DeFi Decoded

Join Andrew Young as he decodes the world of Web3 with special guest Ben Jacobs, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Scenius Capital. Listen in as they discuss Ben’s background and crypto journey, the current state of the liquid crypto hedge fund universe, the rise of digital asset treasury companies and how they compare to traditional fund strategies, what’s going on in the crypto venture environment, how leading crypto fund managers are thinking about this phase of the market cycle, key crypto use cases on the horizon, how the industry will evolve over the next five years, and more.

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, shares his insights on the maturation of the crypto market and its growing appeal to mainstream investors. He discusses how traditional finance is evolving with blockchain and tokenization, and forecasts a bullish outlook for Ethereum, highlighting its recent surge. They explore the rise of digital asset treasury firms and how Bitcoin ETFs are influencing capital flows between crypto and equity markets. Hougan also identifies overlooked opportunities in altcoins and hints at future ambitions for Bitwise, including a potential IPO.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest James Smith, Co-Founder of Elliptic. Listen in as they discuss the genesis of Elliptic in 2013 and how it’s evolved since, its scaling strategy to support the explosion of new blockchain networks, the current state of onchain crime and whether the claim that only criminals use crypto holds any weight, the rise of geopolitical crypto cyberwarfare following the $90M Nobitex hack, how chain tracing has matured from a simple compliance tool to a form of defense tech, the company’s experience educating traditional financial institutions during the onboarding process, how the intersection of crypto and AI is reshaping threat vectors, predictions for the year ahead, and more.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss the growing bifurcation between cryptoassets and crypto equities following the GENIUS Act’s Senate approval, what’s happening in the altcoin market, whether a crypto IPO season is on the horizon, how equities and tokens compare, the accelerating convergence between TradFi and crypto, and more.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3 with special guest Jeff Feng, Co-Founder of Sei Labs. Listen in as they discuss the rise of next-generation layer 1 networks built for scale, Sei’s origin story, its evolution since inception, the exciting breakout potential of the onchain gaming and AI agent subsectors, why the Sei Foundation considered acquiring 23andMe, how blockchain can redefine data ownership, what’s ahead for Sei over the next year, and more.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss takeaways from Circle’s red-hot IPO, the powerful economics behind stablecoin issuers, Plasma’s $500 million raise in under ten minutes, the sharp contrast between Circle’s TradFi and Plasma’s onchain capital-raising approaches, the current dynamics in the crypto public equity landscape, how regulatory headwinds have flipped to tailwinds, what makes this market cycle unlike any before, Pump.Fun’s $1 billion raise at a $4 billion valuation, where we are in the cycle, and more.

Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of Web3 live from Consensus 2025 in Toronto. Listen in as he leads two powerhouse panels with top founders and leaders in the industry. The first, on May 15, explored the fast-moving convergence of AI and blockchain, while the second, on May 16, examined what Canada must do to reclaim its place as a global leader in Web3.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of Web3. Listen in as they discuss the accelerating institutionalization of crypto, several emerging crypto treasury strategies, current market dynamics and the case for alternatives like cryptoassets, Andrew’s big news, the growing convergence between TradFi and DeFi, and more.

In this episode of DeFi Decoded, Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young dig into the "most quiet and ignored crypto rally ever." Bitcoin is well over $100,000 and within striking distance of an all-time high, yet this market lacks the fervor and excitement of past bull runs. They dig into the reasons this, namely the growing bifurcation between the "hard money" narrative typified by Bitcoin maximalism and the 'tech accelerationism' narrative of Web3. The proliferation of new tokens has made it harder for speciic projects to stand out. Meanwhile, many people in 'crypto' particularly newcomers are underweight Bitcoin. Next, they talk about the rumours Ripple might buy Circle, issuer of stablecoin USDT and finish on a wrap-up of the Consensus Conference, highlighting the Canadian crypto ecosystem and how DePin (decentralized physical infrastructure) projects were a big standout.

In this episode of DeFi Decoded, Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young speak with Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs about Eclipse's unique modular approach to building a scalable layer two network by combining the best of Solana, Ethereum and Celestia, and the implications for web3 and beyond. Eclipse is designed for decentralized application developers building category-leading DeFi, NFT, gaming, and consumer apps that leverage Ethereum’s liquidity and network effects. They also explore Vijay's journey from traditional finance to crypto, the early days of Ripple, his work at Uniswap and dydx and the current state of decentralized finance (DeFi). Eclipse's innovative TurboTap game, user growth metrics, and the long-term vision for value accrual within the network. The discussion also touches on the role of Ethereum, developer strategies, and the future of layer two solutions in the crypto ecosystem.