Podcasts about kyc

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

Ep. 194 features Noah Fulk, Founder and CEO of EWagers, for a deep dive into building compliant, skill-based wagering infrastructure and the hard lessons learned from pivoting a gaming startup from B2C to B2B. Hear him discuss: Noah's background as a lifelong gamer and the early inspiration behind Ewagers The original B2C vision for peer-to-peer wagering and why the model ultimately failed The pivotal decision to pivot from consumer-facing product to B2B infrastructure What Ewagers does today, including payments, KYC, geofencing, and compliance tooling The underestimated complexity of building regulated gaming infrastructure Fundraising lessons, early structural mistakes, and navigating tougher capital markets Why profitability doesn't necessarily make scaling easier The importance of advisors and experienced operators in avoiding costly errors Key signals that confirmed the pivot to B2B was the right move What's next for Ewagers and the long-term vision for the platform   Catch the video version of this episode here.   Learn more

Crypto in 2026 is consolidating into a handful of high-stakes rivalries:  Ethereum vs. Solana for the center of gravity, Coinbase vs. Robinhood for the finance super-app, and Polymarket vs. Kalshi for prediction markets.  Arnav Pagidyala (Bankless Ventures) joins David and Ryan to map the investment implications, why incentives-driven L1s keep leaking liquidity, what makes Morpho's institutional playbook work, and whether Hyperliquid, wallets, and onchain rails start eating the exchange business.  We also dig into the comeback of ICOs, what it would take for tokens to become truly investable, and why proof-of-personhood and privacy-preserving KYC may become unavoidable infrastructure. ------

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 

Are you mining Bitcoin to secure the money of the future? Or are you just a "Fiat Hasher" using the network to stack more dying dollars? Kent Halliburton (@khalliburton) joins me to argue that most of the industry has the wrong incentives. We compare the early days of El Salvador surf tourism, when walking to the beach meant risking your life, to the current state of the network. Just as surfers ventured into dangerous territory for the perfect wave, true Bitcoiners are pushing boundaries to build an escape raft from the fiat system that will last for generations.We discuss the concept of Bitcoin miners acting as a pioneer species in the global energy market. Kent explains how sovereign mining operations venture into remote regions like Ethiopia and Paraguay to monetize stranded energy resources that no one else can reach. This process does far more than generate revenue for developing nations. It helps stabilize the local electrical grid and paves the way for vital infrastructure development in places the central banks and global planners have largely ignored.For many plebs, the biggest barrier to hashing has always been the logistics of the hardware. We break down how hosted mining models allow you to own a dedicated ASIC miner without forcing you to manage the intense heat and noise at home. This is about far more than convenience or ROI. It is about aligning incentives so that you can acquire non-KYC "Wild Sats" at the cost of production rather than paying the inflated spot price on a KYC exchange.We also touch on the human side of hyperbitcoinization in places like the Peruvian Amazon. Kent shares his experience living near the circular economy projects that are proving Bitcoin works as a medium of exchange today. We talk about the importance of using Bitcoin as a tool for sovereignty and how "Energy Cost Averaging" allows you to opt out of the fiat ponzi completely while supporting the communities that need sound money the most.Finally, we tackle the critical threat facing the network regarding security and censorship resistance. With so much hash rate concentrated in just a few massive mining pools, the danger of state capture is higher than many admit. Kent uses the "Milan Cathedral" analogy to challenge us to lower our time preference. We need to stop thinking about quarterly profits and start building for a future we might not live to see. If this conversation made you think, please subscribe and drop a comment below.-Bitcoin Beach TeamConnect and Learn more about Kent Halliburton:X: https://x.com/khalliburton Web: https://www.sazmining.com/kent-halliburton Web: https://iris.to/kent Support and follow Bitcoin Beach:X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode:00:00 Intro 05:15 How do Bitcoin circular economies work in Peru? 09:30 How to stop trading crypto and become Bitcoin-only? 12:45 How to mine Non-KYC Bitcoin without hardware? 16:20 Is Bitcoin mining profitable vs buying spot? 20:10 How to use Section 179 for mining tax deductions? 22:45 Why are miners moving to Ethiopia and Paraguay? 27:30 How does Bitcoin monetize stranded energy? 31:50 Why do you need Low Time Preference for wealth? 35:15 Is mining centralization a security threat?Live From Bitcoin Beach

From building internal AI labs to becoming CTO of Brex, James Reggio has helped lead one of the most disciplined AI transformations inside a real financial institution where compliance, auditability, and customer trust actually matter. We sat down with Reggio to unpack Brex's three-pillar AI strategy (corporate, operational, and product AI) [https://www.brex.com/journal/brex-ai-native-operations], how SOP-driven agents beat overengineered RL in ops, why Brex lets employees “build their own AI stack” instead of picking winners [https://www.conductorone.com/customers/brex/], and how a small, founder-heavy AI team is shipping production agents to 40,000+ companies. Reggio also goes deep on Brex's multi-agent “network” architecture, evals for multi-turn systems, agentic coding's second-order effects on codebase understanding, and why the future of finance software looks less like dashboards and more like executive assistants coordinating specialist agents behind the scenes. We discuss: Brex's three-pillar AI strategy: corporate AI for 10x employee workflows, operational AI for cost and compliance leverage, and product AI that lets customers justify Brex as part of their AI strategy to the board Why SOP-driven agents beat overengineered RL in finance ops, and how breaking work into auditable, repeatable steps unlocked faster automation in KYC, underwriting, fraud, and disputes Building an internal AI platform early: LLM gateways, prompt/version management, evals, cost observability, and why platform work quietly became the force multiplier behind everything else Multi-agent “networks” vs single-agent tools: why Brex's EA-style assistant coordinates specialist agents (policy, travel, reimbursements) through multi-turn conversations instead of one-shot tool calls The audit agent pattern: separating detection, judgment, and follow-up into different agents to reduce false negatives without overwhelming finance teams Centralized AI teams without resentment: how Brex avoided “AI envy” by tying work to business impact and letting anyone transfer in if they cared deeply enough Letting employees build their own AI stack: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini, Cursor vs Windsurf, and why Brex refuses to pick winners in fast-moving tool races Measuring adoption without vanity metrics: why “% of code written by AI” is the wrong KPI and what second-order effects (slop, drift, code ownership) actually matter Evals in the real world: regression tests from ops QA, LLM-as-judge for multi-turn agents, and why integration-style evals break faster than you expect Teaching AI fluency at scale: the user → advocate → builder → native framework, ops-led training, spot bonuses, and avoiding fear-based adoption Re-interviewing the entire engineering org: using agentic coding interviews internally to force hands-on skill upgrades without formal performance scoring Headcount in the age of agents: why Brex grew the business without growing engineering, and why AI amplifies bad architecture as fast as good decisions The future of finance software: why dashboards fade, assistants take over, and agent-to-agent collaboration becomes the real UI — James Reggio X: https://x.com/jamesreggio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesreggio/ Where to find Latent Space X: https://x.com/latentspacepod Substack: https://www.latent.space/ Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:24 From Mobile Engineer to CTO: The Founder's Path 00:03:00 Quitters Welcome: Building a Founder-Friendly Culture 00:05:13 The AI Team Structure: 10-Person Startup Within Brex 00:11:55 Building the Brex Agent Platform: Multi-Agent Networks 00:13:45 Tech Stack Decisions: TypeScript, Mastra, and MCP 00:24:32 Operational AI: Automating Underwriting, KYC, and Fraud 00:16:40 The Brex Assistant: Executive Assistant for Every Employee 00:40:26 Evaluation Strategy: From Simple SOPs to Multi-Turn Evals 00:37:11 Agentic Coding Adoption: Cursor, Windsurf, and the Engineering Interview 00:58:51 AI Fluency Levels: From User to Native 01:09:14 The Audit Agent Network: Finance Team Agents in Action 01:03:33 The Future of Engineering Headcount and AI Leverage

Guest Mário Havel Panelists Eriol Fox | Victory Brown Show Notes In this episode of Sustain, host Eriol Fox and co-host Victory Brown are live at Devconnect Conference in Buenos Aires, with Mário Havel, protocol support at the Ethereum Foundation and co-founder of the Bordel Hackerspace in Prague. Mário shares his experience working in protocol support, contributing to the evolution and scalability of Ethereum. He dives into the significance of the Hackerspace 'Bordell' in Prague, discussing its role in fostering a creative and collaborative community focused on free and open source software. Mário also highlights the philosophical underpinnings of free software, emphasizing user freedom and security, and discusses the impact of corporate involvement in open source projects, the complexities of sustaining such initiatives, and the innovative “crowd-loaning” model used to fund their Hackerspace through Ethereum. Hit download now to hear more! [00:00:40] Mário explains working at the Ethereum Foundation, his role on the protocol support team, the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship, and he introduces Bordel Hackerspace as a community space for hackers, makers, and artists. [00:04:08] He elaborates on the Hackerspace which is explicitly free and open source software users and contributors and his free and open source software philosophy. Eriol reflects on her own journey learning what “free” really means in this context. [00:07:54] Mário dives into how scalability, security, and new devs/fellowships link directly to sustainability. [00:12:48] Mário discusses corporate influence on free/open source. He emphasizes the need for more neutral, community driven structures so projects can accept money without losing independence. [00:15:25] Eriol contrasts joyful, playful hacker culture with the pressure many projects feel to “look corporate” to survive. Mário shares his personal stance: he avoids proprietary software and doesn't use banks or KYC, preferring free/open monetary systems like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero. [00:17:41] Mário details “crowdloaning” smart contracts they built on Ethereum. Eriol suggests many open source projects doing individual donation drives could learn from this crowdloaning model. [00:21:10] Find out where you can follow Mário and the projects on the internet, and he spotlights the project GrapheneOS, a highly secure, privacy-respecting, easy-to-use mobile operating system. Links podcast@sustainoss.org richard@sustainoss.org SustainOSS Discourse SustainOSS Mastodon SustainOSS Bluesky SustainOSS LinkedIn Open Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute) Richard Littauer Socials Eriol Fox X Victory Brown X Mário Havel X Mário Havel GitHub Devconnect- 2025, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 17-22 November Ethereum Ethereum Foundation Ethereum Foundation Blog Bordel Hackerspace Bordel Hackerspace First Ever Pure DeFi Mortgage/Contribute to the crowdloan GrapheneOS Credits Produced by Richard Littauer Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound Logistical support by Tina Arboleda from Digital Savvies Special Guest: Mário Havel.

For most Americans, losing access to a bank account sounds like a customer-service hassle—not a political problem. But what if your ability to get paid, pay bills, run a business, donate to a cause, or even shop online or withdraw cash at an ATM can be shut off quietly, without a trial, without an explanation, and without a meaningful way to appeal? In this two-part episode, Ron Steslow is joined by economist Jorge Jraissati, President of the Economic Inclusion Group, to unpack the growing reality of debanking and the compliance machinery behind it. In this first episode, they trace how post-9/11 AML/CFT and KYC regimes turned banks into de facto enforcement arms of the state—creating mass reporting, privacy erosion, and incentives to cut off customers based on “risk,” stigma, or perception rather than proven wrongdoing. They also explore how this system becomes ripe for weaponization—by authoritarian regimes, domestic actors, or simply the structure of the rules—especially when finance becomes transnational, opaque, and increasingly disconnected from due process. Learn more about the Economic Inclusion Group: https://econinclusion.com/ Get in touch with Jorge: jorge@econinclusion.com Find our sponsor links and promo codes here: https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Get 15% off OneSkin with the code RON at  https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Send your questions and ideas to podcast@politicology.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(703) 239-3068‬ Follow Ron and Jorge on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/RonSteslow https://x.com/JraissatiJorge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

What if account-to-account payments felt as dependable as swiping a card? We sit down with Keith Raphael, Co-founder and CEO of Straddle, to explore how a trust-first approach can transform ACH, RTP, and FedNow into fast, reliable options that product teams and finance leaders can actually count on. Keith's journey from hardcore compliance to building a unified API offers a rare, inside look at what it takes to replace “file uploads and hope” with identity-led orchestration and clear, real-time visibility.We unpack the core idea that money moves at the speed of trust and how the lack of a strong identity layer has kept A2A stuck in 1970s-era uncertainty. Keith explains how Straddle combines KYC, fraud detection, open banking connectivity, tokenization, and multi-rail routing to solve the “where is my money” gap for subscriptions, stored-value wallets, remittances, marketplaces, and B2B flows. We also dig into US-specific headwinds: no regulatory mandate for open banking or instant payments, incumbent pricing strategies that protect debit economics, and the resulting friction for adopters.From the rise of platforms and embedded finance to direct-to-rail integrations and the cautious reality of stablecoins, Keith lays out a pragmatic roadmap for scaling bank payments without sacrificing compliance or customer trust. The lesson from Stripe and Square still stands (simplicity wins) but it now applies to ACH, RTP, and FedNow. 

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.

We are live from the Gartner IAM Summit 2025 in Grapevine, Texas! In this episode, we welcome back Sarah Clark, now the Chief Product Officer and GM of North America at Hopae. Sarah shares her journey from Mastercard to buying rainforests in Costa Rica and rescuing dogs, before diving deep into the world of digital identity infrastructure. We discuss connecting government-issued digital IDs with the private sector to combat fraud and improve user experiences. Sarah breaks down the differences in global adoption, highlighting why the EU is leading the charge with upcoming mandates and how countries like Brazil and India are scaling their programs. We also explore the state of mobile driver's licenses in the US, the potential for age verification and workforce management use cases, and whether the US can catch up to the rest of the world. Plus, we wrap up with a heartfelt conversation about dog rescue and the challenges of pet adoption.Connect with Sarah https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmclark/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps00:00:00 - Intro: Live from Gartner IAM Summit 202500:01:25 - Introducing Sarah Clark and her journey to Hopae00:03:00 - What is Hopae and the vision for digital identity infrastructure?00:04:19 - Why governments are moving toward digital IDs (186 countries!)00:05:32 - Solving the fraud crisis with government-issued credentials00:07:05 - The benefits: Security, efficiency, and inclusion00:08:52 - Global adoption curves: India, Philippines, and Brazil00:10:48 - The EU vs. US: Who is winning the digital ID race?00:14:04 - eIDAS 2.0 mandates and the intermediary role00:17:03 - Future trends: Age verification, Fintech, and stablecoins00:19:54 - Workforce management and "Know Your Employee"00:21:28 - Sarah's passion project: Rainforest preservation and dog rescue00:25:35 - Closing thoughts on the future of identityKeywordsIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Sarah Clark, Hope, Digital Identity, Digital Wallets, Mobile Driver's License, mDL, eIDAS 2.0, Identity Verification, Fraud Prevention, KYC, Verifiable Credentials, Gartner IAM Summit, Digital Infrastructure, Biometrics, Age Verification

HELP GET SAMOURAI A PARDONSIGN THE PETITION ----> https://www.change.org/p/stand-up-for-freedom-pardon-the-innocent-coders-jailed-for-building-privacy-tools DONATE TO THE FAMILIES ----> https://www.givesendgo.com/billandkeonneSUPPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA ---> https://billandkeonne.org/In this special series, Max shares why we're hosting and preserving the Unbounded archive at Ungovernable Misfits, and kick off a re-release series with Q (BTC QnA) — a renowned educator at the forefront of no-KYC Bitcoin, self-custody, and radical privacy. TBD and Q dig into the real stakes of “being your own bank”: practical, failure-resistant self-custody; why panic is the enemy; and how to build muscle memory through small, repeatable drills. Q lays out a sober threat model, arguing the biggest risk is often the user, not the thief and stresses keeping setups simple until your skills grow. They also unpack the Samourai/Whirlpool fallout, the cultural slide from sovereignty to speculation, and why node ownership, recovery competence, and careful passphrase handling matter more than ever.TBD and Q explore financial sovereignty as resilient wealth storage, borderless portability, and the freedom to transact — benefits unlocked only through true self-custody. Q shares red lines around KYC and custodial products, assesses today's privacy toolkit (JoinMarket, self-custodial Lightning, Ashigaru), and outlines a pragmatic stack for intermediate users, including running your own node and choosing tools that match your abilities. They close with what's coming from Foundation — the open-source Passport Prime designed to secure your entire digital life — and where to follow Q's work and education. Stay resilient, and enjoy the series as we continue with Diverter, Seth, Pavel, and Colonial in the weeks ahead.HELP GET SAMOURAI A PARDONSIGN THE PETITION ----> https://www.change.org/p/stand-up-for-freedom-pardon-the-innocent-coders-jailed-for-building-privacy-tools DONATE TO THE FAMILIES ----> https://www.givesendgo.com/billandkeonneSUPPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA ---> https://billandkeonne.org/TWITTER: https://x.com/TheUNBOUNDEDPodYOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnboundedPodcast(00:00) Thank You TBD(01:55) INTRO(03:33) Radical Responsibility(08:51) Going Mainstream(12:59) Red Lines(15:25) Is Bitcoin Privacy Dead?(17:48) Lessons from the Samourai Arrests(25:57) What's Your Mental Framework?(30:48) The Non-Negotiables of Self Custody(33:16) Practical Stacks(36:32) Skill Dictates Tool Selection(38:50) Simplify and Streamline

In this episode of The Defiant Podcast, Chris Storaker sits down with Alex Garn, Chief Product Officer at Borderless, to unpack how stablecoins are quietly transforming cross-border payments — and what it actually takes to move money at scale across jurisdictions.Alex walks through Borderless' role as an orchestration layer for global on- and off-ramps, why the company stays out of the flow of funds, and how a single API can replace dozens of fragmented integrations across local regulators, liquidity providers, and banking partners.We explore why stablecoins are moving beyond trading and DeFi collateral into real-world enterprise payments, where they already outperform legacy rails on settlement speed, transparency, and custody — especially across emerging market corridors like Latin America and Southeast Asia.The conversation also digs into the hard parts: liquidity constraints by corridor, KYC and compliance friction, why US–EU payments still favor SWIFT, and whether incumbents like Visa, Mastercard, and SWIFT are more likely to be disrupted or to acquire their way into the future.Finally, Alex shares his outlook on regulatory clarity post-GENIUS, the coming wave of corporate stablecoin adoption, and why distribution — not branding — will determine which stablecoins ultimately win.00:00 — Intro: Alex joins The Defiant Podcast01:30 — From DeFi & data science to stablecoin payments04:10 — What Borderless does: orchestration vs custody07:10 — Why cross-border on/off-ramps are still fragmented10:00 — Stablecoins beyond DeFi: real enterprise payment use cases12:45 — Treasury management, payouts, and B2B adoption15:30 — Liquidity realities: when $10M+ stablecoin payments work18:10 — Why US → Latin America leads stablecoin adoption20:30 — Where stablecoins don't win (yet): US–EU & SWIFT22:50 — KYC as the biggest bottleneck in crypto payments26:00 — Self-custody, bank risk, and corporate treasuries29:30 — Stablecoins vs SWIFT: speed, cost, and settlement33:00 — Visa, Mastercard, SWIFT, and the M&A race36:40 — Regulation after GENIUS and global spillover effects39:40 — What enterprise adoption looks like in the next 2–3 years42:30 — Stablecoin fragmentation, liquidity, and consolidation45:00 — Closing thoughts: what excites Alex most about the future

Congress is pushing for a Senate Banking Committee markup of the bill as early as next Thursday, Jan. 15. While the debate over DeFi is largely ideological and technical, the fight over stablecoin yield has turned into a raw battle over banking revenue.Guest: Amanda Tuminelli | Executive Director of DeFi Education FundDeFi Education Fund website➜ https://www.defieducationfund.org/00:00 Intro00:10 Sponsor BTCC00:40 What we expect from Market Structure bill?01:30 CLARITY Act status: What's taking so long?02:15 What compromises are being made? (KYC or Self-Custody?)03:40 Can it pass Q1 this year?04:40 Are Banks going to ban stablecoin yields?06:30 Lobbyists are representing the people vs corporations and VC's?07:45 What did Citadel get wrong?09:50 Who else is representing the crypto consumer?11:10 Mass burn event of tokens and XRP?12:30 Will Trump be forced to burn $TRUMP as a concession?13:10 Would Trump even sign the bill?14:10 Will “accredited investor” rules be next?14:50 Could we see Tax Relief? deminimis tax exemption?15:50 Could Gary Gensler return?16:45 Foreign crypto regulation vs U.S.17:40 Social media the next regulatory frontier?18:45 DeFi red line in the sand?20:00 Outro#Crypto #XRP #ethereum ~CLARITY Act vs DeFi

Send us a textUseful beats flashy every time. We sit down with Przemek Kowalczyk, co-founder and CEO of Ramp Network, to unpack the practical moves that make crypto onboarding fast, trusted, and truly global—without asking users to care about the plumbing. From the first failed startup experiments to becoming MiCA-authorized across the EU, this conversation maps how to earn trust at the moment it matters: when someone decides to buy crypto and needs it to just work.We explore the bottlenecks that quietly kill conversion—right-sized KYC, payment rails that actually clear, and error handling that doesn't spook new users. You'll hear why cards can feel universal yet unreliable, how localization drives higher success rates, and why building compliance pathways into product development is the only way to ship at scale in regulated markets. The leadership playbook is blunt and battle-tested: keep cash buffers for the next shock, maintain vendor backups, and design for abrupt market turns.Looking forward, we break down why stablecoins are set to become the default transfer layer for remittances and cross-border payments. As wallets and flows abstract the rails, users will only feel speed and lower cost—exactly what drives adoption. We also talk founder traits that predict resilience, the art of pivoting without losing the core problem, and how a partner-first approach can embed seamless onramps directly inside wallets for a smoother first-time experience.If you care about shipping products that people actually use, this is your blueprint: build trust, minimize friction, and speak to outcomes users value today. Follow the show, share it with a friend who's wrestling with crypto UX, and leave a quick review to help more builders find this conversation.This episode was recorded through a Descript call on December 10, 2025. Read the blog article and show notes here: https://webdrie.net/cards-are-ancient-stablecoins-are-inevitable-and-compliance-still-ruins-weekend-releases/..........................................................................

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.

In this episode of The Future of Identity Podcast, I'm joined by Ross Freiman-Mendel, Head of Product Growth at Persona, to explore the shift from one-off, siloed KYC toward network-based and reusable identity products. Ross walks through Persona's consumer and enterprise identity networks, including Reusable Personas, Persona Connect, and emerging work on Know Your Agent (KYA), and explains why redundant verification has become one of the biggest unsolved problems in identity.Our conversation goes deep on the practical realities of building reusable identity at scale. Ross shares concrete adoption metrics, including 2× higher conversion rates, significantly faster completion times, and why over 90% of Persona customers are now activated on the network. We also unpack how network-based identity improves fraud detection while simultaneously reducing user friction - one of the rare win-win scenarios in identity.In this episode we explore:Why redundant KYC is breaking onboarding experiences and how transferable identity solves it.The difference between consumer-owned identity wallets (Reusable Personas) and enterprise-to-enterprise sharing (Persona Connect).How network-based identity acts as a trust signal, improving fraud outcomes without global blocklists.Where mobile driver's licenses and digital wallets fit into Persona's platform-agnostic acceptance strategy.Why AI agents are accelerating the need for identity portability and what Know Your Agent could look like in practice.This episode is essential listening for anyone building or buying identity verification technology. Ross offers a grounded, metrics-driven perspective on how reusable identity is finally moving from theory to production and why networks, not standalone checks, will define the next era of digital trust.Enjoy the episode, and don't forget to share it with others who are passionate about the future of identity!Learn more about Persona.Reach out to Riley (@rileyphughes) and Trinsic (@trinsic_id) on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you.Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or find all ways to listen at trinsic.id/podcast.

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.

In this episode of Web3 with Sam Kamani, I sit down with Kallol from Verified Network, a group at the forefront of tokenized financial products and real-world assets (RWAs).Kallol shares his journey from traditional entrepreneurship to building infrastructure that bridges traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). We talk about the gaps in private banking access, the massive opportunity among the next 750 million investors, and how Verified is building rails for affordable, accessible, and liquid RWA investing.We also dig into how Verified handles compliance, custody, and global issuance across multiple regulated entities. Finally, Kallol reveals what's next in 2026, from fixed-income DeFi distribution to tokenizing mutual funds and expanding partnerships worldwide.

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.

Will We Say Goodbye to OTPs in 2026? As India enters the next authentication era, this episode of The Core Report explores whether one-time passwords are finally reaching the end of the road and what could replace them in banking, payments, and everyday digital life.In this special edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Pramod Varma, Co-Founder & Chief Architect, Networks For Humanity (NFH), Co-Creator, FINTERNET & BECKN Protocol, architect behind Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, eSign, Account Aggregator, and ONDC, to unpack how India's digital public infrastructure is quietly moving beyond OTPs. From face authentication and biometrics to smartphone-based security, layered KYC, and verifiable credentials, this conversation explains why the current system feels broken and what a smarter, more inclusive model could look like by 2026.As digital scams rise and compliance burdens grow, are OTPs still the safest option or have they become a bottleneck? Why do banks still rely on paper, repeated KYC, and friction-heavy verification when India already has the technology to go fully digital? And could Aadhaar-based face authentication and app-driven cryptographic security offer a future that is both safer and easier for consumers and businesses?This episode breaks down the future of authentication in India, the shift away from OTP-based security, and what it means for financial services, digital identity, KYC reform, and ease of doing business. Essential viewing for professionals tracking fintech, policy, digital transformation, and India's evolving digital economy.Subscribe to The Core Report for conversations shaping India's business, policy, and digital economy.#OTPs #DigitalIndia #Authentication #Fintech #TheCoreReport #TheCore

As part of Digital December 2025, in partnership with Laxmi Sunrise Bank Limited, this special roundtable explores how digital payments and software systems are reshaping businesses and the economy in Nepal. This episode brings together three perspectives from Nepal's digital payment ecosystem: Santosh Tamrakar, Managing Director at IMS Software, sharing the system builder's view on business software, data, and scalable growth. Arun Khatri, CEO of Digital Network Solutions, covering digital infrastructure, security, compliance, QR innovation, and biometric identity. Shashank Prabhat Shrestha, Managing Director of Caffeophilia, offering real-world insights from running a multi-outlet business where most transactions are digital. Together, they discuss Nepal's shift from near-zero digitization to a QR-first economy where digital payments are now essential especially for urban businesses. In this episode, you'll learn: Why digital payments are non-negotiable for modern businesses How QR, cards, and compliance systems work behind the scenes The role of data, loyalty systems, and real-time reporting Why sustainable payment systems can't be free forever What's next: biometric KYC and data-backed, collateral-free digital lending Whether you're a business owner, policymaker, or someone who pays digitally every day, this conversation helps you understand how Nepal's digital payment ecosystem works and where it's headed next. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 02:00 – Digital December 03:20 – How Businesses Depend on Digital Payments Today 05:20 – The Evolution of Digitization in Nepal 06:28 – Covid and the Digital Payment Surge 07:02 – Why QR Payments Replaced Cash in Urban Nepal 07:50 – Real-Time Data and Business Control 11:01 – Digitization vs Digital Transformation 14:17 – Customer Loyalty Systems and Data Usage 21:02 – Entrepreneurial Vision and First-Mover Advantage 27:17 – How Digital Payments Reduce Fraud and Risk 33:06 – Biometrics and Centralized KYC 36:42 – QR vs Card Payments: How Nepal Pays Today 46:26 – MDR Explained: The Cost of Digital Payments 01:08:21 – The Future of Unsecured Digital Lending Want to join us live in the studio as an audience member? Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/xZi8yptyoxkkc6aa8    ✉ Reach out to us at partners@doersnepal.com  

In this Christmas Eve episode of DEX in the City, hosts Jessi Brooks, Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, and Vy Le break down a pivotal moment for crypto: the industry is no longer operating as a self-contained, oppositional ecosystem. It's converging with traditional finance. And the cool thing? Washington is responding. The trio unpacks the latest on the crypto market structure bill, what it means that TradFi players are actively supporting legislation, how compliance tools like KYC became unavoidable, and why crypto may be going through an identity crisis.  They also delve into why Democratic engagement is crucial to getting a bill across the finish line, and why January's confirmed markup could be a turning point. Hosts: Jessi Brooks, General Counsel at Ribbit Capital Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos, General Counsel at StarkWare TuongVy Le, General Counsel at Veda Timestamps:

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. 

Note that this is from a video essay published on YouTube here.For over a year, I've been helping people send aid to Gaza via cryptocurrency because traditional banking systems have failed Palestinians. PayPal and GoFundMe freeze accounts, banks block transfers, and those that go through can take weeks or months. Cryptocurrency offers instant, censorship-resistant transfers that offer higher guarantees.This comprehensive guide covers three methods for sending crypto (SimpleSwap, Revolut, and zkP2P), how to avoid tax complications when fundraising, critical safety tips to prevent irreversible mistakes, and everything you need to know about wallets, networks, and the OTC desk system in Gaza.

In this episode, I'm joined by Albert Prat, founder of B Brands and BeToken.Albert runs five profitable e-commerce brands doing ~€20M/year, and is tokenizing company equity under European regulation to raise capital, grow inventory, and expand into bigger markets like Germany. We also talk loyalty/community tokens, e-commerce growth levers, and what it takes to compete on delivery speed and supply.Key Timestamps[00:00:00] Intro: BeToken + €20M/year e-commerce brands [00:01:00] Albert's background and the five brands [00:02:00] Why tokenize equity: inventory + growth capital [00:04:00] Primary market now, secondary market coming [00:07:00] Utility token idea: community + rewards across brands [00:08:00] Lockups, liquidity pool, and investor protections [00:10:00] Onboarding: custodied wallets + KYC [00:13:00] Growth plan: stock, Germany, direct website sales [00:16:00] Marketing that works: influencers for fitness brands [00:18:00] E-commerce trends: speed, logistics, competition [00:21:00] 2026 roadmap: raise, list, expand, grow revenue [00:23:00] Targets: €35M next year, €100M longer termConnecthttps://betoken.io/https://x.com/betoken_iohttps://x.com/betoken_globalhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-prat-asensio-29980b68/https://x.com/AlbertP0170DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It 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.Get featuredBe a guest on the podcast or contact us – https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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.

Growth shouldn't stall at the border. We sit down with Peter Dougherty, President of Spreedly, to unpack how an open payments platform helps global brands launch faster, reduce vendor risk, and optimize authorization rates without ripping out their stack. Peter traces the evolution from card‑centric orchestration to a broader layer that now includes tokenization, a secure token vault, fraud and KYC options, and connections to multiple processors and alternative payment methods. The takeaway: best‑of‑breed no longer means complexity and long timelines - it means resilience, data‑driven choices, and faster expansion.Peter also looks ahead to a future where agents become the front end of commerce. Discovery, selection, and purchase compress into milliseconds, and payments infrastructure has to keep up. We dig into how mandates, consent, and spending limits will work when agents transact on our behalf; how liability flows when something goes wrong; and why token management becomes the backbone for secure, delegated payments. He shares why platforms that can safely feed agents with PCI‑sensitive data will win as volumes surge across regions and rails.We ground the hype in reality too. Payments is the fastest moving oil tanker - innovation is constant, but adoption takes time. EMV took decades; stablecoins still trail cards and the fastest‑growing APMs. For leaders, the smart move is to build behind an abstraction layer that lets you A/B test processors, adopt new methods, and swap tools without disruption. If you're pushing into new markets or preparing for agentic commerce, this conversation will help you rethink checkout, time to market, and resilience at scale. 

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. 

L1 blockchains have gone through every hype cycle: ICOs, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, now AI. But what actually survives?In this episode, I speak with Alexander Zahnd, CEO of Zilliqa, an L1 that launched in 2017 and recently became fully EVM-compatible. Alex shares his journey from a decade in Swiss TradFi and treasury/regulatory projects into DeFi, and how that shaped his views on financial rigor, regulation and long-term blockchain adoption.Key Timestamps[00:00:00] Mercenary DeFi users: Alex explains why liquidity follows the highest incentives and why this is a problem for long-term protocol sustainability.[00:01:00] From Swiss banks to Zilliqa: A decade in TradFi, treasury and regulation, discovering DeFi as “finance without intermediaries,” and joining Zilliqa four years ago.[00:05:00] L1 landscape today: How Zilliqa moved from sharding-focused scalability to full EVM compatibility, and why EVM + SVM gravity is consolidating general-purpose L1s.[00:08:00] Narrative chasing vs. building: ICOs, gaming, NFTs, metaverse, AI—all tried at Zilliqa; why chasing every hype is fragile and a clear, durable North Star matters.[00:11:00] AI x blockchain: Alex uses AI tools daily but is skeptical of forced “AI + chain” narratives until real, organic use cases emerge.[00:13:00] Real institutional adoption: Institutions aren't allergic to crypto; they're allergic to operational and regulatory uncertainty. Why audit-ready, compliant infra will be a major driver.[00:14:00] Where DeFi still has upside: Derivatives, perps, structured products, on-chain treasuries, RWAs, and permissioned DeFi rails for institutions and KYC'd wallets.[00:17:00] Token design lessons: Tokens should coordinate and power utility flows, not exist purely for price appreciation or quick fundraising.[00:20:00] Price vs fundamentals: How token price is the easiest visible metric, but often detached from real usage—unlike equities, where mature analyst coverage helps.[00:24:00] Lowering dev friction: Why Zilliqa's EVM compatibility and AI-assisted tooling matter for non-engineer builders to prototype and ship ideas faster.[00:28:00] On-chain LEIs with Liechtenstein: A government-backed initiative for blockchain-verifiable legal entity identifiers as a bridge between TradFi and Web3.[00:29:00] Alex's ask: Strategic partnerships, institutional integrations and long-range alliances around regulated, EVM-based infrastructure.Connecthttps://zilliqa.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/zilliqa/https://x.com/zilliqaDisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It 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.Get featuredBe a guest on the podcast or contact us – https://www.web3pod.xyz/

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.

Interview with Noah Perlman, Chief Compliance Officer of Binance. In this episode of the Future of Crypto Compliance series, we explore how AI could transform compliance, whether zero-knowledge KYC can go mainstream, the risks of deepfake scams, and the future of privacy coins and sanctions enforcement. This is a special episode of The Future of Crypto Compliance podcast series exploring the trends, disruptions, and regulatory forces shaping the crypto space. In this episode, we touch upon the following topics:- Can AI reduce false positives, and will regulators accept it? - The rise of zero-knowledge KYC and global passporting - Deepfakes, social engineering, and the new frontier of fraud - Are privacy coins here to stay? - Will regulators ever harmonise globally on crypto? - How to build a career in crypto compliance - TradFi vs crypto: who will lead on compliance innovation? Powered by ACX Compliance – the world's largest crypto compliance specialised managed services provider. By crypto compliance professionals. For crypto compliance professionals. The full interview is also available on my YouTube channel: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3YkYoV2  

“If you think they'll have restraint, I think you're making a grave error.” Can your wallet, your node, or even your hardware become “unlicensed financial activity” overnight? I walk through HRF's latest Financial Freedom report on new laws in places like the UAE and Belarus, then riff on how these tactics bleed into Western “financial stability” narratives, KYC social media, and digital ID. Along the way we explore the tools—from DIY hardware to Lightning and e‑cash—that might be the thin line between being banked, blocked, or truly sovereign. References from the episode HRF's Financial Freedom Report #100 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-100/) Alex Gladstein's essay “Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money” (Link: https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-bitcoin-is-freedom-money/) HRF's Bitcoin for Nonprofits webinar (Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0sjqwSFQo8HGMsWIIDRyhx34TsoonOSTfYoWSy-aaBbLeSw/viewform) BTC Sessions' 15‑minute Sparrow Wallet crash course (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EVDtos8ZgI) Bitcoin++ in Taipei (Link: https://btcplusplus.dev/conf/taipei) Nut November: Cashu Ecash Hackathon (Link: https://nutnovember.org/) Cashu Ecash Protocol (Link: https://cashu.space/) My upcoming read following-up on Allen Farrington's "Only the Strong Survive" (Link: https://www.uncerto.com/only-the-strong-survive) My future chat with Matt Ahlborg from PPQ.ai (Link: http://ppq.ai/) Check out the original report Weekly Financial Freedom Report #99 by HRF. (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-99/) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don't want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

My guest today is Lea Petrasova, co-founder and CEO of Vexl, a peer-to-peer bitcoin app that lets people exchange bitcoin privately, without identification (KYC) or any middlemen. Lea is a prominent voice in the European cypherpunk community, dedicated to privacy, digital freedom, and restoring bitcoin's original peer-to-peer design. We discuss why identity-linked bitcoin undermines true self-custody, how tightening cash controls and app-store censorship accelerate financial surveillance, and why Vexl chose to remain open-source and non-profit. Lea explains Vexl's reputation-based trust model, the real risks of “dirty fiat,” and the growing global push toward CBDCs and digital IDs. We also explore how Vexl is evolving into a local marketplace for everything from food to services to hardware, showing how private, person-to-person exchange can quietly rebuild resilient, grassroots economies.→ Please like, comment, share & follow - to help me beat the suppressing big tech algorithms & gov. censorship. Thank you!-- SPONSORS --→ Get your TREZOR wallet & accessories, with a 5% discount, using my code at checkout (get my discount code from the episode - yep, you'll have to watch it): https://affil.trezor.io/SHU → Have you tried mining bitcoin? Stack sats directly to your wallet while saving on taxes with Abundant Mines: https://AbundantMines.com/Efrat – AFFILIATES –→ Get 10% off on Augmented NAC to detox Spike protein, with the code YCXKQDK2 via this link: https://store.augmentednac.com/?via=efrat (Note, this is not medical advice and you should consult your MD)→ Be good to your eyes & health, and get the Daylight tablet - a healthier, more human-friendly computer, with zero flicker and zero blue light, by design. Thank me later ;-) https://bit.ly/Efrat_daylight → Get a second citizenship and a plan B to relocate to another country with Expat Money, leave your details for a follow up: https://expatmoney.com/efrat → Watch “New Totalitarian Order” conference with Prof. Mattias Desmet & Efrat - code EFRAT for 10% off: https://efenigson.gumroad.com/l/desmet_efrat → Join me in any of these upcoming events: https://www.efrat.blog/p/upcoming-events -- LINKS –Lea's Twitter: https://x.com/LeaPetras Vexl's Twitter: https://x.com/vexl Vexl's Website: https://vexl.it/ Efrat's Twitter: https://twitter.com/efenigsonEfrat's Channels: https://linktr.ee/efenigsonWatch/listen on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/yourethevoiceSupport Efrat's work: ⁠https://bit.ly/zap_efrat -- CHAPTERS –00:00 Coming Up…01:23 Introduction to Lea05:58 Leah's Journey: From Academia to Bitcoin09:08 The Birth of Vexl12:33 Ad Break: Trezor & Abundant Mines15:28 The Problem Vexl is Solving - Purchasing Bitcoin As Intended23:08 Vexl Locality & Reputation's Model31:56 Ensuring User Safety & Bad Actor33:48 The 1984 Apple Campaign Hypocrisy on Privacy37:08 Launching The Freedom Store40:08 Privacy In Today's Surveillance Reality43:58 Privacy in Bitcoin47:00 Balancing Trust & Usability in Privacy Tools54:00 Sustaining Open Source Projects, via Grants55:20 What Keeps Lea Motivated?

Episode 75: Cayman Directors with Darragh Murphy, Marfire Darragh Murphy from Marfire joins me in the Tokens of Wisdom Studio to tell us all about the wonderful world of Cayman fund directors. From choosing the right director, to working with them once chosen, to navigating the complexities across a fund's lifecycle, Darragh shares the wisdom.  Key Points From This Episode: What is the role of an independent director in the Cayman funds space? Does engaging an independent director mean I am losing control of my fund? Does my Cayman fund always need an independent director? How do you approach conflicts of interest in your role? What's your role in AML and KYC compliance? How do you handle situations when a fund is in distress?How should I choose the right director? What's the smartest thing a new fund manager can do?  Disclaimer: This show is for informational purposes only. Nothing presented here constitutes legal, investment or tax advice. The guests that join us share their considerable fund-related wisdom, but everything they share here is their personal opinion and for educational purposes only. On this show, they are speaking for themselves, and not for their employer or any affiliated entity. Tokens of Wisdom is produced by Dave Rothschild, partner at Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit https://colefrieman.com/ Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Dave Rothschild - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcrothschild/Darragh Murphy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/darragh-murphy-cta/  Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP - https://colefrieman.com/Marfire - https://www.marfire.co/   Music by Joe Ginsberg - https://www.instagram.com/thejoeginsbergFor any questions or comments, email: tow@colefrieman.com

In this episode of Beyond the Code, Yitzy sits down with David Alexander “Alex” Scheer, founder and CEO of zkMe, a zero-knowledge identity network that lets users prove who they are - and meet KYC/AML requirements - without exposing their personal data. zkMe builds identity oracles that turn existing credentials (passports, bank accounts, credit scores, tax records and more) into reusable, privacy-preserving proofs using zero-knowledge technology. Alex shares how a career that started in mechanical engineering and aerospace, moved through automotive supply-chain consulting and software, and eventually led him to Shanghai, MiCA, and the decision to jump head-first into decentralized identity. We dig into why MiCA's early drafts convinced him that Web3 would need a decentralized identity primitive to survive, and how zkMe is now serving millions of verified users while staying fully privacy-first and compliant. Together we unpack what zero-knowledge proofs actually are (in human language), why Alex thinks ZK is more foundational than blockchains themselves, and how zk-based KYC can both meet FATF-level requirements and keep users pseudonymous until regulators really have grounds to pierce the veil. We explore the tension between regulators who are increasingly open to ZK approaches and compliance officers who've done things the same way for 40 years, as well as how stablecoins, self-custodial wallets and secondary markets are forcing a rethink of identity and risk.From open banking ZK credentials and under-collateralized lending, to AI agents, the “machine economy,” and the business model behind decentralized compliance, Alex explains where zkMe is growing next and why he sees ZK identity as an anti-cyclical bet on crypto's regulated future.

At the Fall '25 vCon Conference, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, sat down with Rebekah Johnson, Founder & CEO of Numeracle, for a timely and urgent discussion on the escalating global fraud crisis and the role identity must play in restoring trust to communications. Johnson, a long-time industry leader on identity assurance, shared insights from her panel on “the state of fraud,” which revealed troubling trends despite industry-wide mitigation efforts. Johnson explains that while robocalls may be declining, fraud itself is surging due to increasingly sophisticated tactics and AI-enabled targeting. “Despite all these mitigation efforts, we actually have a declining situation, not an improving situation,” she notes. Bad actors are using fewer touchpoints and more advanced tools, turning communications channels into highly efficient conduits for financial theft, often to fund organized crime, trafficking, and even hostile state activities. Central to Johnson's message is the need to bring Know Your Customer (KYC) principles into communications—just as the banking industry has done for decades. Without verified identity, she argues, consumers remain vulnerable. “If you're going to get access to communications… there should be a verification process to ensure you are who you say you are,” she says, emphasizing that transparency and verifiable identity are essential to helping consumers make safe choices. Regulatory momentum is building: the FCC's proposed rulemakings touch directly on identity delivery and KYC requirements. But Johnson warns that progress will hinge on implementation by carriers, who face technical burdens without clear financial incentives. Still, she sees identity adoption as inevitable—especially with AI now eroding human ability to distinguish real from synthetic interactions. AI itself, she says, will accelerate the need for digital credentials tied to trustworthy identity. As the conversation turns to Numeracle's mission, Johnson highlights the company's role in protecting enterprise communication channels from being mislabeled as fraud or spam, enabling hospitals, universities, financial institutions, and brands to reach customers reliably. Numeracle also supports UCaaS and CPaaS providers seeking to protect customer reputations across the network. Despite the alarming fraud statistics—estimated in the hundreds of billions—Johnson remains optimistic. “It's not doomsday,” she says. “I'm excited about the future and the role our engineers will play in it.” To learn more about Numeracle's identity and reputation protection services, visit https://www.numeracle.com/.

If crypto wins without privacy, did we actually win? In this episode, Ryan sits down with Aztec co-founders Zac Williamson and Joe Andrews to unpack their eight-year quest to build a private world computer for Ethereum, covering the Aztec ignition chain, zero-knowledge-powered “private intents,” and how you can route trades across L1 and L2s without exposing your strategies or balances. They dive into ZK Passport (turning your NFC e-passport into a proof of personhood), the coming breakdown of selfie KYC in an AI world, holistic on-chain identity, Aztec's one-shot move to a fully decentralized L2. Along the way, Zac and Joe get candid about the regulatory risk of building privacy rails, echoes of the early SSL wars, and what keeps them grinding after nearly a decade of R&D to ship Aztec Alpha ---

Most software teams still think of payments as a chore. We take you inside the playbook that turns it into a growth engine. I sits down with NMI CTO Phillip Goericke to unpack how embedded payments evolved from a basic checkout to a full-stack platform that handles onboarding, underwriting, payouts, analytics, and even embedded finance. The conversation is straight talk on what actually works when you're shipping fast and scaling globally.We dig into the architectural choices that matter: start with a no-code drop-in to activate revenue quickly, then progress to low-code SDKs and finally full APIs when you need deep control. Phillip shares where platforms stall - manual KYC, fragmented global rules, and data blind spots and how a modular approach fixes these without ripping out your stack. You'll hear how compliance-as-a-service, network tokenization, and adaptive 3D Secure can raise approval rates, reduce fraud, and simplify audits while keeping the checkout experience seamless.Looking ahead, we explore why identity, compliance, and data are the foundation for embedded finance. Philip outlines NMI's unified experience that brings payments, onboarding, insights, and new services like business capital into one place. We also tackle AI with clear eyes: use it to augment decisioning and anomaly detection, but wrap it with deterministic controls so money-critical outcomes are consistently right. The key takeaway is a mindset shift: stop treating payments as a feature and start using it as a strategic lever for revenue, retention, and product velocity.If you're building software with transactions anywhere in the flow, this is your blueprint for turning payments into a competitive moat. Subscribe for more deep dives, share with a teammate who owns monetization, and leave a review to tell us what topic you want next.

Take it or Levitt, the boys return and discuss the lie that is Global Adoption ™️. Is Kyle cooked over the re-KYC debacle? Did you enjoy the canned cranberry Jieyi sauce? Also, Mitch is a turkey. All this and more.

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen is joined by Samir Kaji, CEO and Co-Founder of Allocate, to break down the explosive growth of private market investing and why trillions in new capital are about to reshape the entire wealth ecosystem. Fresh off a $30.5M Series B, Samir unpacks how Allocate is building the missing infrastructure connecting fund managers, RIAs, and the next generation of investors, solving the painful workflows, broken data pipes, and manual processes still holding the industry back. From intelligent deal discovery and auto-filled subscriptions to AI-powered diligence and portfolio personalization, Samir explains how technology will unlock access, efficiency, and liquidity at scale for both advisors and allocators.He also dives deep into the current venture cycle, the AI valuation frenzy, and the widening gap between mega-funds and emerging managers. Samir gives an unfiltered look at where the real opportunities lie, why liquidity is the next trillion-dollar unlock, how secondaries will redefine private markets, and what investors should be watching heading into 2030. If you want to understand where private markets, wealth management, and alternative investing are truly headed, this episode is essential listening.The Origin Story: 25 Years Watching the Market Shift (03:09)* Samir's work at SVB and First Republic observing the decline of IPOs* Cloud computing's impact on fund proliferation* Early signs that private markets needed new infrastructure* How HNWIs and family offices began demanding access decades before the rails existedWhy Allocate Exists & What It Actually Solves (07:04)* The fragmented “dark forest” problem of GP RIA connectivity* Why wealth advisors can't scale alt allocations using PDFs and lawyers* The three pillars of AllocateHow Advisors Use Allocate to Scale 10x Without Adding Headcount (14:18)* Auto-filled subs, KYC, allocation setup, client mapping* Helping advisors serve all 150 clients, not just the top 20%* Improving revenue while slashing operational dragUnlocking Liquidity: The Biggest Missing Piece of Private Markets (21:16)* Why secondaries are essential for opening the wealth channel* Borrowing against private fund positions* How tech will reduce massive bid-ask spreads* Why liquidity options will double alt allocations from 5% → 10-30% over timeAI's Real Role in Private Markets (25:20)* AI as the intelligence layer for discovery, diligence & personalization* Uploading 10 fund decks → receiving full breakdowns in minutes* Why workflows, not chatbots, will unlock trillions* Execution, payments & portfolio modeling going from days to secondsThe State of Venture Capital in 2025 (32:17)* Why today's market is “the extreme Tale of Two Cities”* AI startups raising at insane velocity vs. great non-AI companies starving* Why 90% of AI companies won't justify valuations* Seed funds getting squeezed by mega-funds writing “option checks”* How emerging managers can still win (go earlier or niche down hard)Founder Discipline, Revenue per Head, & the New Efficiency Era (40:06)* Revenue-per-employee as the new defining KPI* Why scarcity birthed a healthier generation of founders* Companies going from 5 → 50 → back to 20 employees* Running lean with AI as leverage instead of headcountAbout Samir KajiSamir Kaji is the Co-Founder and CEO of Allocate, a platform revolutionizing how investors access and manage private market investments. With a career in venture banking spanning over two decades at Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, Samir has an unparalleled view of the venture capital and private equity landscapes. He is also a Kauffman Fellow, the host of the Venture Unlocked podcast, and a personal investor in companies like Carta and Reddit. He remains dedicated to Allocate's mission of making the private markets as transparent and responsible as the public markets.Connect with Samir Kaji on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samirkajiVisit the Allocate website: https://allocate.co/Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Meta Ghambaryan is Web3 Global Marketing Advisor at Asterium, she helps build Central Asia's regulated crypto backbone.#crypto #MetaGhambaryan #asiacryptoAll Episodes can be found at www.thecryptopodcast.org Join my PodFather Podcasting SKOOL Grouphttps://www.skool.com/podfather/about All about Roy / Brain Gym & Virtual Assistants athttps://roycoughlan.com/ Brain Fitness SKOOL Group https://www.skool.com/brainfitness/about  Who is Meta GhambaryanMetakse Ghambaryan or simply "Meta"— the former Executive Director at Web3 Armenia -where she helped to grew a thriving Web3 ecosystem to over 20 companies and 40 experts. Now active as Web3 Global Marketing Advisor at Asterium, she helps build Central Asia's regulated crypto backbone.What we Discussed: 00:24 Who is Meta Ghambaryan01:05 Living in Uzbekistan02:50 Her home country Armenia03:54 The Meaning of Asterium 04:25 Her previous work with Web3 Armenia06:40 Different Cultures09:15 Regulating Crypto Companies10:00 Why Uzbekistan legislation is positive for Crypto13:05 Financial Freedom15:45 Is the KYC information shared19:35 Simplifying Crypto20:30 Backed up by Government Bonds22:45 Buildingthe Eco System25:52 The security to protect users29:20 Do they support Meme Coins & NFT's31:20 Protecting the users with Education34:07 No Gambling allowed35:43 The Process for a New User37:40 Educating users about a Cold Wallet38:24 Whats included in the Learning Courses3How to Contact Meta Ghambaryanhttps://asterium.uz/enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/metakse-ghambaryan/https://x.com/mandarina_meta All about Roy / Brain Gym & Virtual Assistants at ⁠https://roycoughlan.com/⁠  

For episode 634 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Mitchell Nicholson, Core Contributor to the Sierra Protocol.Sierra Protocol is the issuer of SIERRA, a liquid yield token (LYT) that offers the best risk-adjusted yield in a freely tradeable ERC20 token on Ethereum and Avalanche. SIERRA enables holders to earn passively accrue 6-12% APY compounded daily and does not require staking or claiming, holding periods or lockups, paying hidden fees or providing KYC. SIERRA will be going live in October followed by several exciting partnerships that offer additional yield and utility. Its reserves are managed by OpenTrade, an institutional-grade market leader offering stablecoin yield products and is backed by a16z, Circle, Mercury, Notion and other leading VC firms. ⏳ Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction(1:12) Who is Mitchell Nicholson?(2:02) What is Sierra?(2:44) What are Liquid Yield Tokens?(9:56) Underlying yield sources(12:56) Regulations & Compliance(15:40) Sierra exchange listings(17:30) Liquidity for Sierra(20:13) Partnerships(25:35) Prediction Markets(30:05) Sierra Roadmap(32:50) Sierra website & socials 

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureThe EU and other countries are heading in the opposite direction of the US. They are moving towards a CBDC and total control of their population. The US is going to break free from the [CB] enslavement. Trump will be returning the buying power back to the people and its going to shock everyone. The D's just admitted that they were responsible for the shutdown, they received nothing and made the people suffer. Did Trump and team shutdown private flights to keep the [DS] players in this country? Trump pardons the electors and those who were investigating election fraud. Election rigging is about to be exposed to the world. Justice is coming.   Economy https://twitter.com/shanaka86/status/1987750485840031806?s=20 1. Cash Over €10,000 Becoming "Illegal Tender" in January 2027 What's true: Starting in summer 2027 (not precisely January), there will be an EU-wide limit on cash payments for goods and services: no more than €10,000 per transaction (or linked transactions). This applies across all 27 member states, though countries can set lower thresholds if they want (e.g., some already have limits around €1,000–€3,000). The goal is to curb illicit cash flows used for crime. What's false: Cash itself doesn't become "illegal tender"—you can still hold unlimited euros in cash, withdraw it from banks, or use it for smaller payments without issue. The restriction is only on using cash to pay for things above the limit (e.g., you couldn't buy a €15,000 car in cash without switching to wire transfer or card). Violators face fines or penalties, but it's not a blanket criminalization of cash holdings. This builds on existing rules but standardizes them EU-wide for the first time. 2. Every Bitcoin Needing "Government Permission" What's true: The rules ban anonymous crypto-asset accounts or wallets held through service providers (e.g., exchanges like Binance). Crypto firms must perform customer due diligence (CDD)—verifying identities—for any accounts they manage, similar to how banks already handle fiat accounts. Privacy-focused coins (e.g., Monero, Zcash) and unhosted (self-custodied) wallets face extra scrutiny if used for high-risk activities, and anonymous services will be prohibited. What's false: There's no requirement for "government permission" to own or transfer individual Bitcoins (or any crypto). You can still hold Bitcoin in a personal wallet, mine it, or peer-to-peer trade it without approval, as long as it's not through a regulated service that demands KYC (know-your-customer) checks. This ties into the broader Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation (effective 2024–2026), which licenses crypto platforms but doesn't micromanage personal holdings. The "permission" angle misrepresents standard AML checks, which apply to businesses handling crypto, not everyday users. 3. Every Transaction Becoming a "Datapoint in Brussels' Surveillance Grid" What's true: Financial institutions (banks, payment providers, crypto exchanges) must report suspicious transactions to national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), which share data via a new EU-level Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) based in Frankfurt (not Brussels). CDD kicks in for occasional transactions over €10,000, and high-risk activities (e.g., complex/large transfers) get extra monitoring. Records must be kept for 5 years. What's false: Not every transaction is tracked or reported—only suspicious ones, high-value occasional deals, or those flagged under risk-based rules. Everyday purchases (e.g.,