Why Rational Privacy in Defi Can Unlock the Next Financial System

Update: 2026-01-01

Description

In this episode of Unshielded: A Blockchain & Data Podcast by Midnight, host Jason Schober is joined by Ian Horne, Author of Why DeFi Matters, to discuss what rational privacy really means in practice, why privacy is an enabler of trust rather than a feature, and how selective disclosure could unlock the next wave of institutional and retail blockchain adoption.

What You’ll Learn:

Primary themes around rational privacy at the Midnight Summit
How to reframe privacy education for different audiences
Why institutional money movement is the fastest path to mainstream blockchain adoption
Why tokenized assets and stablecoins represent the real DeFi disruption of legacy systems
How to position privacy as trust, not secrecy

Ian Horne is an event emcee, author, and thought leader in blockchain and decentralized finance, best known for his book Why DeFi Matters, which explores how blockchain and smart contracts are driving genuine systemic change in financial systems. With vast experience as former Head of Content at Money20/20 Europe and Head of UK Audience Development at Citywire, Ian has spent years bridging the gap between traditional finance and emerging blockchain innovation through strategic event programming, writing, and community building.

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Episode Resources:

Ian Horne on LinkedIn
Why DeFi Matters Book
Jason Schober on LinkedIn
Midnight Foundation Website

This episode is brought to you by Midnight.

To learn more about the Midnight Network, visit the website at https://midnight.network/
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