The Defiant

Muneeb Ali is the co-founder of Stacks, which is a L2 that enables smart contracts and decentralized applictions to be built on top of Bitcoin. Muneeb is an early adopter in the blockchain industry with over a decade of experience. He offers a unique and insightful perspective on the current landscape of leading Layer 1 blockchains. In our conversation, we explore his views on the role of Layer 2...

Tory Green is the Co-Founder and CEO of io.net, which is a decentralized computing network that powers ML applications and a prominent project in the DePIN category. Their primary mission is to unlock fair access to computing power by assembling over 1 million GPUs from independent data centers, crypto miners, and projects like Filecoin and Render, aiming to decentralize the AI stack and reduce bi...

Evgeny Yurtaev is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zerion, which is is an investing tool that enables users to manage their DeFi and NFT portfolios. Recently, Zerion announced the launch of a new Web3 wallet and a Layer 2 solution, Zero Network. These new products aim to enhance the user experience in DeFi by providing a friendlier user experience cost-effective transactions. In our conversation, we dive...

Kain Warwick is the founder of Synthetix, an OG DeFi protocol which allows users to mint and trade a wide variety of synthetic assets, including cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, commodities, and stocks, providing liquidity and exposure without the need for traditional financial intermediaries. His latest project, Infinex, is focused on solving crypto’s UX problems, aiming to make the user experi...

Benjamin Jones is the director of the Optimism Foundation, which is dedicated to scaling Ethereum and the team building Optimism Layer 2. Currently, Optimism sits in third place among Layer 2s with $6.42B in Total Value Locked. In this episode, we dive deep into the Superchain Thesis and explore how Optimism aims to optimize Ethereum scalability. We start by discussing what Optimism is and its mis...

Our guest today is Noah Seidman, who has an impressive systematic view on crypto and how crypto fits into the overall macro market. Noah is a technologist with a career spanning two decades. He has a unique perspective on the intersection of crypto and finance, garnering him a reputation as a thought leader. While most on Crypto Twitter are talking about memecoins and the next few months, Noah has...

Daniel Fogg is the CEO of RootstockLabs, the organization behind the Rootstock sidechain, which is a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution designed to enhance Bitcoin's capabilities with smart contract functionality. Rootstock was launched in January 2018, becoming the first Bitcoin sidechain, and is secured by Bitcoin's hashing power through a merged mining process. The sidechain leverages Bitcoin&#39...

Suji Yan is the founder of Mask Network, a platform that brings privacy and benefits from Web3 to traditional social media like Facebook & Twitter. Suji Yan launched Mask to provide users with tools to encrypt their social media interactions and protect their online privacy. His goal is to create an internet where individuals have more control over their digital presence. In our conversation,...

Gabby Dizon is the Co-Founder of Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized autonomous organization that invests in virtual world assets. Yield Guild Games focuses on creating a global community of gamers who earn rewards by playing blockchain-based games. YGG operates on the play-to-earn model, allowing players to generate income through in-game activities and ownership of digital assets. 0:00 Intr...

Johann Kerbrat is the Crypto General Manager at Robinhood, one of the largest exchanges in the world. In today's episode will delve into his journey with Robinhood Crypto. His thoughts on the future of the industry and the groundbreaking work they are doing to democratize finance for all. They have launched a lot of products recently, including a self custodial wallet, staking, Web3 games and...

David Schwartz is the CTO of Ripple, a Layer 1 blockchain that has been an established name in the cryptocurrency industry since 2012. Ripple is the platform behind XRP, one of the original cryptocurrencies, which currently ranks eighth in market capitalization at $30 billion. Known for its numerous legal battles with the SEC, Ripple has also recently announced the launch of a new stablecoin. In t...

Jose Fernandez da Ponte is the Head of Crypto at PayPal. PayPal's entry into the crypto market dates back to 2020 when they announced the integration of various crypto assets, enabling users to buy, sell, and hold digital currencies. Since then, they have progressively expanded their crypto offerings and adopted more ambitious strategies to incorporate blockchain technology. In this podcast, w...

Lukas Schor is the Co-Founder of Safe, an onchain asset custody protocol, securing ~$100 Billion in assets today. Originally developed under Gnosis as a smart account for securing digital assets, Safe eventually became an independent project after spinning off on its own. Today, Safe has a TVL of over $100B. In this episode, we go over the recently launched $GNO token, its use cases, early days of...

Carlos Domingo is the founder and CEO of Securitize, a platform for issuing and trading security tokens or digital securities on the blockchain. Securitize aims to modernize the traditional financial markets by leveraging blockchain technology to provide greater accessibility, efficiency, and transparency in securities trading. Securitize recently partnered up with BlackRock to explore innovations...

Stani Kulechov is the founder of Aave, which has become the largest lending protocol in DeFi. Aave has evolved under a new umbrella called Avara, incorporating additional projects like Lens, a Web3 social media protocol, and a family and Web3 wallet. Stani has previously discussed these developments on our show in 2020 and 2022, and with each appearance, the Avara family has expanded significantly...

Hello Defiers! Today, I'm bringing you a very special episode from a session I moderated at SXSW this year. SXSW is a massive festival annually held in Austin, Texas, that merges music, film, and tech into an exciting blend of creativity and innovation, drawing artists, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts from around the globe. At SXSW, I had the opportunity of leading a session with Chris Dixon, a...

Li Jin is a prominent figure in the venture capital industry. She is the co-founder and managing partner at Variant Fund, a venture firm that invests in Web3 and the ownership economy. Before founding Variant, Li Jin worked at Andreessen Horowitz, a leading venture capital firm, where she helped to shape the firm’s views on the emerging tech landscape, including the gig and passion economies. In t...

In today's podcast we host Mike Silagadze, founder of ether.fi, an Ethereum restaking protocol, and Nikhil Raghuveera, co-founder of Aethos, a decentralized policy engine being built on EigenLayer. Liquid restaking has recently emerged as a significant trend in the Ethereum ecosystem. In today's podcast, we'll delve into the use cases that restaking unlocks via Active Validating Servic...

TN Lee is the founder of Pendle Finance - a DeFi platform that enables users to tokenize and trade future yield on Ethereum assets. Pendle has shown remarkable expansion since the beginning of the year, elevating its TVL from $250 million to over $3 billion in just a few months. In this podcast, we explore the fundamentals of Pendle Finance, providing a comprehensive understanding of one of DeFi&#...

Tomer Weller is the VP of Product at Stellar, one of the earliest alternative Layer 1 chains that existed before Ethereum. Stellar recently launched Soroban, its smart contract platform, designed to enhance the blockchain's functionality with efficient, developer-friendly tools for building sophisticated applications. In today's conversation, we dive deep into Stellar, overview their funda...

Erica Kang is the CEO and founder of KryptoSeoul, a leading community building team in South Korea that focuses on blockchain projects. Erica has been a bridge between the East and the West for a very long time, and today we get to dive deep into her journey. She grew up in Korea, then moved to the United States and did a stint in Vietnam. She has not only reshaped the blockchain landscape, but sh...

In today's podcast we host two guests: Kevin Owocki, co-founder of Gitcoin, and Meg Lister, GM at Gitcoin Grants Labs. Gitcoin is a platform that connects developers with open-source projects for funding, collaboration, and building digital public goods through various forms of contribution like coding, design, and more. In our conversation we learn about the origin story of Gitcoin and breakd...

Evan Cheng is the Co-founder & CEO at Mysten Labs, which is the team behind Sui Network. In their words, Sui is a Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform "designed to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible". In our conversation we explore the potential of this up and coming Layer 1 by learning about the underlying motivation of the founder, what mak...

Guy Young is the founder and CEO of Ethena Labs, which is the entity behind Ethena, the synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum. Ethena also introduces a universally available dollar-linked savings option known as the 'Internet Bond'. Ethena introduces an innovative stablecoin model. Throughout our discussion, we thoroughly explore the mechanics and intricacies of Ethena, gaining a dee...

Avery Ching is the co-founder and CTO of Aptos, which is a Layer 1 blockchain developed by former Facebook employees that launched towards the end of 2022. Aptos uses the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism and aims to achieve high throughput and high security for smart contracts. In our conversation, we cover the fundamentals of Aptos, with Avery highlighting the unique features that set Aptos apa...