Blockcast

In this episode of Licensed to Shill, the Blockcast crew dives headfirst into the industry's accelerating maturity, turbocharged by eye-popping M&A deals and the convergence of TradFi and crypto. Your host Takatoshi Shibayama is joined by Lisa J.Y. Tan (Economics Design), Nikhil Joshi (Emurgo), and Valentin Fournier (BRN) for a no-holds-barred analysis of the industry's most compelli...

In this episode, Taka sits down with Davide Menegaldo, a true crypto OG, to explore his journey from Bitcoin maximalism to building infrastructure at Neon EVM , which enables EVM-based dApps to run on Solana.  Davide shares insights on the evolution of blockchain infrastructure, Ethereum's Layer 2 challenges, Solana’s rapid growth, and the future of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. He als...

This week we have a special guest, Jeremy Tan, the independent candidate for Mountbatten SMC who garnered a surprising 36% of the vote in Singapore's general election by centering his campaign on, among other things, Bitcoin adoption. Jeremy discusses his motivations for bringing Bitcoin into the political arena, highlighting the need for Singapore to consider it as a hedge against US dollar...

In this episode, Takatoshi Shibayama speaks with Alex Ryvkin, founder of Rho Labs, about the launch of Rho Protocol , the first institutional-grade market for crypto interest rates.  Alex explains the significance of "crypto-native" rates like staking yields and perp funding rates, highlighting the extreme volatility of the latter and the need for hedging tools. He explains how Rho Proto...

In the latest episode of Blockcast, host Takatoshi Shibayama sits down with Hassan Ahmed, the Country Director for Coinbase Singapore, for an insightful conversation that unpacks Coinbase's ambitious plans in the Asia Pacific region and the broader evolution of the crypto industry, providing valuable insights for anyone interested in the future of digital assets.  Ahmed's journey into cr...

Ever wondered how Web3 will reach billions? Tune in as we chat with Sota Watanabe, CEO of ⁠Startale Group⁠ about his ambitious vision. Startale's portfolio includes Astar Network and the exciting new Ethereum Layer-2, Soneium, developed in partnership with Sony Group using Optimism's OP Stack for faster and cheaper transactions. We unpack Soneium, their new cost-effective Ethereum Layer-...

Host Takatoshi Shibayama is joined by Nikhil Joshi, chief operating officer, Emurgo , and Lisa JY Tan, founder and founding economist, Economics Design , to discuss the latest news and developments in the crypto industry. The panel addresses the current market panic, questioning Bitcoin's role as a hedge amidst Fed influence and stock-crypto divergence, the current state of Ethereum, the acqu...

Ever wondered what happens when AI, crypto, and the adult entertainment industry collide? This week, Blockcast delves into the developing space of digital interaction with Nic Young, CEO of Oh , a platform at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency within the adult entertainment industry. Nic unpacks how Oh is building AI-powered digital companions, including realis...

Jacob Phillips began his entry into crypto with an interest in finance and technology, leading him to a crypto fund in Cleveland during the 2018 boom. This experience deepened his understanding of blockchain and its long-term potential as major institutions and VCs entered the space.  His career accelerated when he joined Polychain in 2020, working with top investors to evaluate projects and navig...

Chris Yu co-founded SignalPlus in 2021 to address key gaps in the crypto options market, leveraging his experience as a trader and his insights into the market's early-stage potential. In this Blockcast episode, Yu explains why he sees the state of crypto options resembling the FX options market around 2000 and why there is an opportunity to build infrastructure that could scale with the indu...

Kathy Zhu has been involved with the crypto industry from both inside and out, from her days as a journalist to her current role as APAC lead at Mezo, an EVM blockchain-based platform that allows users to stake BTC assets to secure itself and serve as Bitcoin's economic layer.  Joining Binance when it was a small startup of fewer than 200 people, she worked in global marketing and later trans...

Jess Zeng entered the crypto industry as an intern at Gemini while studying finance at SMU. She then moved on to work at Chainlink, where she transitioned from a business development role to an ecosystem-building focus.  After a stint at Fireblocks to gain institutional experience, she joined Mantle, where she now leads ecosystem growth for mETH - the liquid staking platform backed by Mantle.  In...

Host Takatoshi Shibayama (ex-Copper, now Ledger APAC Head) chats with Samar Sen (APAC Head at Talos) about Talos's institutional-grade crypto trading infrastructure. Sen details his transition from traditional finance (Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank) to Talos and explains how the firm provides SaaS solutions connecting clients to diverse liquidity sources with tools for execution, risk manageme...

This week, host Takatoshi Shibayama speaks to Kain Warwick, founder of Infinex , and a renowned figure in the DeFi space, known for his work on the Synthetix protocol. Warwick argues that the current crypto landscape, dominated by centralized exchanges, is unsustainable and hinders innovation. He outlines Infinex's vision to create a decentralized platform that rivals the convenience and acce...

Currently serving as the CEO of Future DAO and Etheleo Decisions, Mathew Markman is currently pursuing a PhD in Future Studies. Blending Web3 with cutting-edge decision-making tools to empower communities and transform financial and governance systems, Markman has made significant strides in the Web3 space. As the survivor of a crypto rugpull, Markman tells Blockhead how his vulnerabilities were e...

In this episode, Takatoshi Shibayama sits down with Jason Choi, general partner at crypto prop shop Tangent , for a candid exploration of crypto markets. Choi discusses meme coin supercycles, navigating macroeconomic headwinds, and the evolution of project evaluation from speculative hype to real-world traction. They then take a peek into Tangent’s thesis-driven strategies spanning liquid trading,...

Having established the first cryptocurrency exchange to be licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Lasanka Perera is a veteran of the local crypto scene. With over a decade of experience growing Independent Reserere, the Aussie-born crypto industry leader reflects on his journey of volatility, difficulties, uncertaintly, and ultimately, success. Perera, who's also an avid golf...

Having been exposed to China's GPU cloud sector, Mark Rydon decided to take on the challenges with centralized GPU clouds, such as Google's Stadia, which struggled to provide low-latency gaming services economically.  Applying a decentralised structure, Aethir allows more accessible cloud services closer to users, which reduces latency and benefits high-demand applications like gaming an...

After gaining tech and product skills at Google in Tokyo, Arisa Toyosaki co-founded Sega, a DeFi protocol focused on structured investment products in 2021. Rather than creating a full-fledged options exchange, Sega targets retail investors with structured products that are less risky and user-friendly. In this Blockcast episode, Toyosaki explains how Sega offers exotic options that cover market f...

This week Augustine Fan, founding partner of SOFA.org, joins us on Blockcast. SOFA is a decentralized, non-profit, and open-source DAO dedicated to developing a trustless, DeFi ecosystem capable of atomically settling financial assets on the blockchain. Fan chats with host Takatoshi Shibayama focuses on role of structured products in crypto, they types available to investors, how they work, and ho...

What does it take to organise the best crypto event? Whether it's annual industry staples like Token 2049 or a one-off crypto rave side event, Web3 is never short of events. But with so many to keep track of and so many moving parts in logistics, how are event planners coping in Web3? From guest registration to NFT ticketing, Moongate helps Web3 companies manage their event, ensuring that the...

On this week’s Blockcast, we speak with Luca Prosperi, co-founder and CEO at M^0 Labs, whose man-bun and genial personality belies battle scars from almost 2 decades of traditional banking, helping to build MakerDAO and, a health scare. Luca dissects the concept of money creation and some of the foundations behind M^0’s quest to build infrastructure for a crypto dollar. Privately issued stablecoin...

F1 and Token2049 week has raced past us and while we're glad to see the industry's wildest week in the rearview mirror, we'd be amiss to not share a few insights we learned during this manic period. We spoke to Kash Razzaghi, New York-based Chief Business Officer at Circle, who discussed business and market trends in Asia and beyond, including cross-border payments and decentralized...

In this TOKEN2049 special episode, we sat down with #crypto veteran and industry legend, Charles Hoskinson. As synonymous with Cardano as Vitalik Buterin is with #Ethereum , Hoskinson has fostered a unified community behind his blockchain and continues on his path of innovation and disruption. With Cardano's recent upgrade Leios, Hoskinson believes Solana Foundation 's time in the spotli...

This week marks the first iteration of Blockcast hosted by Copper Head of Revenue APAC, Takatoshi Shibayama, who will take on the role of host in upcoming episodes. In this edition of Blockcast, we sit down with Aneirin Flynn - the formal Navy Diver turned Ethlas CBO and now FailSafe CEO. Flynn reflects on his deep sea diving days and how his experience with the navy unit helped to shape his risk...