Endgame with Amanda Cassatt

What happens when the American empire goes offline? In this episode of Endgame, Amanda Cassatt sits down with Balaji Srinivasan to explore a world run by China and the internet. Balaji outlines the forces driving that shift, from America’s unacknowledged debt spiral and split into “Blue, Red, and Tech America,” to an approaching reality check that will reveal how much value the West has already lo...

What happens when Ethereum staking outperforms U.S. Treasuries? In this episode of Endgame, Alluvial CEO Mara Schmiedt joins Amanda Cassatt to unpack how Ethereum staking evolved from a technical mechanism into the internet’s first native yield. They examine why traditional finance is starting to experiment with onchain systems, how liquid staking tokens are collapsing the boundary between DeFi an...

Silicon Valley is building AI on the wrong assumptions, says Microsoft economist and researcher Glen Weyl. Glen Weyl has spent his life at the intersection of tech and politics and sees a critical gap in tech driven by Bay Area culture, where the voices of religious and culturally grounded communities are almost entirely absent. He argues that this lack of perspective has shaped Silicon Valley’s A...

What if you could choose your child before they’re born? Noor Siddiqui, founder of Orchid, joins Amanda Cassatt to explore one of the most profound frontiers in biotech: genetically screening and selecting embryos during IVF. At the intersection of science, ethics, and the human desire for legacy, this conversation asks how far we’re willing to go to optimize health, reduce suffering, and rethink...

Crypto began as a rebellion against banks, bailouts, and surveillance. But what happens when the same forces it tried to outrun start reshaping the industry from within? Megan Knab, founder of Franklin, joins Amanda Cassatt on Endgame to examine where crypto may be drifting off course. She raises concerns about what happens when privacy disappears, how unbanking and financial exclusion play out in...

➡️Like this episode? Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/endgame It feels like crypto adoption is moving at lightning speed, but is anyone still "in it for the tech"? Eddy Lazzarin, CTO of a16z crypto, joins Amanda Cassatt on Endgame to explore the growing influence of capital markets, and government and regulatory access, in the current landscape, as well as the specific breakthroughs he...

How decentralized AI will win, according to NEAR Founder Illia Polusukhin. Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, joins me on the latest episode of Endgame to challenge everything we think we know about AI. In this episode, Illia explains:  - The dangers of AI being monopolized by corporate interests - Why a user-owned, decentralized model is the way forward - The role of blockchain and co...

What does crypto look like when you strip away the noise and just follow the data? Fredrik Haga, co-founder of Dune, joins Amanda Cassatt for a conversation that cuts through the headlines and into the heart of what’s actually happening onchain. From the slow decline of NFTs to the real traction behind stablecoins and RWAs, Frederik offers an inside look into crypto’s shifting center of gravity an...

Ethereum has always been the foundation for the next financial system. Amanda Cassatt sits down with Grant Hummer, co-founder of Etherealize, to explore why Ethereum continues to be misunderstood, especially by institutions, and what it will take to change that. They go deep on Ethereum’s cultural and economic DNA, from early narrative missteps to what makes ETH uniquely positioned to dominate tok...

What if the real threat to humanity isn’t death, but the belief that life needs to mean something? In this episode of Endgame, Amanda Cassatt and Bryan Johnson explore the architecture of a world where death is optional and meaning might be too. Rejecting first-principles thinking, the problem-solving method rooted in historical patterns and known truths, Bryan proposes zeroth-principles thinking:...

Can a digitally native dollar outcompete the systems that built global finance? Sean Neville,  former Co-CEO and President of Circle, unpacks why stablecoins are not just a side note in crypto, they’re the financial infrastructure quietly reshaping global payments, remittances, and even central bank strategy. Together, Sean and Amanda explore how stablecoins are reshaping global finance, from redu...

Do you think UBI is inevitable in an AI-driven world? Martin Köppelmann, co-founder of Gnosis, Gnosis Safe, and Circles, believes Universal Basic Income isn’t just possible, it’s inevitable. In a world where AI disrupts the job market, he says we won’t be able to rely on states or billionaires to deliver it. In this episode, Martin and Amanda unpack what “basic” income should really mean. He argue...

Could quantum computers destroy Bitcoin? John Lilic, early Ethereum adopter and crypto investor and Stefano Gogioso, quantum computing expert and Oxford lecturer, unpack one of the biggest threats on crypto’s horizon: Q-Day - the moment quantum computers become powerful enough to break the encryption behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the entire blockchain ecosystem. Together with Amanda, they dive dee...

What if the future of civilization isn’t in fixing our current systems—but starting entirely new ones? Dryden Brown is the co-founder of Praxis, the ambitious project aiming to build a new city-state from the ground up—one that’s already backed by over $500 million in funding. Dryden shares his vision for a modern Atlantis: a society designed as a refuge from AI disruption and bureaucratic gridloc...

Crypto went from being laughed out of the room in Washington to becoming one of the most aggressive forces in modern lobbying. Now, it’s not just part of the conversation, it’s reshaping the rules from the inside. Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, reveals the real dynamics between crypto and Capitol Hill. Amanda and Kristin unpack how crypto gained power in DC and what it actually...

What do billion-dollar asset managers really think about your token? Pranav Kanade manages Digital Assets Alpha Fund, an actively managed crypto strategy at VanEck, one of the world’s largest asset managers with over $116B in assets under management. In this episode, Amanda and Pranav unpack how traditional finance approaches the space, how they evaluate projects, what good tokenomics actually loo...

What happens when machines become more economically valuable than humans? This episode dives into the real future of AI—not a sudden singularity, but a steady shift that’s redefining how we work, govern, and live. Amanda is joined by George Hotz to explore why humans still matter in an AI-driven world, how value creation—not credentials—will shape the future, and what happens when intellectual pro...

Curtis Yarvin—founder of Urbit, political philosopher and  blogger formerly known as Mencius Moldbug, the man who coined the term “red pill” is known for his influence on thinkers like Peter Thiel and JD Vance. In this episode, he offers a critical analysis of America’s political and economic landscape. He critiques the MAGA movement, exploring the limits of democracy and the rise of oligarchy, th...

Having access to a bank account is synonymous with human rights. Stani Kulechov is a pioneer in decentralized finance and blockchain technology. He is the Founder and CEO of Avara, the software development company behind DeFi protocol Aave, stablecoin GHO, SocialFi tech stack Lens Chain and Family, the Ethereum wallet.  In this episode, he joins Amanda to discuss the evolving dynamics between DeFi...

Is Ethereum staying true to its ideals? Ameen Soleimani—founder of SpankChain, summoner of MolochDAO, contributor to Tornado Cash, and now leading 0xbow—has spent years building tools that test the boundaries of decentralization and financial privacy. In this episode, he joins Amanda to explore Ethereum’s shifting values: what’s been preserved, what’s been sacrificed, and what’s at stake as the ne...

What if gaming guilds in the Philippines are already preparing for the future of work the rest of the world hasn’t seen coming? Gabby Dizon, Co-Founder of Yield Guild Games (YGG), shares how digital labor is evolving at the intersection of gaming, AI, and crypto. As automation threatens traditional jobs, guilds are becoming early experiments in agile, creative, globally distributed work. This epis...

The world is changing at an accelerating pace— Endgame is here to make sense of it. Hosted by Amanda Cassatt, founder of Serotonin, this podcast brings you conversations with the visionaries driving breakthrough technologies and shaping the future. Join Amanda as she unpacks the trends, innovations, and paradigm shifts defining our time. Where is this all going? Let’s figure it out together. Subsc...