Web3 with Sam Kamani

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
In this episode, I sit down with Milos, Lead Engineer at Enso, live at Berlin Blockchain Week. We dig into the real problem holding back DeFi builders, complexity. Audits cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, bridges are a nightmare, and integrating protocols is a full-time job on its own. Enso is tackling all of that with a single API that handles routing, security, and DeFi actions across 100-plus protocols, so developers and agents can just build. We also get into the RWA boom, the current state of AI agents in Web3, and why Milos thinks we should never forget where DeFi came from. 
DISCLAIMER
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. 
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 CONNECT 
Enso Website:https://www.enso.build/
Enso Twitter/X: https://x.com/EnsoBuild
Enso LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enso-build/
Milos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miloscostantini/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Milos explains the core problem Enso solves: complexity for DeFi developers
• [01:33] Milos's personal journey from mining Bitcoin as a student in 2016 to writing his thesis on Ethereum
• [03:13] How smart contract development has and hasn't changed over the years
• [06:00] How Enso's API removes the need for developers to deploy integration contracts or manage bridges
• [07:00] Built-in security defaults, like MEV protection on DEX swaps, that come with Enso
• [07:53] Why using Enso means you don't need your own smart contract audit
• [09:36] The biggest trend Enso is seeing: RWA and tokenized stocks
• [10:43] How Enso lets users buy tokenized stocks using any token from any chain
• [11:40] Flash loan aggregator and looping positions, what's coming next
• [12:05] How Enso makes money through fee-split partnerships with integrators
• [13:00] The long-term vision: becoming the most composable orchestration layer in DeFi
• [14:29] Milos's take on the current hardening era for DeFi and the rise of hacks
• [16:38] His most contrarian view: don't forget Web3's roots in permissionless experimentation and values
• [18:23] Notable projects built on Enso including Yearn, EtherFi, and the Boiko Layer 0 migration
• [20:44] Advice for builders: don't give up, explore on-chain options protocols
• [22:28] Enso is profitable and actively hiring

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with André Dragosch, European Head of Research at Bitwise Investments, live at Bitcoin Prague in the Czech Republic. Bitwise manages over $11 billion in AUM and Andre breaks down exactly why institutional investors are quietly rotating capital out of AI stocks and into crypto assets right now. We dig into why Bitcoin behaves more like a CDS on sovereign bonds than an equity hedge, how ETPs solve the custody headache for family offices and pension funds, and why the K-shaped economy in the US is actually one of the most bullish setups Bitcoin has ever seen. Andre also shares where Bitwise is expanding next, including staking on Ethereum and Solana and curated vault strategies. This is one of the most grounded, data-driven macro conversations I have had on the show and I think you will get a lot out of it.
DISCLAIMER
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 CONNECT 
Bitwise Investments Website: https://bitwiseinvestments.eu/
Twitter/X - Bitwise: https://x.com/Bitwise_Europe
LinkedIn - André Dragosch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andredragosch/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Bitcoin acts as a CDS on sovereign bonds and is trading in the lowest 10% of valuations across multiple metrics
• [02:05] Andre's journey from Dogecoin in 2013 to European Head of Research at Bitwise, including his time at Union Investment
• [04:28] How ETC Group was acquired by Bitwise in summer 2024 and became Bitwise Europe
• [06:52] Why ETPs solve custody, regulatory, and cost problems for institutional investors and pension fund holders
• [09:14] Capital rotation already happening from expensive AI stocks into cheap crypto assets
• [11:40] Why Bitcoin's correlation with Nasdaq has risen since the US ETF launch but it showed resilience during the recent AI correction
• [14:02] Bitcoin as a macro canary in the coal mine, signalling liquidity deterioration before it hits equities
• [16:18] Risks in private credit financing AI CapEx and the comparison to Cisco during the dot-com era
• [20:57] Why the Fed's reaction function would be far more aggressive today given how politically dependent the economy is on rising stock prices
• [23:15] The K-shaped economy in the US and why 90% of the population is being left behind
• [24:41] Bitwise's next growth areas: staking on Ethereum and Solana, and curated vault strategies
• [25:41] How flows into ETPs are both cyclical and sentiment-driven, but strategic allocators invest regardless of price

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Brian J. Esposito, CEO of Diamond Lake Minerals (DLMI) and a 25-year entrepreneur who has built over 115 companies across 25 industries. Brian has been in regulated, compliant tokenization for over 13 years , long before it was cool , and in this episode he breaks down exactly why most RWA projects are getting it wrong, why owning the underlying asset is non-negotiable, and how Diamond Lake is structured like a modern General Electric to bring fractional ownership of commercial real estate, music catalogs, hotels, and more to millions of people who have never had access to these kinds of assets before. We also get into the frothy AI IPO market, speculative leverage trading, and why the next FTX-style collapse would set the entire industry back years. If you care about where real-world asset tokenization is actually heading , not the hype , this one is for you.
DISCLAIMER
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 CONNECT 
Diamond Lake Minerals (DLMI) – Official Website: https://diamondlakeminerals.com/
Twitter/X – Brian J. Esposito: https://x.com/brianjesposito?lang=en
LinkedIn – Brian J. Esposito: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjesposito/
Web3 with Sam Kamani https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:10] Sam introduces the episode and guest Brian J. Esposito, CEO of Diamond Lake Minerals, focused on tokenizing real-world assets
• [01:43] Brian shares his 25-year entrepreneurial journey , from launching 1,200 beauty brands to building a private holding company of 115 companies across 25 industries
• [02:53] Why Brian took over Diamond Lake as a public vehicle: making tokenized assets accessible to people who already know how to buy stocks
• [04:18] Brian's 13-year background in regulated security tokens, his relationships with INX, Securitize, and T-Zero, and what he expected after FTX collapsed
• [07:22] Why true mass adoption of security tokens happens when they appear on mainstream brokerage accounts like Charles Schwab or Merrill Lynch
• [08:55] The surprising fit of tokenization for commercial real estate , stable Fortune 50 tenants, 15-year leases, and fractional revenue sharing for global investors
• [11:25] How tokenization democratizes access , billions of people previously locked out of IPOs and Series A-E rounds can now invest with pennies
• [13:41] Why owning any asset beats cash in an inflationary world, and how even $1-2 per month in token earnings is life-changing for people in developing economies
• [15:17] Lessons from merging traditional finance with digital assets , the trust gap, the UX challenge, and why regulatory silos are the biggest barrier
• [18:36] How Diamond Lake decides which industries and asset classes to pursue next , and why their network and team access is their real competitive moat
• [21:19] The microtransaction fee problem in fractional investing, and how controlling your own licensed exchange changes the economics
• [26:01] Brian's most contrarian take: RWA firms don't actually own the assets they tokenize, and that's a ticking time bomb for the industry
• [28:09] Where RWAs are headed by 2030 , projections ranging from $6 trillion to $35 trillion , and why Diamond Lake doesn't need a big slice to win big for shareholders
• [29:22] The AI IPO frenzy, leverage trading, and why history is repeating the dot-com bubble in dangerous ways
• [35:23] Diamond Lake's recent merger with ECI and Stillway , over $20 billion in commercial real estate transactions over 40 years , and a first tranche of $5M investment announced
• [37:18] Brian's closing philosophy: treat every dollar that comes in like it's your grandmother's, build sustainably, and let million-dollar deals grow into billion-dollar deals

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
In this episode, I sit down with Prakash Kamraj, co-founder of DeCharge Network, to explore one of the most overlooked intersections of Web3 and the physical world: EV charging infrastructure. Prakash walks me through how DeCharge is building an Airbnb-style model for EV chargers, where anyone , from a business owner to a crypto community member , can host a charging station and earn passive income from it. We dig into why the B2B market is the real engine of EV growth, how DeCharge keeps the user experience dead simple with a scan-and-pay web app, and why autonomous charging powered by crypto payment rails could be the next massive wave. We also get into the surprising EV adoption stories across India, China, Southeast Asia, Ethiopia, and beyond. Whether you're an EV owner frustrated by fragmented charging apps, a crypto builder looking for real-world use cases, or an investor trying to spot where energy infrastructure is heading, this conversation is packed with sharp thinking and hard-won lessons from the ground up. 
DISCLAIMER
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. 
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 CONNECT 
DeCharge Website: https://www.decharge.io
Scout App: https://scout.decharge.io
Twitter/X:https://x.com/DeCharge
Telegram: https://t.me/dechargecommunity
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:01] Sam introduces Prakash Kamraj and DeCharge Network, framing it as an Airbnb for EV chargers
• [01:09] Prakash shares his background , from medical field to engineering, health tech startups, and catching the crypto bug in 2017
• [03:36] How deep involvement in the early Solana ecosystem in India shaped Prakash's builder mindset
• [05:33] The core problem: not enough EV charging infrastructure globally, with one charger for every 80 vehicles on average
• [06:33] Sam shares firsthand observations from Guangzhou , nearly 100% EV adoption on the streets
• [09:25] The personal range anxiety story that validated the problem , getting stuck at 9% battery in Denver in winter
• [10:30] Why copy-pasting the Helium model doesn't work and why a more nuanced distributed model was needed
• [11:00] DeCharge's three-pillar model: community-owned slow chargers, fast charger funding pools, and a software network incentive for charge point operators
• [14:15] How the business model works , revenue share with hosts, transparent dashboards, and community-funded infra
• [17:01] The user experience: scan a QR code, pay as you go, no app download required
• [19:31] Why DeCharge integrates with default local payment apps (UPI, Promptpay, Stripe) instead of forcing new behavior
• [23:16] Why India isn't lagging , 70% of EV usage is commercial, driven by food delivery riders and ride-sharing fleets
• [25:40] Southeast Asia generates 80% of DeCharge's current network revenue
• [27:21] Biggest challenges: avoiding R&D rabbit holes, sticking to first principles, and iterating fast across hardware and software
• [29:05] Funding journey: seed round led by Lemniscap, first Asian startup in Colosseum's hackathon ecosystem
• [32:06] Contrarian view: autonomous EV charging powered by crypto payment rails is the next major wave
• [33:30] Energy is the truest form of currency , especially as AI data centers drive massive power demand
• [35:14] The ask: charge point operator partnerships, community members, and VC conversations welcome
• [39:19] The Scout app , a community-curated tool to map charger density and identify demand hotspots at scout.decharge.io

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, co-founder of U-Tribe and GIFT (Gold International Fungible Token), to explore one of the most ambitious real-world asset projects I've come across. Mamadou spent decades in banking and early-stage investing across Africa , including in the first GSM projects and mobile payments before M-Pesa , and he turned that experience into a mission: giving anyone on earth access to physical, one-to-one backed gold from as little as 15 cents. We talk about why central banks are quietly buying more physical gold than at any point in the past 40 years, why the gold ETF market is dangerously over-encumbered, and how GIFT's MiCA-regulated token could become the financial safety net for 2.5 billion people across 35 countries. Mamadou also walks me through their quantum-enhanced wallet, their Ubuntu Academy for financial and digital literacy, and their upcoming STO launching in July. This one is packed with insight on the real shift happening in global finance right now. 
DISCLAIMER
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 CONNECT 
U-Tribe / GIFT: https://utribe.one/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/UtribeOne
Web3 with Sam Kamani Podcast: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:01] Sam introduces Mamadou and the GIFT tokenized gold project, noting the recent MiCA license in Europe
• [01:36] Mamadou shares his background: 20+ years in African banking and tech investment, including early GSM and mobile payments before M-Pesa
• [03:46] The origin of GIFT , one milligram of gold accessible from 15 cents on any mobile phone, backed one-to-one by physical gold
• [05:06] The global financial shift: why the world is moving back toward asset-backed monetary systems and away from dollar dominance
• [06:48] Central banks bought over 1,300 tons of gold last year and more physical gold in the past decade than the previous 40 years
• [07:16] Why the gold ETF market is 10–15x over-encumbered and what that means for ordinary investors
• [09:53] How blockchain solves the collateral problem for financial inclusion , instant loans from as little as 10 cents of gold
• [10:42] GIFT holds a MiCA license in Europe and is upgrading to asset reference token status, with 30+ countries and 2.5 billion people in reach within five months
• [13:05] Physical gold is stored in vaults in Zurich, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Dubai, and Singapore, insured by Lloyds of London and audited on-chain
• [16:30] The quantum-enhanced wallet , one of only four or five in the world , is live on Google Play Store and coming to App Store
• [17:43] Ubuntu Academy inside the wallet: financial literacy, digital literacy, vocational training, and ethical leadership powered by a personalised AI tutor
• [19:29] 10% of transaction fees go toward education and healthcare, including in the mining communities where the gold is extracted
• [23:39] How Mamadou explains RWAs to newcomers: a digital title deed, like a certificate of ownership , no crypto jargon needed
• [26:48] How to onboard: download the app on Google Play or visit utribe.gift.app, complete KYC, and pay via card, wire, mobile money, or voucher
• [28:00] Key Web3 infrastructure shifts: NYSE moving $87 trillion of assets on-chain, DTCC moving on-chain, 130+ nations working on CBDCs
• [30:55] Long-term vision: launching SIFT (Silver International Fungible Token), becoming a tokenization-as-a-service infrastructure provider
• [33:20] Upcoming July STO (Security Token Offering) and tokenized convertible bond to finance gold extraction and fuel growth