Web3 with Sam Kamani

In this episode, I sit down with William Quigley, co-founder of WAX and co-founder of Tether. We go deep into what is actually happening in crypto right now. We talk about stablecoins, gaming, startup strategy, market cycles, and why founders need insight more than hype. William shares hard-earned lessons from building early crypto products and explains where real value may come from next.
This is a must-listen for founders, builders, and anyone trying to understand where Web3 is heading. We unpack why stablecoins matter, why most internal innovation fails, why altcoin speculation looks weaker this cycle, and what kinds of businesses still have a real shot at winning.
Key points
00:00 — Intro to the episode and why this conversation matters for founders

01:24 — William’s path into crypto through virtual item trading in gaming

04:23 — Why gaming platforms resist asset portability and user ownership

05:26 — Why blockchain gaming adoption has been slower than expected

07:26 — Prediction markets, speculation, and why they are still niche

10:31 — How Tether started and the problem stablecoins were built to solve

13:28 — Why Tether’s model worked and why algorithmic stablecoins failed

17:07 — The future of stablecoins and the three models William sees winning

20:30 — Will non-USD stablecoins grow over time?

23:35 — Why FX fees are massive and how stablecoins can reduce that pain

27:06 — What recent crypto events reveal about institutional vs retail interest

29:14 — Why this cycle feels different and why altcoin season never fully arrived

34:32 — Sam’s view on AI helping chains build actual apps, not just more infra

37:42 — Why most internal innovation fails without real market insight

44:28 — How to think about fear, greed, and crypto sentiment

46:38 — If William started again today, what kind of business would he build?

50:26 — Sam on AI, quantum computing, and selling tools in the next tech wave

54:22 — Why timing matters as much as the idea itself

56:09 — Institutional capital, long-term adoption, and what may come next

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 ApplePodcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us -⁠ https://www.web3pod.xyz/⁠

I sat down with Guy and Kate from Fhenix to talk about something that's been missing from crypto since day one: real privacy. They're building a privacy co-processor using Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) that lets you compute over encrypted data without ever exposing it. We covered why privacy is finally getting product-market fit, how institutions need confidentiality for payments and DeFi, and why AI agents will need private transactions. Guy shared his journey from Intel's Trusted Execution Environments to building Fhenix, and Kate explained why encryption should be the default, not an afterthought. We also talked about their shift from L2 to co-processor, their integration with Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base, and what's next for confidential smart contracts. If you've ever wondered why everything in crypto is public by default and how that's about to change, this episode is for you. 
CONNECT
Fhenix Website: https://fhenix.io
Fhenix Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/fhenixio
Web3 with Sam Kamani - Be a Guest: https://www.web3pod.xyz/
KEY POINTS 
Guy's background at Intel building Trusted Execution Environments and his transition to founding Fhenix
Kate's journey from cybersecurity engineering to crypto and why she sees it as the new Wild West
Why Fhenix pivoted from building an L2 to a privacy co-processor
What Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) is and how it enables computation over encrypted data
Privacy use cases in payments, DeFi, dark pools, and sealed-bid auctions
Why institutional adoption requires confidentiality, not just anonymity
How AI is improving FHE performance and lowering barriers to entry for builders
• [00:00] The importance of private agent-to-agent payments in the AI era
• [00:00] Why developers should learn fundamentals even in the age of AI coding tools
• [00:00] Fhenix's roadmap: faster cryptography, more chain integrations, and enterprise partnerships
• [00:00] Their incubator program and call for builders to experiment with privacy-first smart contracts
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/

I sat down with Adebola from the Tezos Foundation at ETH Denver to explore what's new in the Tezos ecosystem. We covered Etherlink, their EVM Layer 2 rollup that brings Solidity developers into the Tezos world. We talked about Uranium.io, their tokenized uranium project that gives retail investors access to alternative assets. And we went deep on AI agents, how they're changing development, and why now is the perfect time to be a builder. If you're interested in Layer 2s, real-world assets, or AI-powered development, this conversation is packed with insights. 
CONNECT
Uranium.io: https://uranium.io 
Tezos Foundation: https://tezos.foundation 
Etherlink: https://etherlink.com 
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ 
Tezos Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tezos 
KEY POINTS
Introduction to Tezos and Adebola's work at the Foundation

Etherlink: Tezos's EVM Layer 2 rollup for Solidity developers

Uranium.io: Tokenizing uranium as an alternative asset class for retail investors

Why RWA adoption beyond stablecoins has been limited (liquidity, understanding, accessibility)

What makes Etherlink unique and why EVM compatibility matters

Developer adoption in crypto and the constant developer count problem

How AI agents are changing software development and blockchain building

Agent-to-agent payments and the future of autonomous transactions

Building an AI asset manager using n8n, Claude, and workflow automation

The future of apps is chats: AI agents managing your entire financial life

What Tezos is looking for: builders, institutions, and family offices

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/

I sat down with Sydney Huang from Human API to explore a completely novel concept—AI agents hiring humans, not the other way around. We dive into how they're solving the last mile problem for AI agents, why data collection is their first focus, and how you can actually get paid for contributing voice data and other tasks. Sydney shares her journey from buying Ethereum in 2017 to building Eclipse (a Solana VM L2 on Ethereum) to now creating an agent-native marketplace. We discuss the challenges of building a two-sided marketplace, the growing demand for AI training data, and why now is the perfect time to build in this space. 

KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS
• [00:00] Introduction to Human API and the concept of AI agents hiring humans
• [02:30] Sydney's journey from buying ETH in 2017 to working in VC to building in crypto full-time
• [04:15] Eclipse explained: Building a Solana VM L2 on Ethereum and the modular blockchain thesis
• [06:45] The last mile problem for AI agents and why human tasks are still needed
• [09:20] How Human API differs from traditional workflow automation tools
• [11:00] Current use cases: Conversational audio data collection for training voice AI
• [14:30] Future expansion into health wearables data and other data types
• [18:45] Why people are willing to work for AI agents and contribute data
• [21:00] Building a better UX than Fiverr and Upwork with reputation systems
• [25:15] The chicken-and-egg challenge of balancing supply and demand
• [28:30] Why now is the perfect time to build in the AI data space
• [31:00] Roadmap: App launch and making the agent experience seamless
• [32:45] How to become a contributor at thehumanapi.com
CONNECT
Human API Website: https://thehumanapi.com
Sydney Huang LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sydney-huang
Eclipse Website: https://eclipse.xyz
Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samkamani/
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/

I sat down with Kat from Space and Time to talk about what real institutional adoption actually looks like. While crypto Twitter feels bearish, banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are hiring entire teams focused on digital assets. Space and Time has already onboarded over 100,000 students in Southeast Asia for verifiable education credentials, shipped a zero-knowledge proof for databases, and is working with major institutions on tokenized assets and compliant stablecoin reward distribution. We dive into AI-powered vibe coding, why surviving the bear market matters more than anything else, and why the next wave of builders will have access to on-chain data like never before. 
--- CONNECT ---
Space and Time: https://spaceandtime.io/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/space-and-time-db/
https://discord.com/invite/spaceandtimeDB
Twitter/X - Space and Time: https://twitter.com/SpaceandTimeDB
--- KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS ---
• [00:00:00] Space and Time has onboarded over 100,000 students in Southeast Asia for verifiable education credentials
• [00:02:00] Major university partnerships expanding in both Southeast Asia and the US
• [00:03:00] Dream Space - AI vibe coding platform allowing non-developers to build apps and smart contracts
• [00:04:00] Institutional adoption is the biggest growth area - stablecoin issuers, tokenized assets, major banks
• [00:06:00] Despite bearish sentiment on crypto Twitter, institutions like JP Morgan, US Bank, Fidelity, and Goldman Sachs are more bullish than ever
• [00:07:00] Banks are hiring entire teams of digital asset specialists, not just single roles
• [00:09:00] 98% of stablecoin market is USDT/USDC, but new categories will emerge as adoption expands
• [00:11:00] Marketing in crypto changes dramatically between bull and bear markets - focus on real value proposition and real customers
• [00:14:00] Space and Time invented a patented zero-knowledge proof specifically for databases, making data computations fast and efficient
• [00:18:00] Nearly $2 trillion of institutional capital waiting on the sidelines to enter crypto over next 2-5 years
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/