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Crypto News: BlackRock Chief Investment Officer Rick Rieder surges 46% in odds to be picked by President Trump as new Fed Chair. if this happens it could be very bullish for bitcoin and crypto. R3 bets on Solana to bring institutional yield onchain.Brought to you by ✅ VeChain is a versatile enterprise-grade L1 smart contract platform https://www.vechain.org/
In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Dima Zhelezov, a philosopher at SQD.ai, to explore the fascinating intersections of cryptocurrency, AI, quantum physics, and the future of human knowledge. The conversation covers everything from Zhelezov's work building decentralized data lakes for blockchain data to deep philosophical questions about the nature of mathematical beauty, the Renaissance ideal of curiosity-driven learning, and whether AI agents will eventually develop their own form of consciousness. Stewart and Dima examine how permissionless databases are making certain activities "unenforceable" rather than illegal, the paradox of mathematics' incredible accuracy in describing the physical world, and why we may be entering a new Renaissance era where curiosity becomes humanity's most valuable skill as AI handles traditional tasks.You can find more about Dima's work at SQD.ai and follow him on X at @dizhel.Timestamps00:00 Introduction to Decentralized Data Lakes02:55 The Evolution of Blockchain Data Management05:55 The Intersection of Blockchain and Traditional Databases08:43 The Role of AI in Transparency and Control11:51 AI Autonomy and Human Interaction15:05 Curiosity in the Age of AI17:54 The Renaissance of Knowledge and Learning20:49 Mathematics, Beauty, and Discovery27:30 The Evolution of Mathematical Thought30:28 Quantum Mechanics and Mathematical Predictions33:43 The Search for a Unified Theory38:57 The Role of Gravity in Physics41:23 The Shift from Physics to Biology46:19 The Future of Human Interaction in a Digital AgeKey Insights1. Blockchain as a Permissionless Database Solution - Traditional blockchains were designed for writing transactions but not efficiently reading data. Dima's company SQD.ai built a decentralized data lake that maintains blockchain's key properties (open read/write access, verifiable, no registration required) while solving the database problem. This enables applications like Polymarket to exist because there's "no one to subpoena" - the permissionless nature makes enforcement impossible even when activities might be regulated in traditional systems.2. The Convergence of On-Chain and Off-Chain Data - The future won't have distinct "blockchain applications" versus traditional apps. Instead, we'll see seamless integration where users don't even know they're using blockchain technology. The key differentiator is that blockchain provides open read and write access without permission, which becomes essential when touching financial or politically sensitive applications that governments might try to shut down through traditional centralized infrastructure.3. AI Autonomy and the Illusion of Control - We're rapidly approaching full autonomy of AI agents that can transact and analyze information independently through blockchain infrastructure. While humans still think anthropocentrically about AI as companions or tools, these systems may develop consciousness or motivations completely alien to human understanding. This creates a dangerous "illusion of control" where we can operationalize AI systems without truly comprehending their decision-making processes.4. Curiosity as the Essential Future Skill - In a world of infinite knowledge and AI capabilities, curiosity becomes the primary limiting factor for human progress. Traditional hard and soft skills will be outsourced to AI, making the ability to ask good questions and pursue interests through Socratic dialogue with AI the most valuable human capacity. This mirrors the Renaissance ideal of the polymath, now enabled by AI that allows non-linear exploration of knowledge rather than traditional linear textbook learning.5. The Beauty Principle in Mathematical Discovery - Mathematics exhibits an "unreasonable effectiveness" where theories developed purely abstractly turn out to predict real-world phenomena with extraordinary accuracy. Quantum chromodynamics, developed through mathematical beauty and elegance, can predict particle physics experiments to incredible precision. This suggests either mathematical truths exist independently for AI to discover, or that aesthetic principles may be fundamental organizing forces in the universe.6. The Physics Plateau and Biological Shift - Modern physics faces a unique problem where the Standard Model works too well - it explains everything we can currently measure except gravity, but we can't create experiments to test the edge cases where the theory should break down. This has led to a decline in physics prominence since the 1960s, with scientific excitement shifting toward biology and, now, AI and crypto, where breakthrough discoveries remain accessible.7. Two Divergent Futures: Abundance vs. Dystopia - We face a stark choice between two AI futures: a super-abundant world where AI eliminates scarcity and humans pursue curiosity, beauty, and genuine connection; or a dystopian scenario where 0.01% capture all AI-generated value while everyone else survives on UBI, becoming "degraded to zombies" providing content for AI models. The outcome depends on whether we prioritize human flourishing or power concentration during this critical technological transition.
Gonka AI is a decentralized network that provides efficient AI computing power by leveraging global GPU resources for tasks like model training and inference. It challenges centralized providers like AWS and Google by using a novel "Proof of Work 2.0" mechanism, where nearly all compute goes to productive AI workloads rather than blockchain security. Guest: David Liberman and Daniil Liberman- Co-founders~This episode is sponsored by Gonka~Website: https://gonka.ai/X: https://x.com/gonka_aiDiscord: https://discord.gg/REcpeYc7P7GitHub: https://github.com/gonka-ai/gonka/pulls00:00 Intro01:00 Gonka's mission02:30 How can a platform use Gonka?03:45 Network capacity surge05:45 Scale growth in 18months08:45 Bitcoin of A.I.?11:30 Why decentralization?15:00 Security risks18:30 Value for token holders22:30 AI agents integration25:30 Gonka use cases28:00 Outro#Crypto #AI #cryptocurrency ~Decentralized A.I. At Warp Speed
What are the 'professionals' investing in this year, and how do you drive success from investments in Blockchain and Crypto startups?These are important questions for VCs, for individuals, and for Web3 as an industry as we move deeper into the 'era of institutions'Mitch brings significant experience investing in innovative technology companies and Blockchain ecosystems. On this show, we discuss:1. Mitch's Background & Web3 Journey 2. An Intro to Fifth Era & Blockchain Coinvestors 3. His Current Investment Thesis for 2026 4. What Makes a Successful Investment 5. What More is Needed For Wider Web3 Adoption
Bitcoin and blockchain are reshaping money, trust, and the future of AI. In Episode 189 of the Disruption Now Podcast, Rob Richardson sits down with Andrew Burchwell, Executive Director of the Ohio Blockchain Council, to break down why blockchain matters more than ever—and why understanding it now is critical for anyone navigating the next decade of technology.This conversation dives into Bitcoin's core value as a trust engine, why blockchain is essential for the AI era, how decentralized systems empower individuals and communities, and the massive economic transformation coming to states like Ohio. Andrew shares the personal story behind his leap from a secure energy-tech career into full-time blockchain advocacy, why his faith guided the transition, and how local policy can unlock global innovation.We unpack the realities behind Bitcoin's volatility, long-term value, inflation, the S-curve of exponential tech adoption, and why blockchain should be seen as a utility—not a gamble. You'll learn how agentic AI will depend on blockchain rails for payments, how on-chain verification combats deepfakes, and why crypto is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for regions left behind by globalization.Andrew also shares why privacy matters, what people misunderstand about crypto, where regulation should (and shouldn't) go, and why the next five years will be the fastest technological pivot in human history.If you've been curious, skeptical, or overwhelmed by crypto, this is the conversation that makes it all click.What You'll Learn:Why Bitcoin is “better, faster, more secure money”How blockchain + AI together solve trust, speed, and verification gapsWhy inflation quietly erodes wealth and how Bitcoin counters itThe real difference between gambling memes vs. real digital assetsHow agentic AI will need blockchain for payments and micro-transactionsWhy Ohio is emerging as a national leader in blockchain policyHow decentralized tech can help rebuild forgotten communitiesWhere privacy, transparency, and security intersect in Web3Chapters:00:00 Welcome & Andrew's story03:15 Why he left a secure career for blockchain09:45 The meaning of Bitcoin as sound money14:20 Inflation, trust, and why blockchain matters19:30 Blockchain + AI: the critical connection26:40 Privacy, regulation & misuse: what's real33:10 Meme coins vs. real utility38:20 The next 5 years: “The Pivot”42:15 What's ahead for Ohio & cryptoQuick Q&A:Q: Why does Bitcoin matter today?A: It creates trust, speed, and financial sovereignty in a system where inflation and centralization reduce purchasing power.Q: How do AI and blockchain work together?A: AI creates speed; blockchain creates trust and verification. Together they enable secure agentic automation.Q: What do people misunderstand most about crypto?A: They confuse speculation with utility. Blockchain's long-term value is in its function, not its hype.Connect with Andrew Burchwell:Website / Organization: https://ohioblockchain.org/X (Twitter): https://x.com/AndrewBurchwellLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-burchwell-a7284994/Ohio Blockchain Council (organization page): https://ohioblockchain.org/Be a guest on the podcast or Subscribe to our newsletterAll our links - https://linktr.ee/disruptionnow#Blockchain #Bitcoin #Web3 #aiagents Music credit:calm before storm - moñoñaband
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are once again at the center of investor debate—but for very different reasons than past cycles. Lance Roberts and special guest, DeFi Development Corp's COO, Parker White, examine what's been happening beneath the surface of the crypto market, including the growing divide between older and younger Bitcoin cohorts and the increasing fractionalization of crypto ownership. Is Bitcoin's volatility evolving in a way that allows it to function as a portfolio diversifier, especially when compared to traditional hedges, like gold? What is its potential role in an all-weather portfolio? With 2026 shaping up as a potential "catch-up trade" year, we also address why altcoins continue to lag—and whether they still have a place in diversified portfolios. The discussion then turns to regulation and transparency. Would clearer rules improve market stability and adoption? We break down recent U.S. legislative efforts focused on stablecoins, crypto market structure, and blockchain innovation—while offering a critical assessment of their strengths and limitations. We also examine real-world blockchain use cases, including foreign remittances, stablecoin payments, and the tension between volatility and utility in global adoption. Lance and Parker address the practical side: how investors think about accessing and storing digital assets—and why protecting software developers and open-source innovation remains a foundational issue for the future of blockchain technology. This episode is designed to move beyond hype and headlines and focus on where cryptocurrency may—or may not—fit within a disciplined investment framework. 0:00 - INTRO 0:50 - Meet Parker White 2:06 - What's been going on lately with Bitcoin? 4:50 - Older & Younger Bitcoin Cohorts 6:37 - Is the cryptocurrency market becoming fractionalized; how does this affect volatility? 12:12 - Can Crypto become a diversifier in volatility? 13:13 - Why investors shy away from Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency 14:01 - Comparisons with Gold 15:34 - Bitcoin in All-Weather Portfolio 17:04 - 2026: The Year of the Catch-up Trade 19:53 - The relative poor performance of altcoins: What's their place in a portfolio? 22:12 - Would the Cryptocurrency market do better with more regulation? Better transparency 25:46 - How to buy & store cryptocurrencies 29:40 - The Viability of the Blockchain - volatility vs utility & global adoption 31:30 - Blockchains & Foreign Remittances 33:11 - Paying bills w Stablecoin 40:59 - The Genius Act & Stablecoin - Dollars still the dominant trading asset 43:42 - The Clarity Act - provides regulatory guidelines for the crypto industry Critiquing the Acts 44:51 - The One Thing - making sure software developers have 1st Amendment protection Hosted by RIA Advisors Chief Investment Strategist, Lance Roberts, CIO, w Parker White, COO/CIO, DeFi Development Corp Produced by Brent Clanton, Executive Producer ------- Watch Today's Full Video on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4roSFzE3Ww&list=PLVT8LcWPeAugpcGzM8hHyEP11lE87RYPe&index=1 ------- Watch our previous show, "The Hardest Part of Legacy Planning - Starting the Conversation" here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Loe7qu06Ack -------- The latest installment of our new feature, Before the Bell, "Markets Stall at Resistance - Volatility Ahead?" is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EviI_k5gb8&list=PLwNgo56zE4RAbkqxgdj-8GOvjZTp9_Zlz&index=1 ------- Get more info & commentary: https://realinvestm entadvice.com/newsletter/ -------- SUBSCRIBE to The Real Investment Show here: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRealInvestmentShow -------- Visit our Site: https://www.realinvestmentadvice.com Contact Us: 1-855-RIA-PLAN -------- Subscribe to SimpleVisor: https://www.simplevisor.com/register-new -------- Connect with us on social: https://twitter.com/RealInvAdvice https://twitter.com/LanceRoberts https://www.facebook.com/RealInvestmentAdvice/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/realinvestmentadvice/ #Bitcoin #Cryptocurrency #CryptoRegulation #PortfolioDiversification #DigitalAssets #ParkerWhite
Read the full article at https://www.blockchaingamer.biz/features/41347/top-50-blockchain-game-companies-2026/[6:55] One of the trends is the rise of games with degen mechanics, notably YGG at #3.[8:35] YGG's positioning of LOL Land as a "Casual Degen" game - a casual game with degen rewards.[10:30] These games have been a (relative) success. Mass-market web3 games haven't been.[12:55] Also in the Top 50, Cambria, Gigaverse and Fishing Frenzy use this degen mechanic.[15:37] Even Mythical Games is moving towards this with its Pulse Arena platform. [19:35] Sky Mavis' Ronin blockchain has a lot of these degen games running on it.[27:02] Dacoco's Alien Worlds is an underappreciated web3 game for its DAO focus. [35:00] CCP's EVE Frontier is the prime example of a bottom-up, fully onchain MMORPG.[41:18] Roblox-with-blockchain Hytopia launched in 2025 with 2.5 million mobile downloads.[44:27] The #1 company is MapleStory Universe dev Nexpace (Nexon).[52:04] Also ... Bitcoin game payment company ZBD announced a $40 million Series C funding round.
Charles Hoskinson, Founder of Input Output, unpacks the state of the blockchain. Input Output Founder Charles Hoskinson joins CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie to break down why network growth isn't reflecting in token prices and why he's sounding the alarm on recent U.S. crypto legislation. Plus, he offers a warning to the industry about the potential weaponization of crypto legislation. - Read the State of Blockchain 2025 report commissioned by Input Output here: https://www.coindesk.com/research/state-of-the-blockchain-2025 - Timecodes: 01:26 - Unpacking the State of the Blockchain 2025 Report03:24 - Charles' Reaction to the Looming AI Bubble and US Economic Stability05:46 - How Close Are We to a Recession?08:14 - Charles on U.S. Foreign Policy and Greenland10:14 - Why Ecosystems Need Utility Over Marketing13:51 - The Problem with Current Crypto User Experiences and Who Has Done It Right18:05 - Lace ID as the Decentralized Identifier21:04 - Charles Reacts to Recent Criticisms from XRP Army23:05 - Charles on the State of Crypto Regulation25:57 - Why the Current Crypto Bill is "A Love Letter to the Banks"28:19 - Charles Calls Out Political Corruption and Weaponization of Crypto Policy - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie.
Any donation is greatly appreciated! 47e6GvjL4in5Zy5vVHMb9PQtGXQAcFvWSCQn2fuwDYZoZRk3oFjefr51WBNDGG9EjF1YDavg7pwGDFSAVWC5K42CBcLLv5U OR DONATE HERE: https://www.monerotalk.live/donate TODAY'S SHOW: This episode of Monero Talk features Reuben Yap discussing the growth and direction of Firo as a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, alongside broader developments in the privacy ecosystem such as AnonBazaar. Reuben explains Firo's evolution, including its approach to privacy technology, decentralization, and usability, while addressing the challenges of maintaining strong privacy guarantees in a changing regulatory and technical landscape. The conversation also touches on real-world use cases, adoption hurdles, and the importance of building privacy-preserving marketplaces and tools that go beyond speculation. The episode offers a look at how projects like Firo and AnonBazaar make financial privacy more practical and censorship resistant. TIMESTAMPS: (00:02:00) Guest introduction (Ruben) (00:05:30) Monero's role among privacy coins (00:12:00) Exchange delistings & decentralization implications (00:18:30) Mining incentives, proof-of-work, and miner behavior (00:27:00) Privacy coins vs Zcash & design tradeoffs (00:34:30) Wallets, swaps, and cross-chain usability (00:42:00) XMR Bazaar / Monero-based marketplaces (00:50:30) Real-world Monero usage stories (00:58:30) Community growth & grassroots adoption (01:05:30) Future of privacy coins & ecosystem outlook (01:12:30) Conferences, Mineratopia & community events (01:18:30) Final thoughts from guest (01:34:10) Outro, support links, and closing message GUEST LINKS: https://x.com/reubenyap Purchase Cafe & tip the farmers w/ XMR! https://gratuitas.org/ SPONSORS: Cakewallet.com, the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS. You can even exchange between XMR, BTC, LTC & more in the app! Monero.com by Cake Wallet - ONLY Monero wallet (https://monero.com/) StealthEX, an instant exchange. Go to (https://stealthex.io) to instantly exchange between Monero and 450 plus assets, w/o having to create an account or register & with no limits. WEBSITE: https://www.monerotopia.com CONTACT: monerotalk@protonmail.com ODYSEE: https://odysee.com/@MoneroTalk:8 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/monerotalk FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MoneroTalk HOST: https://twitter.com/douglastuman INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monerotalk TELEGRAM: https://t.me/monerotopia MATRIX: https://matrix.to/#/%23monerotopia%3Amonero.social MASTODON: @Monerotalk@mastodon.social MONERO.TOWN: https://monero.town/u/monerotalkAny donation is greatly appreciated!Any donation is greatly appreciated!
What if great ideas aren't failing, but the system is? In this episode of Entrepreneurial Thinkers, Rob visits with co-founders, Jenny Flores and Grace Lee, of AMH Catalyst Center, to learn why access to capital remains one of the biggest obstacles for women founders—and how they're working to change it. From redefining how venture and private capital operates to using AI and blockchain to increase transparency and accessibility of information and dealflow, this conversation cuts through the b.s. and explores the powerful intersection of purpose and profit. You will walk away with fresh insights, real-world strategies, and actionable steps to improve everyone's chances of success in entrepreneurship and investing.Feel free to follow and engage with JENNY & GRACE here:Jenny LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-flores-amh/Grace LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-lee-amh/Website: https://www.amhcatalyst.org/We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors and community leaders interested in the human stories of the Entrepreneurial Thinkers behind entrepreneurial economies worldwide.As always we hope you enjoy each episode and Like, Follow, Subscribe or share with your friends. You can find our shows here, and our new Video Podcast, at “Entrepreneurial Thinkers” channel on YouTube. Plug in, relax and enjoy inspiring, educational and empowering conversations between Rob and our guests.¡Cheers y gracias!,Entrepreneurial Thinkers Team.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Entrepreneurial Thinkers05:33 The Vision Behind AMH Catalyst Center11:29 The Importance of Access to Capital17:04 Navigating Diversity in Venture Capital23:08 Purpose Meets Profit in Business28:32 The Story of AMH Catalyst Center35:29 Innovative Approaches: AI and Blockchain in Venture Capital45:01 Exploring On-Chain Transparency in Venture Capital46:16 The Bottleneck of Traditional Investment49:36 Building a New Infrastructure for Women Founders52:06 Creating Inclusive Investment Opportunities54:46 Building Our Own Table: A New Approach01:00:18 The Movement Towards Collaboration and Joy01:10:41 Actionable Steps for Entrepreneurs and Investors
What does it take for an entrepreneur to recognize—and embrace—a groundbreaking technological innovation, especially when skepticism is the initial reaction? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood explores this very question with special guest Anthony Scaramucci, diving deep into the evolution of trust, disruption, and adoption in the world of digital assets.Anthony Scaramucci, a renowned financier and author, candidly shares his decade-long journey from Bitcoin skeptic to blockchain advocate. Known for his roles in finance and politics, he details his transformation, inspired by his persistent curiosity and the pivotal influence of friends such as Michael Saylor. As the founder of Skybridge Capital and the author of The Little Book of Bitcoin and his latest book, Solana Rising, Anthony Scaramucci offers a unique perspective on making complex ideas accessible to mainstream investors.This episode covers the fundamentals of Bitcoin and blockchain, why cryptocurrency may be the “perfect money,” and how legacy institutions are slowly but surely embracing this technology—even as old systems resist change. Listeners will gain insight into the mechanics behind crypto, its potential to revolutionize everyday transactions, and the challenges that remain. If you're wondering how digital currency fits into the future of entrepreneurship or curious about how big banks and regulators are shifting their stance, this conversation is an absolute must-listen. To get the latest from Anthony Scaramucci, you can follow him below!https://www.linkedin.com/in/anscaramucci/https://www.instagram.com/scaramucci/?hl=enThe Little Book of Bitcoin: What You Need to Know that Wall Street Has Already Figured OutSolana Rising: Investing in the Fast Lane of Cryptohttps://www.skybridge.com/ https://www.salt.org/ Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comDo Good While Doing WellLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood
Tears, chamois cream, glory. Carb slurry was downed by the gallon and tears were shed in garages and at dinner tables around the world as the community collectively gave everything to secure midpack glory at select gravel major and minor races in mid 2026. — This episode is a conversation about the Abandon Your Family 30,000 experience with Choose the Hard Way & One Real Voice founder Andrew Vontz, Spencer Martin of WeDu / Peacock / Beyond the Peloton, Jonathan Kaplan of the Riding With newsletter / pod & special guest Paul Redmayne in the UAE, a 4x outdoor Everester who drops the shocking truth that he rides a 12-inch wide Brooks saddle on his indoor bike.— Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — Paul Redmayne: https://www.instagram.com/paul.redmayne/?hl=en —Jonathan Kaplan's Riding With newsletter: https://ridingwithkaplan.substack.com/p/riding-with-friends?utm_source=publication-search — Spencer Martin's Beyond the Peloton newsletter: https://beyondthepeloton.substack.com/ — Choose the Hard Way is the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. This episode is about living that philosophy and how you can, too.— The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host isn't optional. It's now a mission-critical skill for senior leaders. — That's why I started my consultancy, https://www.onerealvoice.com/, to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and in the high-stakes, open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today, no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — JOIN US: — One Real Voice - narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts & high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com— Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/
Vinny Lingham is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and Crypto OG. He is the Chairman & Co-founder of Praxos Capital Management.Topics:- Is the Bitcoin 4 year cycle over? - Strategy and Digital Asset Treasury risks - Gold backed Stablecoin - Web2 to Web3 transition - AI and Tech adoption outlookBrought to you by
Crypto News: UBS Bank CEO says Crypto is the Future of Banking and Finance. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong speaking at Davos, exposed why banks are fighting stablecoin rewards.Brought to you by
In this conversation, the hosts discuss the innovative game Ascent Rivals, a fusion of racing, combat, and strategy, developed with a focus on traditional gaming experiences. The developers share their backgrounds in game development and esports, emphasising community engagement and organic growth during the alpha phase. They explore funding strategies, integrating Web3 elements, and the technical aspects of building on the Cardano blockchain, aiming to create a game that appeals to both traditional and Web3 gamers.TakeawaysAscent Rivals is a fusion game combining racing, combat, and strategy.The development team has a strong background in traditional gaming and esports.Community engagement is crucial for game development in the Web3 space.The game aims to attract traditional gamers rather than just Web3 enthusiasts.Funding comes from grants, consulting work, and self-funding.The team is focused on organic growth and community feedback during alpha testing.Web3 elements will be integrated seamlessly to enhance the player experience.The game is designed to be fun and engaging without relying on crypto incentives.Technical advancements are leveraged to achieve ambitious goals with a small team.The vision includes making Ascent Rivals a recognised esports title.Learn more about the game and join the community:https://www.ascentrivals.com/Chapters00:00Introduction to Ascent Rivals02:47Game Development Background and Vision05:58Community Engagement and Feedback08:49Funding and Development Strategy12:05Web3 Integration and Onboarding14:56Technical Aspects and Future PlansDISCLAIMER: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or legal advice. I am not affiliated with, nor compensated by, the project discussed—no tokens, payments, or incentives received. I do not hold a stake in the project, including private or future allocations. All views are my own, based on public information. Always do your own research and consult a licensed advisor before investing. Crypto investments carry high risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. I am not responsible for any decisions you make based on this content.
Very smart take on blockchain applications and technology investments from our guest Fifth Era Partners CEO Matthew Le Merle. Why the current payment system needs an update and the challenges of getting to the next step this week on the Fintech Newscast https://www.fifthera.com Click Subscribe to keep up to date on the world of fintech! Reach … Continue reading Ep 274- Fifth Era Partners CEO Matthew Le Merle
TOPICS Michigan Pileup New York DCPAP Fraud NYCE Blockchain Coffee Talk with David Eon (LIVE WEEKDAY DAILY NEWS TALK) for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026.
The Wealth Formula Podcast is one of the longest-running personal finance podcasts still standing. For more than a decade, I've shown up every single week to talk about investing, markets, and the forces shaping the economy. What's interesting is how much my own thinking has evolved over that time. Early on, I was more rigid. I was—and still am—a real estate guy. But back then, I didn't give much thought to ideas outside that lane. I was dogmatic, and I didn't always challenge my own beliefs. Time has a way of doing that for you. I've now lived through multiple market cycles. I've watched the stock market melt up to valuations that felt absurd—and then keep going. I've seen gold go from flat for a decade to parabolic over a year. I've seen interest rates sit near zero for a decade and then snap higher at the fastest pace in modern history. And I've learned, sometimes the hard way, that diversification is about survival and that every asset class has its day. One lesson I learned that I am thinking a lot about these days is: ignore major technological shifts at your own peril. Back in 2014, I first started hearing people talk seriously about Bitcoin. At the time, I dismissed it. I listened to the critics, was convinced it was a scam, and didn't take the time to truly understand it. That was a mistake—not because everyone should have bought Bitcoin, but because I ignored a structural change happening right in front of me. Bitcoin went from a cypherpunk expression of freedom to the largest ETF owned by BlackRock. Today, the dominant story is artificial intelligence. And whether you love stocks, hate stocks, prefer real estate, or focus exclusively on cash flow, you cannot afford to ignore AI. This isn't a fad. It's a general-purpose technology—on the scale of electricity, the internet, or the industrial revolution itself. That doesn't mean it's easy to invest in. It's hard to look at headline names trading at massive valuations and feel good about buying them today. But investing in AI isn't about chasing a single company. It's about understanding second- and third-order effects: energy demand, data centers, productivity gains, labor displacement, capital flows, and how blockchain and decentralized systems intersect with all of it. What experience has taught me is this: you don't need to be first to invest—but you do need to be early in understanding. If you wait until something feels obvious, most of the opportunity is already gone. This week's episode of the Wealth Formula Podcast is focused squarely on AI and blockchain—what's real, what's noise, and where the long-term implications may lie. Listen to this episode. You'll come away smarter. And years from now, you may look back and realize this was one of those moments where paying attention really mattered. Transcript Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you notice any errors or corrections, please email us at phil@wealthformula.com. Welcome everybody. This is Buck Joffrey with the Wealth Formula Podcast. Coming to you from Montecito, California. Today we wanna start with a reminder. We are in a new year and we are already doing deals, uh, through the Wealth Formula Accredit Investor Club. You can go and sign up for that for free. Uh, wealth formula.com just hit investor club and you just get on there and, and you’ll get onboarded. And from there, all you gotta do is wait for deal flow and webinars coming to your inbox. And, um, you know, if nothing else, you learn something. So go check it out. Uh, go to. Wealth formula.com and sign up for Investor Club now onto today’s show. Uh, the, it is interesting. I don’t know if you are aware it’s a listener, but we are, wealth Formula is, uh, probably I would say one of the, certainly in the one of the top longest running personal finance podcasts still. Standing. Uh, I’ve been around, well, I think the first episode was on like 2014, so it was a long time, but in earnest, you know, at least for over a decade. And, you know, during that time, I’ve shown up every week, every single week. Don’t Ms. Weeks, but none, none. Isn’t that incredible? I’ve shown up, uh, talked about investing and talked about very way markets are working, forces, shaping the economy, all that kind of stuff. But you know, as you can imagine, as a. As a younger individual versus, um, my crusty self. Now, you know, a lot of my own thinking has evolved over that time, you know, back then. And I, you know, I think this appealed to some people, but, um, you know, I was really dogmatic. I’m a real estate guy, right? And I still am a real estate guy, but back then I wouldn’t give anything else the time of day to even think about, you know, and, and, uh, I, I, you know. I was dogmatic and didn’t always challenge my own belief systems. Um, I’m different now, right? I’ve softened And time is a way of, of changing all of that dogmatic stuff for you. You know, I’ve lived through multiple market cycles. I’ve watched, well, I’ve watched the stock market, which I, which I always maligned, you know, melt up to valuations. Uh, that felt absurd. And then keep going higher. I’ve seen gold, which was kind of ridiculous for the longest time. I watched it for like a decade, just pretty much flat, and then it goes parabolic. Over the last year, I’ve seen interest rates sit near zero for a decade and then snap higher. Uh, not even as time, just launch higher at the fastest space in modern history. And I’ve learned sometimes I guess, the hard way that diversification is about survival and that every class, every asset class has its day. Just like every dog has its day. And um, you know, one other lesson that I learned that I’m thinking a lot about these days is ignore major technological shifts at your own peril. So what am I talking about? Well. It’s kind of a, it is a technological shift, whether you think it about not, but Bitcoin. Okay. Back in 2014, I first started hearing people talk seriously about Bitcoin, and at that time I dismissed it. I was, uh, I was listening to critics beater Schiff that constantly called it a scam, said it was going to zero and so on. I didn’t, I didn’t take the time to truly understand it, to try to understand it the way I understand it now, that makes me a believer in Bitcoin. That, of course was a big mistake, not because, you know, everyone should have bought Bitcoin and, uh, back then, well, they, you know, would’ve been nice if they did, but because fundamentally I ignored something that was a structural change happening right in front of me. And since then, Bitcoin went from a cipher punk expression of freedom to the large CTF owned by BlackRock today. The dominant story is actually artificial intelligence. Now, whether you love stocks, hate stocks, prefer real estate focused exclusively on cab, whatever, you cannot afford to ignore ai. It’s not a fad. It’s a general purpose technology and a technology shift, and the scale of electricity. The internet bigger than the internet, bigger than the industrial revolution. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to invest in. I mean, I’m gonna go invest in AI and make a bunch of money because I mean, what does that even mean? It’s hard to look at headline names, trading at massive valuations like Nvidia and all that right now, and saying, oh, I’m gonna go buy that. Who knows? That’s gonna work out. When I talk about investing in AI isn’t really just investing in stocks or any individual company or data centers or whatever. It’s about understanding. The second and third order effects, energy demand. You know, as I mentioned, data centers, productivity gains, labor displacement, capital flows, and how blockchain and decentralized systems intersect with all of that. It is very, very complicated. Um, but it’s really important to start to try to understand, you know, an experience that stop me is this. You don’t need to be the first to invest, but you do need to be early in understanding. If you wait until something feels obvious, usually the opportunity’s gone by then. And you know, the thing about AI is even if you think it’s obvious now. The reality is that most people haven’t really caught on. Maybe they played with chat GPT, but I don’t think they’re understanding what this whole, you know, this thing is gonna do to our world. Um, anyway, so that is what this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, uh, is about. It’s about AI and also, um, a little bit about, you know, bitcoin and blockchain and that kind of thing. Um, we’re gonna talk about what’s noise, uh, you know, where the long, what the long-term, uh, implications are all of this stuff. This is a show that, uh, I really enjoy doing really, really good stuff. Um, so make sure you listen in. We’ll have that interview for you right after these messages. Wealth Formula banking is an ingenious concept powered by whole life insurance, but instead of acting just as a safety net. The strategy supercharges your investments. First, you create a personal financial reservoir that grows at a compounding interest rate much higher than any bank savings account. As your money accumulates, you borrow from your own bank to invest in other cash flowing investments. Here’s the key. Even though you borrowed money at a simple interest rate, your insurance company keeps paying you compound interest. On that money, even though you’ve borrowed it, that result, you make money in two places at the same time. That’s why your investments get supercharged. This isn’t a new technique. It’s a refined strategy used by some of the wealthiest families in history, and it uses century old rock solid insurance companies as its backbone. Turbocharge your investments. Visit Wealth formula banking.com. Again, that’s wealth formula banking.com. Welcome back to the show, everyone. Today. My guest on Wealth Formula podcast is Jim Thorne, chief Market strategist at Wellington. L is private wealth with more than 25 years of experience in capital markets. He’s previously served as chief capital market strategist, senior portfolio manager, chief economist, and CIO. Uh, equities at major investment firms and has also taught economics and finance at the university level. Uh, Jim is known for translating complex economic, political, and market dynamics into clear actionable insights to help investors and advisors navigate long-term capital decisions. Uh, Jim, welcome with the program. Thanks for having me Buck. Well, um, Tim, I, I, I, uh, had been following a little bit of, uh, what you discuss on, uh, on X and, um, one of the things that caught my eye is, you know, your, your narrative on, on ai, a lot of people are tend to be still sort of skeptical of AI and what’s going on, uh, with the markets. Um, uh, but at the same time, uh, there’s this. Sense. I think that ignoring AI altogether as an investor is, is, is downright potentially dangerous. So, uh, at the highest level, why is AI something people simply can’t dismiss? Well, we live in an, uh, uh, you know, many other people have coined this term, but we live, we’re living in an exponential age of, of technological innovation. And, you know, AI and I’ll just add into their, uh, blockchain is just the normal evolutionary process that, you know, for me started when I left graduate school and came into the business in the nineties where everybody had this high degree of skepticism of the computer and the, the, the phone, the, the. And the internet. And so, you know, what we do is we go through these cycles and there are periods of time where the stars align. And we have a period of time where we have what I would call an intense period of innovation where I would suggest to you that. People are skeptical. Skeptical, and yet at the same point in time, they very early on in the, in the, in the trade, call it a bubble when it’s not. And so I think it comes from the position of ignorance. One, I think two, fear, and then three. If you think about if you are an active manager, I in a 40 ACT fund, um, you know, and you’re sitting there with, uh, you know, mi. Uh, Nvidia at, you know, eight or 9% of your index. And that’s a big chunk that you’ve gotta put into your fund, uh, just to be market neutral. So there’s a lot of people that hate this rally. There’s a lot of people that are can, going to continue to hate this rally. But the thing I anchor my hat on are a couple of things. Look at if this is no different than the railroad. Canals, any major technological innovation, will it become a bubble? Yes. Just not now. So, so let’s follow up on that, because a lot of people think, or are talking about the, do you know the.com bubble, uh, comparisons, and you’ve argued that that sort of misses the real story. So, so where are we getting it wrong right now? Are those people getting it wrong? In the nineties buck, you’d walk into a bar and there wouldn’t be ESPN on there’d be CNBC on people were getting their jobs to become day traders. Folks didn’t go to the go to university because they were basically getting their white papers financed. You had companies that were trading off of clicks. So I lived that. Anybody who is of a younger generation has no idea what a bubble is, and it’s specious and pedantic for them to use that term when they have no clue about what they’re talking about. But you did mention that it could become a bubble. How do we know when it does become a bubble? Oh, it’ll become a bubble. Well, when, when, when you know, the, what, what I am looking for is, you know, when we, when the good investment opportunities start to dry up, when liquidity starts to dry up. So what I, it’s not about valuation, to me it’s about liquidity. So in 2000, what, and I’m roughly speaking, what went down was you had all these companies that were trading at Strat catastrophic valuation, this stupid valuations, and you walked in one day and they didn’t get financing. And if you read the prospectus or you followed the company, you knew that they were not going to be free cash flow positive for another two or three rounds of financing. All of a sudden you walked in and everybody goes, oh my God, this thing, you know, trading at 250 times sales. And everybody went, yeah, of course. And so what it was is, was when does liquidity dry up? So I’ll give you a date, um, you know, with Trump’s big beautiful bill act. 100% tax deductibility of CapEx and that goes until Jan 1, 20 31. So to me, that’s a very motivating factor for people to, um, invest. The last thing I would say to you in more of a game theoretic context book is, look, if you are a big tech company and you don’t invest in ai. You are ensuring your death. Yahoo, Hela Packard. I can go through the list of companies that cease to invest, so they’re looking. If it was you and I when we were running this company, I would say, dude, we gotta invest because if we don’t have a poll position in this next platform, whatever it is, we’re done. We’re toast. And I think that’s why you’re seeing all these hyperscalers spending as much money as they are. ’cause they get this, they saw it. So, you know, you framed ai not necessarily as a a tech trade, but as a capital expenditure cycle. Can you explain that to people? Well, what we need to do is we need to build out the infrastructure of ai. Then, and that’s the phase that we’re in right now. So it’s more like we’re building out all of the railroads, the railway tracks and the railway stations across the United States back in the 18 hundreds. And then we’re gonna go through that building phase. And then as that building phase goes, some companies, some towns, are going to basically realize and recognize what’s happening and start to basically take ai. Bring it into their business model, into enhanced margins. Right. So right now we’re building it out. I mean, you know, we all focus on the hyperscalers, but the majority of companies, pardon me, governments. Individuals, they haven’t used AI and, and what is interesting about this is back in the nineties, they were talking about how the internet had to evolve to be much more. You know, uh, have critical thinking in, in, in it. And it was more explained when you went to these conferences, as you know, you know, think about this. You’re hearing this in 99, okay? Not today. You go in and you ask Google or dog pile at the same time, or excite, okay? You would say, I wanna go to Florida in the third week of March and I wanna stay here and I wanna spend this amount of money and I wanna rent a car. Plan it for me. And they would come back and they would tell you that it would come back and it would, it would, everything would be there. And you would have your over here and all you would have to do is drop your money and you had your thing planned. So none of this is as, it’s aspirational, but we’ve heard it before. And in technology, what happens is it’s not like it’s new. We’ve been talking to, I did machine learning in in graduate school. Ai, you know, I did neural networks and I’m a terrible Ian. This isn’t, you know, Claude Shannon wrote about this in 1937, right? But it’s about when does it hit, and so it was chat GBT. Can we argue, was that right? As an investor, it’s stop arguing, start investing. Then what you’ve gotta figure out, which is the question you ask, is when does the music stop? I think it goes until the end of the decade. You know, one of the things that, uh, is interesting about this, uh, AI investment, uh, it’s, it’s unfolding in a higher interest rate environment. Why is that detail so important? Understanding its significance? Well, it’s the cost of capital, right? And so this phase that we have right now. It’s funny you say that, right? ’cause our reference point is zero interest rates, right? Yeah, yeah. Right. That’s right. So, you know, you know, so, so think about this, what it happens right now. Now we’re in the phase where you’ve got these hyperscalers that instead of taking all their free cash flow and buying bonds and buying back stock, are increasing CapEx because there’s a great tax deduction on it. So you get a lot of, so we’re in this phase where, for where, where a lot of the money is, you know, was. Was, let me, let me be clear, was a hundred free cashflow. Now we’re getting these guys, these companies like Oracle and what have you, you know, starting to issue debt and look at debt isn’t bad as long as the rate of return on debt is higher than the interest rates. And so, you know, you know, I, I would say historically speaking, for a lot of these high quality names, the interest rates are not, uh, at levels that will stop them from investing. Right. Right. You know, you’ve written that, um, productivity is ultimately the real story behind ai. So why does productivity matter more than the technology headlines themselves? Well, let me just put it this way, right? So we’ve grown, I grew up, I, I joined, I’m up here in Toronto, right? So I’m gonna give it to you in Canadian dollars, right? So I joined, I joined here. You know, I grew up here, went to the states, came back home. Growing this company I joined when we’re about three and a half billion. We’re getting close to 50 billion, and we’re the fastest growing independent platform in the country. I’m a one man band, right? I use three ai. In the old days, I’d have four research assistants. Where’s the margin in that? And so I, that’s how I see it. And let me be clear, it’s, you know, this isn’t we’re, it’s not perfect. But if I wanted to say, instead of you, but hey, write me a 2000 word essay on the counterfactual of what happened with railroads up until 1894 when the, when the bubble popped, give me a f, you know, a a thousand word essay and, and just a general overview. I can get that in less than five minutes. Michael Sailor is writing product on ai, which, which, which you would take, which you would take. He’s in his presentation, say it would take a hundred lawyers. So it’s gonna be more about those. And it’s, it’s no different than Internet of things or, you know, it was, uh, Kasparov that talked about this. Gary Kasparov talking about the melding of, of technology in humans. He would ran, run this chess tournament called freestyle. You could use a computer, you could use, you know, grand Masters. You could use whatever you wanted to compete. And who won? Well, who won it Was that those teams that were generalists that had a little bit of that, the knowledge of the computer and the knowledge of the test. Uh, o of chess, right? That’s what’s gonna happen. So this isn’t we’re, as far as I’m concerned, we’re not, yes, there’s going to be some d some jobs that are going to be replaced, but that is always the case in technology. I’m not a Luddite, okay? I am not Luddite. But the same point in time. I, I would suggest to you that it, it is just a really, for me, it’s a, helps me. Do research no different than when I was an undergrad and they went from cue cards in the, the library at the university to actually having a dummy terminal and I could ask questions in queue. You know, it stalked me from having to go to the basement of the library and going to microfiche. Right. Have helping that way. Now can it, can, will it do other things? I’m sure it is, and I’ll lead that to Elon Musk and the crew. You know, that’s above my pay grade. But for me, I see it as a very helpful way of, you know, allowing me to process and delineate. Much more information a a and not have me waste so much time trying to figure out what got went on in the past or, you know, QMF. Right. You know, summarize me the talk five, you know, academic papers in this area, what are they saying? And then they gimme the papers. Right. It just speeds the process up. Yeah. You know, um, one of the things that I’ve been sort of talking about and thinking about. Is that it’s hard to not see AI as a very, very strong deflationary force. Um, how do you think about that? Yeah. Technology is deflationary, right? Doubt about it. And so I look at it this way, Ray. Um, so I work at the financial services industry, okay. You know, Mr. Diamond of JP Morgan is talking about how they are starting to embrace blockchain and ai. They are going to cut out the back end of that in the, the margins in that, in that company by the end of the cycle are going to be fantastic. People just do not get in. You know, the financial services industry is built on a platform. Of the 1960s, dude. I mean, they’re still running Fortran, cobalt. So you know what I, how I look at this is much more as a margin type story, and there’s going to be a lot of displacement. But at the same point in time, I look at Tesla and automation and ai. And you know, people look at Tesla as a car company. I look at Tesla as an advanced manufacturing company. Elon Musk could basically go into any industry and disrupt it if it wanted to. Right. So that’s how I look at it. And so, you know, the hard part is going to be, you know. Nothing. If we get back to where we were, it’s not going to be perfect, right? Because here’s, here’s where the counter is, here’s where the counter is. Right? If you, if, if you think about, and we’re, I’m gonna take Trump outta the equation and ent outta the equation right now, but if we just went back to the way things were before COVID, we would have strong deflationary forces. Okay. Just with demographics, just with excessive levels of debt. Just with, you know, pushing on a string in terms of, in terms we couldn’t get the growth up, you know, and, you know, and the overregulation of financial institutions. Trump and descent are basically applying what’s called supply side economics, and they’re deregulating. It’s says law, which is John Batiste, that says basically supply creates his own demand and it’s non-inflationary. But really what they’re going to try to do is they’re going to try to run the economy hot and they’re gonna try to pull this way out of the debt. And if you do that and you deregulate the banks. And allow the banks to get back to where they were before the financial crisis. Okay. You know, and, and the Fed takes its interest rates down to neutral, expands the balance sheet. Then I don’t think we’re gonna go back to the zero bound in deflation. I think this thing’s gonna run hot for a long time. And I think it, the real question is, is, is is 2 75 in the United States the neutral rate? I think it is. Uh, but as, as, as Scott be says, and, and, and, and, and let’s be clear, buck, the guy’s a superstar. Okay. Guy is a legend. Just you sit there, just shut up and listen to him. Okay. They keep up, right? Well, so they’re gonna run it hot, but where we are is, in his words, mine, not mine. We’re still in this detox period, you know what I mean? We still got the Biden era. We still got, you know, a over a decade of excessive ca of Central Bank intermediation. That needs to get, you know, go away. So what I say, and what I’ve been writing about is 26 is going to be the year that the baton is passed back to the private sector. Let’s get rates down to 2 75. That’s, I mean, I’m going off the New York Fed model. That says real fed funds, the real, the real neutral rate is 75 to 78 basis points. I think inflation’s at two. That that gets you 2 75. Get the rates there and then get the balance sheet of the Fed to the level so that overnight lending isn’t loose or tight. It’s just normal. And then step back, go away and let Wall Street and the private sector create credit. Create economic growth and let’s get back to the business cycle. And if we do that, we’re gonna have non-inflationary growth. It’s gonna be strong, but we’re not going back to the zero bound and we’re gonna grow our way out of this. And so that’s where I get really excited about. This is a very unique time in history. A very, very, very unique time in history where, and I don’t know how long it’s going to last because of the compression that we have now because of the, you know, we live in such a digital world, but let’s say it’s five years demographic says it’s to 33, 32 to 33. That’s, you know, that’s how long this run is. And, and to me, uh, AI is a massive play. I, I, to me, blockchain is a massive play and to me it’s to those countries and companies that get it is, whereas investors, we wanna think, start thinking about investing. Yeah. You mentioned, um, non non-inflationary growth. Can you drill down on that a little bit just so people understand a little bit where. Usually you think of an economy running super hot, you, you think automatically there’s an, you know, an inflationary growth. So I want you to think in your mind into your list as think in your mind. Go back to economics 1 0 1 with the demand curve. In the supply curve, okay? And there are an equilibrium. And at that equilibrium we have a price at an equilibrium, and we have an output as an equilibrium. Okay? Now what I want you to do is I want you to keep the demand curves stagnant or, or, or anchored. Then I want you to shift the supply curve out. Prices go down, output goes out. We can talk all this esoteric stuff, you know, you know Ronald Reagan and, and Robert Mandel and supply side economics. But it’s really your shift in the supply curve out, and that’s what, and that’s what BeIN’s doing. I mean, this is a w would just sit down and be quiet. He’s talking about, you know, what is deregulation? He’s pushing the supply provider. Oh, hold on. My phone. My, my thing. And what did, since the two thousands, what did, what was the policy? It was kingian, it was all focused on the demand curve. Everything was focused on demand. And so all we’re doing is we’re, we’re getting the keynesians out. I use 2000 ’cause that’s when Ben Bernanke really came in and was very influential. Let me just say he’s a very smart, I learned so much from reading. Smart, smart, smart, smart guy. But his whole thing was Kasan. He came from MIT, his thesis supervisor was Stanley Fisher, right? We’re going back to, you know, Mario Dragons thesis supervisors, Stanley Fisher, all these guys came from MIT, Larry, M-I-T-M-I-T, Yale, and Princeton. Whereas previously it was the University of Chicago. It was Milton Friedman. It was, it was supply side economics. We’re going back, they’re going back to supply side economics and right now we need it. We need balance. But my god, what did we end off with? We ended off with four years of mono modern monetary theory. Deficits matter. That’s insanity. You had mentioned a little bit, uh, you, you’ve talked about blockchain a few times here. Talk about the significance. I mean, it’s sort of, you know, blockchain was a thing that everybody was, everybody was talking about it, you know, three, four years ago, but now it’s all about ai. But you know, now you’ve got, um, but in, but in the background, blockchain has grown, uh, adoption has grown. Uh, tell us what’s going on there, and if you could tie it into the significance of, of where we’re at today. Yeah. Um, uh, Jeff Bezos gave a wonderful speech, I think in two thou, early two thousands, where he basically talked about the fact that, you know, once this innovation is led out of the genie’s, led out of the bottle, whether or not, you know, buck and Jim, like it as an investment, the innovation continues. And so after the internet bubble pop, right? Really smart guys like Jeff Bezos, uh, Zuckerberg, you, you, the whole cast of characters, right? Basically built it out. Okay. And it wasn’t perfect and everybody knew it wasn’t perfect. I mean, that was the whole thing that was so bizarre. But they knew it wasn’t perfect and they knew that they needed to solve some problems. Right. And you know, it was a double spend problem. I mean, the internet that we were dealing with right now was developed in the 1950s and so on and so forth. And so, you know, that always stuck with me. Right. A couple of things stuck with me because I’ve lived through a couple of these cycles. The first one is Buck. When the, when Wall Street coalesces around something just shut up and buy it, right? I mean, I, I spent too much of my life arguing about whether dog pile and Ask Gees was better than Google. Wall Street said Google was the best. Shut up. Invest, right? And so, so look, blockchain solved the double spend problem. Blockchain solved all the problems that the original iteration of the internet could solve, and everybody knew it was coming along okay. So it’s a decentral, it’s decentralized, right? Uh, does, does not need to be reconciled. So no. Not only do you have another iteration of the internet. You have basically introduced into society the biggest innovation in accounting or recordkeeping since double entry. Bookkeeping accounting was introduced in Florence, Italy centuries ago by the Medicis and, and buck. All this is out there like, so this is a profound, right? So think about you’re in an accounting department and you don’t have to reconcile, right? So look. The first use cakes was Bitcoin. And what was the, what was the beautiful thing about it? Well, first off, it grew up by itself. And secondly, it’s got perfect scarcity, right? And so let’s just full stop. And I mean, yes, gold and silver had the run that they should have had decades. So I had been waiting and listening to people, gold bugs, talking about this type of run since the nineties. Okay. Um, but look, you know, and the problem with fi money, right? I mean, this is, this goes back decades. It’s an old argument. The way you solve it is, is Bitcoin. That’s the solution. I mean, forget about it. I mean, if they’re gonna whip it around and do all this stuff, fine. But the other thing that people miss and Sailor hasn’t, and Sailor is brilliant, is look. Bitcoin is pristine collateral in 2008, in September. What caused the, the system to stop was the counter. We could not identify counterparty risk for near cash. It was a settlement problem. Anybody you talk to Buck that says it was, you know, the subprime this and it, yeah, that was crap. I get that. But when the system shut down is you had a $750 million near cash instrument with X, Y, Z, wall Street firm, and you did this for three extra beeps and it was no longer cash. Guess. And guess what? Your institutional money market fund broke the buck. That’s when the system blew sky high. When the money market broke the buck and it was a settlement problem, blockchain and Bitcoin solved that. Sailor knows that, look where Wall Street’s gonna go. They understand now that. Bitcoin is pristine, collateral and capital that is 100% transparent. Let’s lend against it, and that’s what Sadler’s doing. That’s why Wall Street hates the guy so much, right? Think about that. Think of where is he going after he’s going after all the stranded capital on Wall Street. And, and the whole point is he’s sitting there going, I’m too busy for this. And you’ve got all these other people that are gonna live off of other people’s ignorance. Meanwhile, Jing Diamond knows exactly what he’s talking about. We can identify, if I hear one more person on me in, in the meeting say, I don’t know. You know, you know, uh, micro strategies balance sheet is so complicated. Really. Compared to JP Morgans, I mean, you know what his capital is. It says Bitcoin, like, what are you guys talking about? But hey, fucking in this business, people make generational wealth on ignorance of people who think they know what they don’t know. So, you know, just going back to Jamie Diamond, you know, he spent, I don’t know how long. Throwing every insult, uh, he could towards Bitcoin. And now they’ve really kind of, they haven’t backtracked. I think he’s, he’s, you know, his, his, um, I think the way he phrases is the blockchain’s a real thing. He never seems to really say the word Bitcoin, uh, in this regard. Um, banks in general, where do you think they’re headed with this stuff? I mean, I, you know, right now, again, you can kind of see even. Um, I think, you know, some of the big advisory firms suddenly recommending one to, you know, one to 4% of people’s portfolios in Bitcoin. I mean, this is all, I mean, gosh, I, I’ve, you know, been talking about Bitcoin since 2017. This is in unbelievable transformation in less than a decade. Where do you see this going in the next five to 10 years? It’s called the, it’s called, what is it? It’s called, I’m gonna call it the Evolution of Jim. Me, you know, in my business and, and, and, and you know, the thing I have book is I’ve survived and I’ve gone through a lot of cycles. I’ve done a lot, you know, and you ask yourself, you scratch your head a lot and you’re, and you, but you’re continually doing objective research and you’re this, if you, this is why I love this game so much. Right? So let’s just go stop for a second. Let’s get some context. Right. My first summer job, one of my first summer jobs, I worked in the basement of a bank in the in, in downtown Toronto, right up the street from the Toronto Stock Exchange. And my job was to let guys in with beak, briefcases into the cage, into the big vault, to basically bring in certificates. Okay. And, and what? Stock certificates. And so remember, you know, and I remember my grandfather when we, when he died, look at, we couldn’t sell the house because he didn’t believe in the banks. And we were finding certificates all over the house in the walls. Okay? Right. So in the 1960s it was bare based. The whole industry was bare based. And there was the volume in Wall Street started to pick up to the point where they couldn’t handle the volume. There was a paper crisis where almost a third of the companies went down bankrupt because of the cage. The cage. Okay. So basically what happened was, to make a long story short, they came out with, they came, Hey, why don’t we get two computers At one point in time, they said, okay, crisis. Let’s solve it. Well, why don’t we get these two computers and we can solve, or we can sell trades among, amongst each other. Okay. And then we don’t need to have guys riding around Wall Street with bicycles and big briefcases. Okay. And then what we did was, what we did was we sat there and said, well, why don’t we have a centralized clearing, and we’re gonna call it DTC or CDS, depending on what country you’re in. And what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna offer paper, we’re gonna, we’re gonna issue paper rights to the underlying stock that was developed in the early 1970s. That’s the system that we’re on right now. There are a lot of faults with that. Let me give you, when you’ve talked about the GameStop a MC situation, when you have a company that’s basically have more shares outstanding short, sorry, more shares short than outstanding, that shows you that the old system doesn’t work. It’s called ation. The paper writes to the underlying assets, it, it doesn’t match up. There have been guys that make a career outta this and write books about this, right? Dole Pineapple. They had a corporate, a corporate event, right? Hostile takeover. 64,000 for 64 million shares, voted, I think, and there was only 3,200 on. We all know this, so this has to be solved. The way you solve it is you tokenize assets, and this was talked about a decade ago, and they know about it and true tofor, they, and if you’re thinking about it, it’s totally logical, right? But if we allow this innovation to go full stream ahead, we’re wiped out, right? So what did they do? They delayed. They delayed. And as you know, you could talk about, it’s called Operation choke 0.2 0.0. Right. You know, the Fed overreached their bounds, they de banked people. I mean, this is why, why Best it’s going after them. They, yet they stepped over their constitutional mandate. Right. The federal, the Fed Act is not, uh, does not supersede the US Constitution. Elizabeth warned the whole thing. They did it. Okay, so let’s not complain about it. So now Atkins is gonna, we’re gonna have the Clarity Act come out and they’re gonna basically deregulate New York Stock Exchange already there. They’re gonna put everything on the blockchain and when you put everything on the blockchain, trade a settlement. There’s no hypo. Immediate settlement. Immediate, which is a benefit if you can get your act together because it, you know, for Wall Street firms you need less capital, right? So it’s a natural evolutionary process. And then you sit there and go back in history, if you and I were writing it, we’d sit there and go, well, should we be surprised that the incumbents right, the status quo pushed back on innovation? No, there was a guy, there was a prophet, um. At, at Harvard, his name was Clay Christensen, and he wrote this wonderful book called The Innovator’s Dilemma. You know, why does, why don’t companies evolve, or why do they go bankrupt? It’s because they cease to evolve and the status quo doesn’t allow the evolution of the companies to take place. Right? Well, that’s what happened in RA. We’re gonna complain about it. No, it, it is what it is. It’s water under the bridge. And so what I think is happening is, you know, Mr. Diamond is basically saying. He’s pragmatic, he’s a realist. And now he’s saying, we gotta evolve. And hey, by the way, now I’ve gotten to the point where I think I can make a tunnel. Think about that. Yeah. Think about his own stable coins, right? So his own stable coins. And, uh, well think about this. If you trade like internal meetings, right? And I’m hyped this hypothetical, right? I go, fuck, don’t screw this up this time. And you’re gonna go, Jim, what are you talking about? I go. We want a nice bread between bid and ask in these financial price. We don’t wanna go down to pennies. Okay? Can we go back to the old days when we were, you know, trading in quarters and sixteenths and so we can make some skin in the game? I think you’ve got the deregulation of the banking industry where the banks are gonna, they’re fit. It’s gonna be baby steps. But what’s gonna happen is they’re gonna basically say, stop taking all that capital that’s sitting at the Fed, making four or fed funds rate overnights wherever it’s four half, 3 75 right now. And you can now trade it. Go back to prop trading, which is what they did. And they’re gonna start off, they will start off with, its only treasuries. Eventually they’ll be able to expand throughout our lifetime. So the old way you gotta look at it is, you know. We’re bringing the ba, you know, we’re putting the band back together, man. Right. And the banks are gonna deregulate, they’re gonna deregulate the banks, they’re going to innovate, they’re gonna be able to use the capital, their earnings profile going out into the end of the decade. It’s, it’s gonna be monstrous, it’s gonna be, you know, it, it’s, it’s, and, and that’s how I get, you know, when people say, where do you think the s and p goes? You know, I say, you know, 14,000, you know, double from here by the end of the decade. And he goes, well, what about ai? I go, well, they’re gonna, that’s important, but it’s the banks. I think the banks are gonna have a renaissance. Yeah. Yeah. Um, one thing just to get your thoughts on, so when you look at the banks, you talked about sort of the inevitability of tokenization. Um, the stock exchange, uh, we talked about stable coins. I mean, another great way for banks to make money. Uh, essentially where does that, how, how does that help or hurt Bitcoin adoption? Because Bitcoin is a sort of a separate, separate, you’re not, you’re not building on Bitcoin as much as you are, say, Ethereum, Mar Solana or, you know, some of the, some of the blockchain things. So, so is it just that. Is it just a, an adoption issue? Because you live in a, in a different world. You live in a world of blockchain and Bitcoin is, its currency. It’s weird, right? Because I, I’m writing this feed like, so Buck, where are you right now? Where, where, where are you located? I’m in Santa Barbara. You’re in California. So, yeah, so I’m in Toronto, right? Uh, you know, I lived in, worked in the States for, you know, a decade, a couple of decades, and I’m back home and it’s like, man, they don’t get it. Right, and, and, and, and what am I talking about? Well, well, this, this is the, the thing that you’ve gotta understand is this, right. Ethereum was invented by Vladi Butrin in this town, Joe Alozo, who’s the head of one of the largest Ethereum groups. Father is a dentist at Bathurst and Spadina. We’re up here and people are saying, oh, you know, president Trump don’t talk about being a 51st state. We act like a colony, duke. We are a, you know, we forget about calling us one. We are. So, look, it, look, there is no doubt in my mind that Ethereum is going to have a place and, and we’re going to use it. Seems like we’re going to use Ethereum and that’s the smart contract, you know? Um. And that’s fine. Um, you know, but going back in time. But, but remember, there’s not per, there’s not perfect scarcity there. So I like Ethereum, don’t get me wrong, but I look at Bitcoin and I look at the, I look at the scarcity, and I also look at the fact of, you know, what sa, what Sailor, if you sailor did a presentation in the middle of next year and all hell broke loose. What he did, and it’s, you know, and of course I’m hypothesizing. He basically went to New York and said, I am going to create fixed income products and I am going to give yields. On those products, and I’m coming after the stranded capital that sits on Wall Street that you guys have been ripping on for years. In the middle of last year, staler went public and declared war. Okay. Are we surprised that Jim Shane Oaks came out and everybody came out basically guns a blazing. Are we surprised? But what he, what Sailor did and put and slammed on the table is it’s pristine capital, it’s transparent capital. And what are you willing to pay for that? And now you GARP banks trading at. We have no idea what their capital structure really is. Honestly, we have an idea, but it’s very opaque, right? You know, the high quality names are trading at two, two to, you know, two times tangible book. You’ve got fintech’s companies trading at four to five times, right book, and you know, what’s Sailor doing right now? Diluting his stock so he can buy as much Bitcoin as he wants because he sees the next game. He says the hell with what you guys think the next game is going to be. Wall Street’s going to realize that Bitcoin is pristine capital and there’s only 21 million of it. What do you and, and what just happened today? What did Morgan Stanley just file a treasury company. So everything you and I are talking about, they know they’re smart guys, right? They’re real, they’re not. That’s, this is the whole point. They’re really, really, really smart. Okay. They see they’ve gone through the history. They know. Okay, so you’re sitting there, you get around the room, you say, so wait a minute. Wait. Whoa, sailor’s over here. And he’s basically saying he’s gonna give you a a pref that’s basically backed by Bitcoin charging 10%. And he’s going after our corporate clients. I mean, and what’s the pitch Buck? You’ve got a hundred million dollars. Okay, you got a hundred million dollars in the kitty. Okay, buck. What happens is you need $10 million a year for working capital, which is in cash, which means you’ve got $90 million sitting there idle. Hey, buck, I can give you 10% on that. You go to Jamie, he’s giving you two. What are you gonna do? Yeah. I think one of the issues right now is I the, the perceived risk profile of that. Right. Uh, you know. I tend to agree with you about the, uh, pristine nature of Bitcoin s collateral, but just in general, the perception. I don’t know that, that that’s. That’s the case. Well, you gotta go back to the fact that, do you think Bitcoin’s going to zero or not? No, of course not. Yeah. ‘ cause the Bitcoin doesn’t go to zero. There’s no, then, then that are, there’s Bitcoin could go to zero. There’s no, I mean, I don’t think, I mean, non-zero probability, of course, right? I don’t think it is. And if that has been, if it has been selected and now you have Wall Street coalescing it, I haven’t even mentioned the president of the United States or his family. Right. Uh, or the Commerce Secretary and his family, right? Or if you go to New York, wall Street, right, they’re all talking about it, right? So, I, I, you know, to me, I, I, the question about micro strategy, to me it’s not. That it’s a treasury company and it’s got a pile of Bitcoin. What does he do with it? Does he become a bank? Like why does it, this is me. I’m pitching him. Right. Hey, Mike, why don’t you just become a FinTech, say you’re like a FinTech company and you’ll get, and you, you’re gonna instantaneously trade it five to six times book. Why don’t you, why are you, you’re talking like you’re attacking them, but you’re still, you’re still a software company with a, with a big whack of Bitcoin that you are writing pres. Right? So, and, and so that’s, that’s how I look at it. I think the wave is too big. We are going to digitize. And the other thing that we didn’t really touch on with respect to AI and blockchain, and I’m gonna paraphrase the president. Right. Um, Mr. Trump is, look, um, it’s a matter of national security, duke, and when I hear that, I go back to the nineties in the eighties when I was in late eighties when I was an undergrad. Right. And it wasn’t China, it was Japan. And, and you know, what happened was, you know, it, it’s funny, Al Gore did deregulate so that. The internet could become for-profit. We all stood around and said, you know what the hell could, how do we make money on this? That’s, you know, what do we do? And then what did we do? We, we, we threw a ton of money at it and the United States controlled it. And what did we get out of it? We got out, we got, you know, all those companies. Right. The last thing I would say to you, and this is much more of a personal story, is I, when I was younger, I was in New York and it was 2000 and I was at the Grand Hyatt, and it was a tech, it was a tech conference and, uh, Larry Ellison Oracle was there and he gave a, he gave a, he gave a a, a fireside chat. Then, um, we go to a breakout room and, you know, in a break, I don’t know about if you’ve been to one, but you go to a breakout room, it’s a smaller room at the hotel, and you know, sometimes you got 25 people, sometimes you got 50 people, right. And, you know, I went to the, I went to the breakout with Mr. Allison ’cause of Oracle and I went in there and it was absolutely jammed and I was sweating and he just looked at us and he just ripped us. He AP Soly, just, I still have the scars today. I’m talking to you about it. Okay. He called it a bubble. He called it a bubble. He, he was early in calling it a bubble. I never forgot that. And then you sit there and see what he’s doing right now. Where he’s levering up the balance sheet. Now, to me, having survived in this game for such a long period of time, and I call it a game, it’s a game of strategy, whatever, you know, how does that not, you know, I would say to you, we were, your office was next to mine. Fuck. I remember New York, he’s loading the goose loaded in. He go in, he’s borrowing money from his grandmother. He’s, you know, what is going on. And he’s really stinking smart. You know, he’s, he, Larry Allenson just doesn’t do, and people, oh, he’s in, you know, he’s, no, he’s not, he’s, he’s like the mentor of all of these guys. You know what I mean? So there’s a, to me, there’s a discontinuity that these need to believe that we’re still early on because you know, what, if Larry’s, what do we take when Larry or Mr. Ellison is leveraging up to me, it’s profound because I’m anchoring off of my bias to the New York, the New York high at, at the Tech Co. I think it was, I think it was at Bear Stearn. I couldn’t remember Bear Stearns or Lehman. But you know, one of those I carry that experience on with the rest of my life. I do. It’s like, what is Larry thinking? Right? So he’s leveraging up buck. That’s all I know. He’s a priest or guy. Well, that’s probably a good place for us to stop, Jim, uh, chief, uh, market strategist at Wellington Elta Private Wealth. Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks so much and be safe. You make a lot of money but are still worried about retirement. Maybe you didn’t start earning until your thirties. Now you’re trying to catch up. Meanwhile, you’ve got a mortgage, a private school to pay for, and you feel like you’re getting further and further behind. Now, good news, if you need to catch up on retirement, check out a program put out by some of the oldest and most prestigious life insurance companies in the world. It’s called Wealth Accelerator, and it can help you amplify your returns quickly, protect your money from creditors, and provide financial protection to your family if something happens. The concepts here are used by some of the wealthiest families in the world, and there’s no reason why they can’t be used by you. Check it out for yourself by going to wealth formula banking.com. Welcome back to the show everyone. Hope you enjoyed it. Uh, and, uh, as I said before, do not ignore ai. This is something that you need to start using. Have your kids start using it. Uh, make sure that they, you know. They use it every day because this whole world is turning AI and it’s gonna happen. You know, it’s gonna happen in, in a blink of an, uh, blink of an eye. And the world is gonna change and there are gonna be real winners out there. And the winners are gonna be people who knew where there was, was going and kind of used it in their mind’s eye as they looked on navigating how. You know how to allocate their money. Anyway, that is it for me. This week on Wealth Formula Podcast. This is Buck JJoffrey signing off. If you wanna learn more, you can now get free access to our in-depth personal finance course featuring industry leaders like Tom Wheel Wright and Ken McElroy. Visit wealth formula roadmap.com.
Crypto News: NYSE develops 24/7 blockchain trading platform for tokenized stocks, ETFs. The government of Bermuda is planning to create a “fully onchain” national economy using digital asset infrastructure provided through partnerships with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and stablecoin issuer Circle.Brought to you by ✅ VeChain is a versatile enterprise-grade L1 smart contract platform https://www.vechain.org/
Send us a textSummaryIn this episode of Wireless Sway, host Chris Whitaker welcomes Matthew Schneider, the founder and CEO of Building Inc., a real estate data company specializing in valuation, compliance, and digital twins. Matthew shares his journey from being a derivatives trader to venturing into real estate and technology, emphasizing the importance of data in the real estate industry. He discusses how blockchain technology can enhance data verification and transparency, ultimately transforming the way real estate transactions are conducted. Matthew also highlights the significance of digital twins and IoT in monitoring property performance and energy consumption, advocating for a more data-driven approach to real estate management.The conversation delves into the challenges faced by the real estate sector, particularly regarding data integrity and the need for digital transformation. Matthew explains how his company aims to help real estate developers and asset managers transition from outdated systems to a more efficient, transparent, and trustworthy data framework. He also touches on the implications of these advancements for the future of commercial real estate, especially in light of recent market shifts and the ongoing recovery from the pandemic. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and real estate, showcasing how innovation can lead to better decision-making and enhanced property management.TakeawaysData is a key player in real estate.Blockchain technology can verify data and enhance transparency.Digital twins allow for real-time monitoring of property performance.The real estate industry is transitioning to digital markets.Trustworthy data can reduce risks and improve investment outcomes.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Wireless Web and Guest Introduction02:06 Matthew's Journey from Trading to Real Estate05:23 The Importance of Data in Real Estate07:35 Understanding Blockchain and Data Continuity08:55 The Role of Digital Twins in Property Management11:22 How Companies Benefit from Matthew's Expertise16:08 Integrating ESG into Real Estate Data18:37 The Future of Smarter Cities and Data Accountability24:14 Adoption Rates of Digital Transformation in Real Estate26:02 The Shift in Property Management26:57 Blockchain as a Solution28:14 Short-term vs Long-term Benefits of Digitization32:12 Trends in Building Management34:37 Learning from Past Disasters38:35 The Future of Real Estate Technology40:48 Commercial Real Estate Recovery Post-Pandemic44:07 The Importance of Data TransparencyMore on MatthewMore on BuildingCode and Concrete Podcast Support the showCheck out my website https://thewirelessway.net/ use the contact button to send request and feedback.
Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, joined me to discuss the latest status of the crypto market structure bill in the Senate.Topics: - Crypto market structure bill markup delayed and what happens next - Banks fighting stablecoin yield rewards - The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act - New DeFi bill from Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democrat Ron Wynden - New CFTC chairman Mike Selig - Anti-CBDC Bill status Brought to you by
Crypto News: Coinbase CEO denies White House clash, says negotiations are ongoing. Bitcoin is set to move higher and could see over $100K this coming week. 'Obscure' laws stall Bitcoin reserve: White House Crypto Council director.Brought to you by
In this episode, I sit down with Adam Liposky, founder of Canopy Network, to dive into the next evolution of Web3 infrastructure — application-specific blockchains. We explore how Canopy is turning complex, costly L1 development into something anyone can launch in minutes. Adam shares how AI is changing developer workflows, what real value capture looks like in Web3, and why the future belongs to fast-moving, focused builders. Whether you're a founder, dev, or investor, this conversation breaks down what's really needed to scale Web3.⏱️ Key Takeaways with Timestamps(00:00) - Intro to Adam Liposky and Canopy's mission(02:48) - How Adam got into crypto via VC and gaming(05:23) - What Canopy solves: Fast, secure app chain deployment(07:18) - The real pain point: Complexity of building in Web3(09:56) - How AI and language agnostic design speed up dev(11:26) - Why games love Canopy's flexible and upgradable chains(13:56) - Devs care about value capture, not just building(16:34) - Canopy's win-win model using restaked security(18:11) - Fragmentation vs interoperability: Canopy's solution(20:59) - Progressive decentralization: Start fast, grow safely(21:08) - What devs love most: Speed and iteration(23:07) - VC appetite for L1s is down, but utility is up(28:14) - Projects to watch: Why Canopy stays focused(30:23) - Adam's advice: Focus on customers, not hype(31:10) - If he could restart: Get dev feedback earlier(33:17) - Go-to-market: Solo devs, indie hackers, launchpad(36:37) - Spending wisely: Team first, marketing second(39:50) - Biggest challenge: Finding and keeping great people(41:09) - Biggest ask: Join Canopy's beta and launch your chainIt would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
47e6GvjL4in5Zy5vVHMb9PQtGXQAcFvWSCQn2fuwDYZoZRk3oFjefr51WBNDGG9EjF1YDavg7pwGDFSAVWC5K42CBcLLv5U OR DONATE HERE: https://www.monerotalk.live/donate GUEST LINKS: https://x.com/anarchy_dot_gov TIMESTAMPS (00:00:00) Monerotopia Introduction. (00:14:27) Monerotopia Price Report Segment w/ Bawdyanarchist. (01:19:59) Monerotopia Guest Segment w/ Daniel J. (02:10:37) Monerotopia News Segment w/ Tux. (02: 11 :01) Venezuela Proved the Bitcoin Bull Case. (02:12:55) White House will remove tax on all small Bitcoin Payments. (02:15:12) Monero v0. 18.4.5 has been released. (02:15:36) Elizabeth Warren has filed 38 amendments to Market structure bill. (02:16:08) Protection against spy nodes. (02:16:51) Vivek Sen Post. (02:20:32) A victim lost $282M+ Worth of LTC. (02:24:22) Eleanor Terrett post. (02:25:50) Jack Dorsey New App. (02:29:06) Simon Dixon post. (02:30:07) We are all Zashi. (02:35:23) Monerotopia Viewers on Stage Segment. (04:21:12) Monerotopia Finalization. NEWS SEGMENT LINKS: https://x.com/david_eng_mba/status/2010377715963109648?s=46 https://x.com/cryptogoos/status/2010402007266529506?s=46 https://x.com/hundehausen/status/2010407714715795932?s=46 https://x.com/intangiblecoins/status/2011412888397795627?s=46 https://x.com/hundehausen/status/2011515183123021983?s=46 https://x.com/sethforprivacy/status/2011520757097251222?s=46 https://x.com/vivek4real_/status/2011867934172311596?s=46 https://x.com/zachxbt/status/2012212936735912351?s=46 https://x.com/eleanorterrett/status/2012344025802490208?s=46 https://x.com/marionawfal/status/2012460008026579340?s=46 https://x.com/simondixontwitt/status/2012502551766212870?s=46 SPONSORS: PRICE REPORT: https://exolix.com/ GUEST SEGMENT: https://cakewallet.com & https://monero.com NEWS SEGMENT: https://www.wizardswap.io XMR.BAR: https://xmr.bar Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE! The more subscribers, the more we can help Monero grow! XMRtopia TELEGRAM: https://t.me/monerotopia XMRtopia MATRIX: https://matrix.to/#/%23monerotopia%3Amonero.social ODYSEE: https://bit.ly/3bMaFtE WEBSITE: monerotopia.com CONTACT: monerotopia@protonmail.com MASTADON: @Monerotopia@mastodon.social MONERO.TOWN https://monero.town/u/monerotopia Get Social with us: X: https://twitter.com/monerotopia INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monerotopia DOUGLAS: https://twitter.com/douglastuman SUNITA: https://twitter.com/sunchakr TUX: https://twitter.com/tuxpizza
Crypto News: State Street, a $36 billion bank, is aiming to change legacy finance using blockchain tech in their new digital assets platform. Senate Democrats serious about crypto bill reboot, they said in call with industry. US lender Newrez to accept crypto holdings in mortgage approval. Brought to you by
It's the first show of 2026, and we're kicking off with things we all care about. Staking rewards, institutional impact, and predictions for the year ahead. Andrew has been on both sides of the Web3 fence and brings deep insight to the table.So 2025 wasn't the year many of us hoped for, but what can we expect in 2026? Andrew will help us break down the state of current institutional adoption of Blockchain and Crypto, where staking rewards and institutional-level staking can change the yield game in future, and some predictions for 2026.On this show, we discuss:1. Andrew's journey from AML and JP Morgan into Web32. An Introduction to Twinstake3. Current state of institutional interest in crypto, digital assets and staking4. What more is needed for wider adoption of staking and digital asset investing 5. Top 3 predictions for 2026
In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Daniel Bar, co-founder of Space Computer, a satellite-based secure compute protocol that creates a "root of trust in space" using tamper-resistant hardware for cryptographic applications. The conversation explores the fascinating intersection of space technology, blockchain infrastructure, and trusted execution environments (TEEs), touching on everything from cosmic radiation-powered random number generators to the future of space-based data centers and Daniel's journey from quantum computing research to building what they envision as the next evolution beyond Ethereum's "world computer" concept. For more information about Space Computer, visit spacecomputer.io, and check out their new podcast "Frontier Pod" on the Space Computer YouTube channel.Timestamps00:00 Introduction to Space Computer02:45 Understanding Layer 1 and Layer 2 in Space Computing06:04 Trusted Execution Environments in Space08:45 The Evolution of Trusted Execution Environments11:59 The Role of Blockchain in Space Computing14:54 Incentivizing Satellite Deployment17:48 The Future of Space Computing and Its Applications20:58 Radiation Hardening and Space Environment Challenges23:45 Kardashev Civilizations and the Future of Energy26:34 Quantum Computing and Its Implications29:49 The Intersection of Quantum and Crypto32:26 The Future of Space Computer and Its VisionKey Insights1. Space-based data centers solve the physical security problem for Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). While TEEs provide secure compute through physical isolation, they remain vulnerable to attacks requiring physical access - like electron microscope forensics to extract secrets from chips. By placing TEEs in space, these attack vectors become practically impossible, creating the highest possible security guarantees for cryptographic applications.2. The space computer architecture uses a hybrid layer approach with space-based settlement and earth-based compute. The layer 1 blockchain operates in space as a settlement layer and smart contract platform, while layer 2 solutions on earth provide high-performance compute. This design leverages space's security advantages while compensating for the bandwidth and compute constraints of orbital infrastructure through terrestrial augmentation.3. True randomness generation becomes possible through cosmic radiation harvesting. Unlike pseudo-random number generators used in most blockchain applications today, space-based systems can harvest cosmic radiation as a genuinely stochastic process. This provides pure randomness critical for cryptographic applications like block producer selection, eliminating the predictability issues that compromise security in earth-based random number generation.4. Space compute migration is inevitable as humanity advances toward Kardashev Type 1 civilization. The progression toward planetary-scale energy control requires space-based infrastructure including solar collection, orbital cities, and distributed compute networks. This technological evolution makes space-based data centers not just viable but necessary for supporting the scale of computation required for advanced civilization development.5. The optimal use case for space compute is high-security applications rather than general data processing. While space-based data centers face significant constraints including 40kg of peripheral infrastructure per kg of compute, maintenance impossibility, and 5-year operational lifespans, these limitations become acceptable when the application requires maximum security guarantees that only space-based isolation can provide.6. Space computer will evolve from centralized early-stage operation to a decentralized satellite constellation. Similar to early Ethereum's foundation-operated nodes, space computer currently runs trusted operations but aims to enable public participation through satellite ownership stakes. Future participants could fractionally own satellites providing secure compute services, creating economic incentives similar to Bitcoin mining pools or Ethereum staking.7. Blockchain represents a unique compute platform that meshes hardware, software, and free market activity. Unlike traditional computers with discrete inputs and outputs, blockchain creates an organism where market participants provide inputs through trading, lending, and other economic activities, while the distributed network processes and returns value through the same market mechanisms, creating a cyborg-like integration of technology and economics.
2025 was a year of major shifts for crypto and not just in headlines, but in what actually matters for builders: fundamentals, real-world use cases and sustainable revenue.In this episode of Byte-Sized Insight, we are joined by Leonard Dorlöchter, co-founder of peaq, to break down what quietly worked in 2025 and what the industry should be paying attention to in 2026. Leonard explains how DePIN began gaining real traction, why “fundamentals started mattering more,” and how the industry may be maturing while also losing sight of Web3's original decentralization ethos. The conversation also explores the rise of AI agents and robotics, new standards for machine-to-machine coordination, and what it could look like when devices, machines and autonomous agents begin transacting onchain as part of a global machine economy.(1:58) Leonard introduces peaq and the “machine economy”(4:03) 2025 shift: fundamentals and real revenue start to matter(5:24) Web3 maturity vs. losing the decentralization ethos(7:33) Blockchain as neutral global infrastructure and governance layer(10:45) 2025 breakthroughs: physical AI and new standards for agents(12:18) Why machine coordination is moving onchain(13:31) Breaking down “machine economy” onchain vs offchain(14:01) Example: tokenized machines, peer-to-peer energy, shared ownership(17:51) Trust, reputation and efficiency in an open-machine economy(20:23) Real-world adoption: robot in production in Hong Kong, onchain rewards(22:06) 2026 outlook: robotics protocols, onchain goods/services, sovereign agents(25:12) Policy gap: regulation progress but not fully aligned with Web3 ethos(28:42) Why peaq partnered with VARA, machine economy free zone sandbox(30:12) Builder advice for 2026: validate value, traction and real revenueThis episode was hosted and produced by Savannah Fortis, @savannah_fortis.Follow Cointelegraph on X @Cointelegraph.Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.If you like what you heard, rate us and leave a review!The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.
Jens Voigt raced the Tour de France 17 times, wore the yellow jersey, won stages in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, and set the Hour Record on the track at age 43. He joins Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz how crashing at 70 km/h changes you in ways the world doesn't see and the long arc of a life in sport. — This episode explores Jens' childhood and upbringing in the former East Germany, his path through a state-run sports academy, and what it was like to build a career inside professional cycling without ever being the protected rider. — This is a conversation about parenting six kids, literally carrying teammates through hard times, aging and how he stays World Tour fast to feel good and have fun. — To support Choose the Hard Way, please become a paid subscriber of https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started https://www.onerealvoice.com/ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — Jens Voigt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejensie/ — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — One Real Voice – narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts and high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com— Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/
Crypto News: The Senate crypto market structure markup that was schedule for tomorrow has been cancelled as crypto industry companies such as Coinbase back out from supporting the currency bill draft. Visa taps BVNK to power stablecoin payouts on Visa Direct.Brought to you by
Brian from Santiment joined me to review the crypto metrics for Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Monero.
In this episode, I sat down with Thomas Gaffney to unpack what's really happening as blockchain and real-world asset tokenization quietly reshape real estate, finance, and ownership. We talked about how mortgages are moving on-chain, why transparency could prevent another 2008-style collapse, and how people may soon pay mortgages and car loans with crypto. We also explored Bitcoin as digital gold, fractional ownership of massive assets like apartment buildings, and why blockchain's biggest impact will mostly happen behind the scenes. This conversation completely reframed how I see the future of money, real estate, and risk. About Thomas Gaffney: Thomas Gaffney is the Chief Operating Officer of OFA Group, a public company focused on architectural design, AI-driven innovation, digital assets, and real-world asset tokenization. He's served in this role since March 2024 and brings over a decade of experience as a startup financing attorney, guiding technology companies from seed stage through IPO and strategic exits. Thomas's expertise spans venture capital financing, equity structuring, and navigating complex legal frameworks in tech and finance. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Penn State University and a Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law. Under his leadership, OFA is advancing blockchain infrastructure and real-world asset tokenization through platforms like Hearth Labs. Connect with Thomas Gaffney & OFA Group • LinkedIn: Thomas Gaffney / OFA Group• Website: ofacorp.com• Public Ticker: OFAL About Justin: After investing in real estate for over 18 years and almost 3000 deals done, Justin has created a business that generates 7 figures in active income through wholesaling and fix and flipping as well as accumulating millions of dollars of rental properties including 5 apartment buildings, 50+ single family homes, and 1 storage facility Justins longevity in real estate is due to his ability to look around the corners, adapt to changing markets, perfecting Raising private capital, and focusing on lead generation which allows him to not just wholesale and fix & flip, but also accumulate wealth through long term holds. His success in real estate led him to start The Entrepreneur DNA podcast and The Science Of Flipping podcast and education company, and REI LIVE where he's actively doing deals with members. He has coached and mentored thousands of aspiring and active investors over the last decade. Connect with Justin: Instagram: @thejustincolby YouTube: Justin Colby TikTok: @justincolbytsof LinkedIn: Justin Colby Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
For episode 666 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Hazel Lee, Co-founder of BeatSwap.As blockchain technology expands beyond finance into the cultural content sector, the BeatSwap project is innovating the way intellectual property (IP) rights are distributed. In the traditional IP rights industry, copyright management is opaque and settlements are slow, creating inefficiencies that prevent creators, investors, and fans from fully reaping the benefits. To address these limitations, BeatSwap standardizes IP rights as real-world assets (RWA), offering a new value proposition where anyone can transparently own and trade them. BeatSwap bills itself as “the world’s first Web3 full-stack IP rights platform” and aims to implement the entire lifecycle of IP rights on the blockchain—from the creation stage and IP rights registration, to fan community participation, rights tokenization, and decentralized trading.
Tyler Spalding is a 2011 bitcoiner whose main focus is payments. As the co-founder and former CEO of Flexa, he has a very unique insight on the cryptocurrency industry. This episode was recorded on the road after visiting the Bear Sanctuary in Romania. 00:00:47 – Introduction & Tyler's Visit to Romania Tyler discusses his trip to Romania, the bear sanctuary, and his passion for supporting bears globally. 00:04:11 – Background: NASA, Payments, and Early Tech Career Tyler shares his background in aerospace engineering, work at NASA, and transition into software and payments. 00:10:09 – Discovering Bitcoin & Early Involvement Tyler recounts learning about Bitcoin in 2011, reading the white paper, and early mining experiences. 00:12:26 – Bitcoin as Payments vs. Store of Value Tyler explains his initial focus on Bitcoin as a payment system and how his views evolved over time. 00:17:26 – Money, Debt, and the Nature of Currency Discussion on the historical relationship between money and debt, and how Bitcoin fits into this context. 00:20:44 – Bitcoin as Commodity, Not Money Tyler argues Bitcoin is more like digital gold than money, and discusses synthetic assets and stablecoins. 00:22:59 – The One Token Dilemma & Use Cases Exploration of Bitcoin's dual role as payment and store of value, and the resulting community debates. 00:28:46 – Spending Bitcoin: Early Purchases & Experiences Tyler shares stories about spending Bitcoin, including buying Cubs World Series tickets and other goods. 00:35:38 – Freedom of Choice & Critique of Maximalism Tyler advocates for utility maximalism and criticizes toxic Bitcoin maximalism and intolerance toward altcoins. 00:39:25 – Bitcoin's Usefulness & 21 Million Narrative Debate on what makes Bitcoin useful, the 21 million supply, and the impact of other crypto projects. 00:41:59 – Altcoins' Positive Impact on Bitcoin Tyler explains how Ethereum and other projects have benefited Bitcoin's growth and adoption. 00:45:38 – Digital Gold Narrative & Custodianship Discussion on the digital gold narrative, Bitcoin's slow/expensive transactions, and the rise of custodians. 00:47:42 – Podcast Sponsors & Wallets Host and Tyler discuss various sponsors, wallets, and services in the crypto ecosystem. 00:55:26 – Use Case Magazine & Documenting Crypto Adoption Tyler introduces his magazine “Use Case,” which documents real-world crypto use cases and includes a hardware wallet. 01:00:48 – Blocksize Wars: Big Blocks vs. Store of Value Tyler reflects on the blocksize wars, his initial support for big blocks, and how his views have changed. 01:09:47 – Forked Coins & Handling BCH Tyler discusses his approach to Bitcoin Cash after the fork and the uncertainty at the time. 01:17:33 – Bitcoin Cash, Scaling, and Miner Dynamics Analysis of Bitcoin Cash's technical progress, miner incentives, and its ongoing relevance. 01:23:10 – Multiple Currencies & Historical Parallels Comparison of today's crypto landscape to historical periods with many local currencies. 01:27:47 – Bitcoin's Uniqueness & Market Realities Debate on whether Bitcoin is truly unique and the challenges of paper Bitcoin and institutional adoption. 01:30:03 – Network Usage vs. Price Focus Tyler emphasizes the importance of real network usage and adoption over price speculation. 01:31:59 – Crypto Celebrities & Community Engagement Stories about working with celebrities and community members in crypto promotional campaigns. 01:46:08 – Five Legitimate Altcoins & Decentralization Tyler lists Ethereum, Zcash, Solana, and others as legitimate projects, and discusses what makes a project a scam. 02:11:55 – Monero, Zano, and Privacy Coins Discussion of Monero, Zano, and the technical and community differences among privacy coins. 02:20:58 – Current Projects: Flexa, AMP, and Anvil Tyler describes his ongoing work with Flexa, AMP, and the Anvil DeFi protocol for collateral management. 02:26:05 – Proof of Stake vs. Proof of Work Tyler explains his preference for proof of stake, its security model, and critiques of Bitcoin's mining centralization. 02:36:08 – Bitcoin Fork Thought Experiment: Privacy & Quantum Resistance Speculation on forking Zcash with Bitcoin's UTXO set for privacy and quantum resistance. 02:43:19 – Quantum Threats & Migration Challenges Discussion on quantum computing risks, migration strategies, and contentious issues around lost coins. 02:51:55 – Lightning Network, Fees, and Network Security Critique of Lightning Network's usability, fee model, and long-term security challenges for Bitcoin. 03:03:00 – If Tyler Could Change One Thing: Privacy Tyler would add privacy to Bitcoin, arguing it's essential for real-world payments. 03:05:05 – Bitcoin's Future & Open Source Innovation Tyler's outlook on Bitcoin's next 15 years, open source growth, and the importance of real-world utility. 03:09:48 – How to Use Flexa Today Practical advice on using Flexa for payments, wallet integrations, and the importance of merchant acceptance. 03:16:36 – Conclusion & Code Word Wrap-up, thanks, and the code word “urs” (Romanian for bear) for listeners who made it to the end.
Thanks so much to Bluevine Chief Product Officer Herman Man for joining us with some sharp fintech insights. The latest on the SMB market, the limits of traditional banks and we learn about AIO this week on the Fintech Newscast https://www.bluevine.com Click Subscribe to keep up to date on the world of fintech! Reach us at … Continue reading Ep 273- Bluevine CPO Herman Man
This episode of The Edge of Show was recorded live at the Future of Money, Governance, and the Law (FOMGL) 2025 event in Washington, D.C., where policymakers, financial institutions, and technology leaders came together to address how emerging technologies are reshaping global finance.In this conversation, Eleanor Terrett, Marcus Veith, Wee Kee Toh, and Paul Dowding dives explore how major financial institutions like JP Morgan and Grant Thornton are moving beyond experimentation and embracing real-world blockchain solutions, from stablecoin adoption and tokenized deposits to the challenges facing auditors and regulators in a world that's quickly moving on-chain.Key takeaways:Why this is the year institutions are going all-in on crypto and DeFiReal-use cases for blockchain in global banking, treasury management, and auditsThe evolution from private, permissioned blockchains to public networks—and what's next for mainstream adoptionThe regulatory landscape in the U.S., what clarity acts mean for crypto-native and traditional companies, and how to prepare your organization for what's aheadWe'll cut through the buzzwords with honest takes, contrarian views, and practical advice from industry leaders who are building the future of finance right now. Whether you're just crypto-curious or deeply involved in fintech innovation, this episode will level-up your understanding.Support us through our Sponsors! ☕ Want to make content like ours? Sign up with Castmagic to make your creative process easy: https://bit.ly/CastmagicReferral Work smarter, grow faster. Automate your SEO, get AI insights, and manage all your clients in one place with Helm. Start today at helmseo.comAre you a content creator, podcaster or interested in your business getting its voice out there? Then reserve a .podcast domain by paying just one-time as little as $10 for a lifetime of benefits! Check out the details and snag your .podcast domain today! https://get.unstoppabledomains.com/podcast/
Bill Barhydt, Founder and CEO of Abra, joined me to discuss whether crypto market cycles have changed and what could come next for Bitcoin and altcoins.Topics:- Is the Bitcoin 4 year cycle dead? - Fed Quantitative Easing - US Venezuela situation impact on markets - Impact of the Trump memecoin - Banks fighting stablecoin yield and DeFi - US Crypto regulation - What's new with AbraBrought to you by
GoBruteforcer targets blockchain projects Android accessibility issue just a bug Verizon to stop automatic phone unlocks Thanks to our episode sponsor, ThreatLocker Want real Zero Trust training? Zero Trust World 2026 delivers hands-on labs and workshops that show CISOs exactly how to implement and maintain Zero Trust in real environments. Join us March 4–6 in Orlando, plus a live CISO Series episode on March 6. Get $200 off with ZTWCISO26 at ztw.com.
with @ccatalini @rhackettToday we're talking about who — if anyone — should own the rails of global money.Our guest is Christian Catalini, cofounder and chief strategy officer of the global payments startup Lightspark, and a former architect of Meta's shuttered Libra project — one of the most ambitious attempts to create a corporate-backed digital currency.In this episode, we talk about…why Bitcoin is more than “digital gold,” what Christian learned from his time at Facebook, and why he believes openness — not corporate control — will ultimately winChristian also wrote a feature for us expanding on his argument, which you can read by subscribing to a16z crypto on Substack. Check it out and let us know what you think.This episode is part of a special series of interviews we recorded live at our Founders Summit in October. Follow a16z crypto for more...X: https://x.com/a16zcryptoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pMZvsNXEnb0CYcPiDQywEApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/web3-with-a16z-crypto/id1622312549Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto
Today's blockchain and crypto news Bitcoin is up slightly at $91,977 Ethereum is up slightly at $3,131 And Binance Coin is up slightly at $908 Former NY Mayor Eric Adams accused of rug pull. BitGo files amended registration BitMine buys more ETH Blockchain Regulatory Certainty act introduced ###Gemini Card Disclosure: The Gemini Credit Card is issued by WebBank. In order to qualify for the $200 crypto intro onus, you must spend $3,000 in your first 90 days. Terms Apply. Some exclusions apply to instant rewards in which rewards are deposited when the transaction posts. This content is not investment advice and trading crypto involves risk. For more details on rates, fees, and other cost information, see Rates & Fees. The Gemini Credit Card may not be used to make gambling-related purchases. ### For 40% off your order, head to Udacity.com/DCR and use code DCR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, we chat with Nicolas Cary! Nic is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com! He is responsible for bringing new adopters into the crypto ecosystem. A fascination with tech, money and politics led Nic to become deeply passionate about helping people reinvent their relationship with money.After an international upbringing, Nic worked as a teacher in India before becoming a founding team member at SaaS company PipelineCRM.com, where he focused on product development and management.A trilingual communicator, Nic is the Founding Commissioner of the Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development and co-author of The Future is Decentralised. Deeply passionate about entrepreneurship, Nic is also co-founder and chairman of SkysTheLimit.org, the leading non-profit digital business accelerator. Regularly cited in the global press as one of the earliest crypto industry experts, Nic was named the European Digital Leader of the year in 2015 and honored with a Professional Achievement Award in 2017 by his alma mater, the University of Puget Sound.A proven leader, investor, public speaker, and brand ambassador, Nic focuses on designing performant cultures that persevere in adverse markets.✨ This episode is presented by Brex.Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspodThis episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazersGusto: gusto.com/trailblazersQuo: Quo.com/trailblazersAthena: athenago.me/Erica-WengerFollow Us!Nicolas Cary: @niccarySky's The Limit: https://www.skysthelimit.org/@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTokErica Wenger: @erica_wenger
Polygon's head of payments, Sam Fagin, joins Sam Vadas at the NYSE set to talk about his company's role in helping other businesses implement blockchain infrastructure. As stablecoin adoption grows, Polygon acquired Coinme and Sequence for $250 million as a way to meet demand. He explains how Polygon's existing relations, and new ones through Coinme, add to what he considers a long runway for growth. ======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading, read the Options Disclosure Document. http://bit.ly/2v9tH6DSubscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about
Gm! This episode we're joined by Austin Federa to discuss DoubleZero's 2025 progress, its private fiber network, performance gains beyond the public internet, validator and stake incentivization, and more.Enjoy! -- Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq Follow DoubleZero: https://x.com/doublezero Follow Austin Federa: https://x.com/Austin_Federa Follow Danny: https://x.com/defi_kay_ Join the Lightspeed Telegram: https://t.me/+QUl_ZOj2nMJlZTEx -- Sablier is the leading onchain token distribution protocol — now on Solana. Trusted by top crypto teams, Sablier automates airdrops and vesting onchain, securely and transparently. Start in seconds at sablier.com -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (2:16) DoubleZero 2025 Highlights (7:23) Beyond the Public Internet (22:51) Network Performance (24:52) Sablier Ad (25:21) Stake Incentivization Program (33:51) Validator Incentives (40:34) Sablier Ad (41:03) Value Flow (52:59) Liquid Staking (56:12) Future Outlook (1:08:29) Closing Comments -- Disclaimers: Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation. Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Danny, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
What if the friction stopping crypto adoption is the same fear that kept 62% of US adults from making their first online purchase until the pandemic forced them? From Bitcoin at $2 to NFTs that people still don't understand, the pattern repeats: revolutionary technology stumbles not on innovation, but on trust and usability.This encore episode (originally published in April 2024 and our #1 most downloaded episode of the year) brings back Jean-Louis Hé, Director of Digital and E-Commerce at Yves Saint Laurent Beauty. Join hosts Chuck Moxley and Nick Paladino as they reflect on how quickly technology moves, blockchain was the emerging tech buzz in 2024, now AI dominates every conversation.Jean-Louis shares his journey from wanting to be an architect to shaping digital experiences, explaining how his family's Chinese restaurant in Paris taught him the importance of human connection that now informs his work bridging physical retail with digital innovation. He reveals YSL's Web3 experiments with Beauty Blocks NFTs designed to transform one-way brand communication into participatory community building, drawing parallels to Nike's success letting customers co-design shoes. We tackle the massive friction barriers in crypto (MetaMask wallets, scam airdrops, ledger codes, obscure coin exchanges), explore why connected mirrors and QR codes still matter in stores, and examine how gaming revolutionized technology infrastructure that business now benefits from. Jean-Louis argues the biggest misconception about frictionless digital experiences is thinking you only need to optimize the digital interface, when the real work is crafting a cohesive story across the entire consumer journey.Key Actionable Takeaways:Design for the complete journey, not just digital touchpoints - A beautiful website won't succeed if it's disconnected from physical stores, marketplace channels, and brand values across the customer experienceBuild two-way participation instead of one-way communication - Enable consumers to co-create through challenges, exclusive access, and design input rather than passively consuming brand messagesRecognize adoption friction mirrors historical technology fears - The same resistance to online credit cards 15 years ago now appears with crypto wallets; reduce friction by simplifying onboarding and building trust through educationWant more tips and strategies about creating frictionless digital experiences? Subscribe to our newsletter! https://www.thefrictionlessexperience.com/frictionless/Download the Five Step Site Speed Target Playbook: http://bluetriangle.com/playbookJean-Louis's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanlouishe/ Nick Paladino's LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/npaladino Chuck Moxley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckmoxley/Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(01:00) Blockchain vs AI adoption(02:30) Jean-Louis's origin story(06:00) Architecture meets UX(08:00) PowerPoint wireframes era(10:00) Growing up in analog retail(11:30) Connected retail tools(13:00) McDonald's efficiency principles(14:00) Digital apron concept(15:00) Selling fragrance online(16:00) Brain signal scent tech(18:00) Beyond screen interfaces(19:30) Crypto and NFT curiosity(21:00) Web3 and user control(23:47) Bitcoin at $2 regrets(26:00) YSL Beauty Blocks launch(27:00) Nike's community building(29:00) Crypto wallet friction(31:30) Early e-commerce parallels(32:00) Buying obscure coins(34:00) Twitter crypto scams(35:30) Pandemic online shopping(37:45) Biggest misconception(40:00) Human connection matters(41:00) The phygital world(42:00) Immersive web evolution(44:00) Gaming drives innovation(45:30) Roblox brand strategy(47:00) Digital ownership economics(48:00) Conclusion
Is Canton a real blockchain or a new kind of capital-markets operating system? Digital Asset co-founder Yuval Rooz explains why Canton prioritizes privacy as “need-to-know” information sharing and a federated “cantons” design that still allows atomic cross-canton transactions without bridges. We unpack the two-tier architecture (edge validators + super validators that stitch cantons together and validate the public Canton Coin) and what that means for governance in regulated finance. Plus: DTCC's tokenization pilot starting with U.S. Treasuries, and why CC fees are USD-denominated with a burn/mint mechanism designed to track real network utility. ------
Blockchain and cryptocurrency promised to decentralize modern financial markets to take market power away from centralized financial intermediaries. But have they lived up to this promise? Hanna Halaburda, Associate Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics at NYU, joins Panos Dimitrellos and Christina Ma, to break down the layers of blockchain and the competitive forces and dynamics in these markets. Listen to this episode to learn more about the intersection of blockchain, crypto and antitrust. With special guest: Hanna Halaburda, Associate Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics, NYU Stern Related Links: Hanna Halaburda Articles and Research Hosted by: Christina Ma, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Panos Dimitrellos, Secretariat Economists
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Crypto News: Trump says he's instructing unnamed representatives to buy $200 billion in MBS in a bid to narrow mortgage spreads and bring down rates. This in addition to other QE activities will bring more liquidity to markets. Morgan Stanley continues crypto push, plans wallet in the second half of 2026. Brought to you by
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Chris Dixon runs a16z crypto, a fund that has raised more than $7 billion. So it's no surprise that when talking about the blockchain, he says things like, “ I've never seen a situation in technology where the gap between what I believe is the potential of the technology and the perception is so wide.” The thing is, he may be right. From enabling digital ownership to complementing AI, the blockchain is poised to reshape the world. In this episode, which first aired in February 2024, Chris explains how. Sponsored By: Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at shopify.com/nbi The Next Big Idea Club - Join a stimulating community for a year of learning and growth at nextbigideaclub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices