Эпизоды
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Abubakar Nur Khalil, CEO of Recursive Capital and board member and CEO of Btrust — the Bitcoin development organization backed by Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z. Abubakar has been at the center of Bitcoin’s growth across Africa, from launching a venture fund to distributing over $1.7 million in grants to open-source developers.They discuss why Btrust is expanding from Africa to Latin America, the role of Bitcoin in energy, governance, and national treasuries, and why Abubakar sees Bitcoin as fundamentally different from crypto. He also breaks down what’s driving local adoption, why builders are choosing Bitcoin over web2 or AI careers, and what’s next for Bitcoin education, regulation, and electrification across the Global South.TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) - How Bitcoin is evolving in Nigeria and beyond
(1:02) - Who is Abubakar Nur Khalil?
(2:16) - Starting Recursive Capital and building a Bitcoin VC fund
(4:47) - Why they rebranded to focus solely on Bitcoin
(5:45) - The story behind Btrust and its $1.7M in grants
(7:03) - Why Btrust is expanding beyond Africa
(9:01) - Why developers want to be paid in Bitcoin
(10:14) - Abubakar’s Bitcoin thesis vs other crypto projects
(12:07) - The 3 biggest Bitcoin use cases right now
(15:03) - Why Bitcoin treasuries matter for African startups
(16:07) - How Recursive and Btrust stay separate
(17:20) - What surprised him most about building both orgs
(20:00) - Educating developers who don’t know Bitcoin careers exist
(23:02) - What governments are thinking about Bitcoin in 2024
(28:00) - Final advice: Align your principles, then act
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Follow us on X: Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow us on InstagramTalking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Kevin Boon, President of Mysten Labs, the core team behind the Sui blockchain. From fine arts and law to building crypto infrastructure, Kevin shares his unconventional journey and what’s next for the Sui ecosystem.
They discuss how Kevin balances legal and leadership roles, how the community responded to the recent Cetus exploit, and why Mysten is building out its own full infrastructure stack. Kevin also talks about tokenized equities, stablecoins, and what DeFi products actually have product-market fit.
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) - Is Sui really decentralized?
(1:02) - Kevin’s journey: art school to crypto
(4:47) - How he became president of Mysten Labs
(7:16) - What it’s like leading a blockchain ecosystem
(12:03) - The Cetus exploit and community response
(17:01) - Governance vs centralization
(20:12) - What is Walrus and why it matters
(27:58) - Real-world use cases: ads, telecom, storage
(30:23) - Building Mysten’s full product stack
(32:10) - What DeFi actually works
(37:56) - Stablecoins and institutional demand
(42:04) - Tokenized equities and new markets
(44:47) - The future: DeFi mortgages and beyond
(47:38) - Final advice: build for hard times
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X:
Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode. -
Пропущенные эпизоды?
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Mary-Catherine “MC” Lader, President and COO of Uniswap Labs. Uniswap is behind the world’s largest decentralized exchange and recently launched Unichain, a new layer-2 blockchain built to optimize trading and liquidity.
They discuss Mary’s journey from Goldman Sachs to BlackRock, where she founded the digital assets division in 2015 and led early innovation in tokenization. Now at Uniswap, MC shares her vision for simplifying DeFi, why the team launched Unichain, how the Uniswap API is unlocking new use cases, and what’s needed to bring institutional capital and new users on-chain.
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) - Why DeFi is here to stay
(1:02) - MC’s journey from BlackRock to Uniswap
(6:50) - First impressions and joining a 10-person team
(9:55) - Why institutions are now entering DeFi
(11:05) - What Unichain solves that other L2s don’t
(13:30) - The UX problem in crypto
(15:55) - Uniswap V4 as a developer platform
(16:50) - The power of the new Uniswap API
(18:50) - The rise of tokenization and stablecoins
(21:00) - Why Uniswap is betting on self-custody
(26:00) - How Uniswap thinks about compliance and privacy
(34:15) - MC’s mission: making finance universally accessible
(42:00) - Final advice: stay aligned with users, ignore price noise
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X:
Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Mary Gooneratne, co-founder of Loopscale. Loopscale is a lending protocol on Solana designed to give sophisticated users more control over capital, collateral, and credit risk. They discuss how Mary went from building on Ethereum during DeFi summer to pivoting toward Solana, why the protocol shifted from pool-based lending to order-book-style credit markets, and how Loopscale recovered all user funds after a $5.8 million exploit. Mary breaks down the differences between institutional and retail borrowing behavior, how its fixed yield looping product hit $1 billion in volume, and why she believes DeFi can rebuild global credit markets more transparently than traditional finance.
This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana.
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) - Mary’s background and founding Loopscale
(2:24) - From tokenized whiskey casks to crypto credit markets
(4:23) - Why lending hasn’t evolved like trading on Solana
(6:01) - Pool-based model limitations and capital inefficiency
(8:11) - Why Solana was the only viable chain
(11:02) - Inside the $5.8M exploit and recovery process
(13:08) - Lessons from the hack and security upgrades
(17:12) - New risk controls and protocol design changes
(20:03) - Who uses Loopscale: LPs, whales, and institutions
(21:24) - What products are growing fastest
(24:07) - Why idle Solana liquidity is a huge opportunity
(25:58) - The future: real-world assets and institutional lending
(27:10) - What institutions want from on-chain credit
(28:21) - Global credit markets and underserved borrowers
(30:13) - What’s next: sponsored credit vaults
(30:29) - Final advice: talk often and talk to builders
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X:
Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Amir Haleem, CEO and co-founder of Helium. Helium has a decentralized wireless network powered by community-run hotspots that supports IoT devices and mobile coverage. Today, its WiFi network boasts over 93,500 hotspots across the U.S. and Mexico, and the network serves around 1 million daily users. Helium has also secured major partnerships with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Telefónica.
They discuss how Amir and Napster’s Shawn Fanning co-founded Helium in 2013, transforming it into a people-powered connectivity model that now rivals traditional telcos in prepaid signups. Amir explains the economics behind hotspot mining and how the Helium Mobile network offloads carrier data with a 555% increase in offloaded traffic last quarter. You’ll also hear why Helium chose to hide the crypto in consumer-facing products, and how its Zero Plan, a free phone plan in the U.S., is built on top of their infrastructure and attracting thousands of new users every day.
TIMESTAMPS:
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X:
Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Muneeb Ali, the founder of Stacks. Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain that turns BTC into programmable money — unlocking smart contracts, lending markets, and yield without changing Bitcoin’s base layer. The network has already surpassed $500 million in total value locked and is pushing toward self-custodial infrastructure that removes the need for signers or bridges.
They discuss Muneeb’s journey from Princeton PhD to building one of the earliest Bitcoin layer-2s, why Bitcoin DeFi (or BTCFi) is finally having its moment, and how institutions, nation-states, and even bots are in the next wave of adoption. Muneeb breaks down why Stacks’ BTC-backed assets are taking off, what the Satoshi upgrade means for scalability, and why making Bitcoin productive could reshape the global financial system.
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) - Intro
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X:
Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Chris Maurice, the co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card. Yellow Card powers on-and-off ramp payments for over 30,000 businesses across Africa. It was Africa’s most funded crypto exchange after raising $88 million. It has since pivoted from retail crypto access to becoming the stablecoin backbone for businesses in high-friction markets.
They discuss Chris’ journey from selling Bitcoin at Taco Bell to running a multi-country exchange, why he dropped everything to fly to Nigeria on a one-way ticket, and how Yellow Card helps banks, importers, and even local vendors access USD liquidity through stablecoins. Chris also dives into navigating fear-based narratives about emerging markets, why local strategy trumps global assumptions, and how the future of cross-border finance lies in rebuilding the broken correspondent banking system.
TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) – Intro
(1:01) - From selling Bitcoin on eBay to founding Yellow Card
(5:53) - Meeting a Nigerian man changed everything
(8:56) - Why Chris flew to Nigeria with no visa and one goal
(11:00) - The origin of the name Yellow Card
(13:00) - Why Lagos changed Chris’s worldview
(15:09) - Misconceptions about emerging markets
(18:31) - Pivoting Yellow Card from exchange to stablecoin rails
(20:02) - How 99% of users switched to stablecoins
(22:12) - Why stablecoins matter more in Argentina than NYC
(23:13) - Replacing the broken cross-border banking system
(30:30) - Working with 30,000 businesses across Africa
(33:39) - Why localized strategy is key in Africa
(37:15) - Case studies: pharma, food, and banking
(40:04) - The future of Yellow Card and stablecoin infrastructure
(42:12) - Advice: stop waiting, just get started
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X: Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Tomer Weller, Chief Product Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation. Stellar is a blockchain network focused on real-world financial use cases — from cross-border payments to tokenized treasuries — and has quietly built one of the strongest infrastructures in emerging markets like Latin America and Africa, including a major partnership with MoneyGram.They discuss Stellar’s evolution over the past 11 years, why it chose to stay mission-aligned while others chased hype, and how it’s enabling native crypto-to-cash flows, seamless DeFi access, and developer-friendly smart contracts with Soroban. Tomer also shares his take on Web3 product design, the future of privacy, and what it takes to earn institutional trust.
Timestamps
(0:00) - Intro
(1:01) - Tomer’s background & joining Stellar
(2:33) - How Stellar has evolved over the years
(5:18) - Cross-border payments & MoneyGram integration
(8:06) - UX: Making crypto invisible to users
(11:46) - What makes a bad Web3 product
(13:16) - Why security needs to come first
(15:02) - Soroban & Stellar’s smart contracts vision
(20:27) - Governance, validators & institutional trust
(26:28) - Why developers choose to build on Stellar
(27:32) - DeFi + RWAs: New frontier for tokenization
(30:02) - What institutions want next: PrivacyYou can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Follow us on X: Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
Follow us on Instagram
Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Gabe Otte, CEO and Co-Founder of Dinari. They discuss why Gabe decided to focus on tokenized securities back in 2021, its expansion into LatAm and South East Asia and United Arab Emirates as well as how the sector has gained traction in recent months and the biggest opportunities to come.
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You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
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Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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Today’s episode is a fireside chat Jacquelyn recorded with Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs, while at the Avalanche Summit in London last week. They discuss Aave V4, the latest architectural upgrade, for the largest DeFi protocol. Stani also explains how this new model can unlock more for lending protocols, his insights on the changing DeFi landscape and more.
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Today we’re sharing Jacquelyn’s fireside chat with Chris Pavlovski, founder and CEO of Rumble, at Consensus 2025. Rumble is a video, streaming and cloud-based tech company that closed a $775M strategic investment from Tether in February. We discuss Rumble’s journey fighting censorship to protect free speech globally, how it’s pushing into the crypto space and bringing the asset class to creators, how decentralization ties into the business’ mission and more.
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You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
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Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Chris Osborn, CEO of Dialect. About a year ago, Dialect co-launched blockchain links, or blinks, with Solana and has since powered over 600 integrations since then.
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They discuss how Dialect is on a mission to improve crypto integrations, the current user experience, creating more trust and security alongside developers and what’s next for mobile and desktop crypto applications.
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This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Jacquelyn is doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana.
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You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
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Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Pranav Kanade, portfolio manager for digital assets at VanEck, and Wyatt Lonergan the GP of VanEck Ventures VanEck is an asset management firm that has been around since 1955 – and has made strides in the crypto space in recent years with its spot bitcoin ETF HODL, as well as its $40M venture fund that also invests in crypto startups, among other sectors.Pranav and Wyatt share their thoughts on tokenizing liquid vs illiquid assets, the state of memecoins and the general crypto market, how they see value building in the crypto industry, focusing on long term fundamentals and more.Please note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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Today’s episode is with Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge and founder and chairman of SALT.We recorded this episode at SALT Bermuda, where asset managers, allocators, institutional players and more are having discussions on digital assets. Anthony shares his latest insights on institutional crypto demand, the current state of crypto adoption, his 20-year company anniversary and more since we last spoke after SALT’s Wyoming Blockchain Symposium in August 2024.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Michael Sonnenshein, chief operating officer at Securitize. Securitize is focused on tokenizing real world assets and bringing finance onchain through tokenized funds. It has partnered with major asset managers like BlackRock, Apollo, Hamilton Lane and KKR.They discuss Securitize’s tokenization focus: honing in on tokenized treasuries, equities and securities. They also dive into stablecoins, bringing finance onchain and how institutions are diving into DeFi.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s SVP, Head of Growth Products & Partnerships
They discuss Visa’s multi-year journey in crypto, how the technology can improve payments and settlements, as well as the role stablecoins is playing today within its massive financial services conglomerate.
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Nathan Allman, CEO of Ondo Finance.They discuss bringing finance onchain, how 2025 may be the year of tokenization, what crypto institutions want from TradFi, tokenized treasuries markets and his multichain vision.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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Today’s episode we’re sharing Jacquelyn's fireside chat with Ansem from the Solana Crossroads event.Ansem is a well known crypto investor, former amateur boxer and co-founder of Bullpen. They dive into what it takes to build a personal – and professional – brand in crypto, his insights on Solana, memecoins, what makes a token “good” and whether crypto is still in a bull market.
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Please note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Jeff Zirlin, co-founder of Sky Mavis. They discuss Ronin’s recent expansion to open up its gaming blockchain, Axie Infinity’s 2021 popularity and lessons from that era, the importance of tokenomics in web3 games and more.
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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On today’s (100th!) Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Ben Leventhal, Co-founder of Resy, Eater and Blackbird.
They discuss his decades-long career focused on the food industry, Blackbird’s recent $50M raise as well as expansion in NYC, SF, Charleston and beyond. We also dive intoBen’s perspective on how the restaurant industry wants more data on its users and the role Blackbird hopes to provide on that front.
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!
Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
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