Episodes
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Pranav Kanade, Portfolio Manager of VanEck's Digital Assets Alpha Strategy joins the show this week. VanEck is an American investment management firm headquartered in New York City with over $100bn in assets under management. Although they’re well known for their passive exchange-traded funds or ETFs, they also manage active portfolios such as Pranav’s Digital Assets Alpha Strategy.
Pranav Kanade joined VanEck in 2022 from Millennium Management where he was a Credit Portfolio Manager working closely with a team of six investment professionals. Prior to Millennium, he was the founding member of the Head of Research for the Liquid Credit investing business at Angelo, Gordon & Co. and also spent time with Hutchin Hill Capital focused on technology and energy.
In this episode, Pranav and I dig into his transition from traditional finance (TradFi) to the crypto world, his investment philosophy, and the catalysts for growth in digital assets. Pranav details his journey, the differences between traditional and liquid token investments, and how stablecoins, decentralized physical infrastructure, gaming, and social finance can drive mass adoption. We also delve into regulatory landscapes, tokenomics, and the challenges and opportunities in token project investments.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:18 Meet Pranav Kanade: From TradFi to Crypto
01:55 The Evolution of Digital Assets
04:10 Understanding Tokenomics and Market Dynamics
16:20 The Future of Stablecoins and Tokenized Securities
21:13 Managing a Liquid Venture Portfolio
26:03 The Role of Regulation in Crypto Adoption
38:05 Closing Thoughts and Personal Insights
LINKS:
Follow Pranav Kanade on socials:
-Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkanade1/
-Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/vaneckpk
-Substack: https://killerapps.substack.com/
Learn more about and follow VanEck:
-X-Twitter: @vaneck_us | https://twitter.com/vaneck_us
-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vaneck/
Leave a review and subscribe on
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Email us at [email protected]
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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Rita Martins joins the show to discuss her new book, Web3 in Financial Services, which explores how blockchain, digital assets, and cryptocurrency are disrupting traditional financial services.
In this episode, Rita and I riff on her inspiration for writing Web3 in Financial Services and how she tackled the process of writing a book for the first time. We also talk about the present and the future of Web3 technologies in finance, the book’s key messages, and how Rita aimed to make the content evergreen with the fast pace of change in web3. Rita was kind enough to feature a conversation with me in the book, so thank you Rita for including my thoughts.
Rita Martins is a strategic senior leader with a distinguished track record in financial services, fintech and Web3. She serves on the advisory boards of a range of startups at the intersection of finance and DeFi, blockchain, digital assets and crypto, and is a mentor for the Techstars Web3 accelerator.
Previously, Rita was the Global Head of Fintech Partnerships at HSBC, where she played a key role in incubating and accelerating disruptive technologies, creating significant advancements in the fintech landscape. Her extensive background also includes strategy and digital transformation roles at Accenture and Ernst & Young, where she led large-scale digital transformation projects, helping clients achieve strategic milestones.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:43 Meet Rita Martins: Author, Financial Services Executive and Board Member
01:20 Diving into Web3 and Financial Services
02:43 Rita's Journey in Financial Services
05:23 The Inspiration Behind the Book
06:52 Understanding Blockchain and Its Impact
10:58 Writing the Book: Challenges and Insights
15:07 The Future of Web3 in Finance
26:16 Evolving Ecosystem and Challenges
28:10 Dynamic Nature of Writing in Crypto
29:05 Podcasting vs. Publishing
30:31 Killer Apps in Crypto
31:18 Political Influence on Crypto
34:07 Global Impact and Future Predictions
38:09 Reactions and Feedback
41:22 Marketing and Promotion Efforts
44:34 Personal Insights and Experiences
LINKS:
Connect with Rita Martins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritamartins2/
Follow Rita Martins on X: https://x.com/RitaMartinsUK
Buy/download Rita Martin’s book Web3 in Financial Services:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Web3-Financial-Services-Blockchain-Traditional/dp/1398615714
KoganPage
https://www.koganpage.com/accounting-finance-banking/web3-in-financial-services-9781398615717
Leave a review and subscribe on
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Missing episodes?
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This week, we dive into decentralization with Kenny Ezeji-Okoye and Stella Dyer from Millicent, Ilya Orlov from FileMarket, alongside Rita Martins, author and Techstars Web3 mentor. The discussion covers the journey from centralized to decentralized models, the impact of decentralization on users and developers, and insights into decentralization in financial services. The episode also includes a sneak peek into Rita Martins' new book, Web3 in Financial Services.
Decentralization generally refers to the transfer of control of an enterprise from a small group of stakeholders to a distributed network. At the earliest stages of a startup’s life, the co-founders usually put a plan in motion to keep the control of the business within the hands of the co-founders as a centralized business.
With many web3 projects, however, the project leads or co-founders decide to create a distributed network, where the enterprise value accrues to a token rather than to the equity of a centralized operating company.
Decentralization is not a point-in-time decision, however. For example, it took 5 years for the Maker Protocol to fully decentralize. Most web3 projects that do become decentralized originally start as a centralized operating company and then decentralize over time, like Maker Protocol became Maker DAO.
Does this matter to users whether or not a project is decentralized or plans to decentralize? Do they actually care? What about developers, i.e., those building apps/dapps on top of web3 protocols? What’s in it for them?
Kene and Stella from Millicent, Ilya from FileMarket, and author Rita Martins tell us what they think about decentralization and when it matters and when it doesn’t.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:57 Understanding Decentralization
02:12 Perspectives from Millicent and FileMarket
03:31 In-Depth Discussion on Decentralization
10:36 User and Developer Perspectives
18:33 Advice for Web3 Founders
23:18 Rita Martins on Decentralization in Financial Services
32:35 Conclusion and Closing Remarks
LINKS:
Connect with this week’s guests on LinkedIn:
-Kene Ezeji-Okoye: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pronouncedkenny/
-Stella Dyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stelladyer/
-Ilya Orlov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlov-ilya/
-Rita Martins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritamartins2/
Follow this week’s guests on X/Twitter:
-Kene Ezeji-Okoye: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pronouncedkenny/
-Stella Dyer: https://x.com/MillicentLabs/
-Ilya Orlov: https://x.com/UnderKong
-Rita Martins: https://x.com/RitaMartinsUK
Learn more about each founder’s business:
-Millicent Labs: https://www.millicent.io/ | https://x.com/MillicentLabs
-FileMarket: https://filemarket.xyz/ | https://x.com/FileMarket_xyz
-Rita Martins’ book: Web3 in Financial Services https://www.amazon.co.uk/Web3-Financial-Services-Blockchain-Traditional/dp/1398615714
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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-Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvaaHrJjizUEd0-93mjCKsQ
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Alejandro Gutierrez, CEO of npayme Labs and co-founder of ETH Dublin joins me again as guest co-host this week. We start with Alejandro's Token2049 Dubai ‘tsunami-in-a-yacht’ story, the upcoming ETH Dublin 2024, and the Techstars Web3 demo day on June 6th in NYC. We then cover the challenging venture capital funding market for Web3 projects, political and regulatory developments in the U.S. concerning crypto, and the in-flight approval of Ethereum ETFs.
As we recorded this episode a few hours before the SEC took the first step in authorizing Ethereum ETFs, we unpacked the political and legislative climate towards crypto in the U.S., and how things like SAB121 and the FIT21 Act are driving real change. We also touch on the broader impact of blockchain technology on financial markets and the context of tokenization, consumerization, and infrastructure improvements in the crypto space.
TIMESTAMPS:
01:53 Alejandro's Dubai Adventure at Token 2049
04:40 ETH Dublin 2024 Preview and Techstars Web3 Demo Day
07:16 npayme Labs and the Future of Web3
12:14 The State of Venture Capital in Crypto
23:00 The Impact of Political Climate on Crypto
25:04 Trump's Crypto Strategy
26:18 Crypto Donations and Political Influence
28:43 Ethereum ETFs and Regulatory Challenges
32:25 Political Shifts and Crypto Regulation
37:19 The Future of Crypto Legislation
45:09 Pizza Day and Bitcoin's History
STORIES WE COVERED:
VC Funding in Crypto
Galaxy Ventures bemoans ‘challenging’ market as crypto VC funding set for measly 27% gain (DL News, 20-May-24)
CryptoRank: Recent Crypto Investments and Fundraising Rounds (early stage only)
ETH ETF Approval Expectations
Ether jumps 20% on renewed optimism for an ETF, bitcoin also rallies (CNBC, 20-May-24)
Ether ETFs Filing Process Sees Abrupt Progress, Though Approval Not Guaranteed: Sources (CoinDesk, 20-May-24)
Fidelity Drops Staking Plans in Updated Ether ETF Filing (CoinDesk, 21-May-24
Blockworks’ BTC ETF Tracker
US Crypto Regulatory Ups and Downs
House To Vote On Who Will Regulate Crypto (21-May-24)
Proposed DeFi Carve-out from Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Hayden Adams on X/Twitter, 20-May-24)
Uniswap Labs Urges SEC to Drop Pending Enforcement Action in Wells Response (CoinDesk, 21-May-
LINKS:
Follow our guest co-host Alejandro Gutierrez:
-X(Twitter): https://twitter.com/A_gutierro
-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-gutierrez-98979b43/
Learn more about:
-npayme Labs: https://npayme.com/
-ETH Dublin: https://ethdublin.io/
Register for the Techstars Web3 Demo Day:
-Livestream: https://lu.ma/usaj1l7k
-In-Person (NYC): https://lu.ma/3wlbvrih
Leave a review and subscribe on
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-Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvaaHrJjizUEd0-93mjCKsQ
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MoneyNeverSleeps website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/
Email us: [email protected]
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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This week, we dive into Aleph Zero, a privacy-enhancing layer one blockchain renowned for prioritizing scalability, security and speed, with co-founder Antoni Zolciak and Head of Investments Piotr Saczuk.
Antoni discusses his transition from technology marketer to blockchain, emphasizing the humanist aspect of technology and the broad scope of blockchain's potential applications. Piotr shares his journey from TradFi to blockchain investments, highlighting the importance of values and adaptability in the fast-paced crypto industry.
The discussion explores the challenges and strategies involved in building the Aleph Zero community, driven by transparency, support, and a user-focused approach. We also talk about the nuances of ecosystem investing, the importance of UX, and the integral role of a strong community in fostering innovation and adoption. Additionally, we look inside Aleph Zero’s relationship with the Techstars Web3 accelerator, and the related benefits to web3 founders.
00:24 Introducing Aleph Zero: A Privacy-Enhancing Blockchain
01:16 The Journey to Aleph Zero: Antoni’s and Piotr’s Stories
01:24 Building a Thriving Ecosystem and Community in Web3
05:30 The Art of Keeping Up with Blockchain's Pace
10:48 From Concept to Ecosystem: The Growth of Aleph Zero
21:27 Investing in the Future: The Ecosystem Funding Program
25:05 The Importance of UX and Security in Web3 Development
32:34 Finding the Right Founders to Build on Aleph Zero
38:33 Closing Thoughts and Personal Revelations
Antoni Zolciak is co-founder of the Aleph Zero Foundation and Cardinal Cryptography, the core developer of the Aleph Zero blockchain. Antoni is a technology marketer with over 10 years of professional experience in public relations and content creation projects for global brands such as ING, Samsung, Sony, Olympus and Nikon. But now, he’s here to tell the story of incredibly smart people working on decentralized innovations.
Piotr Saczuk is the Head of Investments at the Aleph Zero Foundation. After university, Piotr had a short spell in TradFi before going down the crypto rabbit hole with Finoa, Unmind DAO, Soonami, and then finally to Cardinal Cryptography and Aleph Zero, first as ecosystem investments manager and then into his current role as Head of Investments.
LINKS:
Follow this week’s guests on X/Twitter:
-Antoni Zolciak: https://twitter.com/antonizolciak
-Piotr Saczuk: https://twitter.com/Piotr_Saczuk
Learn more about and follow Aleph Zero:
-X-Twitter: @aleph__zero | https://x.com/aleph__zero
-Linktree: https://linktr.ee/alephzero
Connect with this week’s guests on LinkedIn:
-Antoni Zolciak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonizolciak/
-Piotr Saczuk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piotr-saczuk-0347521bb/
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTnd
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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This week, I’m joined by guest co-host Mai Santamaria, the head of the financial advisory unit for the Department of Finance in Ireland. We delve into the world of digital identity, discussing the projects of World ID and TON, iris and palm scanning, and how humans are incentivized to digitalize their identity. Mai and I explore the broader implications of digital identity on economic freedoms and the geopolitical landscape that influences the sovereignty of digital infrastructure.
Additionally, we touch upon the impact of digital identity in securing basic human rights and the potential shifts towards universal basic income facilitated by emerging technologies. The discussion also includes insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by decentralization, the significance of maintaining digital infrastructure sovereignty, and the ongoing regulatory hurdles faced by companies at the intersection of finance and technology.
TIMESTAMPS:
02:54 The Evolution and Impact of Digital Identity Technologies
03:31 World ID, TON and Digital Identity: A Closer Look
08:45 Exploring the Future of Universal Basic Income and Digital Identity
14:07 The Ethical and Practical Implications of Digital Identity Verification
15:57 Reflecting on the Broader Implications of Digital Identity and Personhood
20:34 Exploring Mobile Wallet Security and User Comfort
21:26 Revolutionizing SIM Technology with eSIMs and Wallet Integration
23:10 The Future of Identity: From Physical to Digital
24:29 Digital Infrastructure and Sovereignty: A European Perspective
30:01 Innovations in Mapping and the Importance of Open Infrastructure
35:03 Navigating Regulatory Challenges in the Crypto Space
36:58 Optimism for the Future of Digital Identity and Infrastructure
Mai originally featured on episode 5 of MoneyNeverSleeps back in 2018, she made a cameo on our 200th episode, and she’s a Techstars mentor. Two of the episodes that I did with Mai recently, episode 241 on the crossover of blockchain and AI and episode 247 on the crossover of blockchain and digital identity, have been very popular with our most loyal listeners, so make sure you check those out.STORIES WE COVERED:
Worldcoin tightens privacy checks, allows users to unverify World ID (9-Apr-24, Cointelegraph)
TON’s $5M incentive program aims to drive digital ID verification (Cointelegraph, 8-Apr-24)
Two new satellites join the Galileo constellation (ESA, 29-Apr-24)
SEC issues Robinhood Crypto with Wells Notice, citing alleged securities violations (The Block, 6-May-24)
LINKS:
Follow our guest co-host Mai Santamaria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mai07/
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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MoneyNeverSleeps website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/
Email us at [email protected]
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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I’m joined by three of the founders from the Techstars Web3 class of 2024 to help me identify the mainstream adoption path for blockchain technology, including Andrea Miele, Co-Founder and CEO of The Colony, Fabien Arneodo, Co-Founder and CEO of SportSyncTech, and Nick Mason, Co-Founder and CEO of ProofSpace.
As William Gibson, author of the 1984 book Neuromancer, famously said: “The future is already here, it’s just not that evenly distributed”. I think of this quote every time I get pushback from naysayers on the long-term usability of blockchain technology.
In the intro to a recent episode with the first group of 4 founders from Techstars Web3 we talked to about common misconceptions about web3, I referred to the estimated less than 20 million daily active users of crypto. Crypto in all of its shapes and forms is accountable for the overwhelming majority of the use of blockchain technology around the world today.
Recently, Lex Sokolin from the Fintech Blueprint (shout out to Lex!) summarized things nicely by pointing out that the daily active users of major blockchain protocols such as Ethereum, Binance Chain, Polygon, and Solana increased from 5 million to nearly 8 million this year. Whether we’re talking about 8 million daily active users or 20 million users, with blockchain, we’re only in the ballpark of the number of Robinhood daily active users or the population of the Netherlands.
Given how much of my time I spend in crypto and blockchain it feels like we’re already mainstream, and that the future is already here. But, back to the reality of today and our 20 million daily active users, we have some work to do.
We’re on a trajectory with crypto adoption similar to that of the internet in the 1990’s, and if the growth projections hold water, blockchain by association will become ‘mainstream’ during the 2030s. That’s a 10-year range, so what’s the timeline to where more of humanity with internet access are using blockchain daily than not?
In terms of adoption, what are the things we need to do more of (or less of) in web3 to trigger blockchain adoption by web2-only users? Do they even need to know they’re using blockchain?
To answer these questions and more this week, I asked Andrea Miele from The Colony, Fabien Arneodo from SportSyncTech, and Nick Mason from ProofSpace what they think about the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology.
LINKS:
Connect with this week’s guests on LinkedIn:
-Andrea Miele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agriffin717/
-Fabien Arneodo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabien-arneodo/
-Nick Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-mason-762316b/
Follow this week’s guests on X/Twitter:
-Andrea Miele: https://twitter.com/NFTeafor2
-Fabien Arneodo: https://twitter.com/FabienArneodo
-Nick Mason: https://twitter.com/nick__mason
Learn more about each founder’s business:
-The Colony: https://thecolony.xyz/ | https://twitter.com/thecolonyxyz
-SportsyncTech: https://www.sportsynctech.com/ | https://twitter.com/SportSyncTech
-ProofSpace: https://www.proofspace.id/ | https://twitter.com/proof_space
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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Gray Webb is co-founder and CTO at Liquibit Capital, and we kick things off with a look at what’s happened with BTC since the latest bitcoin halving. Gray and I then riff on the evolution of bitcoin into a long-term holding with huge opportunities for financial innovation. We also look at the mainstreaming of stablecoins as the killer app for crypto and how stablecoins have only scratched the surface by nudging past Visa in quarterly settlement volume.
Gray Webb is an entrepreneur and technology professional specializing in Digital Asset & Equity Capital Markets. With over 20 years of experience, he has expertise in high-frequency trading, risk management, and post-trade systems. He is currently the Co-Founder and CTO of Liquibit Capital, an algorithmic-driven trading and asset management company. Gray is also involved in mentoring, teaching, and startup mentoring in the blockchain and Web3 space, and is one of the fantastic mentors for founders in the Techstars Web3 accelerator program. He has a strong background in product management and technology delivery, having worked with companies like Digital Asset and JPMorgan.
Liquibit Capital is a best-in-class investment management firm focused on producing consistent and uncorrelated returns in the emerging digital asset class.
You can also listen to more of Gray’s backstory and that of his Liquibit co-founder Joseph Chang in episode 138 from 2021.
STORIES COVERED:
BTC as a long-term holding
Hong Kong's six spot bitcoin, ether ETFs see $11 million in volume on first trading day (The Block, 30-Apr-24)
Blockworks’ BTC ETF Tracker
Stablecoins mainstreaming
PV01 Issues First Digital Bond to Blue-Chip Stablecoin Investors (PRNewswire, 16-Apr-24)
Tether, USDC and DAI transaction volume surpasses Visa's 2023 monthly average: Nansen (The Block, 29-Apr-24)
Stripe Brings Back Crypto Payments Via USDC Stablecoin (Yahoo Finance, 25-Apr-24)
Making sense of stablecoins (Visa, 25-Apr-24)
LINKS:
Learn more about Liquibit Capital: https://liquibit.io/
Connect with Gray Webb on socials:
-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graywebb/
-X(Twitter): https://twitter.com/cryptopacific
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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-Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvaaHrJjizUEd0-93mjCKsQ
MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter on Substack: https://moneyneversleeps.substack.com/
MoneyNeverSleeps website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/
Email us at [email protected]
Follow on X(Twitter):
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Follow on LinkedIn:
-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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This week, I’m sharing an episode of the ‘Venture with Hesus’ podcast that I recorded recently with the unstoppable Hesus Inoma, as he interviews me on lessons learned from being part of the startup ecosystem the last 8 years, the power of networks, 2022 token sale aspirations, customer validation, building for users vs building for yourself, usability vs. security in crypto, funding your go to market, pre-seed rounds vs seed rounds, what I look for in founders, mental models, flywheels, how to be successful in an accelerator, how to get excited about regulation, real-world assets and more!
As Hesus wrote in his original ‘Venture with Hesus’ shownotes, “Buckle up and join us on this thrilling episode with our special guest, Pete, who brings his rich experiences from Boston to Ireland, and Bermuda to Galway. Witness firsthand the often-untold story of the startup ecosystem, the nitty-gritties of co-founder relationships and the transformative potential of Web3 technologies, as Pete lays it all bare.”
Hesus Inoma is the founder and Head of Strategy & Innovation at i13 Ventures, a venture studio supporting entrepreneurs, startups, universities, corporates and governments to ideate, strategize, build, launch and scale products.
Hesus originally founded an award-winning global fintech with WeSavvy, and is a well-respected leader within the Irish and European fintech ecosystem.
Hesus is passionate about the digitalization of financial services and the collaboration between the financial services and technology sectors with an excellent understanding of financial products and smart technologies underpinning emerging fintech solutions.
LINKS:
Original ‘Venture with Hesus’ episode page on i13 Ventures YouTube channel
https://www.i13ventures.com/media/v/-venture-with-hesus-pete-townsend-and-the-techstars-web3-story-
Connect with this Hesus Inoma on social media:
-LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hesusci/
-X(Twitter) - https://twitter.com/hesusci?
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTnd
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I’ve brought together 4 of the founders from the Techstars Web3 class of 2024 to help me dispel some of the common misconceptions about web3 with the general public, including Julia Kemp, founder and CEO of Pawpass, Daniel Uribe, founder and CEO of GenoBank. Tiago Ferreira, co-founder and CEO of FairAI, and Tom Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Ember AI.
Even with an estimated 500 million crypto users around the world, the number of daily active users of crypto is less than 20 million, compared to 2 billion daily active users of Facebook, for example. So, for those around the world who have heard of web3, blockchain, crypto, DeFi, digital collectibles, NFTs, etc., the vast majority are uninformed at best, and negative or fearful at worst. However, they don't really need to be informed about how it works, in the same way you don’t need to understand SMTP to send an email or HTTPS to use a website.
In general, as early-stage founders, if you do put your head down and build, find customers and grow your user base, and hit the metrics to raise your round, you don’t have to worry too much about the general public for now - or do you?
What if you’ve just decided that building on blockchain technology and leveraging the trustless component of blockchain is the best way to deliver your value proposition to consumers? How will the uninformed react? How have you seen them react and what do you do about it? If what you’re building is more for the crypto-native, does it matter what the general public thinks about web3?
To answer these questions and more, I asked Julia Kemp, founder and CEO of Pawpass, Daniel Uribe, founder and CEO of GenoBank. Tiago Ferreira, co-founder and CEO of FairAI, and Tom Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Ember AI, what they wish the general public knew about web3.
LINKS:
Connect with this week’s guests on LinkedIn
-Julia Kemp from Pawpass: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kempjulia/
-Daniel Uribe from GenoBank: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uribedaniel/
-Tiago Ferreira from FairAI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlostiagoferreira/
-Tom Daniel from Ember AI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/0xtomdaniel/
Follow this week’s guests on other social media:
-Julia Kemp from Pawpass: https://www.instagram.com/usepawpass/
-Daniel Uribe from GenoBank: https://twitter.com/genobank_io?lang=en
-Tiago Ferreira from FairAI: https://twitter.com/getFairAI
-Tom Daniel from Ember AI: https://twitter.com/EmberAGI
Leave a review and subscribe on
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In this Money Talks segment, Paul Smyth and I kick things off with a look at Sam Bankman-Fried’s 25-year sentence before jumping to the brighter side of things with BlackRock’s new tokenized money market fund. We then time travel back to 2017 with Copper’s sushi party (or so we thought), and close things out by questioning the correlation between fintech funding and the crypto bull run.
Paul Smyth is a specialist executive recruiter and executive coach within the fintech industry. As a founder of two startups, Paul also has a unique view of the startup ecosystem.
Paul and I met back in 2017 shortly before I photo-bombed his stand at a fintech event in Dublin, and we’ve collaborated quite a bit since then. He and his business partner and life partner Laura Smyth from Top Tier Recruitment were the original sponsors of MoneyNeverSleeps back in 2018.
Since then, Paul has also launched the Possible.ie executive coaching business that counts me as one of their proud customers. I was so happy with the outcome of Paul’s coaching of me that I asked him to coach the founders that we bring through the Techstars Web3 accelerator. As one of the many hats he wears, Paul is a fantastic Coach-in-Residence for Techstars, helping startup founders find their way to positive outcomes.
STORIES COVERED:
SBF Sentenced
Sam Bankman-Fried’s fate sealed by his own words (FT, 28-Mar-24)
Where Is Sam Bankman-Fried Likely to Serve His Prison Term? (Unchained, 27-Apr-24)
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Final Trip to Court (New York Magazine, 28-Mar-24)
BlackRock Tokenized Fund
BlackRock Unveils ‘BUIDL’ Tokenized Asset Fund on Ethereum—With $5 Million Buy-In (21-Mar-24)
BlackRock's Tokenized Fund Quickly Rakes in $245M, Right Behind Franklin Templeton's Older Offering (CoinDesk, 27-Mar-24)
BUIDL: Blackrock's $10T Bet on Ethereum | Carlos Domingo (Bankless, 2-Apr-24)
Etherscan: BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL)
Copper’s Sushi Party
Crypto group Copper launches review after ‘embarrassing’ sushi party (FT, 28-Mar-24)
Crypto group Copper served sushi off partially clad models (FT, 26-Mar-24)
Julian Sawyer’s Statement from Zodia Custody (2-Apr-24)
Fintech Funding vs. Crypto Bull Run
Fintech funding falls 42% to $35B in 2023, but downturn may be nearing end (S&P Global Market Intelligence, 14-Feb-24)
LINKS:
Connect with Paul Smyth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsmyth1/
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Niall Mackey, the Commercial Director at Topsec Cloud Solutions, joins the show this week as we take an inside look at how businesses cope in the aftermath of a hack.
Niall is a tech industry veteran with over 35 years of experience with Topsec, Nokia, Interoute (now GTT) and Bank of America. With Topsec, Niall looks at commercial opportunities and influences the direction of service development to ensure they continue to bring value to their customers. Topsec have been pioneering cloud-based email and web security for more than two decades, servicing the government, healthcare, engineering, and IT sectors.
In this episode, Niall sheds some light on the gradually-then-all-at-once impact felt by a business undergoing a cyber attack, from social engineering and phishing to ransomware attacks. We talk through the psychological impact on those who were keeping watch, how those teams pick up the pieces, and the impact on customer trust
LINKS:
Connect with Niall Mackey on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niallmackey/
Learn more about TopsecCloud Solutions: https://www.topsec.com/
Leave a review and subscribe on
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Joaquim Matinero Tor joins the show this week as guest co-host as we look at the likely paths to the adoption of CBDCs (or Central Bank Digital Currencies) in the different countries around the world making progress with these digital versions of fiat currencies.
Joaquim Matinero Tor, or just “Quim” as he’s known to friends, is a lawyer with expertise in blockchain, digital assets, and web3 and a depth of experience in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, derivatives and securities markets in general. Quim is a counsel at Ceca Magan in Barcelona, he serves as a lecturer at several universities and business schools, and he’s lent his expertise to CBDC projects for the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, the United Nations, and the World Bank.
In this episode, Quim helps me to understand the view of the general public towards CDBCs around the world, and sort through some of my lighthearted distaste for CBDCs. We also look at what’s happening with CBDCs in Asia, and how the country-by-country consumer trends with fintech and smartphones may influence CBDC adoption in those markets.
LINKS:
Connect with Joaquim Matinero on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquim-matinero-tor/
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This episode features an introduction to the 12 founding teams that form the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2024, with each of their founder/CEOs giving you a quick look inside what they're building.
Meet the companies!
Artizen - Match-funding platform for breakthroughs in human creativity.
Founder locations: USA / UK | Featured Founder/CEO: Rene Pinnell
The Colony - Shaping the future of collectibles through blockchain technology.
Founder locations: USA / Canada | Featured Founder/CEO: Andrea Miele
Ember AI - AI DeFi companion that understands what you want and helps you do it securely, without new apps or hardware.
Founder locations: USA / Colombia | Featured Founder/CEO: Tom Daniel
FairAI - Fueling democratized open-source AI through a decentralized marketplace with digital property rights.
Founder locations: Portugal / USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Tiago Ferreira
FileMarket - Multichain data tokenization protocol for storage and P2P digital goods trading.
Founder location: Hong Kong | Featured Founder/CEO: Ilya Orlov
GenoBank - Ensuring the privacy and data ownership of your genetic information.
Founder location: USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Daniel Uribe
Lantern Finance - Custodial staking and lending services for the everyday investor.
Founder location: USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Jung-Won Kim
Millicent - The open smart contract platform for compliant real-world DeFi.
Founder locations: UK / USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Kene Ezeji-Okoye
PawPass - Digital identification for animals.
Founder location: UK | Featured Founder/CEO: Julia Kemp
ProofSpace - No-code platform for reusable identity.
Founder location: UK | Featured Founder/CEO: Nick Mason
SportsyncTech - Empowering amateur sports organizations and athletes with innovative, data-driven solutions.
Founder locations: France / USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Fabien Arneodo
Savvy - Interest-free lending protocol with overcollateralized deposits and self repaying loans.
Founder location: USA | Featured Founder/CEO: Roman Giler
LINKS:
Learn more about the Techstars Web3 Class of 2024:
https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/web3
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Laura Walsh joins the show again this week as guest co-host as we explore the potential link between digital identity and decentralized social media through the lens of the Forecaster protocol, its challenges, user growth, and the future potential of a decentralized online ecosystem.
Laura is the Chief Marketing Officer and part of the founding team of Kaskade Finance, and we worked together closely for the past two years on the Techstars Web3 accelerator. Laura is a Techstars All-Star Mentor, advisor, founder, web3 O.G., and friend.
LINKS:
Learn more about Kaskade Finance: https://www.kaskade.finance/
Connect with Laura Walsh on social media:
-Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralwalsh/
-Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheOGLauraWalsh
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter on Substack: https://moneyneversleeps.substack.com/
MoneyNeverSleeps website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/
Email us at [email protected]
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-Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
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Brian Zwerner is the President and Founder of W3 Studio, and a VC and Founder of Beyond the Game Network. As the President and Founder of W3 Studio, a 501c3 non-profit venture studio, Brian and his team help diverse founders in Atlanta build startups in web3. W3 Studio partners with corporations and provides grants to startups to fund the launch of their first products.
With his role as a VC and Founder at Beyond The Game Network, Brian teams up with a venture group of athletes that invest in Seed to Series B consumer startups in sports, media, web3, and fitness.
Brian Zwerner was previously the founder of Sportal, a startup in the sports industry. He managed the growth of Aquina Health through a Series A capital raise. He has invested in or held senior roles with several companies and funds and previously spent 20 years in investment banking roles in the US and overseas.
In this episode, Brian and I riff on what led him to scratch his entrepreneurial itch in the first place, his experiences as a founder, and the symmetry of his leadership across Beyond the Game Network and W3 Studio. We also take a look at the market for sports-themed digital collectibles since the 2020-2021 bull run, how to build a more sustainable business at the intersection of sports and web3 by focusing on fandom rather than speculators, and how his advice to founders has evolved with the comings and goings of bulls and bears.
LINKS:
Episode title inspired by ‘The World is Yours’ by Nas
Learn more about W3 Studio: https://w3studio.us/
Learn more about Beyond the Game Network: https://thebtgnetwork.com/
Connect with Brian Zwerner on social media:
-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w3studioatl
-Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-zwerner/
-Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianZwerner
-Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bzwerner/
-TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brianzwerner
Leave a review and subscribe on
-Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1455819294
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MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter on Substack: https://moneyneversleeps.substack.com/
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-MoneyNeverSleeps: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28661903/admin/feed/posts/ -
This week’s guest is Connor Murphy, the CEO of Bridge. I met Connor at a Techstars event in Dublin in 2019 as he was just getting his latest venture off the ground in Bridge, and I started using the Bridge app within seconds of meeting him to help me bridge my network.
Connor Murphy is an all-around good guy, and in every conversation I have with with him, I end up connecting way more dots than I ever could have expected. Connor has a background in computer science, startups, venture capital, and management consulting. He was previously the Managing Director of the Techstars SAP.iO program in Berlin and he has invested in 30 pre-seed technology ventures that have an enterprise value greater than $1bn. The undercurrent for all of this was Connor’s founding of DataHug back in 2009, a collaborative forecasting and pipeline management solution that he sold to Callidus Cloud (now owned by SAP) back in 2013.
In this episode, Connor and I riff on his DataHug founder experience, investing through Techstars and beyond, his journey as CEO of Bridge, and how all of these experiences are linked by the common threads of building relationships, trust as a currency, and kicking your network into hyperdrive. We also talk through some of his time-tested lessons learned from his time as a startup founder and investor that guide his path and that of the founders he’s invested in as well.
BOOK REFERENCES:
‘The Four Steps to the Epiphany’ by Steve Blank
‘The Mom Test’ by Rob Fitzpatrick
LINKS:
Learn more about Bridge and see here for a quick insight on the power of Bridge
Follow Connor Murphy on LinkedIn, X/(Twitter) and check out his blog
Episode title inspired by ‘Bridging the Gap’ by Nas
Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]
Follow us on X(Twitter): Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps
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We've remastered and packaged up two of our most popular episodes from 2023 that were originally going to be one episode looking at the venture capital mantra of ‘investing in lines and not dots’.
Both of these episodes were recorded in March 2023, after my team and I had just completed another 12 investments through Techstars, and I was itching to share some of the lessons learned.
Eoin Fitzgerald set the stage for me to do just that, and then we brought Patrick Pinschmidt from Middlegame Ventures onto the show two weeks later to dig deeper into this idea of investing in lines and not dots.
LINKS:
Learn more about MiddleGame Ventures on their website
Follow Patrick Pinschmidt on LinkedIn and Twitter
Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Subscribe to our MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter on Substack
Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]
Follow us on X(Twitter): Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps
Follow us on LinkedIn: Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps
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Mai Santamaria joins me once again as guest co-host as we riff on the intersection of digital ID, digital wallets, blockchain, CBDCs, and how the political regime under which an individual lives influences your senses of trust and risk. We also blow to bits my expectation that the new EU digital identity wallet will have anything to do with blockchain, contrary to what we’re seeing with digital identity frameworks in Latin America.
Mai is one of the most helpful people I know and always has a uniquely incisive insight or two on what’s going on at the crossover of finance and emerging tech. Mai originally featured on episode 5 of MoneyNeverSleeps back in 2018, she made a cameo on our 200th episode last year, she’s a Techstars mentor, and she recently helped me make sense of the crossover of blockchain and AI in episode 241. Mai is the Head of the Financial Advisory Unit for the Department of Finance in Ireland.
In this episode, Mai and I riff on the topic of digital identity through the lens of the new European Digital Identity Wallet brought forth by the eIDAS2 legislation, and look at digital identity regimes in Latin America through the latest news on Nubank’s expansion. With the investments I’m making right now in early stage ventures in blockchain, topics like decentralization, over-centralization, and the elements of trust and risk when it comes to how individuals feel about who has access to their data are also a focal point of this chat.
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Evan Miyazono is founder and CEO of Atlas Computing, a non-profit formed late last year to help scale human control over risky AI capabilities. I seem to be falling into a number of serendipitous situations recently where I find myself at the intersection of AI and blockchain. This week’s chat with Evan took place at that same intersection, but more at the conceptual level rather than at the hardcore technical level.
After finishing a PhD in Applie Physics at Caltech, Evan Miyazono jumped into blockchain with Protocol Labs in 2017 on a mission to build systems that affect real people. After years as a researcher and then Head of Network Goods, Evan recently launched Atlas Computing with his co-founder with the goal of building an international standards organization of provably safe AI.
In our chat, Evan and I look at both the intended and unintended consequences of AI, how society’s own actions makes it hard to define good behavior for humans, some of the crossover points between blockchain and AI, and how Evan’s thinking about aligning stakeholders for the funding of Atlas Computing.
LINKS:
Learn more about Atlas Computing
Follow Evan Miyazono on LinkedIn and X(Twitter)
Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Subscribe to our MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter on Substack
Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]
Follow us on X(Twitter): Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps
Follow us on LinkedIn:: Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps
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