The Crypto Mavericks

Today’s conversation focuses on one of the more unique stories in the market: a Nasdaq-listed biotech company combining its clinical-stage immunotherapy pipeline with a first-of-its-kind prediction markets digital asset treasury strategy built around the RAIN protocol. We discuss why prediction markets are gaining momentum, how Rain fits into the broader market infrastructure layer, what AI-genera...

Crypto is entering a new phase, one where growth alone is no longer enough. Platforms are being forced to balance speed with security, and compliance is becoming a core part of the infrastructure that allows the industry to scale. In this episode, we sit down with Christian Nunez from Sumsub to break down what’s really happening behind the scenes. From onboarding and identity verification to fraud...

In this episode of the Crypto 101 Podcast, Alvin from Bitget Wallet explains how crypto is returning to its original purpose—enabling global, borderless payments through blockchain infrastructure. He introduces the “on-chain payment matrix,” a system connecting stablecoins, banks, cards, and merchants to make crypto spending seamless in the real world. The conversation highlights why stablecoins a...

In this episode, we sit down with Kurt Ivy to break down how Aces.fun is bringing real-world and alternative assets onchain in a completely new way. From physical goods to attention-driven markets, Aces is exploring how traditionally illiquid assets can become liquid, tradeable, and globally accessible. We dive into what’s actually changing in crypto right now. Why RWAs are gaining momentum, how r...

In this episode of the Crypto Mavericks, we sit down with Ben Coverston, Co-Founder and CEO of Harmonic, to talk about how Solana’s infrastructure is evolving and why open block building could play a major role in the network’s future. We break down what Harmonic is building, why fairness and competition matter so much at the validator level, and how these shifts could help make Solana stronger, m...

In this episode, we sit down with Inder Phull, co-founder of KOR Protocol and Pixel Lynx, to explore how music, gaming, and blockchain are converging into a new creator economy. We break down what they’re building, how Web3 is changing monetization for artists, and why ownership and community could redefine the future of entertainment. If you’re interested in where culture, tech, and crypto collid...

In this episode of the Crypto Mavericks, we hosted Rodrigo Coelho of Edge & Node to talk about where blockchain infrastructure is headed next, from The Graph’s roots in decentralized data to Edge & Node’s newer push into enterprise-grade on-chain operations. The conversation centered on how Amp helps institutions turn blockchain activity into structured, auditable, compliance-ready data, a...

In this episode of the Crypto Mavericks, we talk with the founder and CEO of LayerLens about why AI accountability is becoming critical in the age of AI agents. We discuss how AI evaluation works, what happens when markets are designed for non-human participants, and why the winners in the next era of technology may be the companies and protocols built for autonomous systems from day one. Social M...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, we sit down with Dr. Manny Ahmed, Co-Founder of OpenOrigins, to discuss the growing risks of deepfakes and AI-generated media. We explore how synthetic content is moving beyond novelty into real-world threats like impersonation, financial fraud, and misinformation. Dr. Ahmed explains why traditional detection tools are falling behind and why the future may rely...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, we break down how TIX and KYD Labs are using Solana DeFi to challenge the legacy ticketing model dominated by companies like Ticketmaster. Instead of locking venues into long-term, capital-draining contracts, TIX gives venues access to on-chain liquidity pools, turning ticket revenue into programmable real-world assets. We explore why NFT ticketing failed, how...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, we sit down with Asymmetric Research, a Web3 security firm that partners long-term with L1s, L2s, and DeFi protocols to help them build safely in the open. We keep it high level and practical, covering how AR embeds with teams (not just one-off audits), how they think about security research, incident response, security engineering, and blockchain validation/in...

In this episode, we sit down with the founder of Cycles to explore how they are rethinking financial infrastructure for the onchain world. We break down the concept of clearing in simple terms, why it matters beyond traditional finance, and how Cycles brings institutional-grade clearing to digital assets while maintaining privacy and accessibility. The conversation dives into some of the biggest c...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, we sat down with Ryne Saxe, co-founder and CEO of Eco, to break down what stablecoins are becoming and why they matter far beyond crypto. We talked about how stablecoins are quietly turning into the default rails for moving money, what it means that Ethereum processed more stablecoin volume than Visa in a single month, and why interoperability, not launching ne...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, I sit down with Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional Relations at Lido, to break down why Ethereum staking used to be a non-starter for serious institutions, and why that has changed fast. We cover what Lido actually does, how liquid staking and stETH help solve the liquidity and operational headaches that treasury mandates care about, and why more allocators ar...

In this episode of Crypto Mavericks, we sit down with David Zhao, co-founder of Chubby Cattle International, to explore how one of the fastest-growing modern restaurant groups is blending hospitality, culture, and blockchain in a practical way. Now operating 57 restaurants globally, David shares how Chubby Cattle’s vertically integrated supply chain gives them unmatched control over quality, margi...

In this episode, we sit down with Favio Velarde, VP of Strategy at Sologenic, to explore where onchain finance is headed and why tokenization may be one of the biggest shifts in markets over the next decade. We discuss why 2026 could be a breakout year for tokenized stocks, the continued growth of tokenized treasuries, and how stablecoins are becoming the gateway for capital to move into onchain m...

In this episode, we sit down with Kash from Jupiter to break down how Jupiter has evolved into the onchain finance super app on Solana. We explore Jupiter’s transition from a trading tool into a full-stack onchain platform, how users actually interact with it at scale, and what it means to build financial infrastructure directly onchain. A major focus of the conversation centers on JupUSD, Jupiter...

On this episode, we talked about how traditional finance and crypto are starting to merge, and why institutional adoption is less about hype and more about market plumbing, settlement, risk, and compliance. We covered what crypto-native builders often misunderstand about institutional capital, and what traditional institutions still get wrong about blockchain. From there, we broke down the idea of...

In today’s episode, we dive deep into one of the most overlooked — yet potentially largest — sectors in all of crypto: market data . Every trade, every protocol, every derivative, every liquidation, every automated decision in DeFi depends on one thing: prices. And the race to deliver those prices with institutional accuracy and sub-second latency is shaping up to be a $100B battle for the future...

On this episode, we sat down with Driss the CEO and co-founder from YO to talk about how they are building automated yield in DeFi. YO is focused on making yield generation simpler for users by intelligently allocating capital across strategies, while keeping risk management and transparency front and center. We discussed YO’s vision, how they think about automation versus risk, what separates the...

On this episode of The Crypto Mavericks, we sit down with Zain, CTO of Horizen, to discuss how crypto privacy and infrastructure are evolving as the industry matures. We explore broader trends around scalability, developer experience, and how privacy fits into the next phase of on-chain applications. Zain shares perspective from building blockchain systems and contributing to Horizen’s development...

In this episode we sit down with Brian Huang, CEO of Glider, and Jack Ratkovich, Ecosystem Growth Lead at Plume, to break down a major new integration between the two platforms. Plume, a leading RWA blockchain, is bringing its Nest protocol and institutional-grade real-world asset yields straight into Glider’s automated portfolio platform. The goal is simple: make earning real-world yield a one-cl...

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Schorr from Dapper Labs to unpack all the major updates coming to NBA Top Shot — from revamped pack drops to new market mechanics, improved collector tools, and fresh approaches to scarcity and utility. Whether you’re a longtime collector or someone curious about digital basketball moments, this conversation breaks down exactly how Top Shot is evolving for 20...

In this episode, we dive deep with Eric McHugh , the founder of Aces.fun , a next-gen RWA marketplace that blends trading, community incentives, and game theory into one unique ecosystem. Aces.fun introduces an inverse reward model — where the lower a token’s price, the higher each holder’s share of community rewards becomes — creating a new kind of meta-game economy that flips traditional market...

In this episode, we sit down with co-founder Nirav Murthy to dive into how Camp went from bold vision to live mainnet, how they’re enabling creators to own , share and monetize IP in an AI-native world, and what it really means to build the network layer for tomorrow’s media and agent-driven experiences. Whether you’re building in Web3, creating content, or just curious about where IP, AI and bloc...