

CryptoNews Podcast
cryptonews.com
Exploring the ideas and stories of crypto moguls from around the world. Learn more at cryptonews.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 6, 2025 • 34min
#419: George Bousis, CEO of Raise, Web3 Gift Cards Industry, Spending to Earn, Raising an Additional $63M, and Customer Loyalty Programs
George Bousis is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor at the forefront of the payments, loyalty, and blockchain industries. As the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Raise, he launched the world's leading platform for digital gift cards. Under his leadership, Raise achieved over $5 billion in sales and saved its customers upwards of $250 million.In this conversation, we discuss:- Becoming a Dad!- $63M Strategic Raise & Smart Cards Initiative- Building Web3 tech that feels like web2 tech- Raise Consumer App- Raise for Business (B2B)- Gift Card Exchange (GCX)- Spend to earn model- Web3 Gift Cards Industry- Customer Loyalty Programs- Partnership with Citi Bank and BILT Rewards- Challenging the status quo- Utility drives loyaltyRaiseWebsite: www.raise.comX: @RaiseAppLinkedIn: RaiseGeorge BousisX: @GBousisInstagram: @gbousisLinkedIn: George Bousis --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Mar 3, 2025 • 33min
#418: Dominic Schwenter, COO of Lisk, on The Ethereum Foundation, The Superchain, and Ethereum’s Role in High-Growth Markets
Dominic Schwenter is the COO of Lisk, the Layer 2 blockchain dedicated to bringing Web3 adoption in emerging markets back to Ethereum. Dominic’s understanding of blockchain technology and its applications has positioned him as a thought leader in the industry, contributing to numerous innovative projects and solutions. Dominic is dedicated to advancing the adoption of blockchain technology with a specific focus in emerging markets. His contributions continue to shape the future of decentralized finance and technology, making him a key figure in the digital revolution.In this conversation, we discuss:- Current market sentiment and why we’re bleeding- Market are usually tied to global liquidity- Trump wants the market to hit ATHs- Current discussion on the Ethereum Foundation- Ethereum’s Role in high-growth markets.- The Superchain - interoperability and scalability- Web3's biggest challenge is usability- Defining builder-focused networks- Crypto needs a super app- Lisk’s Role in the Optimism SuperchainLiskWebsite: lisk.comX: @LiskHQTelegram: t.me/Lisk_HQDominic SchwenterX: @domschwenterLinkedIn: Dominic Schwenter --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 27, 2025 • 39min
#417: Austin King, Co-Founder of Omni Network , on Memecoin Mania, $XRP, and Creating the Abstraction Layer for the Ethereum Ecosystem
Austin King is the Co-Founder of Omni Network and CEO of Labs, the abstraction layer for the Ethereum ecosystem. With a background in computer science from Harvard, Austin began his entrepreneurial journey by creating a payment network that scaled to over 10 billion transactions before being acquired by Ripple. Today, Austin, alongside Co-Founder Tyler Tarsi, is leading Omni’s mission to empower application developers to access users and liquidity across the entire Ethereum ecosystem without smart contract upgrades.In this conversation, we discuss:- Memecoin Mania- Portnoy running with GREED and GREED 2- Hayden is going to jail!- Onboarding people to memecoins kills our chance for mass adoption- Ripple and XRP - current sentiment and why normies love it- Omni is an abstraction layer for the Ethereum ecosystem- Allowing users to trade crypto like Robinhood- Removing bridges and wrapped assets from the front-end- Gaining access to all the users in the on-chain economy- The secret sauce to mass adoption- SolverNet SDK- Tokenization is crypto’s killer use caseOmni NetworkWebsite: omni.networkX: @OmniFDNTelegram: t.me/OmniFDNAustin KingX: @0xASKLinkedIn: Austin King --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 24, 2025 • 33min
#416: Prabal Banerjee, Co-founder of Avail, on The Future of Blockchain Interoperability, Chain Abstraction, and Scalability in Web3
Prabal Banerjee, co-founder of Avail, is a researcher and technical leader. He spearheaded the implementation of the Data Availability layer in 2020 and led a team of researchers to explore new frontiers in cryptography and blockchain technology.Prabal's interest in cryptography began in 2013, which led him to explore blockchain technology in 2016. He accumulated a wide range of internship experience with companies including IBM and Oracle. With his extensive expertise and passion for blockchains, Prabal is poised to continue leading the way in exploring the possibilities of this exciting and fast-evolving field for years to come.In this conversation, we discuss:- Breaking down the $LIBRA token launch- The future of blockchain interoperability- Web2 allows us to scale, Web3 has too many chains and we need more interoperability- When will the interoperability problem be fixed- The nuances of blockchains- How cross-chain communication is evolving and why interoperability is critical for the next phase of Web3 growth- The challenges of fragmented ecosystems and how unification can drive adoption- Scalability in Web3: are we ready for mass adaption?- Avail DA, Avail Fusion, Avail NexusAvailWebsite: www.availproject.orgX: @AvailProjectLinkedIn: AvailPrabal BanerjeeX: @prabalbanerjeeLinkedIn: Prabal Banerjee --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 20, 2025 • 38min
#415: William Quigley, Co-founder of Tether & WAX, on Bitcoin, Stablecoins, ETH vs. SOL, Crypto Regulation, and The 2025 Crypto Cycle
William E. Quigley is a cryptocurrency and blockchain investor. He has incubated and invested in more than 30 bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency-related investments and co-developed the first crypto derivative used to trade pre-release Ethereum. He co-founded Tether, the first fiat-backed stablecoin and most traded cryptocurrency to date, GoCoin, a pioneering crypto payments processor, and co-founded WAX, a leading NFT blockchain platform. In 2013, Mr. Quigley co-founded Crypto Currency Partners, a blockchain equity investment fund with early notable investments in Coinbase, Kraken, Bitfury, Authy, ChangeTip and Circle.Prior to his involvement in blockchain, Mr. Quigley was a venture capitalist, co-founding Clearstone Venture Partners, a $700M early-stage focused venture capital firm where he concentrated on communications and consumer technology companies. Before Clearstone, Quigley was a managing director at Idealab! Capital Partners (ICP), the world’s first consumer Internet venture capital firm. ICP was an early investor in some of the leading Web 1.0 era companies including Paypal, Netzero, MP3.com and Goto.com, one of the first companies to rank search results based on a bidding process.In this conversation, we discuss:- The 2025 post-bitcoin halving is proceeding precisely as prior patterns predict. The first 3 stages in the pattern have already occurred- If BTC follows past patterns, it should hit $300K to $350K in this 2025 bull market run- The cycle we're in has a bigger impact than the news cycle- Trump’s crypto policy- ETH vs. SOL- The founding story and growth of Tether / $USDT- Hot take — countries will adopt CBDCs- You can’t hide your money, might as well use digital currencies- US Strategic Bitcoin reserve- Did MicroStrategy drive the price from 60k-100k?- US banks should not be able to close accounts of customers who own or trade cryptocurrenciesWAXWebsite: www.wax.ioTwitter: @WAX_ioTelegram: t.me/wax_ioWilliam E. QuigleyTwitter: @WilliamEQuigleyLinkedIn: William E. Quigley --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 17, 2025 • 34min
#414: Jay Jog, Co-Founder of Sei Labs, on L1s vs. L2s, Solving EVM’s Scalability Issues, Stablecoin Tooling, and Unlocking Web2-level Performance for Web3
Jayendra "Jay" Jog is the Co-Founder of Sei Labs, the team behind the Sei Network, a high-performance, low-fee, general-purpose blockchain designed for the best UX for developers and users. Before Sei, Jay was a software engineer at Robinhood, an experience that inspired his decision to build a layer-1 blockchain capable of Web2 scale.In this conversation, we discuss:- L1s vs. L2s- Working at Robinhood during the Gamestop saga- T+2 settlement period is archaic and crypto solves this- Sei’s origin story- Base layer blockchains- The EVM is here to stay- Solving the EVM’s scalability issues- Unlocking Web2-level performance- Sei’s Giga Roadmap- Stablecoin tooling- AI agents- $SEISei LabsWebsite: www.sei.ioX: @Sei_LabsTelegram: t.me/seinetworkJay JongX: @jayendra_jogLinkedIn: Jayendra Jog--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 13, 2025 • 32min
#413: Sean Ren, CEO of Sahara AI, on Personalized Knowledge Agents (KAs), Copyright Issues in AI, and The Future of Crypto AI
Sean Ren is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sahara AI, a decentralized blockchain platform built for AI. Backed by top investors in AI and Crypto, including Pantera Capital, Polychain Capital, Sequoia Capital, Samsung, Matrix Partners, and many more, Sahara AI has raised over $40 million to advance decentralized AI. Today, Sahara AI is trusted by 35+ leading tech innovators and research institutions, such as Microsoft, Amazon, MIT, Character AI, and Snapchat.In this conversation, we discuss:- The Future of AI and Crypto- Knowledge Agents (KAs)- Complexities of Data Collection- Operational Hurdles- Ethical Considerations- AI Across Leading Institutions- Generative AI- Autonomous Systems- DeepSeek Open Source AI- The Issue of Copyright in AI- AI-based Revenue Streams and MarketplacesSahara AIWebsite: saharalabs.aiX: @SaharaLabsAILinkedIn: Sahara AISean RenX: @xiangrenNLPLinkedIn: Sean (Xiang) Ren --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 10, 2025 • 34min
#412: Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs, on Combining Solana’s Speed With Ethereum’s Liquidity and Ethereum’s First SVM L2
Vijay Chetty is the CEO of Eclipse Labs, bringing a wealth of experience in business development and corporate strategy. Previously, he served as the Chief Growth Officer at Eclipse Laboratories Inc. and held advisory roles at Uniswap Labs. His career includes notable positions as Head of Business Development at both Uniswap Labs and the dYdX Foundation, where he played a pivotal role in enhancing liquidity and trading volumes.In this conversation, we discuss:- Combining Solana’s speed with Ethereum’s liquidity- Deepseek’s effect on the market- X/twitter = the townsquare and scoreboard of crypto- Developer interest- Liquidity fragmentation- The blockchain trilemma- Mainnet Metrics: 1.5 billion transactions in first 2 months + 100M-150M daily transactions in the last few weeks- Multichain Future- Trading and Capital Markets Impact- LRTs and tETHEclipse LabsWebsite: www.eclipse.xyzX: @EclipseFNDDiscord: discord.gg/eclipse-fndVijay ChettyX: @0xLitquidity LinkedIn: Vijay Chetty --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 6, 2025 • 33min
#411: Ahmad Shadid, CEO of o.xyz, on Building the World's First Sovereign Super AI, DeAIOs, and The Future of AI & Crypto
Ahmad Shadid is the Founder and CEO of O.XYZ, an ecosystem with a mission to build the world's first sovereign super intelligence. As Ahmad put it, "AI must be a tool for the people, not a weapon for profit." O.XYZ is a complex ecosystem, starting with it’s core – O.Super Intelligence which will help guide decisions, solve complex problems, and interact with people in the ecosystem; a toolbox with AI-powered products — tools that help you solve various problems using artificial intelligence; O.REASEARCH, O.INFRA, O.CHARITY, O.CAPITAL, and O.CHAIN as parts of the ecosystem.Previously, Ahmad was CEO of IO.net, where he led the company to a $4.5 billion valuation in under a year. His leadership propelled IO.net to secure $2 million in a seed round with a $10 million fully diluted valuation in June 2023, followed by a groundbreaking $40 million Series A round at a $1 billion FDV in March 2024. This rapid growth culminated in the successful launch of the $IO coin on Binance, with a remarkable $4.5 billion FDV in June 2024.Ahmad is a visionary behind the DeAIO – an Autonomous AI Organization, the next step in the evolution of DAOs which is aiming to revolutionize AI governance and development. Demonstrating his commitment to innovation, he has personally invested $130M into the development of DeAIO. O.XYZ builds on Ahmad’s legacy, aiming to redefine AI and showcase how decentralized technology can drive common progress and serve people.In this conversation, we discuss:- Building the world's first Sovereign Super AI- Decentralized AI Managed Organization (DeAIO)- The future of crypto and AI- Quant funds are already dabbling into AI-based cryptocurrencies- AI CEOs- AI infrastructure- O.REASEARCH, O.INFRA, O.CHARITY, O.CAPITAL, and O.CHAIN- O.ATLAS, O.PACIFIC, O.ORBIT- Sending AI data to space- Living in Qatar- Deepseek rocking the AI industry- What’s next for O.XYZ over the next 12-24 months- Feb 22 product release in Hong KongO.XYZWebsite: www.o.xyzX: @o_fndnTelegram: t.me/oxyz_communityAhmad ShadidX: @shadid_ioLinkedIn: Ahmad Shadid --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Feb 3, 2025 • 32min
#410: Brandon Goh, CEO of Treehouse, on Liquid Staking Tokens, Decentralized Offered Rates (DORs), and The Fixed Income Market
Brandon Goh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Treehouse Labs, the parent company of TRHX and Treehouse. The firm builds infrastructure, data, and standards to enable confident and informed investments in digital assets. Before founding Treehouse, Brandon held fixed-income roles at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities, focusing on credit, derivatives, and asset-backed securities. He has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.In this conversation, we discuss:- Summary of Treehouse Labs- Overview of the fixed income market - total market is worth $600 trillion- The problems and solutions of the fixed-income market- Bringing decentralized infrastructure to fixed income- Liquid staking tokens - tAssets and tETH- Capturing returns from market inefficiencies- Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR)- The history of benchmark and interest rates- Ensuring accuracy and transparency in rate-setting- Project BambooTreehouse LabsWebsite: www.treehouse.financeX: @TreehouseFiDiscord: discord.gg/treehousefi Brandon GohX: @mytwogweis--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50