The Meme is the Message: Kanyi Maqubela on Crypto, Culture, and the Future of Value

Kanyi Maqubela’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary—from fleeing apartheid South Africa as an infant, to living in a homeless shelter in New York City, to becoming a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. As managing partner at Kindred Ventures, Maqubela sits at the intersection of culture, finance, and technology. In this episode, he talks with Scott McGrew about why he believes crypto has already succeeded—even if it doesn’t look the way early critics expected.

Maqubela argues that value isn’t just stored in physical assets or spreadsheets—it can also be stored in memes. Whether it's gold, real estate in Las Vegas, or Dogecoin, he suggests that cultural momentum and shared belief can give something staying power and real economic weight. “Mimetic value is value,” he says, making the case that virality itself is a form of capital.

This conversation explores why the blockchain matters, how meme coins might be more serious than they seem, and why the next generation is right to question the financial systems they inherited. It's a provocative look at the future of value—and the stories we tell to justify it.