Untangling Web3

Blockchain infrastructure is becoming the real battleground for institutional adoption. As more capital, assets, and applications move on chain, the question is no longer whether blockchain technology has potential, but whether the underlying networks can deliver the speed, scalability, reliability, and security required for global finance. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Kent Lin, Co-Founder...

DeFi lending is becoming one of the clearest examples of how blockchain technology can improve financial infrastructure. Stablecoins have created a global base layer for digital dollars, while lending markets allow those assets to remain liquid, transparent, and productive. As institutional interest grows, the next challenge is making DeFi safer, more efficient, and mature enough for large-scale c...

As digital assets move from experimentation into live institutional deployment, the challenge is no longer just getting financial products on chain. Banks, asset managers, fintechs, and crypto-native protocols now need the same level of security, risk controls, modelling, simulation, and operational predictability expected in traditional capital markets. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Andrej...

Money is entering a new phase. Stablecoins are moving from crypto-native tools into real financial infrastructure, tokenization is bringing traditional assets on chain, and digital assets are becoming increasingly embedded in the future of finance. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Sean Lee, Co-Founder of Open Stable Network, Host of the Onchain Capital podcast, and former CEO of the Algorand Fo...

Private markets have become home to some of the world’s most valuable and transformative companies, from AI and robotics to space technology and fintech. But access to these markets remains restricted, fragmented, illiquid, and difficult for most investors to reach. As more companies stay private for longer, the ability to participate in the upside of innovation is increasingly limited to a small...

Business finance is undergoing a major shift. For years, companies have relied on fragmented tools, manual processes, slow settlement, unpredictable costs, and financial infrastructure that still feels disconnected from the speed of modern tech. As blockchain, stablecoins, tokenization, and AI continue to evolve, finance is moving toward a more automated, transparent, and programmable market struc...

As the internet made information global and permissionless, payments have remained trapped behind banks, payment processors, jurisdictional rules, delayed settlements, account approvals, and platform-level restrictions. For online businesses, creators, developers, and emerging agentic commerce, the ability to accept money is still far less open than the ability to publish content or build software...

As AI, cloud infrastructure, and blockchain systems scale, one critical issue remains unresolved: trust in compute. Today, most computation—whether powering AI models or executing financial transactions—operates as a black box. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Leo Fan, founder and CEO of Cysic, explores how verifiable compute and zero-knowledge proofs can transform computation into something th...

Humanoid robots are rapidly moving from science fiction into reality, powered by breakthroughs in robotics, AI, and artificial intelligence. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Professor Peter Corke, one of the world’s leading robotics experts, breaks down what robots really are, how they’ve evolved from factory arms to human-like machines, and how close we are to truly intelligent, autonomous hum...

In this week’s episode, we're zooming out - literally - to explore the new space race unfolding before our eyes. With companies like SpaceX leading the charge, and global powers like China and Russia ramping up ambitions, the conversation dives into how space technology, orbital infrastructure, and interplanetary flight are moving from sci-fi fantasy to strategic reality. From Moon bases to Mars c...

In this week’s episode of the Untangling Web3 podcast, we tackle one of the biggest narratives dominating tech and global markets right now: the so-called AI bubble. With headlines predicting an imminent crash in artificial intelligence stocks and skepticism mounting around LLMs, the hosts unpack whether we’re witnessing genuine over-exuberance, or simply the growing pains of a transformative tech...

In this annual 2025 review special, Alec and Jack take a step back to reflect on one of the most transformative years yet for crypto, AI, LLMs, and digital assets. From Bitcoin’s institutional turning point to AI becoming a daily tool for millions, this episode captures how Web3 and emerging technologies moved from niche experimentation into the mainstream. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about w...

In this week’s episode of the Untangling Web3 podcast, we dive into Alec’s hands-on review of the new Meta AI Glasses v2 — Meta’s latest step toward merging AI and AR into everyday tech. Fresh from attending Meta’s launch event in California, Alec shares his firsthand impressions of how these next-generation smart glasses blend voice-controlled AI, contextual awareness, and seamless design to crea...

In this week’s episode of the Untangling Web3 podcast, the spotlight is on Alec’s latest venture Restify, a Web3 dApp designed to help users reduce their screen time and improve mental health through microincentives and rewards. Built on blockchain, Restify transforms digital wellness into a game of positive reinforcement, paying users small amounts of crypto for simply staying off their phones. W...

In this episode of Untangling Web3, blockchain researcher and educator Keir Finlow-Bates returns to unpack one of the most critical debates in modern finance—the rise of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). As digital assets evolve from niche tools for traders into core infrastructure for global payments, this conversation explores how blockchain-based money systems are reshapi...

In this episode of Untangling Web3 , futurist and returning guest Aragorn Meulendijks explores how artificial intelligence and robotics are redefining science, labor, and the future of human society. With developments like humanoid robots entering mass production, the reversal of aging in primates, and AI-driven scientific discovery accelerating, this conversation focuses on the transformative—and...

In this episode, we break down the highlights from Meta Connect, where Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the company’s latest innovations in AR glasses, AI, and wearable tech. Once dismissed as a fading metaverse experiment, Meta is now doubling down on hardware and contextual AI, aiming to reshape how people interact with the digital and physical worlds. Alec attended the event in person and brings firsth...

Threads Untangled is our series bringing you the best of Untangling Web3, featuring our favourite highlights and segments from past episodes. This week, we're revisiting our conversation with Sunny Lu and his unique take on the "power of decentralizaton" for sustainability. VeChain, under Sunny's leadership, is redefining global supply chains and leveraging blockchain for sustainability initiative...

Gaming is evolving beyond entertainment into a dynamic, player-driven economy—and Web3 is at the heart of that transformation. In this episode of Untangling Web3, Luke Barwikowski, founder and CEO of Pixels , joins to explore how blockchain is reshaping the gaming industry. Pixels is a social Web3 game that fuses casual farming gameplay with real-world economic mechanics. With over 10 million regi...

Bitcoin mining is often portrayed as environmentally harmful, but this episode of Untangling Web3 with guest Dr. Owen Vaughan, founder and CEO of Bitroots, redefines that perception. With a background in blockchain fundamentals, Owen explains how Bitcoin mining can drive renewable energy adoption, stabilize power grids, and economically benefit local communities. This conversation reveals how proo...

In this episode, Alec shares a harrowing story of Bitcoin loss, digital vulnerability, and eventual recovery. After his phone was stolen during a night out, Alec discovered that his Coinbase account had been compromised—resulting in the theft of his entire Bitcoin holdings. This candid conversation explores what went wrong, how crypto thefts are becoming more sophisticated, and what lessons can be...

In this episode, we dive deep into the evolving relationship between Bitcoin, blockchain, and financial institutions. Once a symbol of rebellion against the banking system, Bitcoin is now embraced by institutions and governments alike—raising big questions. Are they legitimizing crypto or diluting its original purpose? As BlackRock, PayPal, and governments tokenize assets, we explore whether this...

In this episode, we explore the rise of stablecoins—the digital dollar alternatives that are reshaping how money moves in the age of crypto and Web3. Once a niche financial tool, stablecoins are now processing trillions annually, attracting institutional players like PayPal and Stripe, and even overtaking Visa in transaction volume. With new legislation like the U.S. GENIUS Act and regulatory clar...

In this episode of Untangling Web3 , we’re joined by Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, and Simran Singh, Head of DeFi Trading at GSR, to explore how the Katana blockchain is reshaping the future of Web3 by tackling one of the ecosystem’s most critical challenges: liquidity fragmentation. Built by Polygon Labs and incubated in collaboration with GSR, Katana is a bold experiment in consolidating val...

Welcome to the final installment of our three-part robotics series on the Untangling Web3 podcast. In this episode, we explore how robots and automation are transforming real-world industries—from agriculture and manufacturing to healthcare, humanoid design, and beyond. As the lines blur between robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and human labor, we examine how this revolution is already unfo...