
Talking Tokens
Talking Tokens is a podcast focused on interviewing the best crypto leaders, startups, market players and up-and-coming founders that are changing the industry.
Join Jacquelyn Melinek, an award-nominated host and seasoned crypto journalist-turned-entrepreneur, to dive into the best talks in crypto in an easy-to-understand way.
The episodes will air every Tuesday and Thursday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, X and more.
For more updates, subscribe to the Talking Tokens newsletter here: https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Latest episodes

Apr 21, 2025 • 38min
Ben Leventhal | Ex-Resy Co-Founder Explains Why He's Building Blackbird on Web3
On today’s (100th!) Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Ben Leventhal, Co-founder of Resy, Eater and Blackbird.They discuss his decades-long career focused on the food industry, Blackbird’s recent $50M raise as well as expansion in NYC, SF, Charleston and beyond. We also dive intoBen’s perspective on how the restaurant industry wants more data on its users and the role Blackbird hopes to provide on that front.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!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.

Apr 17, 2025 • 40min
Dylan Abruscato | Crypto The Game Is Going Viral
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Dylan Abruscato, the creator of Crypto The Game (acq. by Uniswap).Crypto The Game wrapped up its third season in March with the winner taking home the prize pot of 71.6 ETH, worth about $150K at the time.They discuss how he co-created a game on top of crypto rails with no prior web3 education, how his past experiences working at HQ Trivia and SNL shaped his POV, creating a game people actually want to play and more.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!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.

Apr 15, 2025 • 36min
Lucas Bruder | How Jito Generated $1.1B in Solana Rewards
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Lucas Bruder, CEO and co-founder of Jito Labs. Jito Labs is building high-performance MEV infrastructure on Solana. To date, it has generated $1.1B for validators and stakers on Solana, with over 90% of the network’s validators running via its software. In 2024, the company made $650M for the network through fees and revenue. They discuss his founder journey, why Jito decided to build on Solana, the expansion of DeFi onchain and what users and institutions want. This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Jacquelyn is doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana.=======================Follow Jito: https://x.com/jito_solFollow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekFollow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Apr 10, 2025 • 49min
Sandy Carter | How Digital Identity is Changing the Future
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Sandy Carter, COO at Unstoppable Domains.They discuss onchain domains, how people are using digital identities to verify themselves, what enterprise organizations are doing to integrate this technology, the importance of trust in AI and blockchains and more.You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!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.

Apr 8, 2025 • 53min
Lavande | How Crypto Decisions Get Made
For this week’s Tuesday episode, we’re airing the fourth Optimism x Token Relations webinar Jacquelyn moderated with Lavande, head of governance at Optimism. We discuss how she looks at governance and decentralized voting within the Superchain ecosystem and broader crypto landscape. We also dive into her views on different voting models and mechanisms, the importance to change algorithms, incentivizing users, Optimism’s Retro Funding and more.=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Apr 3, 2025 • 39min
Tiffany Fong Talks Sam Bankman Fried, Elon Musk, Celsius and Internet Fame
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Tiffany Fong, an online personality and YouTube content creator. We discuss her rise to fame, how she first got into crypto over a decade ago, why she started tracking the downfall of crypto lending platform Celsius, her friendships with ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Elon Musk.=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Apr 1, 2025 • 57min
Dan Tapiero | Bitcoin Could Reach $180k This Cycle
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Dan Tapiero, founder, CEO and CIO of 1RoundTable and 10T Fund. They discuss Dan’s perspective on traditional markets and equities, how he still owns gold, his focus on digital gold – bitcoin – and growth stage teams. They also dive into the current administration and how it can open the floodgates for crypto companies to IPO as well as his long term outlook.=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Mar 27, 2025 • 28min
Ira Auerbach | Building the Palantir of Blockchains
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Ira Auerbach, head of Tandem – the partner studio and venture capital arm by Offchain Labs. We discuss his journey into web3, challenges to running a venture arm, how he thinks about scaling Ethereum through Tandem, the 3 initial teams it funded and how he advises projects on go-to-market strategies.=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Mar 25, 2025 • 50min
Kain Warwick | Creating DeFi Apps People Actually Want to Use
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix and Infinex. They discuss Kain’s founder journey, how he looks at building user experiences, the current DeFi trends he’s following and more.=======================Follow Kain: https://x.com/kaiynneFollow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekFollow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.

Mar 20, 2025 • 26min
Anthony Anzalone | Bringing Institutions to Blockchains
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with the CEO and Founder of XION Anthony Anzalone, also known as Burnt Banksy. They discuss why he created another layer-1 blockchain, how it’s aiming to create real consumer adoption in countries like Portugal, Nigeria and Argentina, building for institutions and more.======================Follow Anthony: https://x.com/BurntBanksyFollow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekFollow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations=======================Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsiSubscribe to the podcast on Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens=======================Please 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.
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