
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

Feb 11, 2025 • 46min
Rachel Conlan | Binance CMO Shares Plan To 4X Its Users To 1 Billion
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Rachel Conlan, Binance CMO. They discuss her role in growing the world’s largest crypto exchange, marketing the platform to 250 million users, its growth plans to grow to 1 billion users, what it takes to build a strong community and more.=======================Follow Rachel: https://x.com/rachelconlanFollow Binance: https://x.com/BinanceFollow 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.

Feb 6, 2025 • 57min
Tom Schmidt | How Smart Money is Investing in Crypto Right Now
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn Melinek is joined by Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital. Tom came on the show in August 2024 and has joined us again for a refresher on the state of crypto VCs, how investors are positioned in the market right now, what he’s interested in, investing in, his opinions on the Ethereum Foundation, L2 chains, $TRUMP and more.
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Follow Tom: https://x.com/tomhschmidt
Follow Dragonfly: https://x.com/dragonfly_xyz
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
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Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens
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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.

Feb 4, 2025 • 52min
Eric Chen & Mirza Uddin | Injective Is Changing The Game For DeFi
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn Melinek is joined by Injective Labs Co-Founder, CEO Eric Chen, and Head of BD Mirza Uddin. They discuss Injective’s plans to democratize finance onchain, bringing DeFi to institutional investors, its progress on the AI front and what the Helix AI Indices means for investors. They also dive into Injective’s new rebrand and plans to integrate EVM support to expand the chain into the Ethereum ecosystem.
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Follow Eric: https://x.com/ericinjective
Follow Mirza: https://x.com/mirza_inj
Follow Injective: https://x.com/Injective
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
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Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 30, 2025 • 53min
Jack Melnick | Explaining Berachain's Big Bet on Proof of Liquidity
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Jack Melnick, also known as Cap'n Jack Bearow, the head of DeFi at Berachain. They talk about the importance of building a community, why anonymity can be important, his DeFi strategy for Berachain, the chain’s mainnet launch plans, the state of L1 blockchains in 2025 and more.
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Follow Jack: https://x.com/capnjackbearow
Follow Berachain: https://x.com/Berachain
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
=======================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 28, 2025 • 48min
Ilja Moisejevs & Richard Wu | How Tensor Pivoted its Entire Business and 10x'd Revenue with Vector
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Ilja Moisejevs and Richard Wu, the co-founders of Tensor and Vector. They discuss what it takes to build breakout consumer apps that people want to use, why they pivoted to Vector and how it’s bringing a social aspect to trading, their founder journey, wins, mistakes, lessons and more.
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Vector is invite-only right now, but we have a code for the first 500 people who use it. Download the app via https://vec.fun/download and use Talking Token's invite code: token. Note: this episode is not sponsored by Vector, we just want to provide cool apps to our audience.
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Follow Ilja: https://x.com/_ilmoi
Follow Richard: https://x.com/0xrwu
Follow Vector: https://x.com/VECTORDOTFUN
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
=======================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 23, 2025 • 53min
Ogle | Trump’s Crypto Project Advisor Talks $TRUMP, Security, Hackers & Glue
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Ogle, co-founder of Glue and advisor to World Liberty Financial. Ogle is also an onchain sleuth that has helped exploited, or hacked, projects recoverover $500 million – all pro bono. We talk about what’s important when it comes to crypto security and projects, chains and users protecting themselves. We also discuss his advisory work on the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial project, what it’s like working with some of the Trump family members, and what may be in store for the project, as well as the $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins. We also dive into the Glue blockchain and how it audits every project in an effort to prioritize security onchain.
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Follow Ogle: https://x.com/cryptogle
Follow Glue: https://x.com/GlueNet
Follow World Liberty Financial: https://x.com/worldlibertyfi
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
==========================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 21, 2025 • 46min
Avery Ching | Aptos New CEO Shares 2025 Outlook
Today’s guest is Avery Ching, the co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs. This episode is a part of the quarterly webinars that Token Relations does with Aptos - so it was fun to catch up again with Avery, a few months after they last spoke in Seoul during Aptos Experience. They discuss what Avery hopes to accomplish in his first year as CEO, ecosystem growth for the network in 2025, DeFi opportunities onchain, his long term Aptos outlook and more.
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Follow Avery: https://x.com/AveryChing
Follow Aptos: https://x.com/Aptos
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
==========================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 16, 2025 • 50min
Qiao Wang | How To Build A Great Crypto Startup
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Qiao Wang, founding member of Alliance, a web3 accelerator program. Qiao came on the show back in May – but a lot has changed since then. They discuss how Alliance looks for breakout startups, Pump.fun’s journey to hitting $100M revenue in 6 months and what makes a great crypto founder – and investor. Qiao also shared his thoughts on the current crypto x AI landscape, 2025 market predictions and why founders should play the “long game.”
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On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Qiao Wang, founding member of Alliance, a web3 accelerator program. Qiao came on the show back in May – but a lot has changed since then. They discuss how Alliance looks for breakout startups, Pump.fun’s journey to hitting $100M revenue in 6 months and what makes a great crypto founder – and investor. Qiao also shared his thoughts on the current crypto x AI landscape, 2025 market predictions and why founders should play the “long game.”
==========================
Follow Qiao: https://twitter.com/QwQiao
Follow Alliance: https://twitter.com/alliancedao
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
==========================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 14, 2025 • 48min
Sam McIngvale | Optimism Q1 Update: Superchain's 2025 Roadmap
For this week’s Tuesday episode, we’re sharing the Optimism Quarterly Webinar that Jacquelyn hosted with OP Labs Head of Product Sam McIngvale. This conversation dives into new UI/UX possibilities and innovations that are coming to Ethereum for developers and users through L2 chains — like the 40+ chains within the Superchain ecosystem. They discussed the Superchain’s 2025 product roadmap, which includes integrating better native interoperability, SuperchainERC20, Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra Upgrade, block times, and more.
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Follow Sam: https://x.com/sammcingvale
Follow Optimism: https://x.com/Optimism
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
=======================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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.

Jan 9, 2025 • 51min
Avalanche Q1 Update | Avalanche9000 Upgrade: Impact on Developers, Users, & The Ecosystem
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, we are airing the Avalanche Quarterly Webinar that Jacquelyn hosted live earlier this week with three Ava Labs Engineers Stephen Buttolph, Aaron Buckwald and Michael Kaplan. The panel discussion focused on Avalanche9000, the network’s largest upgrade to date that went live in mid December. They also talked about what it means for the Avalanche ecosystem, developers and users as well as the types of projects they’re interested in seeing built on the blockchain, plans to scale in 2025 and more.
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Follow Stephen Buttolph: https://x.com/stephenbuttolph
Follow Aaron Buckwald: https://x.com/AaronBuchwald
Follow Michael Kaplan: https://x.com/Michael_Kaplan1
Follow Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek
Follow Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens
Follow Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations
=======================
Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ?si=9a9fda1d29224d57&nd=1&dlsi
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141
Subscribe 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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