Endgame with Amanda Cassatt How TradFi Views Crypto with VanEck’s Pranav Kanade
What do billion-dollar asset managers really think about your token?
Pranav Kanade manages Digital Assets Alpha Fund, an actively managed crypto strategy at VanEck, one of the world’s largest asset managers with over $116B in assets under management. In this episode, Amanda and Pranav unpack how traditional finance approaches the space, how they evaluate projects, what good tokenomics actually look like, and why most founders misunderstand what institutional investors care about.
They dive into Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and even a few DePIN projects and dig into why some play well with capital allocators while others don’t stand a chance. Pranav shares what makes a token investable, how he thinks about liquidity, governance, and incentives, and what’s still broken in the DeFi–TradFi bridge.
This episode pulls back the curtain on what it takes for a crypto project to earn the attention of a firm like VanEck and reveals how institutions really view the space.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Pranav's Journey from TradFi to Crypto
03:04 Defining Good Crypto Investments
05:59 The Importance of Tokenomics
08:52 Buyback and Burn Mechanisms
12:10 The Impact of Financialization on Technology
15:01 Strategies for Token Generation Events
18:13 Building Trust in Crypto Projects
21:06 The Future of Multi-Token ETFs
24:08 Exciting Developments in Tokenized Equities
29:36 Tesla's Path to Robotaxis
31:59 The Role of Centralized Exchanges
32:54 User Experience in DeFi vs. TradFi
34:32 The Future of Crypto and TradFi Integration
38:01 The Ideal End State for Crypto
40:15 Predictions in the Crypto Market
41:45 AI Agents and Financial Transactions
44:28 AI and Crypto Crossover Opportunities
47:03 The Future of Stablecoins
49:50 The Power Law in Currencies
50:52 Quality of People in Crypto
RESOURCES
Pranav on X: @vaneckpk https://x.com/vaneckpk
Subscribe to Endgame: https://www.youtube.com/@endgamepodcast
Amanda on X: https://x.com/amandacassatt
Serotonin on X: https://x.com/serotonin
Endgame on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/45B9szUxVXEwfCDA6uRxwq?si=HT9XXqF9Q2CcM9hfLbmkVg
Endgame on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/endgame-with-amanda-cassatt/id1801809440
Substack: https://substack.com/@UCInZsV3L1nDGoFjxoNUnPQQ