Onchain, Honestly!

Kaisa & Alenka
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Onchain, Honestly is a conversation with the operators actually building crypto companies. Kaisa and Alenka sit down with founders and leaders to talk about what the pitch decks leave out: go-to-market, hiring, revenue, real traction, and the unglamorous mechanics of turning a protocol or product into a business. No hype, no theater. Just honest conversations about what works, what doesn't, and what it actually takes to build onchain.

  1. 2 days ago

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.13 ft. David Newns - From Pilots to Onchain Adoption

    In this episode, David Newns, Director of Axiology, Founder of Substrate Advisory, and ex-CEO of SIX Digital Exchange, discusses what institutional adoption of blockchain actually requires and why the technology itself is rarely the hardest part. We cover how blockchain infrastructure must connect with the systems, licences, and legal frameworks institutions already use, why collateral mobility is emerging as one of the strongest use cases, and where decentralization offers real value without removing accountability. We also discuss the role of regulation in accelerating adoption, the importance of executive sponsorship and interoperability, why traditional and blockchain rails will coexist for years, and what initiatives from SDX, DTCC, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered reveal about the future of institutional finance.— David Newns LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnewns/  David Newns X - (19) David Newns (@DavidNewns2) / X  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  2. 22 Jul

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.12 ft. Ava Labs - The Real Business of RWAs

    In this episode, Olivia Vande Woude, who leads tokenization at Ava Labs, discusses what is driving real-world asset adoption on Avalanche and where the strongest opportunities are emerging across tokenized treasuries, private credit, equities, and asset-backed finance. We cover why distribution is becoming just as important as issuance, how business models differ across the tokenization stack, and why fintechs, neobanks, and crypto-native allocators play a bigger role in bringing tokenized assets to end users. We also discuss how Avalanche supports institutions through compliance, permissioning, and scalable infrastructure, which metrics matter when assessing RWA adoption, how Ava Labs approaches partnerships and monetization, and why private credit could become one of the most important use cases for tokenization. — Olivia Vande Woude LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-vande-woude/  Olivia Vande Woude X: https://x.com/cryptoreine  Ava Labs: https://www.avalabs.org/  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  3. 14 Jul

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 11 ft. TronDAO - Is CLARITY Act Crypto’s Big Win in Washington?

    In this episode, Adrien Wall, Senior Director of U.S. Policy at TRON DAO and Managing Director of the Digital Sovereignty Alliance, discusses how crypto policy is shaped in Washington and what the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act mean for stablecoins, token issuers, decentralized networks, exchanges, and the broader digital asset market. We cover why stablecoin regulation became a priority in the U.S., how lawmakers’ understanding of blockchain has evolved, and what practical changes the GENIUS Act introduces for payment stablecoins, reserves, compliance, consumer protection, and market adoption. We also discuss the stablecoin yield debate, the banking industry’s response, and how the CLARITY Act is critical for bringing crypto innovation and investment back to the U.S. Adrien also shares how these policy discussions affect TRON, why secondary market transactions matter, how blockchain is increasingly used by law enforcement, and why U.S. regulation will influence crypto frameworks far beyond America. — Adrian Wall LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-wall-8b50002/  Adrian Wall X: https://x.com/AdrianWall8395  TronDAO: https://trondao.org/  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  4. 9 Jul

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 10 ft. Aptos - Are Generalized Blockchains Dead?

    In this episode, Ashwin Pampati, Senior Vice President at Aptos Foundation, discusses how Aptos is evolving from generalized blockchain infrastructure into a more focused ecosystem built around trading, stablecoin movement, and AI-related infrastructure. We cover how the foundation thinks about building and incubating products and why financial applications in crypto now require a much higher bar for capital and customer trust. We also explore their approach to ecosystem development, their perspective on emerging markets, remittances, and stablecoin-powered financial access as well as the core differentiators that define the network today. —Ashwin Pampati LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwinpampati/?skipRedirect=true   Aptos: https://aptosnetwork.com/foundation  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  5. 1 Jul

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 9 - Inside Symbiotic’s Pivot: From Restaking to an RWA Liquidity Layer

    In this episode, Henrique Sousa Dias, Product Lead for Liquid Lane at Symbiotic, discusses why liquidity has become one of the biggest bottlenecks for tokenized assets and what it will take for RWAs, credit, and on-chain finance to scale. We cover how Symbiotic is expanding beyond restaking into a broader capital efficiency layer, how Liquid Lane aims to make tokenized assets more liquid and composable across DeFi, and what changes with V2. We also discuss capital efficiency, fees, and value capture, the due diligence and whitelisting process for RWAs, the risks institutions need to consider, and why better liquidity infrastructure could unlock the next wave of adoption for tokenized credit, insurance, and real-world assets. — Henrique Sousa Dias LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrique-dias-pt50/  Henrique Sousa Dias X: https://x.com/0xhenrique_d  Symbiotic: https://symbiotic.fi/  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  6. 23 Jun

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 8 ft. Zerion - Does the Fat Wallet Thesis Still Stand? Zerion’s Next Bets

    In this episode, Abi Dharshan, Head of Product at Zerion discusses how they evolved from a DeFi portfolio tracker into a wallet infrastructure company powering both consumer and B2B crypto experiences. We cover why wallets remain one of the most important interfaces in crypto, how Zerion thinks about the wallet as distribution and data as the business, and why high-quality interpreted wallet data is still difficult to build in-house. We also discuss Zerion’s revenue model, including swap fees, premium subscriptions, API contracts, and future opportunities around cards and agentic workflows. Abi also shares lessons from launching and sunsetting ZERO Network, the limits of the fat wallet thesis, and Zerion’s broader vision for the future. — Abi Dharshan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abishekdharshan/  Abi Dharshan X: https://x.com/abishek  Zerion: https://www.zerion.io/  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  7. 18 Jun

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep. 7 ft. Figure - Can Real-World Credit Scale Through DeFi?

    In this episode, Aaron Kong, Director of Decentralized Finance at Figure, discusses how they are building capital markets infrastructure to make real-world credit faster, cheaper, and more accessible onchain. We cover how Figure became one of the largest non-bank HELOC originators in the US and how much blockchain rails help reduce origination costs and improve loan execution. We also discuss Figure’s DeFi strategy across Democratized Prime, Hashra, $Prime, and $YLDS, as well as its expansion into new credit asset classes. Aaron explains the role of DeFi capital, the risk profile of real-world credit, and Figure’s broader vision of turning institutional-grade credit markets into globally accessible onchain yield. — Aaron Kong LinkedIn: Aaron Kong | LinkedIn  Aaron Kong X: (10) AARON (@aaronxkong) / X Figure: Figure - America's #1 Non-Bank HELOC Lender  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

  8. 9 Jun

    Onchain, Honestly! Ep.6 ft. Theo - How To Scale Tokenized Finance?

    In this episode, Iggy Ioppe, Chief Investment Officer at Theo, discusses how Theo is building a 3.0 generation of RWA products designed to make traditional financial markets usable onchain. We cover why tokenization alone is not enough, how much of today’s financial infrastructure still runs on outdated rails, and why many early RWA products have struggled to move beyond tokenization theater into liquidity and DeFi integration. We also discuss Theo’s current product set, including tokenized treasuries, tokenized gold, and a yield-bearing stablecoin powered by a gold carry strategy. Iggy explains Theo’s business model, retail accessibility, regulatory considerations, and the company’s broader vision of building an onchain wealth management platform available globally, 24/7, with no minimums. — Iggy Ioppe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioppe/   Iggy Ioppe X: https://x.com/iggyioppe  Theo: https://theo.xyz/  Alea Research:  https://alearesearch.io/  Alea Research X: https://x.com/AleaResearch  Spotify:  Apple: Alenka X: https://x.com/alenka_on_x  Alenka LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/  Kaisa X: https://x.com/kaisakaisa_  Kaisa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaisa-k-4aa212194/  — DISCLAIMER: This Content is Provided Solely for Informational and Educational Purposes. It does Not Constitute Financial, Investment, or Legal Advice.

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About

Onchain, Honestly is a conversation with the operators actually building crypto companies. Kaisa and Alenka sit down with founders and leaders to talk about what the pitch decks leave out: go-to-market, hiring, revenue, real traction, and the unglamorous mechanics of turning a protocol or product into a business. No hype, no theater. Just honest conversations about what works, what doesn't, and what it actually takes to build onchain.

Information

  • Creator
    Kaisa & Alenka
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alea Research Group
  • Show Website
    Onchain, Honestly!