Web3 with Sam Kamani

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Justin from VEST at Token 2049 in Singapore to dig into why retail trading has been broken for so long , and what they're doing to fix it. Justin comes from a high-frequency trading background and co-founded VEST to bring perpetual futures, one of crypto's most elegant trading tools, to everyday retail traders worldwide. We talk about why CFDs and options are structurally stacked against you, how VEST's prop firm model gets one in three traders a payout versus the industry average of around 5%, and why Justin believes retail adoption , not institutions , will drive perpetual futures into the mainstream. VEST has grown from 1,000 to 27,000 weekly active traders in just three weeks and is processing a minimum of $5 billion in daily volume. This is a conversation packed with raw insight on product design, founder mindset, and where leveraged trading is actually heading. 
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 
VEST Website: https://www.vestmarkets.com/
VEST Twitter/X: https://x.com/vestexchange
VEST LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vestlabs/home/
Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ma-justin/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Justin explains why CFDs are B-book and structurally work against the retail trader
• [02:14] Why perpetual futures are more intuitive and interest-aligned than options or CFDs
• [05:12] VEST's explosive growth: from 1,000 to 27,000 weekly active traders in three weeks
• [08:38] How VEST's prop firm model works , pay ~$210 to trade up to $25k in capital
• [09:30] VEST's two simple rules: hit your profit target without hitting your loss limit
• [11:23] 33% of VEST traders receive a payout vs. 4–6% at traditional prop firms
• [15:20] VEST is backed by Jane Street executives, BlackRock, Susquehanna, and KQL , but stays focused on retail
• [17:56] The biggest challenge: educating 27,000 traders on how perpetual futures differ from traditional futures
• [22:03] What Justin would do differently: build the bridge to what traders want today, not just the end vision
• [25:24] Justin's contrarian view: retail adoption will drive perpetual futures mainstream , institutions will follow, not lead
• [27:56] What's next: improving the desktop experience and launching a seamless mobile trading app

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Mark from GoMining live at Token 2049 in Singapore to dig into one of the most ambitious projects in the Bitcoin space right now. GoMining started by solving a simple but massive problem: Bitcoin mining was only for the wealthy and technically elite. They tokenized hash rate and made it accessible from just $25. But that was only the beginning. Mark walks me through their evolution into a full Bitcoin super app , where you can mine, earn yield, take out instant loans, and spend Bitcoin via a payment card. The conversation gets really interesting when we talk about GoBTCPay, their patented instant Bitcoin payment protocol, and why Mark believes Bitcoin , not stablecoins , is positioned to win the agentic payments race. We also get into the behavioral challenge of getting people to actually spend Bitcoin, why velocity matters for Bitcoin's long-term value, and how they are racing to build data center infrastructure to keep up with explosive consumer demand. This is a must-listen if you care about where Bitcoin is headed as a real-world currency. 
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 
GoMining Website: https://gomining.com/
GoMining Twitter/X: https://x.com/gomining
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] GoMining tokenized hash rate, making Bitcoin mining accessible from just $25 and generating historically strong ROI
• [02:28] The original problem: Bitcoin mining required huge capital, specialized teams, and was impossible for regular people to participate in
• [03:30] ROI during bull cycles has reached 80–90% annually; even bear cycles produce around 25–30%
• [04:30] GoMining has expanded into a full ecosystem: yield on Bitcoin and stablecoins (10.5–11% APY), instant loans, and payment cards
• [05:30] Their strategic vision is a Bitcoin super app where you can earn, borrow, and spend Bitcoin all in one place
• [06:47] The GoMining ecosystem now has over five million registered users
• [12:42] GoBTCPay , their patented instant Bitcoin payment protocol , was introduced in May at Consensus in Miami
• [14:00] The two-to-three-year strategic roadmap is focused on rolling out GoBTCPay as a global Bitcoin payment rail
• [17:30] For Bitcoin to grow in value long-term, it needs to become a means of payment, not just a store of value
• [23:00] Mark makes the case that Bitcoin is best positioned to win agentic payments due to neutrality, finality, liquidity, and security
• [26:45] Agentic payment volume is projected to reach $3.8 trillion by 2030
• [27:25] Infrastructure is the core operational challenge , data centers must be planned and built two years ahead of consumer demand

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down live at Token2049 in Singapore with Albert and Eitan, the co-founders behind Aeredium , a blockchain rebuilt from absolute first principles. They ignored everything that existed, started from zero, and came up with something genuinely different: 250,000 transactions per second, 40-millisecond finality, no human validators, no MEV, and an AI that continuously hunts for attack surfaces in real time. They also just received a US patent for autonomous AI auditing of stablecoins. We talked about why institutions are slow to adopt but are starting to come around, how AI agents are about to flood blockchains with transaction volume humans could never match, and why blocks per second matters far more than TPS alone. If you care about where institutional-grade crypto infrastructure is heading, this one is worth your time. 
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 
Website: https://aeredium.io/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/aeredium
Albert LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertdadonam/
Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [00:00] Albert and Eitan tease Aeredium's core stats: 250,000 TPS, no human validators, and a US patent for AI stablecoin auditing
• [01:13] Recorded live at Token2049 Singapore , Albert explains why he rebuilt a blockchain from absolute first principles, ignoring all existing designs
• [03:49] Eitan breaks down what financial institutions actually need: privacy, speed, instant settlement, and why existing chains fail to deliver
• [05:30] Aeredium is EVM-compatible, meaning existing Solidity smart contracts work out of the box and token listings take around 20 minutes
• [06:10] The Aeredium Key (AR Key) , a signature engine using CGGMP24 cryptography that powers a full policy engine for safe AI agent trading
• [07:48] Why building for institutions first means retail automatically gets a better product , but not the other way around
• [09:07] Institutional response so far: many don't understand it yet, but banks are starting to onboard on the sandbox; a HalfMoon audit was completed successfully
• [11:00] The biggest credibility challenge: it sounds too good to be true , so Aeredium is using patents, live AWS deployments, and real-time on-chain audits to prove otherwise
• [13:03] Scaling numbers broken down: 15,000 signatures per minute vs 3–6 for traditional banking; 250,000 TPS vs Visa's peak of 60,000
• [17:26] Why blocks per second is the real metric that matters , Aeredium settles in 40 milliseconds vs Solana's 400–450ms
• [18:09] AI agents will do thousands of transactions per minute; Aeredium is building the secure highway for that agent economy right now
• [15:41] Funding update: bootstrapped so far, now opening a $10M SAFE round plus token raise , tokenomics published on their website
• [23:09] How to get involved: Telegram, Discord, X, and Aeredium.io

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Frank at Token 2049 to dig into something most people in crypto get wrong about tokenization. Frank runs New Market Trading, a non-custodial asset management firm for high-net-worth individuals who want full DeFi exposure but don't want to manage it themselves. He breaks down why the big institutional push for tokenization doesn't excite him, why permissionless tokenized assets from the likes of Coinbase and Robinhood are actually the interesting story, and how his firm gives clients access to 10,000-plus crypto assets through a smart contract investment account. If you're trying to understand where the real opportunity in DeFi is heading, this is a conversation worth your time. 
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 
New Market Trading: https://newmarkettrading.com/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/frank_hep 
LinkedIn NMT: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newmarkettradingofficial/posts/
LinkedIn Frank:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankhep/
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz

EPISODE DESCRIPTION 
I sat down with Kash Dhanda from Jupiter at Token 2049 in Singapore to dig into what makes Jupiter the biggest DEX and lending market on Solana. Kash breaks down the two things he says made Jupiter succeed , massive pain tolerance and shipping faster than anyone else. We get into the barbell effect on JupiterLend (median deposit of $260 sitting alongside institutional whales), why only 0.3% of the global population has ever touched on-chain technology, and where AI agents fit into the future of DeFi trading. Kash also gives a candid take on what he would do differently, why community is usually bullshit, and what it takes to build real retention in a space full of airdrop farmers. 
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 
Jupiter Website: https://jup.ag/
Jupiter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jupiter-onchain/people/
Jupiter Twitter/X: https://x.com/JupiterExchange
Kash LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kash-dhanda-03110958/?isSelfProfile=false
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
 KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS 
• [1:27] Kash joins live at Token 2049 Singapore , Jupiter is now number one for spot trading and the biggest lending market on Solana
• [2:00] The two secrets to Jupiter's success: massive pain tolerance and shipping faster than anyone else in the space
• [2:58] Why Kash believes on-chain lending is where on-chain trading was three to five years ago , and why JupiterLend is his favorite product
• [3:56] The barbell effect: median deposit on JupiterLend is $260, yet the protocol holds $2.6 billion , small retail savers on one end, institutional yield strategists on the other
• [5:39] Jupiter holds over 70% market share on Solana and processes $700-800M daily , AI agents are already using their trading infrastructure
• [6:45] The two stages of AI in trading: agents in the passenger seat giving information, then agents in the driver seat running full strategies
• [7:14] The real blockers to mainstream DeFi adoption: political association with corruption, expensive on/off ramps, and self-custody being too scary for most people
• [8:50] Only 0.3% of the global population has ever used on-chain technology directly , 500-600 million people own crypto but almost all through centralised exchanges or ETFs
• [9:50] Why FX still dwarfs crypto in volume: high-quality assets attract deeper liquidity, and deeper liquidity attracts traders
• [11:18] If Kash started Jupiter again: he would invest much more time in culture fit and integration during acquisitions
• [12:22] Jupiter's best user acquisition strategy has always been product-led growth , almost no marketing budget for the first three to four years
• [14:20] Shoutout to Meteora: why their LP education bootcamps and community building is the most inspiring thing Kash has seen in the space
• [16:13] Biggest current challenge: convincing institutional capital that not all DeFi is unsafe after a wave of hacks across other protocols
• [17:11] Call to action: tag @KashDhanda on Twitter with product feedback, and a new Vaults product for third-party yield strategy curation is coming soon