a16z crypto show

Episoade

• Leslie Lamport on the Science of Distributed Systems 25.06.2026 36min

  Before blockchains could reach consensus, Leslie Lamport had to define what agreement even meant when computers fail, lie, or disappear. In this episode of First Principles: The Scientific Roots of Blockchain Technology, Turing Award-winning computer scientist Leslie Lamport joins Tim Roughgarden Head of Research at a16z crypto and Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, and a16z crypto Research Partner Ittai Abraham to trace the ideas that helped define modern distributed computing.
• Before Blockchains, There Was State Machine Replication (ft. Barbara Liskov and Tim Roughgarden) 22.06.2026 35min

  Every blockchain today leans on replication ideas worked out in the 1980s, by a Turing Award winner who wasn’t thinking about how it might apply to money at all. In this episode of First Principles, a16z crypto Head of Research and Columbia professor Tim Roughgarden speaks with Barbara Liskov, MIT professor, Turing Award winner, and one of the most influential computer scientists in programming languages, data abstraction, fault tolerance, and distributed computing. a16z crypto research partner Ittai Abraham joins the conversation.
• How Bitcoin Rewired a Classic Computer Science Problem (ft. Tim Roughgarden and Ittai Abraham) 22.06.2026 20min

  Bitcoin often gets credited with inventing trustless consensus. It didn’t. The problem was named decades earlier — in the world of distributed computing — and researchers spent years studying how machines could reach agreement even when some participants were faulty, adversarial, or corrupt. What Bitcoin did was something different: It solved a classic Byzantine agreement problem in a radically new, permissionless setting. And it took the research world years to fully recognize what Satoshi had done.
• How Stablecoins Are Reconfiguring the Financial System | ft. Eddy Lazzarin and Sonal Chokshi 12.06.2026 1h 20min

  Crypto has been walled off from the real economy for years — that's changing. Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett sit down with Eddy Lazzarin, a16z crypto's newest General Partner, to break down why crypto is entering a completely different phase and what gets built once the rules finally catch up to the technology.
• The Real Reason Behind Most DeFi Hacks 13.05.2026 35min

  Following major DeFi exploits, a16z crypto GP Eddy Lazzarin and security engineer Matt Gleason break down the recent surge in crypto hacks. Their argument: AI isn't creating new vulnerabilities—it's making existing ones easier to exploit. They explore whether defenders can evolve as fast as attackers, the role of geopolitics in cyber activity, and what users can do to stay safe online.
• We Raised $2.2B. Here’s Why. 05.05.2026 1h

  a16z crypto is announcing Fund 5: $2.2B to back the founders building the next era of crypto. All four GPs — Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, Guy Wuollet, and Eddy Lazzarin — join Robert Hackett to discuss why now, what's changed, and where it's all headed: from regulatory clarity and stablecoins, to AI agents, programmable money, and the infrastructure defining crypto's next chapter.
• The end of ads? AI agents are about to change how we buy 27.04.2026 57min

  Agents can now browse, decide, and buy on your behalf. So what happens to the internet's business model? Sam Ragsdale (founder & CEO of Merit Systems) joins a16z crypto's Eddy Lazzarin, Noah Levine, and Robert Hackett to unpack the open agentic commerce stack — from the headless merchant thesis to stablecoins vs. credit cards, and why the web's economic contract is quietly breaking.
• Why AI is so centralized: How it's built, who controls it, and what comes next 22.04.2026 17min

  Gensyn cofounders Ben Fielding and Harry Grieve join us to discuss why AI’s infrastructure problem runs deeper than most people think. They explain how today’s AI ecosystem depends on a highly centralized stack of data and compute, why that matters, and what it would take to rebuild AI as open, decentralized infrastructure. Along the way, they cover how AI models are trained, why crypto may be essential to the future of AI coordination, and the rise of autonomous AI agents with onchain identities.
• How Bots, Deepfakes and AI Agents Are Forcing a New Internet Identity Layer 17.04.2026 42min

  Ben Horowitz and Erik Torenberg speak with Alex Blania of Tools for Humanity about World and the growing need for proof of human verification online. They discuss the challenge of proving human uniqueness at scale, the privacy model behind World ID, and why platforms from social media to dating apps to video conferencing may soon need stronger ways to verify that users are real people.
• How DeFi lending actually works (with Paul Frambot, cofounder and CEO of Morpho Labs) 08.04.2026 18min

  Morpho cofounder and CEO Paul Frambot joins us to discuss how onchain lending could change the future of finance. He explains what Morpho does, the biggest misconception in DeFi lending, why institutions are starting to pay attention, and how open blockchain infrastructure could make lending markets more transparent, competitive, and efficient. Paul also shares his longer-term view of a financial system with broader access to capital and more customizable financial products.
• Why Solana keeps getting faster — and what's next (ft. Jito Labs CEO Lucas Bruder) 03.04.2026 18min

  Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito, joins us to talk about why he believes the future of finance is moving onchain — and how his team is helping make that possible on Solana. He explains what Jito does, why Solana’s speed and low transaction costs create both opportunity and complexity, and how Jito has become critical infrastructure for the network. Lucas also reflects on doubling down on Solana during the bear market, the company’s lean approach to building, and his broader vision for a more accessible financial system.
• Vitalik Buterin vs Beff Jezos: AI Acceleration Debate (E/acc vs D/acc) 25.03.2026 1h 37min

  In this episode, Vitalik Buterin, Guillaume Verdon (“Beff Jezos”) debate two competing visions for the future of AI: e/acc, which argues for pushing progress forward as quickly as possible, and d/acc, which calls for accelerating more carefully to avoid concentration of power and loss of control. They discuss whether acceleration can be steered, the risks and tradeoffs of increasingly powerful AI systems, the importance of open source and decentralization, and the role crypto may play as a trust layer between humans and AI.
• AI Is Changing the Internet. What Does It Mean for Creators? (with Justin and Michael Blau) 17.03.2026 37min

  Justin (CEO, Bond) and Michael Blau(Head of Product, Bond) break down why the creator economy is broken — and how crypto might fix it. They discuss Bond, a new model where fans stake money to support creators, eliminating subscriptions while preserving direct relationships. We cover the gap between creators and fans, why past crypto models failed (speculation vs. true support), how stablecoins enable global products, and what happens to creativity when AI makes content abundant. Plus: why copyright might disappear, what magic teaches about originality, and why NFTs represent true digital ownership despite the hype cycles.
• The Emmy Built on ETH: Emily Yang aka pplpleasr on the Future of Storytelling 13.03.2026 11min

  Emily Yang, aka pplpleasr, joins us to talk about her evolution from artist to Emmy-winning storyteller and the vision behind Shibuya’s “permissionless creativity” model. She shares how White Rabbit became the first crypto-native project to win an Emmy, and how crypto-enabled community participation can open new possibilities for funding, building, and co-creating original IP. We also discuss interactive storytelling, the tension between audience input and artistic vision, and the inspirations that shape Emily’s creative world.
• AI Just Gave You Superpowers — Now What? 05.03.2026 1h 5min

  A new paper, “Some Simple Economics of AGI,” is making the rounds—so we sat down with author Christian Catalini (MIT Crypto Economics Lab) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO of a16z crypto), in conversation with Robert Hackett, to unpack what AGI could mean for work and markets.
• Why Tokenize? Fidelity on Onchain Assets and the Next Phase of Adoption 04.03.2026 16min

  Cynthia Lo Bessette, Head of Digital Asset Management at Fidelity Investments, explains what it really means to bring assets onchain, and why tokenization matters to investors beyond the hype. She walks through Fidelity’s framework for digital asset adoption (Hold, Use, Build), how tokenized money market funds can combine payments and yield, and why real-world assets are accelerating onchain.
• When Bots Have Bank Accounts: The Rise of the Agent Economy (With Sean Neville, Catena Labs) 03.03.2026 20min

  When AI agents start earning, spending, lending, and investing, the internet’s money layer needs to evolve fast. Sean Neville—cofounder of Circle, architect of USDC, and now cofounder of Catena Labs—lays out his thesis for an agent-native economy built on programmable dollars and “AI-native banks.”
• From Eater to Blackbird: Ben Leventhal on Restaurants, Loyalty, and Rebuilding Payments 11.02.2026 15min

  From Eater to Blackbird, Ben Leventhal reflects on building companies for restaurants and the lessons he’s applying to loyalty, payments, and scale.
• Bridge CEO Zach Abrams: Stablecoins Are The Next Platform for Money 02.02.2026 19min

  Bridge Cofounder and CEO Zach Abrams argues that stablecoins are the next evolution of financial infrastructure — and that the future of payments will be dominated by AI agents, not humans. We explore what breaks when money moves 10x faster, what Stripe is building, and why open payment networks matter.
• Why Privacy Will Be the Biggest Moat in Crypto 30.01.2026 36min

  Most blockchains are starting to look the same. So what actually creates defensibility in crypto?