Bankless Investing Trends for 2026: DeFi, Tokenization, Capital Formation, Speculation & AI | Ben Lakoff & Arnav from Bankless Ventures
4 snips
Dec 29, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Arnav Pagidyala, an investment partner at Bankless Ventures, shares insights on the future of crypto investing. He explores the next wave of on-chain lending and the potential of equity perps in retail markets. The duo dives into the evolution of DeFi neobanks and the importance of verticalized tokenization platforms. They also predict how compliant ICOs could reshape capital formation and how AI agents may revolutionize crypto finance. This conversation is a treasure trove for anyone looking to understand the evolving landscape of digital finance!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Institutional Acceptance Is Transformative
- Crypto moved from contrarian to consensus as institutions adopted tokenization and Bitcoin ETFs.
- Institutional acceptance reduces career risk and unlocks much larger capital flows.
Cycles Clear The Path For Stronger Builders
- Crypto markets run in recurring builder and capital waves that clear out weak projects.
- Bear phases renew the ecosystem and allow better projects and investors to re-underwrite theses.
Wave Three Was About Refinement
- Wave three refined DeFi with modular lending, staking changes, and decentralized perps.
- Successful primitives like Morpho and Pendle show composability and specialization matter.