Liquid Culture

In this episode, we chat with Zaheer Ebtikar — long-time trader & founder of Split Capital. We dive into Zaheer’s background and introduction to trading, the growing importance of liquid funds in crypto markets, understanding LPs and institutional interest, financial nihilism, crypto culture through the trader lens, lending, stablecoins & much more.

In this episode, Natalie chats with Mat Dryhurst — long-time musician, technologist and artist advocate. We dive into Mat’s early background and initial forays into blending frontier technology with creative practices, how & why Art is becoming increasingly intertwined with technology, “Protocol Art,” what it means to be creative in the age of AI, spawning vs. sampling, reviving the ethos of “the commons” and “public goods” as it relates to media, the responsibility of artists today, and much more.

In this episode we chat with Max Segall, COO of Privy. We dive into the world of crypto wallets & onboarding infrastructure, embedded wallets & Privy’s perspective on the market, the evolution of crypto’s application landscape, new emerging use cases for Privy, minting as a new user behavior, network effects in crypto infrastructure, and much more.

In this episode we chat with Charli Cohen, long-time fashion designer & founder of RTSLSS. We dive into Charli’s original vision for RSTLSS and digital fashion, working with legacy brands & IP, influences & opportunities beyond the world of gaming, the baggage around the term “metaverse,” and much more.

In this episode we chat with Funghibull, co-founder of SHILLR and very close friend of the pod. We dive into Fungi’s current focus and view on the market, the latest consumer apps & tools, the evolution of collecting culture, how to discovery great new art, the ethos & culture of different chains, the role of media in crypto, maintaining integrity in marketing & community building, and much more.

In this episode we chat with Teng Yan, founder of Chain of Thought, a research firm focused on exploring the intersections of Crypto and AI. We talk about Teng’s journey from health tech startups into crypto, what “Crypto <> AI” really means and looks like, compute markets, decentralized training, how to think about “AI agents,” and much more.

In this episode we chat with Ben.ZZZ, onchain gaming aficionado & founder of Cambria. We dive into Cambria’s origin story, “risk-to-earn” & unique game modes, the nostalgia of the Runescape Era, how to think about retention for games, designing in-game economies, the challenges of building onchain games & much more!

In this episode we are joined once again by friends of the pod, Smac - partner @ Compound VC and Jon Moore - advisor @ TCG Crypto. We dive into the crazy year of 2024, recapping the highest highs and lowest lows, before making predictions for 2025.  

In this episode we chat with Leighton Cusack, who currently leads Ecosystem development at Tools For Humanity, more commonly known as World (aka “Worldcoin). We dive into Leighton’s early fascinating with social entrepreneurship, discovering crypto & founding PoolTogether, joining World, the importance of privacy & identity in a world of AI, launching World’s developer ecosystem & much more.

In this episode we chat with Achilleas Sarantaris, who leads ecosystem efforts around Art, Games & Worlds at Celestia. We dive into his time pursuing a professional music career, discovering crypto & NFTs during the pandemic, early experiments and lessons from Async Art, why he joined Celestia, his thesis around Artchains, and much more.