Kevin Boon | Why Sui’s Core Team Rejected the ETH Rollup Model

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Kevin Boon, President of Mysten Labs, the core team behind the Sui blockchain. From fine arts and law to building crypto infrastructure, Kevin shares his unconventional journey and what’s next for the Sui ecosystem.

They discuss how Kevin balances legal and leadership roles, how the community responded to the recent Cetus exploit, and why Mysten is building out its own full infrastructure stack. Kevin also talks about tokenized equities, stablecoins, and what DeFi products actually have product-market fit.

TIMESTAMPS:

(0:00) - Is Sui really decentralized?

(1:02) - Kevin’s journey: art school to crypto

(4:47) - How he became president of Mysten Labs

(7:16) - What it’s like leading a blockchain ecosystem

(12:03) - The Cetus exploit and community response

(17:01) - Governance vs centralization

(20:12) - What is Walrus and why it matters

(27:58) - Real-world use cases: ads, telecom, storage

(30:23) - Building Mysten’s full product stack

(32:10) - What DeFi actually works

(37:56) - Stablecoins and institutional demand

(42:04) - Tokenized equities and new markets

(44:47) - The future: DeFi mortgages and beyond

(47:38) - Final advice: build for hard times

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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 in this episode.