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The DeFi Decoded Podcast
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The DeFi Decoded Podcast

Author: Alex Tapscott & Andrew Young

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Weekly market commentary and conversations on crypto and the future of finance. Co-hosts Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young break down market trends and interview the founders, investors, and leaders shaping the industry. Where Wall Street and crypto converge.
217 Episodes
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Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto with special guest Federico Brokate, Global Head of Business Development at 21Shares. Listen in as they discuss the rapid rise of Bitcoin ETFs from IBIT's record-breaking launch to today's shifting mix of retail and institutional holders, the tension and interplay between DATs and ETFs as vehicles for crypto exposure, how new SEC generic listing standards have opened the door to products on Solana, Ethereum, XRP, Doge and even staked assets, the case for index and basket strategies such as top-10 ex-Bitcoin products and future active and factor-based crypto ETFs, why this cycle's "Bitcoin up, everything else lagging" dynamic is reshaping how investors think about diversification and power-law outcomes in digital assets, and how jurisdictions from Brazil and South Korea to Saudi Arabia are building regulated ETF frameworks that could broaden global access to the asset class.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the recent selloff in AI-led equity markets and how shifts in Fed cut expectations and data-center-driven capex are rippling into Bitcoin and crypto, the White House's AI "Genesis" push and the emergence of AI as systemically important infrastructure, the rise of AI-generated "slop" content and hyper-personalized ads versus a potential backlash toward tech detoxing, why Bitcoin still looks structurally attractive amid ongoing fiscal debasement and generational rotation from gold, and how improving fundamentals in Ethereum and DeFi, mispriced app tokens, and the evolution of DATs and ETF-like structures could create asymmetric opportunities for institutional investors.
Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Seamus Rocca, Executive Director and CEO of Xapo Bank. Listen in as they discuss Xapo's evolution from the original Bitcoin cold-storage pioneer to a fully regulated private bank, its focus on serving emerging market clients seeking safety in Bitcoin and U.S. dollars, the integration of stablecoins and yield-bearing accounts as a bridge between crypto and traditional banking, the implications of Bitcoin ETFs and digital asset treasuries for institutional adoption, and how Xapo's conservative, Bitcoin-first model is redefining what private banking looks like in the digital age.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the flash crash earlier this month and record liquidation cascade triggered by sudden macro headlines, what it revealed about leverage and thin liquidity in crypto versus public markets, the continued divergence between Bitcoin/ETH strength and persistent altcoin weakness, structural issues in token economics and CEX listing dynamics that are driving project buybacks and decentralization pushes under the GENIUS Act, the rise of onchain venues like Hyperliquid and increasing TradFi integration, and shifting dynamics in the digital-asset-treasury market including DATs moving from issuance at premiums to buybacks at discounts, as well as the significance of new Solana, HBAR, and Litecoin ETFs for institutional crypto access.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto with special guest Nick Cannon, VP of Growth at Gauntlet. Listen in as they discuss the rapid institutionalization of DeFi and the rise of onchain asset management, Gauntlet's evolution from a risk modeling firm to a leading vault curator overseeing $1.6B in capital, the convergence of tokenized real-world assets through partnerships with Securitize and Apollo, shifting risk dynamics and security trends across DeFi protocols, the implications of the U.S. Genius Act for stablecoins and yield-bearing assets, and how Solana and other emerging ecosystems are driving the next phase of onchain growth and institutional participation.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto with special guest Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates. Listen in as they discuss the forces reshaping our world. Tim shares why he views Bitcoin as a hedge against bad governance, how founders should diversify their treasuries after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and why stablecoins are accelerating crypto adoption. Tim explores the next frontiers of innovation, from healthcare and finance to space and transportation, and how AI, gene editing, and blockchain are driving a new wave of entrepreneurship. They also dive into liquid democracy, prediction markets, and the rise of decentralized networks in a multipolar world. The episode closes on a hopeful note: with blockchain's "perfect trust," the future of global commerce looks faster, fairer, and more open than ever.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the fading premiums and potential consolidation wave in DATs following the Strive-Semler merger this past week, the liquidity and centralization risks emerging in altcoin DATs, the evolving debate over stablecoin regulation from the GENIUS Act to the CLARITY Act as bank lobbying intensifies, how banks might fit into a stablecoin-driven financial system, the surge of crypto IPOs with Circle, Gemini and BitGo, the custody economics underpinning institutional adoption, Coinbase's forthcoming Base token and what it could mean for valuation, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss Google's launch of its AI Agent Payments Protocol with stablecoin support, how AI agents could become the next interface for the Internet and even decentralize crypto governance, the soaring valuations of prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi and the forces behind them, Forward Industries' $1.65 billion financing to establish the largest Solana DAT to date, the broader trajectory of DATs and whether the momentum is sustainable, how strong fundamentals are colliding with bearish sentiment to fuel what many are calling the most hated rally ever, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of crypto. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating convergence of crypto and Wall Street, the big opportunities and implementation challenges with onchain finance, Solana's outsized rally following large SOL DAT announcements with ETFs on the horizon, a few of the inefficiencies that still exist in today's crypto market, the widening disconnect between all-time high prices and deteriorating sentiment, whether looming rate cuts could meaningfully move the market, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Jim Hiltner, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at Superstate. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating adoption of tokenized real-world assets by issuers and investors worldwide, the Superstate origin story and its evolution, how tokenization democratizes access to U.S. dollar investment accounts, Superstate's USTB and USCC onchain investment funds, the Opening Bell platform that enables public companies to tokenize their shares and why it stands out from other market offerings, Galaxy Digital's launch of GLXY shares on Solana through Opening Bell this past week, the future of capital markets and the role of blockchains in reshaping access to capital and financial infrastructure, how Superstate evaluates which networks to issue on such as Solana versus Ethereum, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo, Chief Strategy Officer of Ava Labs. Listen in as they discuss Avalanche's evolution since its inception, enterprise blockchain preferences between L1s versus L2s, the rapid growth of Avalanche's tokenized real-world asset ecosystem, how stablecoins are acting as a Trojan horse for tokenization, some of the most exciting yet overlooked onchain use cases to watch, the future of stablecoins at scale as institutions and fintechs launch and integrate them into their businesses, a crypto market outlook reviewing recent trends and looking ahead to the year to come, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest David Tse, Co-Founder of Babylon. Listen in as they discuss the ongoing evolution of Bitcoin from a store of value and medium of exchange into a productive asset, how Babylon is leading the way with trustless Bitcoin staking and positioning it as a collateral superpower, the mechanics of Bitcoin staking, the launch of Babylon's Genesis and the incoming wave of chains set to be powered by Bitcoin security, the risks of wrapped tokens and why Babylon's trustless model matters, the potential symbiotic relationship between Bitcoin and Ethereum, the yields available to Bitcoin stakers, the accelerating institutional interest in Bitcoin staking, DeFi's missing piece that could unlocks trillions in value across the ecosystem, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss the resurgence of Ethereum, Tom Lee's efforts in educating Wall Street, how crypto's reflexivity and flywheel effects are fueling today's market rally, what could happen if DATs begin trading below mNAV, key lessons from the rapid rise of DATs and how long the trend might continue, Circle and Stripe launching their own EVM-compatible L1 networks and the implications for Ethereum, whether $10K ETH or $200K BTC comes first, and more.
Join Andrew Young as he decodes the world of Web3 with special guest Nick White, Vice President of Celestia Labs. Listen in as they discuss Nick's background and journey into crypto, how to think about modularity and data availability in blockchain architecture, the future of decentralized applications and the use cases unlocked by Celestia's scalable infrastructure, why Celestia is focused on growth over revenue right now, the economics of decentralized compute, whether modularity is the final evolution of blockchain design, the role Celestia fulfills within the Web3 ecosystem, the evolution of tokenomics and lessons from past models, and more.
Join Andrew Young as he decodes the world of Web3 with special guest Ben Jacobs, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Scenius Capital. Listen in as they discuss Ben's background and crypto journey, the current state of the liquid crypto hedge fund universe, the rise of digital asset treasury companies and how they compare to traditional fund strategies, what's going on in the crypto venture environment, how leading crypto fund managers are thinking about this phase of the market cycle, key crypto use cases on the horizon, how the industry will evolve over the next five years, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management. Listen in as they discuss how the crypto market has matured to the point where companies are turning to public markets to raise capital and reach new investors, the paradigm shift in TradFi's understanding of blockchains and tokenization this year, the primary drivers behind Ethereum's recent rally and where it could reach by year-end, frameworks for valuing cryptoassets, the rise of digital asset treasury companies and their net impact on the market, how Bitwise sets itself apart, whether boom-bust cycles are a thing of the past, the ongoing alt season playing out in the stock market with crypto-related public equities, overlooked opportunities across the altcoin ecosystem, the potential for a Bitwise IPO, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest James Smith, Co-Founder of Elliptic. Listen in as they discuss the genesis of Elliptic in 2013 and how it's evolved since, its scaling strategy to support the explosion of new blockchain networks, the current state of onchain crime and whether the claim that only criminals use crypto holds any weight, the rise of geopolitical crypto cyberwarfare following the $90M Nobitex hack, how chain tracing has matured from a simple compliance tool to a form of defense tech, the company's experience educating traditional financial institutions during the onboarding process, how the intersection of crypto and AI is reshaping threat vectors, predictions for the year ahead, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss the growing bifurcation between cryptoassets and crypto equities following the GENIUS Act's Senate approval, what's happening in the altcoin market, whether a crypto IPO season is on the horizon, how equities and tokens compare, the accelerating convergence between TradFi and crypto, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Jeff Feng, Co-Founder of Sei Labs. Listen in as they discuss the rise of next-generation layer 1 networks built for scale, Sei's origin story, its evolution since inception, the exciting breakout potential of the onchain gaming and AI agent subsectors, why the Sei Foundation considered acquiring 23andMe, how blockchain can redefine data ownership, what's ahead for Sei over the next year, and more.
Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss takeaways from Circle's red-hot IPO, the powerful economics behind stablecoin issuers, Plasma's $500 million raise in under ten minutes, the sharp contrast between Circle's TradFi and Plasma's onchain capital-raising approaches, the current dynamics in the crypto public equity landscape, how regulatory headwinds have flipped to tailwinds, what makes this market cycle unlike any before, Pump.Fun's $1 billion raise at a $4 billion valuation, where we are in the cycle, and more.
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