The DeFi Decoded Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.