Web3 with Sam Kamani

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Rafsun, founder of Sahaj Mobile, at Money2020 to unpack one of the most exciting fintech stories I've come across in a long time. Rafsun went from managing billions in asset-backed securities at Guggenheim to building a phone financing company in Bangladesh , a market that has been starved for credit for decades. With over 58,000 customers and millions deployed entirely from their own capital, Sahaj Mobile is proving that emerging markets can outperform the West on default rates. We dig into how they used merchants, OEMs like Samsung and Xiaomi, and TikTok influencers to scale fast, how AI powers everything from fraud detection to Bengali-language customer service, and where they are headed next , including a fascinating cross-border financing model for South Asian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. If you are a founder or investor looking at where the real opportunities are, this conversation is one you cannot afford to miss.
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 
Sahaj Mobile Website: https://www.sahajmobile.org/
Sahaj Mobile LinedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sahajmobile/home/
Sahaj Mobile Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SahajMobileBD
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Rafsun introduces Sahaj Mobile's core model , financing phones in Bangladesh with no credit score required
• [01:00] Sam introduces the episode and explains why Sahaj Mobile stands out among fintech startups
• [03:03] Rafsun's background: UC Berkeley, Kiavi (acquired by Figure), and managing $10B in ABS at Guggenheim
• [05:24] How Sahaj Mobile works: down payment, device locking, and repayment via bKash and Nagad wallets
• [06:16] Growth story: from a 100-phone pilot to 58,000+ customers since launching in 2024
• [07:09] How they got initial traction: partnering with merchants, then OEMs like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi
• [08:57] TikTok influencers and social media as a key growth channel in Bangladesh
• [12:07] How AI runs 24/7 , from loss reserve calculations to NDA reviews , augmenting Rafsun's workflow
• [13:30] AI in underwriting: ID fraud detection, face matching, and machine learning on alternative data
• [14:55] AI-powered customer service responding in Bengali using voice models and Hugging Face
• [16:49] HeyGen for AI-generated marketing videos , cutting production time to under 30 minutes
• [20:18] The SaaS and legal disruption debate , and why AI tools are actually creating more lawyer work, not less
• [27:44] Fundraising update: Series A equity round with a lead investor and a separate debt round from an emerging market credit fund
• [29:06] Expansion into MENA: financing phones in Bangladesh for migrant workers paying from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Malaysia
• [30:06] Next product: the Sahaj wallet with EMI discount incentives for customers who pay through it

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Todd Ault III, founder of Ault.com, a man with 37 years in traditional finance who has seen the future , and it is fully tokenized. Todd walks me through how Ault Markets is being built as a Bloomberg-style platform for Web3, why he borrowed $50 million in DeFi in 20 minutes on Morpho, and why he believes every stock, bond, piece of real estate, and commodity will eventually trade on Web3 rails. We get into stable coins, the dominance of the US dollar, why AI is creating jobs not killing them, and what founders can do right now to tokenize their assets on Ault's platform. If you want to understand where institutional finance meets blockchain, this episode 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 
Ault Website: https://ault.com/
Todd Ault Twitter/X: https://x.com/ToddAultIII?lang=en
Todd Ault LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miltontoddault/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Sam introduces Todd Ault III and frames the episode around tokenization and the RWA space
• [00:56] Todd shares his 37-year background in traditional finance and how he discovered Bitcoin around 2011
• [02:35] Why TradFi won't disappear overnight , Todd compares the shift to a generational standard-of-care change in healthcare
• [03:34] Ault Markets explained: a Bloomberg-style Web3 platform with a DEX, lending, staking, tokenized stocks, commodities, and more
• [05:28] How Ault integrates with DeFi Capital Markets, Universal Mint tokenization platform, and the Only Bulls wallet via Privy
• [06:50] Why stablecoins are still massively underutilized and what gets tokenized next , stocks, commodities, and eventually real estate
• [10:00] Todd's real-world DeFi story: borrowing $50 million against Bitcoin on Morpho in 20 minutes
• [12:25] Why Todd built Ault's own blockchain after being debanked 10 times in the US for Bitcoin mining
• [13:33] Bitcoin Max explained: trading Bitcoin down to the Satoshi level, denominated via a Swiss-based trust
• [14:06] The 98% US dollar dominance in stablecoins vs 55% in fiat , and why Todd sees dollar dominance continuing
• [17:25] How Ault uses AI for financial modeling, market making, staff accountability, and an integrated AI layer in Ault Markets
• [20:10] Sam shares how AI is actually increasing workloads for lawyers and why history shows tech creates more jobs than it destroys
• [23:38] Todd's goal to tokenize 100,000 assets over 10 years and grow TVL to $100 billion
• [26:28] How founders can use Ault right now to tokenize securities, raise capital, and list on the DEX
• [28:28] North Star metric: growing TVL, with 97–99% of all protocol revenue used to buy back the Ault token daily on a TWAP
• [29:50] Todd's key asks: traders, founders wanting to tokenize, and hiring in tokenization , contact todd@ault.com
• [33:15] Todd highlights Holiday as a standout payments innovation backed by Andreessen Horowitz
• [34:36] Ault's hybrid private equity arm: owning and planning to tokenize hotels, a crane company, and other hard assets

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Jia Hang from DCS Group, a payments veteran with over two decades of experience at China UnionPay and Alipay, to explore how stablecoins are quietly revolutionising the way the world pays. Jia walks me through why the traditional card and mobile payment waves are giving way to a stablecoin-powered third wave, how DCS is acting as a Web 2.5 bridge so consumers can spend stablecoins at any merchant without the merchant needing to change a thing, and what it really takes to build trust on both sides of that equation. We also dig into the macro battle for stablecoin dominance, whether the US dollar will tighten its grip or lose ground to other currencies, and what the developing world's rapid adoption of stablecoins means for financial sovereignty. If you work in fintech, payments, or crypto infrastructure, this episode is packed with hard-won insights from someone who has built global payment networks 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 
DCS Website: https://www.dcsfintech.com/
DCS LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/dcscc
Jia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hang-jia-81a83a234/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Sam introduces Jia Hang from DCS Group and his background spanning UnionPay and Alipay
• [01:27] Jia's journey: from computer engineer to 9 years at China UnionPay building the Americas market
• [03:05] Why Jia left Alipay after 10 years and stepped into the stablecoin payments world
• [04:43] Why the global south leads on payment innovation , infrastructure gaps drove QR code adoption
• [10:43] The three waves of payments: card, mobile, and now stablecoins , and why stablecoins merge information flow and fund flow
• [14:23] How DCS focuses on C2B (consumer-to-merchant) stablecoin payments, not just B2B cross-border
• [17:02] How the merchant experience stays unchanged , they still receive local fiat, DCS handles the stablecoin conversion
• [20:39] DCS as a Web 2.5 bridge: connected to Web3 on the consumer side, Web2 on the merchant side
• [22:27] The chicken-and-egg challenge , and why merchant-side adoption is harder than consumer-side
• [25:44] DCS's Visa-backed stablecoin card: live in 9 countries, expanding to 70+
• [28:10] What sets the DCS card apart: banking licence in Singapore, physical and metal cards, credit functionality, and Visa rewards
• [33:12] The macro stablecoin currency war: will USD dominance in stablecoins exceed its fiat dominance?
• [35:32] Jia's belief that all currencies will eventually become stablecoins , and what that means for smaller nations
• [39:03] DCS's roadmap: auto-debit, subscription payments, smart contract-powered UX that feels like Web2
• [42:07] Closing thoughts and preview of Token2049

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Smit Vachhani from Cronos Labs, a fascinating builder who has worked across NVIDIA, LinkedIn, and Optimism before landing at the intersection of crypto, stocks, prediction markets, and AI. We dig into why Gen Z is financially nihilistic right now and why that actually creates a massive opportunity. Smit breaks down the concept of hyper-financialization, explains why retaining Gen Z users is far harder than acquiring them, and shares the raw growth lessons he picked up at big tech and in the trenches of a Layer 2 ecosystem. We also talk about what most Web3 founders get wrong, why bad UX has been the industry's dirty secret for too long, and how Cronos is building an everything trading app for eight tier one markets around the world. If you are building in Web3 or crypto and want a no-BS growth perspective from someone who has seen it all, 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 
Cronos Website: https://cronos.com/
Cronos App on X/Twitter: https://x.com/CronosApp
Cronos Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getcronos/
Web3 with Sam Kamani Podcast: https://www.web3pod.xyz
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Sam introduces Smit Vachhani from Cronos Labs and previews the episode themes
• [01:55] Smit's background: growing up in the Bay Area, engineering at Cal, early Bitcoin experience selling video game gold
• [03:30] Working at Optimism, building blockchain infrastructure for Coinbase, Kraken, Sony and others
• [04:17] Why bear markets are the best time to build and how to filter signal from noise
• [04:43] Introducing the concept of hyper-financialization and what it means for the next generation
• [06:10] Why Cronos is not just an everything app for everyone , eight tier one markets and the Gen Z focus
• [08:13] Why Gen Z is financially nihilistic and how that shapes product thinking
• [11:25] Prediction markets as exhibit A of hyper-financialization, and a nod to Kalshi and Polymarket
• [14:02] Onboarding is easy for Gen Z , retention is the real challenge
• [15:53] Growth lessons from NVIDIA, LinkedIn, and Optimism applied to Cronos
• [18:07] The single most important lesson for early-stage Web3 founders
• [21:28] How to retain users and why being unopinionated about your own product is a superpower
• [24:40] September 17th launch date for the Cronos app V1 , sports, stocks, perps, crypto, and more
• [27:25] Products Smit admires: FOMO, Polymarket, and Tempo
• [29:00] Partnerships with Polymarket, Hyperliquid, Morpho, and Chainlink
• [30:39] The one ask: download the app, give feedback, and follow @CronosApp on X

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sit down with Berken, CMO of CoinTracking, the world's first crypto tax platform founded all the way back in 2012 when Bitcoin was under $100. We dig into how they bootstrapped their way to 2.2 million users, why authentic education beats paid placements every time, and how they're navigating AI in a space where a single wrong number could land you in trouble with the IRS. Berken shares what channels are actually moving the needle, why they turned down the idea of launching their own token, and what their upcoming MCP integration means for connecting your Claude or ChatGPT directly to your tax data. Whether you're a crypto trader trying to avoid overpaying taxes, a founder looking for growth lessons, or someone curious about how a SaaS company stays relevant in a fast-moving space, this episode is packed with practical insights. 
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 
CoinTracking Website: https://cointracking.info/
CoinTracking Twitter/X:https://x.com/Coin_Tracking
Berken LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/berken-menges
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:01] Sam introduces Berken, CMO of CoinTracking, and frames the episode around crypto taxes, AI, and startup growth
• [02:12] Berken shares his journey from personal crypto investor in 2019 to CMO, starting as an affiliate marketing manager
• [03:56] CoinTracking overview: 2.2 million users, 400+ exchange integrations, portfolio tracking and one-click tax reports
• [06:32] CoinTracking was the world's first crypto tax tool, founded in 2012 by Dario Kachel who built it for himself
• [08:00] The bootstrapped, organic growth story: users gave feedback, helped translate, and shaped the product over 13 years
• [10:20] Sam and Berken discuss how fragmented the crypto landscape is across DeFi wallets, CEXs, and blockchains
• [13:11] Why CoinTracking is a SaaS and not a crypto asset service provider, and how that makes compliance and partnerships simpler
• [14:58] How CoinTracking is approaching AI: an MCP integration coming soon to connect Claude or ChatGPT to your tax data
• [17:27] Why they are not allowing AI to edit tax data yet , reproducibility and accuracy are non-negotiable for tax filings
• [21:43] Berken's biggest CMO challenge: navigating daily shifts in regulation, exchange strategies, and market conditions
• [23:07] Business model breakdown: mostly B2C, but growing B2B with CPAs, funds, and a new white-label solution for exchanges
• [24:18] North star metrics: user growth and retention, with a focus on making CoinTracking a daily portfolio tool, not just a tax tool
• [26:08] The most common mistake people make: filing taxes with missing wallets or transactions, which can result in overpaying
• [29:08] What marketing channel works best: long-form YouTube content, authentic KOL partnerships, and connecting KOLs with CPAs
• [34:58] CoinTracking has been profitable since day one and is not looking for funding, but actively seeking exchange partnerships
• [36:09] Why they decided against launching their own token: sentiment risk, distraction, and wrong-type user acquisition
• [39:00] Sam draws a parallel to Xero's accountant-led growth strategy and how CoinTracking could follow a similar path