The DeFi Decoded Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.