
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 20, 2025 • 50min
Bhaji Illuminati | What Asset Managers and Investors Want to Tokenize
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Bhaji Illuminati, the new CEO – formerly CMO – of Centrifuge. The platform is focused on providing onchain finance to asset managers and investors through tokenized financial products. We talk about the company’s leadership changes and 2025 strategy to bring asset managers onchain, what investors want from tokenized products and RWAs and more.======================Follow Bhaji: https://x.com/itsbhajiFollow Centrifuge: https://x.com/centrifugeFollow 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 18, 2025 • 42min
Humayun Sheikh | How AI Agents Will Transform Crypto
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Humayun Sheikh, CEO and founder of FetchAI. They discuss the general crypto x AI landscape, recent surges of interest in AI agents, what’s possible with the technologies, how anyone can build an app with AI in 10 minutes and more.======================Follow Humayun: https://x.com/HMsheikh4Follow FetchAI: https://x.com/Fetch_aiFollow 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 13, 2025 • 41min
Luca Netz | The Genius Marketing Behind Pudgy Penguins
On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins. They discuss why he diversified Pudgy Penguins into a business bigger than NFTs, the recent launch of Abstract Chain and how it wants to make consumer apps fun, creating brand awareness and more.======================Follow Luca: https://x.com/LucaNetzFollow Pudgy Penguins: https://x.com/pudgypenguinsFollow 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 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.
======================
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
======================
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.

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.
========================
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
========================
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.
=======================
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.
=======================
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.
=======================
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.
==========================
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.
====================
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.