DeFi Decoded 2p1c71

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating institutionalization of crypto, several emerging crypto treasury strategies, current market dynamics and the case for alternatives like cryptoassets, Andrew’s big news, the growing convergence between TradFi and DeFi, and more.

In this episode of DeFi Decoded, Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young dig into the "most quiet and ignored crypto rally ever." Bitcoin is well over $100,000 and within striking distance of an all-time high, yet this market lacks the fervor and excitement of past bull runs. They dig into the reasons this, namely the growing bifurcation between the "hard money" narrative typified by Bitcoin maximalism and the 'tech accelerationism' narrative of Web3. The proliferation of new tokens has made it harder for speciic projects to stand out. Meanwhile, many people in 'crypto' particularly newcomers are underweight Bitcoin. Next, they talk about the rumours Ripple might buy Circle, issuer of stablecoin USDT and finish on a wrap-up of the Consensus Conference, highlighting the Canadian crypto ecosystem and how DePin (decentralized physical infrastructure) projects were a big standout.

In this episode of DeFi Decoded, Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young speak with Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs about Eclipse's unique modular approach to building a scalable layer two network by combining the best of Solana, Ethereum and Celestia, and the implications for web3 and beyond. Eclipse is designed for decentralized application developers building category-leading DeFi, NFT, gaming, and consumer apps that leverage Ethereum’s liquidity and network effects. They also explore Vijay's journey from traditional finance to crypto, the early days of Ripple, his work at Uniswap and dydx and the current state of decentralized finance (DeFi). Eclipse's innovative TurboTap game, growth metrics, and the long-term vision for value accrual within the network. The discussion also touches on the role of Ethereum, developer strategies, and the future of layer two solutions in the crypto ecosystem.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. In this episode of DeFi Decoded, Alex and Andrew discuss the current state of the crypto market, focusing on the role of stablecoins, particularly Tether, in the treasury market. They explore the implications of Tether's growth and its potential to act as a significant buyer of U.S. government debt. The conversation also delves into Ethereum's upgrade, market valuations of private vs. public companies, and the future of crypto narratives.

Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of Web3 with special guest Vincent Kadar, CEO of Polymath. Listen in as they explore Vincent’s journey into crypto, the future of tokenized assets beyond dollars, some of the challenges of asset tokenization, a few exciting projects at Polymath, its purpose-built Polymesh blockchain for regulated assets, why some asset managers have chosen to build on public networks like Ethereum, what’s next for Polymath, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Scott Melker, AKA the Wolf of All Streets. Listen in as they discuss Bitcoin’s decoupling and whether that theory holds any weight, the severe underperformance of altcoins, the impact of additional crypto ETFs and public equities on the markets, predictions for the second half of 2025, the broad implications of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. economy, what’s going on with Ethereum, exciting sectors within the crypto asset class, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3.  Listen in as they discuss the current macroeconomic environment and its implications for the crypto market, four of the most positive fundamental trends in crypto, how stablecoins are creating new source of demand for U.S. government debt, the onchain gold and FX markets setting record highs in activity last week, the underlying economics for stablecoin issuers and their experience back in the zero-interest rate (ZRIP) era, the launch of the world’s first Solana ETFs in Canada, an update on the SX Network following its best month in history, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest James Seyffart, ETF Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Listen in as they discuss what’s happened with ETFs amid this past week’s market turmoil, the meaning of like ‘bearish but long’ and ‘Vanguard put,’ and how they relate to current investing trends, where most ETF flows are going, ETF trading volumes by asset class, key indicators to watch for gauging market sentiment, whether James sees any signs of market strain from the ETF lens, thoughts on new products that short leveraged ETFs, the influx of crypto ETF filings, whether the SEC will greenlight staking for crypto ETFs, the pros and cons of gaining crypto exposure through public corporation vehicles versus ETFs, the collapse in Grayscale’s Solana Trust and what it signals for SOL ETFs, how institutional investors are thinking about Bitcoin, the crypto market outlook for the second half of the year, the recent divergence between Bitcoin and crypto equities, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Daniel Lynch, Lead of MetaMask Card at Consensys. Listen in as they discuss the origin story of MetaMask Card, its evolution into Daniel’s full-time role, Argentina’s vibrant crypto developer ecosystem, his ambitious vision for self-custodial neobanking, innovative use cases for bringing offchain commerce onchain, how MetaMask Card enhances identity attestation, key corporate benefits it unlocks, their go-to-market strategy, the regions with the strongest adoption, their international expansion plans, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Michael Sonnenshein, Chief Operating Officer of Securitize. Listen in as they discuss the evolution of crypto regulations, Wall Street’s perception of public versus private blockchain networks, how Securitize selects blockchains to launch RWAs, the recently announced Converge blockchain by Securitize and Ethena, the key benefits of tokenization, why private equity firms are interested in tokenization, Sky’s $500 million allocation into BlackRock’s tokenized USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), emerging RWA sectors with high growth potential, the impact tokenization will have on financial markets, tokenized investment s, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Anthony Day, Head of Strategy & Marketing of Midnight. Listen in as they discuss Anthony’s background and journey into the space, Portugal’s crypto scene, Midnight’s launch strategy and long-term vision, how Midnight works, its focus on building its own L1 ecosystem versus serving as a middleware layer for other chains, the three generations of smart contract platforms and where Midnight stands, why Midnight chose Cardano to be its partner network over others, the future of onchain privacy, the U.S. government’s evolving stance on crypto, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Tom Dunleavy, Partner of MV Global. Listen in as they discuss what’s happening in the world and its impact on traditional and crypto markets, the implications of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. and its global trading partners, whether Trump is attempting to play 4D chess with the Fed to lower rates, the macro effects on the crypto market in the year ahead, which cryptoassets might perform well in the next leg of the bull market, how crypto fundamentals differ between layer 1 networks and applications, what DePIN is and the exciting projects leading this sector, the intersection of crypto and AI, Tom’s initial 2025 price targets for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana and whether he still stands by them, a potential return to fair token launches, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Jelena Djuric, CEO and Co-Founder of Noble. Listen in as they discuss key takeaways from ETHDenver 2025, the fastest-growing sectors in crypto, Noble’s achievements over the past year, the launch of Noble Dollar (USDN) and how it differs from traditional stablecoins, the concept of composable yield and its significance, the potential for a synthetic digital dollar backed by a basket of currencies, the future of DeFi, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi. Listen in as they discuss why Andrew remains bullish despite the recent brutal sell-off, a crash course on crypto fundamentals, the three key advantages of fundamental crypto investing over TradFi, valuable resources for analyzing standardized crypto metrics, the opportunity to invest in long-term compounders that return capital to tokenholders, a spotlight on Celestia and whether growth or economics should be the primary focus, the SEC’s dismissal of its lawsuit against Uniswap and its implications for the future of DeFi, current crypto market sentiment data, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Leah Wald, President & CEO, and Max Kaplan, CTO & Head of Staking, of Sol Strategies. Listen in as they discuss their excitement for Solana, Leah’s background and crypto journey, the origin and business overview of Sol Strategies, their growth strategy, the sustainability of staking yields, their perspective on so-called "Solana Killer" competition, their thoughts on appchains and the Solana network extension roap, Sol Strategies' long-term mission and vision, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Brian Mahoney, Co-Founder of Mezo. Listen in as they discuss Brian’s background and his work with Mezo and Thesis, why he proudly identifies as a Bitcoin Stoic, new Bitcoin use cases that have been unlocked by major technological breakthroughs, the various ways to earn yield onchain, the likely dominant yield product for the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin’s role in a multichain future, Mezo’s mUSD Bitcoin-backed stablecoin and its significance, the network’s biggest growth driver moving forward, Brian’s BTC price target for year-end, the positive impacts of Bitcoin’s onchain economy on network longevity, the latest on the civil war between innovators and maxis within the Bitcoin community, key differences in how Bitcoin miners operate in the East versus the West, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi. Listen in as they discuss the current macroeconomic landscape and its impact on crypto, recent regulatory updates from Washington, the potential establishment of a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Ethereum's loss of Ultra-Sound Money status after the Dencun network upgrade, the current market structure dynamics and where we go from here, and more.

Andrew Young as he decodes the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Darius Tabai, Co-Founder and CEO of Vertex Protocol. Listen in as they discuss Darius' background and crypto journey, what perp exchanges are and how the cash-and-carry trade works, the role Vertex fulfills within the crypto ecosystem and its key differentiators, the evolution of Vertex's products, Hyperliquid, whether every app needs its own chain, the future of Vertex and DeFi, Ethereum versus Solana, 2025 predictions, and more.

Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Dr. Friederike Ernst, Co-Founder of Gnosis. Listen in as they discuss how Friederike first got into crypto ten years ago and her journey in the space since then, what Gnosis is building and why the team views it as middleware, Gnosis’ transformation over the years and the vision behind Gnosis Chain, the current crossroads Ethereum faces and what Friederike believes needs to change, the process of spinning out both Cowswap and Safe, how they’ve developed, and more.

Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of Web3 and DeFi with special guest Eric Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Injective Labs. Listen in as they discuss the convergence of crypto and AI, Eric’s background and journey into the space, Injective’s inception and its current status, the emerging decentralized finance artificial intelligence (DeFAI) sector, the step-by-step process of how Injective’s iAgent works, whether DeFAI is just hype or has actual substance, whether the number of AI agents onchain has already sured that of real humans, Injective’s role in the AI agent ecosystem, whether the movie Her could become a reality this year, Injective’s focus in 2025, and more.