The DCo Podcast

You can borrow against most of the valuable assets - land, house, factory, and even art. But you still can't easily get a loan against GPUs, one of the most valuable assets on earth right now. David Choi, co-founder of USDai (Permian Labs), is building the market that fixes that. He lends against the chip rather than the company, and uses crypto rails to turn that debt into a tradeable instrument...

Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, built ZKSync as an L2 scaling project. When a dozen other L2s converged on doing the same thing, he pivoted to a harder problem: getting banks on-chain. In this conversation, we get into what actually secures a blockchain (hint: not the validators) and how zero-knowledge proofs allow institutions to maintain privacy without sacrificing enforcement guarantees. W...

Brett Harrison helped scale FTX US before founding Architect and its exchange AX. AX is the first regulated centralised exchange for perpetual futures on traditional assets like gold, currencies, single stocks, and GPU compute, all settled on crypto rails. We talk about why perpetuals never took off in traditional finance, the innovator's dilemma facing CME, and how crypto infrastructure is quietl...

In this episode, LI.FI Founder and CEO Philipp Zentner joins Saurabh to unpack where crypto is headed as tokenised assets proliferate across chains, standards, compliance rails and execution venues. They talk about why fragmentation is the default, why distribution is the hard part of tokenisation, and how LI.FI is building the orchestration layer that makes “asset A to asset B in one click” possi...

Timothy Stebbing is CTO of House of Doge and Director at the Dogecoin Foundation. He spent 25 years in open source development before joining Dogecoin in 2021. In this episode, we discuss: • Why Timothy tells his friends and family to stay away from crypto • How 2% inflation was accidentally good design • Why Bitcoin lost the payments battle • The growth from five developers to over a hundred • Ma...

AI is shifting from chat interfaces to agents that act, earn, and participate in real economic activity. Mike Hanono, CEO of Talus Network, explains how this agentic economy takes shape and why it needs crypto rails. We explore idol.fun as the first live example of agents competing and generating value. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acces...

Eric Saraniecki has spent the past decade building the infrastructure that large financial institutions need to participate in crypto. As the Co-Founder and Head of Product at Digital Asset and a core builder behind Canton Network, Eric has a perspective that few operators in this industry share. He works directly with banks, asset managers, and market operators on the problems that define institu...

The conversation with Justin Waldron, co-founder of Zynga and now founder of Open Game Protocol, is a masterclass in how distribution models evolve in games and how Web3 could power the next one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.decentralised.co

AI agents are cheap to launch and impossible to trust. This episode is for people building and backing growth-stage crypto startups: how do you pick between thousands of on-chain “trading bots,” research assistants, and execution agents when most collapse in live conditions? Andrew Hill, CEO of Recall, lays out how Recall is trying to become crypto’s neutral trust layer for agents with live compet...

In this episode, Luca Netz shares how he took a failing NFT collection and turned it into one of the fastest-growing Web3 brands. We dive into his three-pillar model of ecosystem, attention, and revenue; and explore how Pudgy has sold over 1.5M toys through Walmart and Target, signed 45+ licensing deals, and built a business where culture and cash flow compound. In the episode, talk about: • How 8...

We sit down with Androo and Andy from HypurrFi who are building at the intersection of on-chain credit and real-world usability. While most DeFi protocols treat borrowing as a one-time action, HypurrFi is making debt dynamic. Think refinancing, real-time spending, and routing capital across markets—without closing your position. We cover: — Why HypurrFi is focused on active debt management — How t...

Kinetiq co-founder and Hyperliquid contributor Omnia joins to unpack how Hyperliquid evolved from a DEX into a liquidity layer, what HIPs unlock, and why apps like Phantom and Kinetiq are treating it as default. Chapters — 00:00 Podcast Opening & Disclaimer 00:19 Kinetic's Launch & Market Context 03:20 Hyperliquid's Core Thesis 11:33 Hyperliquid Technical Architecture 20:30 Understanding Hyperliqu...

While everyone's been copying MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy, Sol Strategies took a different approach. CEO Leah Wald and CTO Max Kaplan join me to discuss why they're building actual infrastructure around Solana instead of just holding tokens. Sol Strategies is a publicly listed company (CSE: HODL) - formerly Cypherpunk Holdings - that transformed from one of the first Bitcoin treasury vehicles...

What actually happens after you hit “swap”? In this episode, Saurabh is joined by Nikita Ovchinnik , founder of BarterSwap , to break down the mechanics of routing, MEV, solvers, and the invisible infrastructure that powers billions in DeFi volume. They explore:– Why AMMs leak value and how orderbooks are making a comeback– The role of solvers, searchers, and market makers in intent-based trading–...

Most discussions about crypto UX revolve around decentralisation and ease of use. Mats Olson, co-founder and CTO of Dune, dives deeper into the overlooked importance of real-time data infrastructure. Mats explains why blockchains, built as write-optimised databases, make data retrieval challenging and how Dune is solving this critical problem. We explore: • Why Dune’s community-driven approach to...

Forecasting and prediction tools are missing links in DeFi and Mode Network is trying to fill that gap. In this episode, James Ross (co-founder of Mode and Synthdata) talks about building smarter forecasting systems for DeFi. We dig into how Mode is using BitTensor’s decentralised AI network to power real-time risk analysis, how agents could drive most on-chain activity in the future, and why bett...

Stablecoins are crypto’s biggest product-market fit—$230B and growing. But the pipes that move them? Broken. In this episode, Saurabh speaks with Jay Kurahashi-Sofue (CMO) and Ryne Sachs (CEO) of Eco, who are building something surprisingly rare in crypto: infrastructure that actually works. Not another stablecoin—but a liquidity layer that coordinates capital intelligently across chains. We dive...

From regulatory battles that forced him out of DeFi, to the conviction that drew him back, Andre opens up about the unseen cost of innovation in a space that now rewards safety over experimentation. This isn’t a retrospective of Yearn or a breakdown of his past projects. It’s a look at why composability collapsed, how decentralisation became a UX burden, and why most builders today are creating wa...

Recorded just before the market was hit by tariff chaos, this episode captures a rare quiet moment—and uses it to unpack the deeper mechanics of how crypto actually works. From the Hyperliquid–JELLY saga to the evolving reality of intents, solvers, and Ethereum’s fragmentation, Jose brings sharp, grounded perspective without the fluff. This isn’t a polished panel or pitch deck walkthrough. It’s a...

In this episode, Ejaaz joins Saurabh to explore what it really takes to build usable, decentralized AI tools on crypto rails. We break down the AI x Crypto stack from first principles: – Why fragmented compute networks haven’t worked (and what might change that) – How AI agents are reshaping crypto UX – Why open-sourcing everything could backfire in an alpha-driven world – Who the actual users of...

We break down why the familiar crypto playbook no longer applies. We explore the death of predictable Bitcoin cycles, how macroeconomic shifts under Trump's administration are reshaping markets, and why stablecoins like USDC could soon dominate finance. Will shares his disciplined strategy—separating long-term conviction from short-term trades—and why crypto, in his words, remains 'the purest form...

In a space where information is the ultimate edge, how do the best traders and builders stay ahead? Shaw from elizaOS returns to the podcast to break down the harsh realities of crypto trading, AI-driven investing, and building through market cycles. We explore: •The information edge in crypto: Why the best traders aren’t chart readers but those closest to deal flow. • AI trading agents: Overhyped...

We discuss Jai's journey from leading blockchain integration at Coinbase to founding DefinitiveFi, and how the platform grew from $20-30M to nine-figure monthly volumes. Jai explains the key innovations needed for mainstream DeFi adoption - gas abstraction, chain abstraction, and account abstraction - and how advanced order types like TWAPs allow large trades without moving markets. The conversati...

Ethereum scaling has been an uphill battle. We’ve built rollups, fragmented liquidity, and pushed execution limits—but have we really solved the problem? Instead of patching Ethereum’s existing framework, MegaETH has rewritten the Ethereum data structure from scratch, eliminating bottlenecks and achieving millisecond block times. The implications? Possibility of on-chain high-frequency trading, re...

Bitcoin mining is a delicate balance between mathematical certainty and real-world volatility. In this episode, Nick Hansen , CEO of Luxor, breaks down the evolution of mining—from hardware cycles to energy markets, hashrate futures, and Bitcoin’s shrinking block subsidy. We also discuss miners' role in stabilising power grids and the contentious debate over Bitcoin fees. Tune in to understand the...