Radix Wallet brings clarity: no more blind signing or seed-phrase nightmares. Transactions are human-readable, and multi-factor, decentralized account recovery makes losing access a bore of the past. For developers, Radix gives you Scrypto—the world’s first asset-centric smart contract language—and the Radix Engine, a DeFi-optimized “game engine” for building secure, composable dApps fast. Think of it as trading in clunky old engines for a sleek, intuitive ride that actually encourages innovation. Radix wasn't tinkering around—it’s OECD-scale serious. With integrated, platform-native identity solutions baked right into its design, Radix is tackling one of the biggest barriers to real-world adoption: bridging crypto and compliance. That means institutional investors can actually bring capital on-chain, using verifiable, on-ledger identity in a way that’s compatible with KYC/AML frameworks. If Web3 is ever going mainstream, it needs to solve identity—not just scalability and UX. Radix aims to check all three boxes. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Luffa - Web3 Decentralized Instant Messaging
09/04/2025
Luffa - Web3 Decentralized Instant Messaging
Yu Xiong is Co-President of Luffa, a Web3 decentralized instant messaging app designed specifically for security. Why you should listen Luffa is a next-generation Web3‑powered social and messaging app built on the decentralized Endless protocol. Its core mission? To give users a clean, private, and distraction‑free experience—no user tracking, ads, or hidden analytics in sight. Everything is end‑to‑end encrypted, including photos and voice messages, and there’s a distributed storage mechanism—so not even Luffa can peek at your chats. Oh, and yes, it's entirely free—no subscriptions, no in‑app purchases necessary. But Luffa doesn’t stop at secure messaging—it’s more like a mini Web3 ecosystem. You get a multi‑chain wallet, AI translation to help you chat globally, and even a token issuance roadmap promising content and transaction monetization. Users can display or set NFTs as avatars, mint their own on Endless Chain, and manage them all within Luffa’s unified wallet experience. In short, it’s where state-of-the-art privacy meets next-level social finance—and it’s trying to be more than just another chat app. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Daiko - The Web3 Pet-Tech Platform
09/02/2025
Daiko - The Web3 Pet-Tech Platform
David Byrne is a technologist building Daiko, a Web3 Pet-Tech platform that combines real-world pet care with blockchain rewards. Why you should listen To understand Daiko, think Fitbit for dogs meets gamified pet ownership, with a smart leash, virtual pet system, and a Proof-of-Woof model that turns daily walks into tokenized incentives. Daiko recently rolled out its smart leash ecosystem and already has thousands of early users signing up for their beta. The high-tech dog leash syncs with the Daiko Rewards App. Walk your pup, earn tokens, and interact with a gamified virtual pet right from your phone. They’ve baked in some serious bonus features too: a safe‑lock mechanism, titanium carabiner, integrated DooPod waste bag holder, and a super-strong rope tested up to 200 kg. Daiko isn’t just about fetching rewards—it’s about redefining “pet ownership in the metaverse,” or at least in a Web3-flavored reality. By rewarding real-world activity (like walking your dog) with crypto tokens, they blissfully blur the line between IRL routines and digital perks. It’s gamification meets leash tech for dog lovers around the world. They’re expanding globally this year with plans to integrate NFTs, utility tokens, and community-driven rewards. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Chorus One - Stake Without Complexities
09/01/2025
Chorus One - Stake Without Complexities
Sam Klehr is Global Head of Sales and Business Development at Chorus One, a leading institutional staking infrastructure provider founded in 2018. Why you should listen Chorus One operates secure, enterprise-grade validator infrastructure across 50–60+ Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain networks—ranging from Ethereum, Solana, Cosmos, Avalanche, and Near to newer entrants like TON and Stacks—positioning itself as one of the largest staking service providers globally. The company offers a suite of services tailored to institutions, exchanges, wallets, foundations, and private investors, including whitelabel validators, ETH staking vaults (OPUS), staking SDKs, and API-based rewards reporting—all backed by ISO 27001-level security, robust infrastructure, and slashing protection mechanisms. Chorus One’s value proposition centers on reliability, transparency, and ecosystem engagement. They emphasize continuous uptime, redundancy, and security through custom infrastructure—including hardware security modules and geographically distributed server clusters—thanks in part to partnerships like the one with DataPacket. The firm also provides a $250,000 delegator protection pool, refreshed quarterly, to safeguard user assets. Beyond staking services, Chorus One is deeply involved in ecosystem development, offering research and MEV insights, managing an investment arm (Chorus Ventures), and pioneering institutional solutions like TON Pool (for streamlined TON staking) and support for Bitcoin Layer‑2 protocol Stacks. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Everstake - Staking For Everyone
08/22/2025
Everstake - Staking For Everyone
David Kinitsky is the CEO of Everstake, a leading global non-custodial staking provider serving institutional and retail clients, with $6.5 billion staked across 85+ networks. David was the founding General Manager of Grayscale Investments, now one of the world’s largest digital asset managers, and previously led operations for SecondMarket, the private market platform later acquired by NASDAQ. Why you should listen Everstake is a professional staking provider founded in 2018 by a team of Ukrainian engineers. The company specializes in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validation, helping individuals and institutions participate in securing blockchain networks while earning staking rewards. Today, Everstake supports more than 70 networks, including Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos, and operates with a strong technical focus, maintaining over 99.9% uptime for its users. In terms of scale, the platform has worked with more than 735,000 stakers, facilitated over $6.5 billion in assets staked, and distributed around $712 million in rewards. Beyond being a validator, Everstake positions itself as a broader infrastructure partner within the Web3 ecosystem. The company has contributed to well-known projects such as Solana, Wormhole, The Graph, and Pyth, and has provided advisory and engineering support to help these networks grow. One of its most visible initiatives was managing the Aid for Ukraine crypto fundraising campaign, in partnership with the Ukrainian government and other industry players, which raised over $60 million for humanitarian and defense support. Recently, Everstake has also expanded into institutional services. Through a collaboration with io.finnet, it now enables enterprises to stake assets like ETH and SOL directly from secure multiparty computation (MPC) wallets, removing custodial risk while simplifying the staking process. This shows Everstake’s dual focus: serving the crypto community at large while also providing infrastructure for institutional adoption. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Digital Assets Association - Bridging TradFi and RWAs
08/18/2025
Digital Assets Association - Bridging TradFi and RWAs
Danny Chong is co-chair of the Digital Assets Association (DAA) Singapore, a Singapore-based non-profit association dedicated to guiding individuals and organisations through the landscape of digital assets. Danny is also Co-Founder and CEO of Tranchess, a leading structured liquid staking protocol. Why you should listen Danny discusses the importance of regulatory clarity in driving digital asset growth across Asia and how to attract institutional investments from Asia’s financial giants while protecting retail users. Bridging TradFi and digital assets for institutional adoption in Asia is underway. Drawing on his APAC expertise, Danny explains how integrating TradFi’s risk management with blockchain’s transparency enables institutions to adopt tokenised assets, positioning Asia as a pioneer in blending traditional finance with digital innovation. He's an advocate for RWA tokenisation’s two-way flow: Aside from moving assets like bonds and equities on-chain, RWA tokenisation also brings DeFi innovations like liquid staking into TradFi. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Meanwhile - Bitcoin Life Insurance
07/31/2025
Meanwhile - Bitcoin Life Insurance
Zac Townsend is CEO and Co-Founder of Meanwhile, the first life insurance provider denominated and operating in Bitcoin. Life Insurance serves a critical role in developed economies, and Meanwhile is building a defining financial institution for the global Bitcoin economy. Why you should listen Meanwhile is the world’s first fully Bitcoin‑denominated life insurance company, licensed and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Operating out of Hamilton, Bermuda, it offers Bitcoin Whole Life policies that allow users to pay premiums in BTC, accumulate savings denominated in Bitcoin, and carry out legacy planning—all without exposure to fiat currency volatility. Meanwhile’s regulatory status as a Class IILT insurer—stemming from its graduation from Bermuda’s innovation sandbox in July 2024—gives it unique legitimacy as a crypto-native institution working within a fully regulated financial framework. In June 2025, Meanwhile made history by publishing its first-ever audited financial statements fully denominated in Bitcoin. As of December 31, 2024, the company held approximately 220.4 BTC in assets and generated net income of 25.29 BTC—a 300 % year‑on‑year increase. Meanwhile is not only the first life insurer to report in Bitcoin, but is also prohibited from liquidating its BTC holdings except when policyholders redeem under strict regulatory rules—making the company’s BTC reserve inherently long‑held and less subject to market speculation. Meanwhile sells its policies directly via its website, meanwhile.bm, and offers personalized consultations to prospective clients. Positioned at the intersection of insurance and decentralized finance, it offers high‑net‑worth and crypto‑savvy individuals a novel way to secure, grow, and pass down wealth using Bitcoin. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Ryze Labs - Web3, AI, Crypto and Beyond
07/29/2025
Ryze Labs - Web3, AI, Crypto and Beyond
Matthew Graham is the Managing Partner at Ryze Labs, a fund investing in blockchain innovators worldwide who are building Web3 applications to drive adoption and expand access to the next generation of the internet. Why you should listen In this conversation, Matthew Graham, managing partner at Ryze Labs, discusses the intersection of AI and crypto, the investment thesis of Ryze Labs, and the potential of Web3. He emphasizes the importance of stablecoins in the financial infrastructure, describing stablecoins as the “best product-market fit in crypto,” especially for emerging markets where hyperinflation undermines local currencies. The discussion also touches on the future of AI technologies and the challenges faced in the crypto space. Graham believes the future of crypto involves autonomous AI agents operating above Layer 1 protocols. These agents will transact on-chain, manage wallets, trade assets, and execute user commands—essentially acting as a user’s “digital twin.” Ryze Labs invests in the builders of blockchain technology around the globe that are designing Web3 applications that will accelerate adoption and democratize access to the next generation of the internet. Ryze Labs has always supported projects founded by hard-working visionaries that work with cutting-edge technologies, located in the next Silicon Valley. Ryze Labs leverages emerging markets expertise as strategic investors for best-in-class web3 projects looking to expand their international presence into emerging markets with high-growth potential. Ryze has invested in some of the most successful web3 projects to date, including Solana, LayerZero, Polygon, and Wintermute. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Idea-L® - From Idea to Funded Startup
07/23/2025
Idea-L® - From Idea to Funded Startup
Peter Goodwin is the CEO and founder of Idea-L®, the platform that combines generative AI and real-time validation to help anyone go from idea to funded startup, without gatekeepers. Think: “AI x AngelList meets Product Hunt — but fully decentralized.” Why you should listen idea‑L® is an AI-powered, Web3-native platform designed to accelerate the journey from concept to launch. At its heart is a step-by-step process—Imagine, Design, Execute, Accelerate, and Live—providing founders with a structured framework to turn bold ideas into viable ventures without the usual guesswork. This fusion of AI-driven validation, decentralized funding via the GovToken, and human mentorship redefines early-stage entrepreneurship by making it accessible, intuitive, and speed-focused. Beyond automation, idea‑L® embeds Web3-powered transparency and community governance into its DNA. Its tech stack includes predictive analytics, smart contracts, and a DAO-based decision-making structure—all delivered through an agile, intuitive interface. Token holders gain real voting power, staking benefits, and fee-based perks, while the platform steers clear of insider privilege—no presales, and no secret taps to exclusivity. Currently in private beta ahead of a 2025 GovToken public launch, idea‑L® is based in Dubai but operates globally, targeting founders of any background or mission type—commercial, social, or public good. It’s positioning itself as a democratic co‑founder: always on, structured, and deeply rooted in fairness and momentum. If you're tired of the startup snail's pace and gatekept funding, idea‑L® is staking its claim as the launchpad that tells it like it is. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Kaia - Stablecoins for mini-Dapps on Superapps
07/21/2025
Kaia - Stablecoins for mini-Dapps on Superapps
John Cho is Vice President of Partnerships at Kaia DLT Foundation, a non-profit organization established to accelerate the Kaia blockchain’s global adoption and ecosystem maturity. Why you should listen Kaia is a mobile-first superapp that’s rapidly becoming one of the most intriguing Web3 platforms to watch. Originally known as Klaytn, Kaia rebranded and repositioned itself in 2024 with a bold vision: make crypto invisible. By integrating blockchain seamlessly into daily mobile life, Kaia’s goal is to onboard the next billion users without them even realizing they’ve crossed into Web3. And it seems to be working—Kaia has seen a staggering rise in on-chain activity, ranking second globally in daily active users. This momentum is largely fueled by its unique strategy: hosting Mini Dapps inside the app itself—think of them like mobile games or utilities that live inside a crypto-native superapp. But what makes Kaia different is it is open to third-party developers and fully committed to open-source gaming. That’s a huge shift. Instead of locking users into a walled garden, Kaia is betting on community-driven innovation through Mini Dapps—lightweight, mobile-friendly, and composable little apps that make up the building blocks of the platform. These Mini Dapps allow users to explore DeFi, NFTs, and gaming with just a few taps, no wallet stress or MetaMask hurdles. On the financial infrastructure side, Kaia is moving quickly. It recently partnered with Tether to integrate USDT, and it's also driving the development of stablecoins pegged to the Korean won (KRW) and Japanese yen (JYP). This isn’t just about payments—it’s about enabling a stable, familiar financial layer inside a blockchain ecosystem. For users in Asia especially, being able to transact with stable, fiat-pegged assets makes the jump into Web3 feel a lot less risky and a lot more practical. Kaia isn’t just building an app—it’s building an economy, one mobile tap at a time. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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tBTC - The Bitcoin Standard for DeFi
07/16/2025
tBTC - The Bitcoin Standard for DeFi
Callan, also known as “Sap” is the Co-Founder of Threshold Labs, the managing team behind Threshold Network’s tBTC, a trust-minimized bridge enabling native Bitcoin in DeFi. Why you should listen Threshold Network is a decentralized infrastructure protocol that leverages threshold cryptography to provide privacy and access control services on public blockchains. It was formed through the merger of two projects, Keep and NuCypher, with the aim of enabling secure and decentralized custody and data privacy. One of its core offerings is tBTC, a decentralized bridge that allows users to bring their Bitcoin onto Ethereum and other EVM-compatible networks in the form of an ERC-20 token that is fully backed 1:1 by BTC. tBTC is designed to address the limitations of custodial wrapped Bitcoin products, such as WBTC, which rely on centralized entities to hold users' BTC. Instead, tBTC uses a network of randomly selected node operators that collectively manage custody through threshold signature schemes. This structure ensures that no single party can access or move the underlying BTC, enhancing security and decentralization. The latest version, tBTC v2, introduces a scalable and permissionless model, progressively shifting control from human intermediaries to protocol-based guarantees. Bitcoin DeFi—or BTCFi—is an emerging segment of decentralized finance that aims to bring Bitcoin’s liquidity into smart contract ecosystems. Historically, Bitcoin has been underutilized in DeFi due to its limited scripting capabilities and incompatibility with platforms like Ethereum. Bridges like tBTC are key to unlocking Bitcoin’s potential in DeFi, enabling BTC holders to participate in lending, yield farming, liquidity provision, and collateralized borrowing—all while retaining exposure to Bitcoin. By offering a decentralized, trust-minimized bridge, Threshold Network positions itself as a foundational layer in this growing ecosystem. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Algorand Foundation - Why TVL is a Poor Metric For Investment Decisions
07/03/2025
Algorand Foundation - Why TVL is a Poor Metric For Investment Decisions
Staci Warden is the Algorand Foundation CEO, and Dr. Matthew Brigida is Chief Economist at Algorand Foundation. In June, the Algorand Foundation’s tokenomics team released a new study questioning the assumption that TVL is a meaningful investment signal. Despite being widely cited as a proxy for legitimacy, the research found that TVL doesn’t correlate with token performance, even when adjusted for known distortions like double-counting. Why you should listen The team analyzed 300+ cryptocurrencies from 2023–2024, simulating weekly long/short strategies based on TVL rankings. The result? No outperformance, no alpha. And no meaningful insight once broader market movements are accounted for. As Pew reported last year, most Americans still don’t trust crypto. If TVL continues to be used as a shorthand for credibility, that only adds noise. This paper adds to the growing push for better metrics in DeFi. Algorand’s mission is to power a world where information has integrity and innovative ideas can scale. The Algorand Foundation supports Algorand’s rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the framework for decentralized governance. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Coinpass - The UK Crypto Platform for Businesses
06/30/2025
Coinpass - The UK Crypto Platform for Businesses
Jeff Hancock is the CEO of Coinpass, a UK-based crypto exchange acquired by OANDA in 2023. He’s bringing crypto and traditional finance closer together in a secure, regulated way. Why you should listen Born in London in 2018, Coinpass climbed the regulatory mountain early, securing an FCA crypto-asset registration and then catching the eye of multi-asset heavyweight OANDA, which snapped up a majority stake in August 2023. Now the exchange enjoys the deep pockets and risk-management chops of a global FX giant while keeping its Union-Jack credentials intact. Coinpass is unapologetically business-first: corporate and SSAS pension accounts, OTC desks, Faster Payments for GBP, SEPA Instant for EUR, and a Fireblocks-secured custody stack. The offering tops out at roughly 18 coins across 50 pairs, with auto-trade DCA tools and a staking “Earn” programme. As the FCA’s May 2025 paper ushers in a tougher regulatory era, Coinpass is already playing the game two moves ahead—fully registered, audit-ready, and backed by OANDA’s deep balance sheet. Its curated asset list and institutional-grade spreads may forego meme-coin noise, but they deliver what CFOs and treasurers actually need: transparent pricing, instant GBP rails, and a compliance posture built to glide through tomorrow’s rulebook. While other exchanges scramble to retrofit governance, Coinpass stands out as the gold-standard gateway for UK digital-asset professionals—future-proof, rock-solid, and ready to scale. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Pi Squared - The Verifiable Settlement Layer for AI and Crypto
06/25/2025
Pi Squared - The Verifiable Settlement Layer for AI and Crypto
Grigore Roșu is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois and a former NASA engineer, where he developed the K Framework - an open-source “Rosetta Stone” for programming language semantics. A day-one contributor to the Ethereum Foundation, he later founded Runtime Verification, now the leading formal verification company in Web3. In 2023, he founded Pi Squared with the vision of bringing the next million developers to Web3 by utilizing his revolutionary K Framework. Why you should listen Pi Squared solves the fragmentation and trust limitations of today’s blockchain infrastructure by enabling verifiable, cross-chain computation and settlement, so apps, agents, and protocols can interact across ecosystems without relying on bridges, centralized parties, or unprovable logic. It’s the missing trust layer for a modular, interoperable, and enterprise-ready Web3. Pi Squared’s core offering is its Verifiable Settlement Layer (VSL)—essentially a decentralized, programmable foundation that wraps any action (data storage, transactions, computation) into a cryptographically sealed “claim.” These claims are verified by a global network of validators, settled via their high-performance FastSet consensus protocol, and become instantly accessible across chains and environments—all without intermediaries or trust assumptions. VSL enables fast, provable, cross-ecosystem settlements—serving AI, blockchains, or any off-chain systems. Already live on devnet, Pi Squared showcases powerful use cases like cross-chain asset bridging (e.g., via Wormhole NTT), blockchain state mirroring, and auditable AI pipelines via Trusted Execution Environments. Their system dramatically reduces redundant computation in blockchains—one node computes and proves, and everyone else verifies in milliseconds—boosting throughput, slashing energy use, and minimizing vulnerabilities. Think verifiability everywhere—from remote compute and DeFi to AI inference—supercharged by formal-language-backed proofs. Pi² is stitching formal verification, zero-knowledge proofs, and cross-chain interoperability into one fast, composable layer. No fluff, no trust—just proof. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Signals - Fixing NFT Launches
06/23/2025
Signals - Fixing NFT Launches
Nick Sainato, the Co-Founder of Gamma, has just launched Signals to fix NFT launches. Signals is a first-of-its-kind go-to-market platform that uncovers hidden demand signals and helps determine a fair market price for items within any launch, on any blockchain, on any drop site. Why you should listen NFT launches are famously chaotic: dummy wallets farm allow-lists, creators guess at a mint price, and traders pray the gas-war gods are kind. Signals flips that script. Built by the Gamma team, the Signals platform lets any collection on any chain list a drop in a neutral pre-launch lobby where real bidders “signal” demand with its in-app Bars points, surfacing a genuine clearing price before a single NFT is minted. In other words, it replaces finger-in-the-air pricing with data-driven price discovery and a transparent view of market appetite. For creators, Signals works like a launchpad that actually understands their pain. Instead of cobbling together Discord bots, spreadsheets and three different mint sites, they spin up one Signals page and let the auction mechanic do the heavy lifting: it “crowdsources a fair market price,” shows how many wallets are willing to pay it, and locks those commitments in Bars. That means no more under-pricing your art, no more over-promising on a fat 10k supply, and—because Signals is chain-agnostic—no more rewriting solidity every time you switch ecosystems. The result is predictable revenue and a public demand curve you can point investors (and your community) at with confidence. For traders, Signals “kills the whitelist grind”: you don’t have to spam Twitter giveaways or write bad haiku in Discord for a shot at mint—just stake Bars during the signalling window and you’re in the price-discovery pool. Because the final mint price is the auction’s clearing price, everyone pays the same number, eliminating the FOMO-fuelled gas spikes and post-mint dumpage that plague most drops. Add the fact that Signals listings are chain-agnostic and verified by the Gamma marketplace, and you’ve got a launch flow that feels less like a casino and more like a proper primary market—still speculative, but finally transparent and, dare we say, civilized. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Gaia - Decentralized AI Inferencing
06/18/2025
Gaia - Decentralized AI Inferencing
Shashank Sripada merges institutional rigor with systemic change. After managing $7B+ in assets and advising the White House, he co-founded Gaia to prove decentralized models can scale equitably. Gaia aims to empower anyone—from individual knowledge workers to domain experts—to build, launch, scale, and monetize their own AI agents. Why you should listen Gaia aims to empower anyone—from individual knowledge workers to domain experts—to build, launch, scale, and monetize their own AI agents. Each agent runs as a Gaia “node,” a lightweight, sandboxed runtime powered by technologies like WasmEdge, fine‑tuned open‑source LLMs, embedding models, vector databases, prompt management, a plugin system, and open APIs. This stack can be deployed anywhere (personal devices, cloud, edge), enabling agents that reflect the creator’s own style, knowledge, values, and expertise. Unlike closed‑box SaaS solutions (e.g., GPT‑4), Gaia nodes enable deep customization via fine‑tuning, RAG‑enhanced prompts, schema‑enforced outputs, and domain‑specific knowledge embeddings. This reduces hallucinations, cuts costs, and maintains data privacy. Users can build agents that speak and think like them, tailored to specific domains—far beyond generic LLM capabilities—and can interconnect to ingest external tools, memory systems, or APIs seamlessly. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using. This video is brought to you in partnership with Stabull Finance https://stabull.finance, the #stablecoin #DEX on #Ethereum and #Polygon that allows a growing number of fiat-backed stablecoins to be swapped against each other, liquidity pools, and a liquidity mining program. Make your first swap at https://app.stabull.finance or add liquidity at
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Me3 - AI-powered Engagement Infrastructure For Web3
06/17/2025
Me3 - AI-powered Engagement Infrastructure For Web3
Matthew Ainscow is a co-founder of Me3, a web3 engagement and infrastructure platform. Matthew has built partnerships with several of Asia’s largest E-sports and GameFi networks with the goal of converting Web2 users to Web3. Why you should listen In this conversation, Matthew discusses Me3, the innovative AI-powered engagement platform designed for Web3. He shares insights into the challenges of user retention in the crypto space, the technological advancements being implemented in their platform, and the upcoming token launch. The discussion highlights the importance of data analytics and user experience in enhancing engagement and sustainability in the Web3 ecosystem. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Raphael Coin - Tokenizing Fine Art
06/16/2025
Raphael Coin - Tokenizing Fine Art
Aliyyah Koloc, a professional racing driver and advocate for autism awareness, shares her unique journey from tennis to motorsports, her passion for art, and her involvement with Raphael Coin. She discusses the challenges and rewards of racing, the importance of tokenization in making art accessible, and her insights on the future of crypto for her generation. Why you should listen Raphael Coin was founded in early 2025 with the mission to democratize ownership of historically significant fine art. Following the recent authentication and rediscovery of “Recto: Study for the Battle of the Milvian Bridge” by Renaissance master Raffaello, the project was created to enable public participation in cultural heritage through blockchain technology. Raphael Coin uniquely allows public access and fractional ownership of an authenticated and recently rediscovered Renaissance masterpiece. It combines cultural importance, secure custody, and transparent ownership through blockchain technology. Raphael Coin offers fractional ownership of a culturally important artwork, the "Recto: Study for the Battle of the Milvian Bridge" piece recently rediscovered. Using blockchain technology, Raphael Coin makes fine art ownership accessible, secure, and transparent, allowing individuals worldwide to become stakeholders in cultural history. Founded in 2015, Gleec.com started as a comprehensive blockchain ecosystem aiming to simplify and secure digital asset management. Today, Gleec provides integrated blockchain infrastructure, centralized and decentralized exchanges, crypto cards, secure chat, and banking solutions, all underpinned by strong regulatory compliance. Gleec’s secure and licensed infrastructure now also powers innovative projects like Raphael Coin. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Velora - The Intent-Based Trading Protocol
06/12/2025
Velora - The Intent-Based Trading Protocol
Mounir Benchemled is the founder of Velora, an intent-based crosschain trading protocol that makes complex trading strategies simple and accessible for users. Why you should listen Mounir’s deep expertise in DEX aggregation and intent-based trading has positioned Velora as a leader in the DeFi space. As the platform evolves, Mounir is steering the next stage of growth by focusing on crosschain interoperability and agent-based execution, ensuring the best possible user experience with reduced gas costs, slippage, and revert protection. Velora’s core mission is to simplify access to DeFi by breaking down liquidity fragmentation—aggregating over 160 integrated protocols across Ethereum, BSC, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkEVM, and more. One of Velora’s standout features is Delta, a trading layer that shields you from MEV (miner extractable value) issues and rids you of gas costs. Delta uses "Portikus Infrastructure" and a fleet of competing settlement agents to secure best‑execution swaps—without upfront gas fees. On top of swaps, Velora offers on‑chain RFQ (request‑for‑quotes) from vetted market makers, yield optimization tools, and a public API/SDK for advanced integrations—making it a go‑to for DeFi devs and institutional teams. Velora is carving out the middle‑layer of DeFi—powering fast, secure, cross‑chain trades with gasless UX and plug‑and‑play tools for developers and institutions. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Obol - The largest Decentralized Operator Ecosystem in Ethereum
06/09/2025
Obol - The largest Decentralized Operator Ecosystem in Ethereum
Kody Sale (Head of Product) and Anthony Bertolino (Head of Marketing & Ecosystem) are leading Obol’s charge to scale the next generation of infrastructure networks. Together, they’re building the largest Decentralized Operator Ecosystem in Ethereum and Web3—powered by Obol’s groundbreaking distributed validator technology. Why you should listen Obol Network is building a decentralized staking infrastructure for proof‑of‑stake networks like Ethereum. Obol enables Distributed Validators (DVs): validator clusters made up of multiple operators who jointly run a validator, each holding partial key shares (via Distributed Key Generation). This setup boosts fault tolerance—if one or two nodes go offline or are compromised, the validator stays operational and the full private key is never concentrated in one place, significantly slashing security risk. Obol also integrates a rewards distribution mechanism, Obol Splits, that lets cluster participants define on‑chain how staking rewards are split—non‑custodial, transparent, and immutable. The Obol Stack is a plug‑and‑play framework that sits on Kubernetes and Helm, enabling users to deploy and maintain decentralized infrastructure—like Ethereum validators, full nodes, L2 sequencers, DePIN nodes, AI agents, and more—in an enterprise‑grade but user‑friendly fashion. Whether you're a solo home operator or part of a global datacenter cluster, the Stack lets you package, version, and deploy your setup via Helm charts—then share or discover them through the Obol App Store. This means no wrestling with Bash, Docker Compose, or fragile scripts—everything’s containerised, composable, and ready to scale. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Ledn - Bitcoin Backed Loans
06/04/2025
Ledn - Bitcoin Backed Loans
Mauricio Di Bartolomeo is the Co-Founder of Ledn, a pioneer in the fast-growing Bitcoin-Backed Loans category. Ledn provides a secure and transparent way to access liquidity while maintaining your Bitcoin holdings. Why you should listen Ledn.io is a financial services platform that provides Bitcoin and digital asset-backed loans and savings products. Founded in 2018, Ledn specializes in offering secure, transparent, and regulation-conscious financial tools for cryptocurrency holders. It allows users to earn interest on their Bitcoin and USDC holdings or access liquidity through Bitcoin-backed loans without having to sell their assets. The company operates under strict financial regulations and emphasizes transparency, including regular third-party attestations of client asset balances. One of Ledn’s flagship products is its Bitcoin-backed loan, which enables users to borrow USDC or USD against their Bitcoin at competitive interest rates, while maintaining ownership of their crypto. Ledn also offers a Bitcoin and USDC savings account, where clients can earn compounding interest paid monthly. The platform distinguishes itself through its security-first approach, with assets held in institutional-grade custody via BitGo Trust Company, a qualified custodian regulated in the U.S. This custody structure gives clients additional protection and reassurance in an industry often plagued by custodial risk. Ledn has raised significant venture funding from prominent investors including Coinbase Ventures, Kingsway Capital, and White Star Capital, signaling confidence in its business model. With a growing customer base in Latin America and other regions, Ledn continues to expand its product offerings while remaining committed to regulatory compliance and user-focused innovation in the Bitcoin finance space. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Glitch Financial - The World's Biggest Open Hedge Fund
06/03/2025
Glitch Financial - The World's Biggest Open Hedge Fund
Arrash Yasavolian is the Founder and CEO of Taoshi, Inc and Glitch Financial. Taoshi is a decentralized trading platform that leverages AI and blockchain technology to democratize access to sophisticated trading strategies. Built on the Bittensor network, Taoshi's Proprietary Trading Network (PTN) allows traders to compete in a decentralized ecosystem, where they are graded on risk-adjusted returns across various asset classes. The platform emphasizes transparency and fairness, aiming to empower both individuals and institutions to invest with confidence. Why you should listen Glitch Financial, launched in 2024 as a subsidiary of Taoshi, is a SaaS platform designed to bring advanced, AI-powered trading strategies to everyday investors. It offers automated trading features, allowing users to link their external brokerage accounts and select from a range of AI-driven strategies. Glitch is non-custodial, meaning users retain full control over their funds, and it's built to be user-friendly, catering to both novice and experienced traders. It is currently in Beta testing. Together, Taoshi and Glitch Financial represent a push towards making institutional-grade trading tools accessible to a broader audience. By combining decentralized AI infrastructure with user-centric design, they aim to transform the landscape of financial trading, offering tools that adapt to market volatility and empower users to make informed investment decisions. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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SSV - The Based Applications Protocol
05/29/2025
SSV - The Based Applications Protocol
Alon Muroch, founder of SSV Labs, the core development team behind ssv.network, a distributed staking infrastructure securing ~5% of all staked ETH. Alon’s work with SSV 2.0 and the Based movement is paving the way for validators to extend Ethereum’s security to emerging applications. Why you should listen In this conversation, Alon Murock, founder of SSV Labs, discusses the evolution of Ethereum, its current challenges, and the potential of based applications. He emphasizes the importance of decentralization and staking in securing Ethereum's future, while also addressing the need for a clearer narrative to attract users back to the ecosystem. Alon introduces the concept of based applications as a way to enhance the role of Ethereum validators and drive value back to the Ethereum network. Even though Ethereum remains a leader in terms of total value locked (TVL), there is room for improvement. Network activity is down, and momentum is slipping. Without meaningful change, Ethereum risks becoming inaccessible to the builders and users it needs to thrive. Ethereum needs fresh ideas to bolster the ecosystem out of its slump, unify it, and genuinely support innovation. Enter based applications (bApps), which are any application or service that uses the Ethereum validator set for security. Inspired by the based movement, bApps enable any project to bootstrap directly from the Ethereum layer 1 (L1), enabling interoperable, scalable and cost-effective development. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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IRA Financial - Invest Your IRA in Alternative Assets
05/28/2025
IRA Financial - Invest Your IRA in Alternative Assets
Adam Bergman is the founder of IRA Financial, is a U.S.based fintech company specializing in self-directed retirement accounts, offering a platform for individuals to invest their retirement funds in alternative assets. Why you should listen Founded by Adam Bergman, a former tax and ERISA attorney, IRA Financial empowers individuals to take control of their retirement funds through self-directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s. Unlike traditional retirement accounts that limit you to stocks and bonds, IRA Financial opens the door to alternative investments like real estate, precious metals, private placements, and even cryptocurrencies. With over 24,000 clients and $3.2 billion invested in alternative assets, they're making diversification more accessible than ever. IRA Financial offers IRAfi Crypto, a platform that allows you to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies within your retirement account 24/7. Partnered with Bitstamp, it supports over 30 popular tokens, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. The best part? There's no need to set up an LLC, and they handle all IRS reporting for you. For a $100 annual fee and a 1% trading fee, you get full control over your crypto investments, all within a tax-advantaged account . It's a modern twist on retirement planning, giving you the freedom to invest in the digital assets shaping our future. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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Ambire - The Web3 Wallet
05/26/2025
Ambire - The Web3 Wallet
Ivo Georgiev is the CEO & founder of Ambire Wallet, the Web3 wallet that just works. As the CEO of Ambire Wallet, Ivo leads a team of skilled developers and designers in building innovative products for the blockchain space. Why you should listen Ambire Wallet is a self-custodial smart wallet designed to simplify and enhance your Web3 experience. Built on the principles of account abstraction, it offers a user-friendly interface combined with powerful features, making it suitable for both newcomers and seasoned crypto enthusiasts. Unlike traditional wallets, Ambire operates as a smart contract wallet, allowing for advanced functionalities such as transaction batching and programmable account behavior. It leverages account abstraction to provide features like seedless account creation using email and password, and the ability to pay gas fees in stablecoins or other tokens. The wallet supports multiple EVM-compatible networks, enabling users to manage assets across different blockchains seamlessly. Ambire's unique Gas Tank allows users to prepay for transaction fees in various cryptocurrencies, offering savings and convenience. Additionally, the wallet supports hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor for enhanced security. Ambire Wallet is designed with user-friendliness in mind. Its intuitive interface simplifies complex crypto operations, making it accessible for users at all levels. The wallet also provides human-readable transaction details, reducing the risk of errors. With the introduction of Ethereum's Pectra upgrade and EIP-7702, Ambire has enhanced its wallet capabilities, allowing existing accounts to become programmable without compromising on functionality. This advancement enables users to enjoy the benefits of smart wallets without the need to create new accounts. Ambire Wallet stands out as a robust and user-centric solution for managing digital assets in the Web3 ecosystem. Its combination of advanced features, security, and ease of use positions it as a compelling choice for anyone looking to navigate the decentralized internet confidently. Supporting links If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.
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