#43 - Luc de Leyritz : Philosophy, Crypto & The Rise of Autonomous Venture Investing

We kick off 2026 with a special episode with Luc de Leyritz, General Partner at Re7 Social, a first-check crypto fund, and one of the most philosophically grounded investors operating at the frontier of blockchain, DeFi, and AI-driven venture capital.

Luc’s journey is anything but conventional. From studying philosophy, to working at France’s DARPA-equivalent on advanced national security research, to building conviction around crypto as the next foundational layer of finance, this conversation unfolds as both an intellectual exploration and a practical guide to where money, markets, and capital formation are heading.

We go deep into what crypto is actually good for beyond speculation. Luc breaks down why stablecoins, DeFi lending, and prediction markets represent genuine product–market fit, how financial settlement is moving from T+3 to T0, and why permissionless systems fundamentally reshape who gets access to opportunity.

This episode also explores Luc’s experimental work with Farcaster, an autonomous, AI-driven venture fund sourcing and evaluating startups directly from decentralized social graphs like Farcaster. It’s a glimpse into a future where venture capital itself becomes programmable.

Throughout the conversation, we zoom out to ask bigger questions: 
-Is finance ultimately about allocating risk to the right people? 
-Can prediction markets outperform polls and pundits? 
-And what happens when trust in institutions declines, but neutral digital infrastructure becomes stronger?

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

1.⁠ ⁠DeFi Has Real Product–Market Fit:
Borrowing instantly against assets, trading without intermediaries, and accessing capital without permission are already working today — especially for those outside traditional banking systems.

2.⁠ ⁠Settlement Speed Is the Hidden Revolution:
Traditional finance still runs on T+3 or T+5 settlement. Crypto-native systems move value at T0, collapsing time, cost, and intermediaries.

3.⁠ ⁠Prediction Markets as Truth Machines:
Unlike betting platforms, prediction markets aggregate collective intelligence. Their prices reflect real probabilities — often outperforming polls, experts, and media narratives.

4.⁠ ⁠Permissionless Capital Changes Venture Economics:
In crypto, anyone can be an early investor. Access is no longer the edge — information and signal processing are.

5.⁠ ⁠AI Agents Will Reshape Venture Capital:
Luke explains how autonomous agents excel at reading, filtering, and synthesizing massive information flows — redefining sourcing, diligence, and decision-making.

6.⁠ ⁠Farcaster vs. Social Hype Cycles:
Why Farcaster’s developer-first ecosystem differs fundamentally from viral but fragile experiments like FriendTech — and what sustainable crypto-social networks actually require.

7.⁠ ⁠Digital Art, Scarcity, and Ownership:
Why NFTs were directionally right but product-incomplete — and how new models may finally allow creators to monetize digital work without dilution.

8.⁠ ⁠A Bullish Long-Term Macro Thesis:
Declining trust in institutions, rising liquidity, and regulatory clarity all point toward crypto becoming a core layer of global financial infrastructure.

Timestamps:
(00:00) – Luc’s background: philosophy, national security, and venture capital
(04:00) – What crypto is actually useful for today
(08:30) – DeFi lending vs traditional credit systems
(13:30) – Why stablecoins and instant settlement matter
(18:00) – Prediction markets vs gambling and polls
(24:30) – Truth, incentives, and betting on the future
(30:00) – Monetizing knowledge in a permissionless world
(36:00) – Digital art, NFTs, and scarcity economics
(42:00) – Farcaster: an autonomous AI venture fund
(50:00) – Farcaster, social graphs, and crypto-native networks
(58:30) – Macro outlook: trust, liquidity, and regulation
(1:05:00) – Where crypto, AI, and venture are heading next

This is a wide-ranging, first-principles conversation on money, technology, and the systems shaping our future.

Follow (@iwaheedo) for more conversations on crypto, capital, philosophy, and emerging technologies.