The DeFi Decoded Podcast

Epizódok

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  The Man in the Arena: Olympic Wrestler Turned Founder Jeff Adamson of Neo Financial on Why Canada Is Playing to Win 28.09.2026 53p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of fintech with special guest Jeff Adamson, co-founder of Neo Financial and Skip the Dishes. Listen in as Jeff traces the path from a five-time national wrestling champion training in the attic of a Saskatoon furniture warehouse to building two of Canada's best-known startups — and why seeing someone from the block over become a champion is what makes ambition feel possible. He explains how Skip nearly died the day it added delivery, why he calls 2008 "the best marketing coup the banks could have ever asked for," and how Neo negotiates wholesale deposit rates on behalf of billions to pass the savings back, Costco-style. Alex and Jeff also get into what breaks when stablecoins, real-time rails, open banking and agentic finance arrive at once — hot money sweeping between institutions overnight, and bidding wars in the split second between tap and approval — why credit bureaus built before women could vote are still gating home ownership, and why being great in Canada isn't enough.
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  Will Aave Eat Wall Street? with Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo of Aave Labs 23.09.2026 39p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Luigi D'Onorio DeMeo, Chief Strategy and Business Officer at Aave Labs. Listen in as they trace how a peer-to-peer ETH lending experiment called ETHLend became the largest lending protocol in crypto — $80 billion in deposits and roughly $40 billion in loans at peak, on under a thousand lines of code and no back office. Luigi explains why overcollateralized lending doesn't care who you are, what borrowers actually do with the money, and why flows moved to Aave when Celsius and BlockFi blew up. Plus: why Clarity failing may advantage the risk-tolerant, why bank deposit economics break when the floor on a checking account rises, why every fintech he speaks to is already building on DeFi, and why tokenized equities are the most interesting thing to hit crypto since stablecoins.
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  Economic TruthMaxxing with Stefan Rust of Truflation 16.09.2026 40p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Stefan Rust, CEO of Truflation and former CEO of Bitcoin.com. Listen in as they dig into the number behind the number: why the government still measures inflation by survey using a methodology unchanged in a hundred years, and what changes when you aggregate hundreds of millions of daily data points instead. Stefan explains why $130 trillion is tied to the official print, how Truflation runs ~41 days ahead of the government, and why its number is sometimes lower than CPI, not higher. Plus: what actually drives Fed decisions, why Bitcoin and gold traded like risk assets, and the case that tokenized dollars are what keeps borrowing costs down.
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  These Two Companies Might Dominate the Next Era of Finance with Gordon Liao of Circle and Ken Ng of Uniswap Labs 10.09.2026 37p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto, fintech and AI with special guests Gordon Liao, Chief Economist and Head of Research at Circle, and Ken Ng, Head of Ecosystem at Uniswap Labs. Listen in as Gordon explains why Circle is building Arc — a layer one purpose-built for stablecoin finance, with USDC as gas and the settlement finality institutions need to move trillions in real-world assets — and why another chain doesn't mean another silo. Ken makes the case that Uniswap is the real everything exchange: list once and you're listed everywhere, across a permissionless platform where Fidelity deployed liquidity without telling anyone first. Together they get into what a shared compliance layer would unlock, whether someone in the Philippines will ever hold BUIDL in $100 increments, and why bearer instruments — a centuries-old idea — are the key to tokenized assets. Plus: Circle's $400M all-stock acquisition and stablecoins as global payment rails, what's actually happening at the long end of the bond market, why stablecoins may become the stickiest buyer of short-term government debt, and how AI agents will use crypto — not just to pay each other, but to raise capital.
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  "It's in the Vault" — Breaking Down Crypto's Hot New Thing with Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic of Steakhouse Financial 01.09.2026 35p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Adrian Cachinero Vasiljevic, Co-Founder of Steakhouse Financial. Listen in as they unpack the buzziest topic in DeFi right now: vaults. Adrian explains what a vault actually is (and why the word is as broad as "token"), why most vault capital sits in lending markets, and how onchain vaults can strike a NAV in real time in ways traditional funds and ETFs can't. They dig into Steakhouse's role as one of the largest risk curators in onchain finance — curating close to half the stablecoin deposits on Morpho and serving as the exclusive risk curator of Robinhood Earn — and what a curator can and can't do with your assets. Alex and Adrian also cover the "physics of DeFi," the regulatory road ahead for vaults and the CLARITY Act, who absorbs the losses when things go wrong, and why reimagining finance from first principles is the real frontier.
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  The Race to Build the Everything Exchange with Eric Richmond of Coinbase Canada 25.08.2026 38p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Eric Richmond, Country Director and CEO of Coinbase Canada. Listen in as they trade the "everything store" for the "everything exchange" — Coinbase's bet that one trusted, on-chain platform can carry a person's entire financial life. Eric explains why Canada is one of Coinbase's fastest-growing markets now that 25% of Canadians own crypto, what's actually getting used today — USDC yield, crypto derivatives, and tokenized equities that went live this week — and why 24/7 markets and instant settlement make tokenized stocks more than a repackaged brokerage account. Alex and Eric also dig into Canada's regulatory backslide: how a country that led on crypto ETFs ended up governing a new asset class through staff notices and exemption orders, why simply custodying Bitcoin turns it into a security here, and the Schrödinger's stablecoin problem the Stablecoin Act leaves unresolved. Plus: Base as evolution rather than hedge, and why the AI agent economy runs on stablecoins — agents can't open bank accounts, but they can hold wallets.
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  Canada Once Led the Blockchain Revolution. How It Can Lead Again — with Didier Lavallée of Tetra Digital Group 21.08.2026 34p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Didier Lavallée, Founder and CEO of Tetra Digital Group. Listen in as they discuss why Canada - the birthplace of Ethereum - has ceded its lead in crypto and how a Canadian dollar stablecoin could help win it back. Didier explains the launch of CADD, why domestic payments (not just cross-border remittances) are the surprise growth story, and how orchestration infrastructure lets money move across borders without friction. Alex and Didier also dig into the sovereignty stakes behind Canada's financial system - from the Moneris sale to foreign-controlled crypto apps - why a bank-heavy oligopoly makes disruption so hard, and what it means that former Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins has joined Tetra's advisory council.
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  From Wallets to Vaults - Understanding Institutional DeFi with Aryan Sheikhalian and Matt Casto of CMT Digital 24.07.2026 38p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guests Aryan Sheikhalian, Investor and the Head of Research, and Matt Casto, Head of DeFi, of CMT Digital. Listen in as they discuss how CMT evolved from a proprietary trading firm into one of crypto's earliest institutional investors, why stablecoins and RWAs are becoming platforms rather than just products, and how vaults are emerging as a new institutional primitive. Aryan and Matt also break down what regulators still need to clarify around vaults and the CLARITY Act, why blockchains excel at coordinating capital and resources, and how crypto is uniquely positioned to price novel assets — from compute to perps — as stablecoins continue eating into the legacy payments market.
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  Crypto for Me, But Not for Thee? Why the Bank Lobby Wants to Neuter Crypto Regulations with Alison Mangiero of Crypto Council for Innovation 06.07.2026 39p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Alison Mangiero, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of U.S. Policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation. Listen in as they discuss the shifting regulatory landscape in Washington, why the GENIUS Act marked a turning point for digital assets, and what the CLARITY Act could mean for market structure, stablecoins, staking, and consumer protection. Alison breaks down how CCI works with lawmakers, why the banking lobby is pushing back, what still needs to happen before crypto legislation becomes law, and why tax policy may be the next major frontier for digital asset adoption.
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  The Journey From Crypto Market Maker to Financial Powerhouse with Joshua Riezman of GSR 30.06.2026 41p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Joshua Riezman, Chief Legal & Strategy Officer of GSR. Listen in as they discuss how crypto-native firms like GSR are evolving from market makers into full-service financial institutions, why liquidity remains essential as stablecoins, RWAs, and tokenized assets scale, and how regulation is reshaping the global digital asset landscape. Josh also explains GSR's expansion into advisory, venture, asset management, and capital markets, why tokenization could unlock new forms of global capital formation, and how on-chain markets may eventually compete with Wall Street's traditional investment banking model.
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  Can BONK Make Crypto Fun Again? With Nom of BONK 23.06.2026 41p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Nom, Core Contributor of BONK. Listen in as they discuss how BONK emerged from the depths of the post-FTX bear market to help revive energy and community across Solana, why culture and fun still matter in an industry increasingly focused on institutions, ETFs, and regulation, and how meme coins can become lasting consumer brands when paired with real products, utility, and community participation. Nom also shares how BONK's early airdrop strategy targeted Solana power users, why crypto's next wave may depend on making apps both useful and weird again, and how BONK is expanding into RWAs, prediction markets, AI, and neo-banking.
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  The New Laws of Money with Michael Egorov of Curve Finance 17.06.2026 47p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Michael Egorov, Founder of Curve Finance. Listen in as they discuss how Curve pioneered decentralized liquidity infrastructure, the evolution of stablecoins and liquid staking, and how programmable blockchains are enabling entirely new financial systems. Michael shares his journey from physics to crypto entrepreneurship, explaining how his scientific background shaped his approach to building financial protocols from first principles and why automated market makers represent new "laws of physics" for money. The conversation explores Curve's role in powering onchain liquidity, the challenges of impermanent loss, innovations in concentrated liquidity and decentralized lending, and why traditional finance has been slower to adopt DeFi. Alex and Michael also discuss smart contract security, the impact of AI on crypto, the future of autonomous financial systems, and Michael's latest venture, Yield Basis, which aims to solve one of DeFi's biggest challenges.
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  Why the Banking "Super App" May Actually be a "Super dApp" with Kash Dhanda of Jupiter 02.06.2026 39p
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  Reimagining Financial Services from First Principles with Mike Cagney of Figure 27.05.2026 42p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Mike Cagney, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Figure. Listen in as they discuss how Figure is using blockchain to rebuild capital markets from the ground up, why putting loans, ownership records, custody, and secondary trading onchain can make credit markets more efficient, and how DeFi capital can lower borrowing costs for real-world consumers. They also explore the limits of tokenization, what assets actually belong onchain, why L1 token value remains difficult to underwrite, how public equities and private credit could become blockchain-native, and why AI-native startups may force every financial company to rethink how it operates.
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  Can DeFi Survive the AI Age with Macbrennan Peet of Project 0 19.05.2026 35p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Macbrennan Peet, Founder of Project 0. Listen in as they discuss why DeFi remains one of crypto's most important experiments, how recent exploits like Drift and KelpDAO exposed both the risks and resilience of onchain finance, and why AI is increasing the urgency around security, auditing, and protocol design. They also explore how DeFi can become safer than traditional finance through transparency, circuit breakers, and open-source risk monitoring, why AI agents may become major users of crypto-native financial rails, and how Project 0 is building DeFi-native prime brokerage infrastructure on Solana to unify fragmented liquidity, margin, and risk across protocols.
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  Prediction Markets, Gaming and the Attention Economy with Carlos Pereira of BITKRAFT Ventures 14.05.2026 45p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Carlos Pereira, General Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures. Listen in as they discuss why gaming has always seemed like a natural on-ramp for crypto, why Web3 gaming has struggled to break through despite major investment, and how the broader gaming market's battle for active attention has made the category even harder. They also explore how AI agents, gamified consumer apps, and prediction markets are reshaping internet-native entertainment, why game mechanics like quests, rankings, rewards, and community can drive retention across non-gaming products, and where BITKRAFT sees opportunities emerging around prediction market infrastructure and applications built on top of new consumer finance platforms.
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  Why Advisors Finally Care About Crypto with Matt Hougan of Bitwise 07.05.2026 39p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management. Listen in as they discuss why crypto adoption among financial advisors is accelerating, how Bitcoin ETFs have opened the door for mainstream portfolio allocations, and why advisor personal ownership often comes before client allocations. They also explore the growing disconnect between crypto fundamentals and price action, why stablecoins and tokenization are becoming the key institutional narratives, how the CLARITY Act could unlock the next wave of adoption, and why investors may increasingly look at crypto assets and crypto equities together as complementary ways to gain exposure to the digital asset economy.
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  Getting Institutions Off Zero with Anthony Bassili of Coinbase Asset Management 01.05.2026 39p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Anthony Bassili, President of Coinbase Asset Management. Listen in as they discuss how digital assets have crossed the threshold into a true institutional asset class, why the conversation has shifted from if institutions adopt crypto to how, and how Coinbase is positioning itself at the center of this transition. They explore the role of Bitcoin as a macro asset, how institutions are thinking about portfolio construction and diversification, and why market structure upgrades—not just price—are driving adoption. The conversation also dives into tokenization as the next evolution of ETFs, the rise of onchain credit and stablecoin yield strategies like CUSHY, and how the future of asset management may converge across traditional finance, crypto, and even AI-driven investing.
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  Why the Best Investors are Builders with Avichal Garg and Ken Deeter of Electric Capital 16.04.2026 49p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guests Avichal Garg, Co-Founder and General Partner at Electric Capital, and Ken Deeter, General Partner at Electric Capital. Listen in as they discuss how crypto venture capital is evolving beyond capital into deep technical expertise, why the best investors are increasingly becoming engineers, and how firms like Electric Capital are building internal AI systems to gain an edge. They explore the intersection of AI and crypto, the rise of agentic software, and what it means to build "user-owned" technology in a world increasingly dominated by centralized platforms. The conversation also dives into how AI is reshaping company building—enabling smaller teams, new business models, and a wave of innovation across both software and real-world infrastructure. Finally, they unpack the current state of tokens, where real value is accruing today, and why global demand for dollar-denominated yield could be one of the most important drivers of crypto adoption going forward.
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  The Past, Present and Future of Money with Ethan Buchman of Cycles 09.04.2026 41p

  Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of crypto with special guest Ethan Buchman, CEO of Cycles Protocol. Listen in as they discuss Ethan's new venture Cycles and its mission to unlock the power of clearing by helping the most people settle the most debt with the least amount of money, why today's financial system ignores the graph of obligations that already exists between businesses and institutions, and how privacy-preserving onchain infrastructure could enable a more efficient, resilient, and less intermediary-dependent economy. They also explore how Cycles could bootstrap through crypto payments and trading firms, why trade credit and invoice networks represent a massive untapped source of liquidity, and how Ethan's work on trust in software and money connects Cycles, AI, and the long-term goal of building more sustainable economic systems.