Scaling Expectations and Open Interest Goals

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Nitesh Nath, Founder and CEO of DFlow, about building trading infrastructure for Solana and enabling native access to prediction markets, starting with Kalshi, through DFlow’s new API.

Nitesh explains why expanding market access matters for Solana’s trading community, how tokenizing these positions unlocks new DeFi composability, and why every prediction can become an SPL token that plugs into borrowing, trading, and liquidity protocols. They also discuss DFlow’s concurrent liquidity programs, bridging off-chain liquidity onchain, its recent integration with Phantom, and how these systems set the foundation for new financial primitives.

The conversation covers tokenization, onchain market design, expected 2026 milestones, local-market prediction use cases, and how everyday users may eventually use prediction-powered applications without ever realizing it. Nitesh also shares what Solana needs to improve for high-frequency traders, why liquidity provision is still too difficult, and why DFlow is betting on Solana as the most efficient place to build financial rails.This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on ⁠www.token-relations.xyz⁠ 

Timestamps

(00:00) – Intro

(01:07) – DFlow’s recent announcements with growing user demand

(01:32) – Connecting Solana traders to Kalshi and the importance of market access

(02:45) – Network effects between prediction markets and Solana traders through DFlow infrastructure

(03:37) – Tokenization as the building block for DeFi and enabling predictions to plug into the ecosystem

(04:18) – Phantom partnership as a new entry point for traders and liquidity providers

(05:12) – The broader unlock for prediction markets as they reach mainstream attention

(06:10) – Concurrent liquidity programs bridging off chain liquidity onto Solana

(07:26) – Global user opportunities and Solana’s ability to attract sports and political audiences

(09:42) – Burning tokens into stablecoins when markets resolve and how payouts work

(12:10) – Open interest expectations for 2026 and how tokenization scales with market activity

(14:16) – Too many markets debate and why niche local prediction markets will thrive

(17:10) – Everyday apps using prediction markets under the hood without users realizing it

(18:31) – Most things eventually moving on chain and how the prediction API integrates into apps

(20:27) – Improving Solana infra for HFT and solving jitter, latency and market maker pain points

(22:27) – Why DFlow is building on Solana and the vision for DeFi as efficient financial rails

(23:08) – Nitesh’s final advice on ignoring price action and thinking long term

Essentials

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Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned.