Podcasts about kyb

For episode 695 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Alex Mirran, the Gradient Business Development team lead in North America onboarding key inference customers and developing strategic partnerships. Alex has spent over 8 years in distributed AI systems, fintech, and capital management executing go to market strategies and capital formation.

For episode 694 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Trevor Harries-Jones, Board Director for Render Network, a decentralized GPU network powering some of the world's biggest visual and entertainment projects, including Las Vegas Sphere visuals, Super Bowl trailers, and Coachella stage shows. They are emerging as a counterweight to GPU consolidation and an alternative compute layer for AI and real-time rendering. 

For episode 693 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Dr. Hany Demian, a longevity and anti-aging specialist. Dr. Hany Demian is focused on the intersection of longevity medicine, systems-based care, and artificial intelligence.  

For episode 692 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by MinChi Park, COO & Co-founder of Coinfello.CoinFello, the first AI agent capable of on-chain interactions with any smart contract, was introduced to ETHDenver attendees during the conference's opening ceremonies. Founded by former MetaMask operations lead JacobC.eth, CoinFello is launching as an EIP-8004 agent that can be called from other AI agents in Ethereum's growing agentic economy. As part of the launch, CoinFello created BuffiBot, ETHDenver's official AI assistant, which helps attendees navigate schedules, speakers, workshops, vendors, and side events via text or real-time voice inside the ETHDenver app. 

For episode 690 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Christian Nunez, Senior Partnerships Manager for Sumsub, where you control all your identity operations under one configurable platform. Tailored to your risk appetite, market demands, and use cases, it's powered by adaptive AI intelligence to support global scale while keeping your business compliant and future-ready.

For episode 691 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Amit Mahensaria, Co-Founder and CEO of PRED.Pred operates as a peer-to-peer sports prediction exchange built on Base blockchain. Unlike traditional sportsbooks that profit from your losses, Pred generates revenue through trading fees on matched orders. The key distinction: we don't take the other side of your trade, we just run the market.Amit Mahensaria has spent the last two decades building and scaling ventures that bridge technology with learning outcomes and employability. His career crosses startup building, corporate finance, and edtech product leadership  grounded in top Indian technical and business education. 

For episode 689 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Erik Balsbaugh of Open Frontier at ETHDenver.Open Frontier is on a mission to promote responsible financial innovation while ensuring strong regulatory guardrails, countering Wall Street and big tech, and stopping bad actors. Finance is evolving, and progressive voices need a seat at the table. 

For episode 688 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Viktor Ihnatiuk, Co-Founder and CEO of Utexo, a Bitcoin-native stablecoin settlement network backed by Tether. Utexo enables private, compliant USDT payments with fixed costs, powered by the Lightning Network and RGB.Viktor is a Bitcoin and Web3 engineer with over 12 years of experience building core infrastructure, protocol tooling, and privacy-preserving distributed systems. A serial entrepreneur, he has founded and scaled multiple successful ventures across the crypto industry. Previously, Viktor scaled Boosty Labs into the leading European Web3 development house, growing the team to 150+ engineers and partnering with major industry players including Coinbase, Ledger, Consensys, MoonPay, and Blockchain.com. Earlier in his career, he joined Storj Labs to help build decentralized cloud infrastructure, where he led the Growth team. He was responsible for expanding the distributed node network and shipping operator-facing tools that improved usability and long-term sustainability. Following this period of growth and infrastructure maturation, Storj achieved a successful exit after its acquisition. In parallel with these ventures, Viktor co-founded Astroid to support early BTCFi teams, helped launch the RGB Association, and contributed to Thunderstack—the primary infrastructure provider for RGB—built in collaboration with Tether and Fulgur. Across his work, Viktor focuses on expanding Bitcoin's utility and driving real-world adoption through scalable, privacy-first financial applications. 

For years, companies that needed to move money at scale faced the same frustrating tradeoff: build their own bank integrations and compliance infrastructure — a process that could take months — or stitch together a patchwork of specialized vendors, each covering a different rail. Modern Treasury has spent years sitting inside that problem, providing software infrastructure to help companies integrate with their banks, track funds, and manage ledgering at scale. Now, the founders have taken the company a significant step further, launching Payments, an integrated PSP that handles onboarding, KYB, and banking infrastructure on a client's behalf, compressing what used to be a six-month setup into days. Stablecoins are built in natively from day one, powered by Modern Treasury's acquisition of Beam, a stablecoin infrastructure company founded by Dan Mottice, who previously led crypto products at Visa and now heads stablecoin strategy at Modern Treasury. The result is what the company calls a "forever payments platform," designed to let companies start with fiat or stablecoin payments quickly with a single integration and expand over time, without the painful migrations that have historically defined scaling a payments stack. Listen to the podcast to learn about how Modern Treasury is thinking about fiat rails and stablecoins as complementary infrastructure, how the Beam acquisition shaped the new product, and why President Dimitri Dadiomov and Mottice believe the most significant near-term stablecoin opportunity lies in how companies manage working capital.

For episode 687 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Yuannan Yang, Security Engineer at CertiK, the largest Web3 security services provider. CertiK offers a wide range of products and services to support the Web3 industry, project teams, and users alike. CertiK's products and services span the entire lifecycle of project development, from incubation and early stages, to growth and maturity. CertiK is one of the most globally recognized companies in the Web3 industry, serving users across 150 countries/regions.Yuannan Yang, based in Washington, DC, US, is currently a Security Engineer at CertiK. Yuannan Yang brings experience from previous roles at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, Tsinghua University and Red Hat. Yuannan Yang holds a 2019 - 2020 Master's degree in information security @ Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.

For episode 686 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Blue, Founder & CEO of Levr Bet, the world's first decentralized leveraged sports betting exchange. It operates on blockchain technology (primarily Monad and Avalanche) to offer a transparent, on-chain, and high-frequency betting experience without intermediaries.

Evan Cheng co-founded SUI after leading Facebook's Libra project -  then threw away everything they built because it wasn't good enough. THE SHIFT NEWSLETTER

For episode 685 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Muriel Médard, CEO of Optimum, where they are building the fastest decentralized internet protocol for Web3, starting with a high-throughput, low-latency networking protocol that permissionlessly integrates with any blockchain. Optimum is building infrastructure that helps crypto networks and communities operate at peak efficiency. By aligning incentives, streamlining participation, and optimizing on chain activity, Optimum aims to create smarter, more sustainable ecosystems across decentralized networks. As blockchain adoption accelerates, fragmented participation and misaligned incentives continue to slow growth. Optimum tackles this head on by providing tools and systems that empower builders, validators, and communities to coordinate more effectively and unlock long term value.

Welcome back to Fintech Recap. I'm Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula. We kick things off with Block's move into credit scoring. Block stitched together data across Cash App and Afterpay into a proprietary score it's now surfacing to consumers and selling to other lenders, claiming auto lenders could approve 30% more borrowers at identical loss rates using the Cash App score. We dig into adverse selection when consumers choose what to share, where this fits in lender workflows, and the FCRA wrinkle that “transactions and experiences” data can fall outside the definition of a consumer report… Then, we dive into stablecoins. Jason walks through the rebirth of “no KYC” crypto-funded spending cards, including testing several of these services himself (tune in to discover the pattern!). The core mechanic Jason flags is a corporate card loophole: KYB the company, then issue incremental “employee” cards with no legal or regulatory requirement to verify the person behind each card. From there, we zoom out to Bridge, Stripe's stablecoin infrastructure subsidiary. Bridge got conditional OCC approval to form a national trust bank and moved jurisdictions (which include Russia, Belarus, Gaza, South Sudan, and Venezuela) from “controlled” to “prohibited,” while still defining “prohibited” with an “extraordinary situations” carveout. Plus, in our Can't Let It Go corner: prediction markets.  CFTC Chair Mike Sig told the Senate during his nomination hearing that he'd defer to the courts on sports betting and prediction markets. But early this year, he reversed course, asserting the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction and filing amicus briefs against state prohibitions aimed at sports betting. Kalshi and Polymarket loved it, and I'm sure that's unrelated to the fact that Sig's boss's son is an advisor to both. We close with Substack's new partnership with Polymarket to embed prediction markets into journalism, set against a real-world example of the incentive problem: Israeli authorities investigated and arrested military reservists and a civilian for allegedly using classified information to place bets on Polymarket. This episode is brought to you by Plaid.  Most lenders see the value of cash flow data. The hard part is getting started—and knowing what to do with it once you have it. Plaid makes it easy to access real-time cash flow and behavioral insights in seconds, through a familiar experience borrowers already trust. No heavy lift. No added friction. Learn more at www.plaid.com/ftt Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/  And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Jason: Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

For episode 684 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Hoolie Tejwani, Head of Coinbase Ventures.Coinbase Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of the major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, launched in 2018 to invest in early-stage crypto and Web3 startups. Its mission is to support "exceptional founders" building the foundation of an open financial system, aligning with Coinbase's overarching goal of increasing economic freedom in the world.  The firm has backed over 600 companies and operates with a highly collaborative approach, offering portfolio companies operational guidance, strategic partnerships, and access to the wider Coinbase ecosystem. 

In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Bobby Ma sits down with Kyle Mack, CEO & Co-Founder of Middesk, a Series B company. Kyle shares his experience building Middesk, the leading business identify platform modernizing business verification, risk evaluation, and compliance. Its fast, frictionless APIs support KYB, credit assessment, and tax registration use cases, with data updated in days, not months. More than 500 customers trust Middesk to verify, underwrite, and grow with confidence. The company has raised over $70 million in funding and is backed by top-tier investors including Accel, Sequoia, and Insight Partners. We discuss: - Kyle's journey building Middesk starting from developing proprietary data pipelines to creating a leading business identity platform - The value proposition of KYB and how it is fundamentally more complex than KYC - How Middesk serves and plugs into its customers' decisioning workflows -The future of business identity as it evolves with AI and other technology trends

For episode 683 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Rob Tökölyi, CEO of WeChange, a global noncustodial fiat-to-crypto on-ramp designed to make crypto access simpler, more transparent, and more affordable. They support local bank transfers worldwide and prioritize user self-custody, allowing users to buy and sell crypto without unnecessary complexity or excessive fees.WeChange announced the official launch of its noncustodial fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, designed to simplify how everyday users buy and sell digital assets while maintaining full control of their funds. The platform went live globally on January 30, supporting bank transfer methods across more than 190 countries. 

For episode 682 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Sydney Huang, Founder of HumanAPI at ETHDenver. Sydney Huang is the Founder of Human API and CEO of Eclipse, where she leads product and strategy for AI-native infrastructure. She launched Turbo Tap, scaling it to 300K users, 50K DAU, and 22B+ in-game transactions, and has held product roles across Web3 projects including DeGods, y00ts, and Unstoppable Domains. Previously, she worked in M&A and Venture Capital at Dell Technologies and is a Babson College graduate.

For episode 681 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Catherine Daly, CMO for Space and Time, a decentralized data warehouse designed to connect on-chain blockchain data with off-chain enterprise data to support AI, smart contracts, and Web3 applications.

For episode 680 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Jay Kurahashi-Sofue, CMO of Eco at ETHDenver.Eco is a blockchain-based, full-stack infrastructure protocol designed to unify stablecoin liquidity across different blockchains and make onchain payments, transfers, and app interactions as fast, cheap, and simple as possible. It is not a new stablecoin itself, but rather a "Stablecoin Economy" layer—often referred to as a "stablelayer"—that helps developers and users move, manage, and spend stablecoins (like USDC or USDT) across various chains without dealing with fragmented networks, manual bridging, or gas fees in native tokens. 

For episode 679 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe.OKX is an innovative cryptocurrency exchange with advanced financial services. They rely on blockchain technology to provide everything you need for wise trading and investment. 

What happens when you try to build AI-driven fintech products on top of messy, incomplete, or unreliable data?In this episode of Fintech Layer Cake, host Reggie Young sits down with Kyle Mack, CEO of Middesk, to unpack why data—not AI—is the real bottleneck holding fintech innovation back. Kyle explains how KYB has evolved far beyond a compliance checkbox, why poor data foundations can amplify risk instead of reducing it, and what it actually takes to support real-time, automated decisioning for business onboarding. The conversation dives into agentic workflows, performance constraints, first-party data strategies, and why trust and explainability still matter in a regulated world. Kyle also reframes business verification as revenue infrastructure, not just risk management, and shares why identity should be thought of as a “rail” connecting businesses, banks, and governments. 

For episode 678 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Micky Watkins, Founder and CEO of World Mobile, a blockchain-enabled 5G network, has just crossed over 2 million users in its mission to connect everyone, everywhere, while returning control of data and connectivity to the people.Micky is a telecom entrepreneur challenging the monopoly of Big Wireless. He previously founded Yallo, one of the first internet-calling platforms, and over his career has raised millions from global backers including Deutsche Telekom and Carmel Ventures. Today, he leads World Mobile in building the world's first decentralized, community-owned mobile network, with a mission to connect everyone, everywhere, while returning control of data and value to the people. 

For episode 677 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Parth Kapadia, Co-founder and CEO of OpenVPP.OVPP is Building The Internet of Energy by Providing Regulated Digital Asset Rails for Power & Utility Providers. OpenVPP is led by Co-Founder & CEO, Parth Kapadia. Parth brings a wealth of experience from the electric utility industry, including roles at Exelon Corp and AutoGrid (acquired by Uplight, a Schneider Electric company), where he served as Director of Technical Product Management.

Banking as a service, community banks, and fintech partnerships are changing how small businesses access financial products. Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, along with Stephen Bishop of amBaaSsador and Fintech Confidential, Confidential Informant, sits down with Lindsay Borgeson, President of Partner Banking at Core Bank, to unpack how a community bank in Omaha, Nebraska built a full BaaS platform from scratch without a top-five bank playbook to follow.The BaaS space has had its share of high-profile failures. Consent orders, compliance breakdowns, and program manager implosions have made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Core Bank took a different approach. They spent time reading every consent order before writing a single line of code. They went to their regulators, both the FDIC and the state, before building anything. They presented their strategic plan, invited regulators back multiple times outside of formal exams, and built a reputation for transparency before they ever onboarded a single fintech client."We are not the biggest name in BaaS," Lindsay admits. "Yet, we certainly aim to be a well-known, respected name, but for the right reasons."That mindset shaped everything about how CoreX, their BaaS brand, was built. They did not try to bolt new capabilities onto an existing tech stack with bubblegum and duct tape. When their initial technology partner did not work out, they stopped, went back to the board, and interviewed over ten vendors before selecting Core Bank as their Side core and Oscilar for transaction monitoring. They later added Cobalt Labs for AI-driven compliance workflows. Each decision was made with long-term strategic alignment in mind, not speed to market.The compliance model at CoreX offers two paths. Fintechs can choose managed compliance, where the bank handles transaction monitoring, KYB, and KYC. Or they can run customized compliance if they have the internal muscle to own those functions themselves. Either way, the expectation is the same: compliance is not a phase, it is a constant. Lindsay puts it simply: "Compliance first. I should probably consider removing it because it's compliance always."What makes CoreX different from other sponsor banks is the focus on who they want to serve. Their ideal customer profile centers on fintechs that support small businesses, particularly vertical SaaS platforms in industries Core Bank already understands. Construction, real estate, property management, unions, aviation, medical, and hospitality are all sectors where the bank already has deep expertise on the traditional side of the house. That knowledge transfers directly into how they evaluate fintech partnerships.The "dinner test" came up more than once. If you would not want to sit down for a meal with a potential partner, you should not get into a contract with them. When things go wrong, and they will, the quality of the relationship determines whether both sides can work through it or walk away bitter.For fintechs considering a community bank partnership, the advice is direct. Know what matters to you before you start talking to banks. Do not compromise on compliance or risk management just because someone promises speed or a lower price. And if a bank says they can have you live in three months and profitable in twelve, something is off. Building this correctly takes time.For community banks thinking about entering BaaS, the message is just as clear. Do not dabble. This is not a side-of-desk project. It requires dedicated people, a separate tech stack, a documented risk appetite, and full alignment from the board down. If your executive team is not excited about it, you will not have the patience to do it right."It's not for the faint of heart," Lindsay says. "But it is really a great avenue for community banks to thrive."Core Bank is now expanding into embedded...

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Lars van der Zande, founder and CEO/technical architect of Inkwell Finance, for what Lars describes as his first-ever podcast appearance. The conversation covers a wide range of blockchain infrastructure topics, including Lars's work with Sui and Solana blockchains, the innovative capabilities of Ika's programmatic wallets and blockchain of signatures, and how Inkwell Finance is building revenue-based financing solutions for on-chain entities—from AI agents to protocols. They explore the evolving landscape of crypto regulation, the merging of traditional finance with blockchain technology, the future of decentralized legal systems, and how the user experience barrier is being lowered through technologies that eliminate constant transaction signing. Lars also discusses Inkwell's embedded financing approach and their pre-seed fundraising round.Links mentioned:- Inkwell's website: inkwell.finance- Inkwell on Twitter: @__inkwell- Lars on Twitter: @LMVDZandeTimestamps00:00 Introduction to Inkwell Finance and Technical Architecture02:06 Understanding Sui and Solana: Blockchain Dynamics05:55 The Role of Ika in Inkwell Finance11:51 Leviathan: Revenue Generation and Financing in Crypto17:38 The Future of AI Agents and Programmatic Wallets23:23 Smart Contracts: Legal Implications and Future Directions25:06 The Future of Inqvil Finance25:42 Decentralization and Its Evolution27:32 The Merging of Traditional and Crypto Systems29:33 Global Financial Dynamics and Market Reactions31:48 The Collapse of Traditional Financial Systems32:46 Jurisdictional Shifts in the Crypto World33:59 Legal Systems and Blockchain Integration35:57 On-Chain Credit and Financial Opportunities39:29 The Role of AI in Finance41:30 Learning from Peer-to-Peer Lending History43:14 Disruption in Insurance and Risk Management44:54 On-Chain vs Off-Chain Data46:54 The Evolution of the Internet and Blockchain49:12 Future Subscription Models in BlockchainKey Insights1. Ika's Revolutionary Blockchain Signature Technology: Lars discovered Ika, a blockchain of signatures built on Sui that enables any blockchain transaction to be signed without revealing the underlying message. Using patented 2PC MPC technology, Ika splits key shares across validators and encrypts them in transit, performing complex cryptographic operations that allow smart contracts on Sui to generate signatures for transactions on any other blockchain. This eliminates the need to build separate smart contracts on each blockchain, fundamentally changing how cross-chain interactions work and opening possibilities for truly interoperable decentralized applications.2. Programmatic Wallets vs Traditional Wallets: Traditional wallets like MetaMask require manual user approval for every transaction through a front-end interface, but Ika's D-wallet introduces programmatic wallets with policy-based controls embedded in smart contracts. These wallets can execute transactions based on predetermined conditions checked against on-chain data like Oracle prices, without requiring individual user signatures. For example, a Bitcoin D-wallet can hold native Bitcoin without wrapping or bridging to a custodian, and smart contract policies determine when and how that Bitcoin can be transferred, creating unprecedented security and automation possibilities for decentralized finance.3. Inkwell's Revenue-Based Financing Model: Inkwell Finance is building Leviathan, a revenue-based financing platform for on-chain entities including protocols, AI agents, and individual traders with verifiable track records. Borrowers receive capital based on their on-chain performance metrics like sharp ratio and drawdown, with loan repayment automatically deducted from their revenue stream. The profit split structure allocates approximately 60% to borrowers, 30% to lenders, and 10% split between Inkwell and integrating platforms. This creates a sustainable lending model where flight risk is minimized through D-wallet policy controls that restrict how borrowed capital can be used.4. Wallet-as-a-Protocol and the Future of User Experience: The crypto industry is moving toward embedded wallet solutions that eliminate the friction of traditional wallet management, with Wallet-as-a-Protocol representing the next evolution beyond services like Privy and Dynamic. Unlike current embedded wallets that lock users into specific applications, Wallet-as-a-Protocol enables single sign-on across multiple applications while users maintain control of their keys. Combined with app-sponsored gas fees, this approach allows non-crypto-native users to interact with blockchain applications without knowing they're using crypto, removing the biggest barrier to mainstream adoption and creating web2-like user experiences on web3 infrastructure.5. AI Agents as Financial Entities: AI agents are emerging as revenue-generating entities with on-chain transaction histories that create verifiable track records for creditworthiness assessment. Inkwell Finance is specifically targeting this market, recognizing that AI agents will need wallets and capital to operate effectively. The programmatic nature of D-wallets pairs perfectly with AI agents, as policy controls can restrict agent behavior to specific smart contract interactions, preventing unauthorized fund transfers while allowing automated trading or revenue generation. This creates a new category of borrower that operates 24/7 with completely transparent performance metrics, fundamentally different from traditional loan recipients.6. Cross-Chain Liquidity Without Asset Transfer: Ika's technology enables users to take loans against revenue generated on one blockchain and deploy that capital on entirely different blockchains without moving their original liquidity positions. For instance, someone earning yield on Sui's Fusol protocol could borrow against that revenue stream and deploy capital on Solana opportunities, effectively creating multiple on-chain businesses that generate their own credit scores and revenue to service debt. This ability to read state across different blockchains from within smart contracts opens possibilities for multi-chain strategies that don't require withdrawing capital from productive positions, maximizing capital efficiency across the entire crypto ecosystem.7. The Convergence of Traditional Finance and Crypto Infrastructure: The regulatory landscape is rapidly evolving with initiatives like the Genius Act and Clarity Act creating frameworks where traditional financial systems merge with crypto infrastructure through mechanisms like stablecoins backed by US treasuries. Companies are increasingly establishing entities in the United States to access capital networks and Delaware's established legal framework while issuing tokens through jurisdictions like Switzerland. This hybrid approach, combined with emerging concepts like Gabriel Shapiro's "cybernetic agreements" that make smart contract parameters legally enforceable in traditional courts, suggests the future isn't pure decentralization but rather a sophisticated integration of on-chain and off-chain legal and financial systems.

At ITEXPO / MSP EXPO in Fort Lauderdale, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, spoke with Lloyd Tjom, Director of Sales at Transaction Network Services (TNS), about the growing importance of RCS and the future of trusted messaging. TNS is also a member of the Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA). TNS operates at the center of the communications ecosystem, providing numbering, routing, authentication, and identity services to carriers and communication service providers (CSPs) worldwide. As messaging evolves beyond SMS and MMS, TNS is focused on helping the industry deliver secure, reliable, and commercially viable Rich Communication Services (RCS). “RCS is the evolution,” Tjom explained. Originally introduced by the GSM Association in 2007, RCS has gained new momentum with broad device support—including adoption by Apple—bringing both Android and iOS into alignment. With that shift, RCS is positioned to become a mainstream messaging channel capable of supporting richer interactions and higher trust. Unlike traditional SMS, RCS enables branded messaging, verified sender badges, logos, read receipts, and interactive features such as carousels and embedded actions. “If they're a vetted partner that has got the branding as well as the verified mark, then you know you're dealing with the right party on the other end,” Tjom said. In an era of phishing and spoofing, verified identity and “know your business” (KYB) vetting are essential components of restoring trust in messaging channels. Tjom emphasized that the phone number remains central to digital identity. For many consumers, a single mobile number has followed them for decades, becoming a stable anchor of trust across carriers and geographies. As RCS scales, however, CSPs must address fragmentation, infrastructure inconsistencies, and bad actors within the ecosystem. Broader adherence to standards, stronger onboarding controls, and rapid mitigation of vulnerabilities will be critical for unlocking RCS's full commercial potential. Looking ahead, Tjom sees RCS becoming the default channel for trusted business communications—enabling full conversational commerce, customer service workflows, flight changes, purchases, and more within a verified, branded environment. “It really has got so many different potentials out there,” he noted, “but it all comes back to trusted communications.” Visit https://tnsi.com/

For episode 676 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Lux Thiagarajah, CCO of OpenPayd. Lux Thiagarajah has over 17 years experience working for some of the largest and most innovative organizations in finance, including JP Morgan, HSBC, BCB and FalconX. He started his career as an FX trader at JP Morgan, before moving to the buy side to run a macro trading desk. More recently he has moved into senior roles in payments, becoming the CRO of BCB and now Chief Commercial Officer at OpenPayd. Lux joined OpenPayd with a track record for taking businesses to their next stage of development, and is responsible for driving revenue and growth from both new and existing clients, as well as and identifying strategic partnerships that can further OpenPayd's ambitions.

For episode 675 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by John Hargrave, a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and one of the world's leading voices on crypto and the future of finance. Author of The Intelligent Crypto Investor (Wiley, 2026), he's known as the “Buffett of Bitcoin” for applying value-investing principles to digital assets. His insights have appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSNBC, and the BBC, and his TED Talk on the future of money is a must-watch. John helps investors understand the historic shift to digital, programmable money—and how to profit from it intelligently.Buy the book:https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Crypto-Investor-John-Hargrave/dp/1394366426  

For episode 674 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Les Borsai, a Los Angeles-based serial technology entrepreneur, former music promoter and manager, and advisor in the cryptocurrency, blockchain and music-technology industries. He is the Co-founder of Wave Digital Assets.Sitting at the cross-section of entertainment and economics his entire career, Borsai recognized that crypto was the next big cultural and financial revolution early on, taking on an advisor role to Ripple Labs in 2013, and becoming one of the earliest investors in Ethereum, XRP, Tezos, and NFTs. In 2018, he became a Co-Founder at Wave Digital Assets, a digital asset management firm where he leads strategic initiatives across the crypto and digital asset ecosystem. Borsai previously managed artists such as Wynonna Judd and Jason Mraz. Borsai is an author at Spin Magazine, and has been featured in a variety of top-tier global publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC, TechCrunch, CNN, and The Hollywood Reporter. 

For episode 673 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Sukhdeep Bhogal, Co-Founder and CEO of Veera, an on-chain neobank built for everyday crypto users. He is a serial founder with three successful exits and a deep background in consumer and social technology, having scaled multiple startups to millions of users over the course of his career. Before Veera, Sukhdeep founded and led several consumer-facing platforms from inception through growth and exit, with a strong focus on product-led growth, community-driven adoption, and building intuitive experiences at scale. His work consistently bridges mainstream consumer design with emerging technologies. At Veera, Sukhdeep has led the company from zero to scale, shaping its product vision and expansion strategy while building a full-stack financial platform that removes friction for users entering crypto. Under his leadership, Veera has grown rapidly across markets, positioning itself at the intersection of consumer fintech and on-chain infrastructure.

For episode 672 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Michael Berman, Co-CEO of Tectonic Labs. Michael Berman is co-CEO of Tectonic Labs, where he drives operations and go-to-market strategy for the company's post-quantum cryptography solutions. With nearly two decades in enterprise software and SaaS, he specializes in building repeatable revenue engines, sharpening operational execution, and translating deep technical products into compelling commercial outcomes. Berman was an early team member at Eventbrite, where he scaled sales through the company's high-growth phase leading to its IPO. He later led strategic accounts at Salesforce, managing enterprise relationships and supporting expansion initiatives. He's also a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits, including the sale of a venture-backed company to a publicly traded acquirer. A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business, Berman is recognized for operational rigor, M&A execution, and scaling growth in regulated, security-critical markets.

For episode 671 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Dave Sedacca, Lead & Director of Polkadot Capital Group.Dave Sedacca is the Lead of Polkadot Capital Group and currently sits as Director of Finance at Parity Technologies, the core development team behind Polkadot. He leads Parity's financial strategy, spanning treasury management, planning, and institutional engagement. A long-time believer in emerging tech and crypto, Dave has been actively involved in the space since 2017. Prior to joining Parity, he worked across multiple sectors, driving financial and commercial strategy. 

For episode 670 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Phil Fogel, CEO and Co-founder of Cork.DeFi has a $100B+ problem: you can't trade the risk. Insurance exists, but it's expensive, illiquid, and doesn't cover the economic chaos that actually wipes people out: depeg events, protocol runs, cascading liquidations etc. Phil Fogel, CEO and co-founder of Cork, backed by a16z crypto, Road Capital and more, explains that the system fails when risk is opaque and largely untradeable. Without tools to manage downside dynamically, stress compounds and volatility turns into contagion. Cork is his response. It is not insurance, but market-based risk infrastructure. By making risk programmable and tradable through swap tokens, participants can address stress before it cascades. Phil's broader perspective is about market structure. DeFi will not scale safely or attract institutions until risk management functions like a market rather than a promise. 

For episode 669 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Matt Carr, Managing Partner of QCI Partners.

For episode 667 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Kanny Lee, Co-founder and CEO of SecondSwap, the first issuer-approved secondary market for locked tokens. A veteran of fintech and digital assets, he brings over 20 years of experience across regulated finance, payments, and crypto infrastructure. He's led MAS-regulated firms including dtcpay and OSL Group, and held senior roles at EY, TransUnion, and Deloitte, advising global institutions on risk, compliance, and cyber forensics.Kanny is also a partner at Libra Capital, giving him a dual vantage point as both operator and investor in Web3. With formal certifications in anti-money laundering (ACAMS) and digital forensics (GIAC), he's widely regarded as a credible voice on token market structure, real-world asset liquidity, and the next generation of compliant crypto infrastructure.Join the waitlist for he only decentralized on-chain marketplace for trading locked tokens: https://t.me/Secondswapappbot?start=693a9dc7a9c1d4113e029589 

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.

For episode 665 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Chris Zhu, CEO & Founder of Donut (Donut Browser). Donut Browser is the world’s first agentic crypto browser built for trading. It integrates signal discovery, risk analysis, strategy generation and on-chain execution directly at the browser layer, allowing users to go from idea to live trade without switching tools.Donut Labs raised $22M to build the first agentic AI crypto browser for traders. Investors include BITKRAFT, Makers Fund, HSG, Sky9 Capital, MPCi, Altos Ventures, Hack VC, and others, with support from leaders across Solana, Sui, Monad, Jupiter, Drift, and DeFi App. With more than 160K users in their waitlist, Donut will offer a full product suite including a Chrome extension, web app, mobile app, and a Chromium based browser.

For episode 664 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Michael Carbonara, a Florida-based entrepreneur, devoted family man, and steadfast advocate for individual liberty. With a proven track record in business and community leadership, he is committed to serving the people of Florida's 25th District. Seeking to represent the district, Carbonara's mission is to champion personal freedoms, foster innovation-driven economic growth, and support families and households across the region.

For episode 663 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by James Ashton, CEO of Gallaxia. Gallaxia is the world’s first player-owned blockchaingaming studio, co-owned by 50 of the world’s most influential gamers and creators. Collectively, these co-owners command more than 200 million followers and over 30 billion views, including some of the leading figures in PUBGM, CODM, and Fortnite. Their involvement marks the first time a blockchain ecosystem has brought globally recognized gaming talent in as true equity partners, giving Gallaxia unprecedented distribution and a built-in audience from day one.

For episode 662 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Mike Miglio, CEO and Founder of DEIN.DEIN, short for Decentralized Insurance Network, is a groundbreaking platform that offers permissionless, decentralized, and DAO-managed discretionary risk coverage. It is specifically designed to provide insurance for smart contracts, stablecoins, centralized exchanges, and other vital services within the DeFi ecosystem.  The platform allows users to purchase coverage for their funds, enabling them to safeguard their assets against potential losses caused by hacks, rug-pulls, or other exploits leading to permanent loss of funds. Additionally, DEIN empowers individuals to actively participate in the insurance process by allowing them to provide coverage and liquidity for various smart contracts, exchanges, or listed services in exchange for yield.

For episode 661 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Kam Punia, Founder and CEO of Pixion Games, the London based studio behind Fableborne and the $POWER ecosystem. He has more than a decade of experience in the games industry, including leadership roles at Konami where he helped drive Yu Gi Oh across digital, trading card and retail channels in Europe. Before starting Pixion Games, Kam scaled major gaming IP across digital and physical formats and later built a studio focused on fast session, skill based mobile titles. Under his leadership Pixion has raised funding, shipped multiple products, and hired talent from Riot, Blizzard, King and Ubisoft.

For episode 660 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Esra Ozturk, Head of Product at Luffa. Luffa is a next‑generation social operating system for the fan economy, giving creators ownership over their communities while allowing fans to turn attention into tangible value. The platform unifies wallet, messaging, loyalty, and engagement in a decentralized environment: fans earn rewards for actions like chatting, tipping, minting tokens, joining “SuperGroups,” and completing quests—forming a living fan graph with real‑world worth. Luffa emphasizes privacy and security: it is built with end‑to‑end enc ryption and zero centralized backups, and supports mnemonic‑based registration without requiring phone or email. Luffa runs on Endless Protocol, a decentralized AI‑enabled Web3 infrastructure. In 2025, Endless Web3 Genesis Cloud raised $110 million, reaching a $1 billion post‑money valuation. In the broader ecosystem, Luffa is positioned as a core application within Endless, helping bring community, creator tools, and interaction to life on top of the protocol.

For episode 659 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Vijit Katta, CEO & Co-founder of Tria. Vijit Katta is the CEO and Co-founder of Tria, with over a decade of experience across entrepreneurship, commercial strategy, and early-stage investing. He built Polygon's in-house accelerator, funding early-stage projects; founded a healthtech startup in Austria, and led commercial strategy for multiple 9-figure portfolios at GSK and AstraZeneca; he holds a CS degree from BITS Pilani and an MBA from INSEAD. Tria is a self-custodial neobank that unifies spending, trading, and earning across all chains — without bridges, gas, or custodians. Built for both humans and AI, Tria makes money programmable, enabling anyone or any agent to transact natively on-chain. Powered by its interoperability layer, BestPath AVS, Tria abstracts away the complexity of crypto to deliver instant, global, and autonomous finance. 

For episode 658 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Joe Rey & Oliver Fuselier of POPOLOGY.POPOLOGY® is the 21st century approach to media education and Citizen Journalism. A platform to aggregate all of your social portals, into a streaming and monetizable POPcast®, on the blockchain. Democratized internet broadcasting is POPOLOGY® Networks. You can even select your favorite fortune 500 brands to place into your curated media stream, called POPmercial® Sponsorships. Create, and earn POPtoken™ with a timeline of curated video assets from every indexing platform, up to 25 membership platforms into one robust restful API is the POPsphere™ workspace. Pinpoint your popularity, powered by artificial intelligence, and build a monetizable audience on your self-expression.

For episode 657 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Jack Cameron, Co-founder of CreatorFi.Jack Cameron is the Chief Business Officer and Chief Growth Officer at CreatorFi, where he leads growth strategy and develops brand partnerships across the creator economy. A serial entrepreneur with experience founding two companies, he brings deep media-industry expertise shaped by his work at WPP Media. Jack's background in scaling media solutions and navigating complex brand ecosystems informs his role in building CreatorFi's market presence and shaping its commercial vision. CreatorFi by Insomnia Labs is a fintech IP platform focused on advancing creative IP holders and unique opportunities for media financiers. By partnering with content creator companies, music catalog owners, and UGC developer studios in Roblox and Fortnite, CreatorFi provides direct access to creative IP cash flows in digital IP platforms such as YouTube, Roblox, Fortnite, and music.

For episode 656 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Adam Liposky, Co-Founder and CEO of Canopy Network.Adam is creating an auto-scaling Layer 1 designed to make launching and growing blockchains as simple as deployment. Before Canopy, Adam helped scale Pocket Network into a top decentralized infrastructure protocol, onboarding 40 plus chains and growing the network to over a billion daily relays. He previously founded and exited NachoNodes, a high-performance staking operation, and later led ecosystem growth at Moonbeam during one of the toughest market cycles.

For episode 655 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Annalea Sanders, Co-President and Board Officer for the Blockchain Security Standards Council (BSSC).The BSSC-Blockchain Security Standards Council-is the leading authority in blockchain security—setting the standards that power trust and confidence.When industry experts discuss blockchain security, not many consider nodes, but they should. If a node doesn't operate correctly, then the risks permeate and impact the whole network, and its users. As a result, experts are placing more importance on node operation standards as a critical part of blockchain industry standards. 

For episode 653 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Erik Balsbaugh, Executive Director of Open Frontier and Board Member Austin Campbell.Open Frontier is on a mission to promote responsible financial innovation while ensuring strong regulatory guardrails, countering Wall Street and big tech, and stopping bad actors. Finance is evolving, and progressive voices need a seat at the table.

For episode 652 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Justin Havins, the DeFi Ecosystem Lead for Katana Network.Katana puts users first: delivering higher real yields through concentrated liquidity, redistributed chain revenue, and productive bridged assets.