the un# podcast

Sandy Kaul reveals how Franklin Templeton built the world's first SEC-approved digital-native money market fund, moved $900M across 10 blockchains, and why she believes the totality of your assets will live in wallets within the decade. In 2018, Sandy Kaul published a paper at Citibank claiming tokenization would replace equities and bonds. Wall Street laughed. Fast forward to 2026, she's...

In this episode, host Sri Misra speaks with Yat Siu of Animoca Brands about why tokenization is becoming a survival strategy not a crypto gimmick. He compares it to earlier waves of disruption: the internet, being searchable, social platforms where opting out wasn’t “principled,” it was fatal. Yat’s sharper claim: the best hedge against AI is to tokenize because AI tools will become broadly access...

In this episode, host Sri Misra speaks with Yat Siu of Animoca Brands about John Locke’s idea of property (“the work of our hands”) and why the modern economy is really built on “the work of our minds” IP, creators, and digital labor. The core question: what should “digital property rights” actually mean for consumers (not just institutions)?👉John Locke’s lens: labor → ownership → trade👉Why IP b...

In this episode, host Sri Misra speaks with Yat Siu of Animoca Brands about why over-collateralized lending is fundamentally misaligned with mass adoption  and how on-chain reputation, identity, and trust scores could unlock unsecured credit in crypto. Yat draws parallels with the real world: jobs, education, credit cards  all systems that work because we take calculated risks on people. He explai...

What if you own nothing you create online, and the platforms extracting $800 billion annually from your content owe you zero? Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Chairman of Animoca Brands, reveals why digital property rights are the foundation of Web3's future and how his company's 400+ portfolio investments are building the gateway to the altcoin economy. Yat Siu didn't set out to become one of...

In this episode, host Srikumar Misra speaks with Vivek Raman of Etherealize about why public blockchains haven’t seen real institutional adoption yet - and why that’s changing now. Vivek argues the blocker wasn’t just regulation, it was privacy. With ZK and “programmable privacy,” institutions can finally use public rails without recreating the old financial system off-chain. Full episode at: unha...

Is the future really multi-chain or just multi-execution on one secure settlement layer? In this episode, host Sri Misra and Vivek Raman of Etherealize unpack why Ethereum plus its L2s is the only path for tokenized assets, RWAs, and institutional finance - and why spreading finance across 15 chains breaks composability and shared security. Full episode at: unhashed.co/vivek

ETH as a global reserve asset. The flippening. Multi-trillion valuation. Host Srikumar Misra talks to Vivek Raman about why he believes Ethereum will become the financial settlement layer and why that makes ETH fundamentally underpriced. We get into store-of-value attributes, yield vs supply caps, and what “adoption” actually means for ETH holders over 1 and 5 years. Full episode at: unhashed.co/v...

In this episode, Vivek Raman reveals why 2025 was the breakthrough year for tokenizing Wall Street's $16 trillion mortgage market. After 11 years trading distressed credit and high-yield bonds at Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Deutsche Bank, Vivek Raman discovered that the financial system still runs on faxes and Excel files. Now as CEO of Etherealize, he's building zero-knowledge privacy infrastructure...

Perp DEXs have become the catalyst pushing crypto volumes on-chain. Host Sri Misra speaks with Jakob Palmstierna, President of GSR, to unpack Hyperliquid’s rise, DEX vs. CEX dynamics, and the challenge of building liquidity on decentralized venues. Why traders are choosing certainty of execution over ideology and what it means for LPs. Actionable insights for builders, traders, and market makers....

In this episode, host Sri Misra sits down with DFDV’s Joseph Onorati to unpack one of the most misunderstood narratives in crypto: Retail vs Institutions  :  Who drives adoption? Who front-runs whom? And where does Solana fit into all of this? Joseph breaks down: Why retail historically front-runs institutions in every crypto cycle Why institutional entry is inevitable  but not the main driver of...

In this episode of alpha un#, host Sri Misra sits down with Joseph Onorati, CEO, @DFDV to break down the real mechanics behind institutional crypto risk management  far beyond Twitter takes and retail narratives. Joseph explains: Why every serious crypto business must assume an 80% drawdown How DFDV models extreme tail-risk (“What if Solana drops another 50%?”) Why DATs get cheaper, safer leverage...

Joseph Onorati isn't your typical crypto founder. After spending nearly nine years at Kraken as Chief Strategy Officer and building Canada's first Bitcoin exchange (CaVirtex) back in 2013, he saw an opportunity others missed: the end of Operation Choke Point 2.0 and Solana's regulatory clarity created the perfect window to launch DeFi Development Corp (DFDV), the first non-Bitcoin digi...

In this episode, host Srikumar Misra speaks with Oliver Dang of KAIO about what it feels like to move from a decade in traditional finance to the always-on, 24/7 pace of crypto. Oliver shares:👉How crypto-native teams make fundamental decisions in hours, not weeks👉Why that doesn’t mean cutting corners, but learning to zoom into the core issue fast👉Laser Digital’s long-term vision: becoming a lea...

In this episode, host Srikumar Misra sits down with Oliver Dang from KAIO to unpack the real story of on-chain asset management, not the press-release version. Oliver explains why KAIO didn’t start with bonds or equities, but with alternative assets that retail investors simply cannot access today without private-bank relationships. These are high-grade institutional products with real pain points...

In this episode, Oliver Dang lays out KAIO’s roadmap for RWA composability:👉Using fund tokens as collateral on platforms like Aave-style lending markets👉Borrowing stablecoins (like USDC) against high-grade RWA exposure👉Building custom indexes of multiple funds (credit, money markets, crypto yield) and wrapping them into a single, tradable token👉KYC-gated at mint/burn, but freely tradable on se...

In this conversation with host Sri Misra, Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder, Tezos uses a brilliant metaphor to explain why most crypto tokens, even well-designed ones like Uniswap, struggle with value capture. The contract is commodity; distribution is proprietary. Key insights:👉Why Uniswap's front-end captures more value than its token👉 The "toll booth in an open field" problem👉Why de...

Host Sri Misra discusses with Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder, Tezos, the strategic thinking behind uranium.io the world's first venue for trading physical uranium in small amounts. Unlike the 20+ tokenized gold projects, uranium had no accessible market... until now. Why uranium makes sense:👉Commodity + technology convergence (like crypto itself)👉Commodity traders were crypto's early adopters in Tr...

Host Sri Misra speaks with Arthur Breitman, Co-founder of Tezos, on why most blockchain projects fail the TVL game and how Tezos is building sustainable liquidity through real assets like tokenized uranium instead of chasing mercenary capital. Topics covered:👉The TVL trap: incentives that spike and disappear👉Why Etherlink focuses on products not available elsewhere👉XU308: tokenized physical ura...

"Most blockchains have no reason to exist." Arthur Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos and former Goldman Sachs quant, doesn't hold back on the state of crypto in 2025. In this episode, we explore on-chain governance, the real tokenization opportunity, and why Tezos is betting on tokenized uranium. Arthur Breitman has been building in crypto since 2014, surviving multiple bear markets and...

That Billions episode where characters use crypto to hide from the government? Host Sri Misra sits down with Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of Merkle Science, who explains what they got wrong and what they got right about criminal use of cryptocurrency. What They Got RIGHT: • Criminals ARE early adopters of crypto • Decentralized nature attracts both good and bad actors • Easier than moving $5M in physica...

In this episode host Srikumar Misra sits down with Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of Merkle Science, who breaks down why stablecoins particularly USDT on Tron have become the preferred tool for criminal activity in crypto. This isn't about meme coins anymore. Why Criminals Love Stablecoins:👉No price fluctuation = predictable value👉Cross-border ease of movement👉Lower fees than traditional rails👉Les...

Join host Srikumar Misra as he unpacks the ongoing battle between blockchain analytics and sophisticated crypto criminals with Mriganka Pattnayak, Co-Founder and CEO of Merkle Science. What You'll Learn:👉How North Korea (DPRK) creates fake crypto exchanges to launder funds👉Why criminals adapt faster than detection systems can keep up👉The spectrum of crypto criminals: sophisticated vs. amateur👉...

How do crypto criminals stay ahead of blockchain analytics, and why is Tether on Tron now the $1 billion superhighway for illicit activity? In this episode, Mriganka Pattnaik reveals how Merkle Science tracks crypto crime across 125+ blockchains and why compliance is unlocking crypto's next massive adoption wave. Mriganka Pattnaik is the Co-Founder and CEO of Merkle Science, a $27M-backed bloc...

Why Is Building DeFi Infrastructure Harder Than Building Another DEX? Marcus Hardt, CEO of Balancer Labs, shares his unconventional journey from mechanical engineer to leading one of DeFi's most technically sophisticated protocols. In this conversation with host Srikumar Misra recorded before the November 2025 security incident that affected Balancer V2 pools, Marcus offers candid insights int...