Talking Tokens: Crypto, Onchain Finance, Investing

Jacquelyn Melinek, StrataMedia
  • 4.8 (5)
  • Business
  • Updated Biweekly

Talking Tokens is StrataMedia’s flagship podcast and newsletter, delivering two episodes a week to a growing global audience of crypto-native and traditional finance professionals. The award-nominated show features conversations with the founders, investors, market makers, and leaders shaping the onchain economy. Hosted by Jacquelyn Melinek, founder & CEO of StrataMedia and former senior crypto reporter at TechCrunch. Subscribe: https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/ Follow on X: @_TalkingTokens

  1. 5h ago

    From Pokémon Cards to Birkins: Inside Beezie’s $200M+ Volume | Andrea Miele

    In today's episode of Solana Sessions, Jacquelyn sits down with Andrea Miele, CEO and founder of Beezie, to explore how gamification, tokenization and onchain infrastructure are changing the way consumers discover and buy collectibles. Andrea breaks down how Beezie grew from tokenized trading cards into a broader gamified commerce platform, recently crossing $200 million in volume and $100 million in total revenue. They discuss Beezie's expansion into luxury markets through its partnership with The Luxury Closet, how users can access everything from Pokémon cards to luxury handbags through its digital claw-machine experience, and why Andrea believes the future of shopping is about more than simply searching, clicking and buying. She also explains why Beezie abstracts away the blockchain experience for mainstream users, how onchain transparency can help build trust, why Solana has become a key ecosystem for the company, and where gamified commerce could expand next. Timestamps: 00:10 Andrea journey from collector to founder 02:26 How shopping behavior is changing 03:20 How Beezie's digital claw machine works 05:25 Why trading cards found product-market fit 06:49 Building through doubt as a founder 07:51 What drove Beezie's growth 08:51 Growing to $200M in volume and $100M in revenue 11:28 User growth and retention 12:35 Expanding beyond crypto-native collectors 13:03 Beezie's move into luxury 14:48 How the luxury experience works 15:49 Vaulting and securing physical assets 16:17 Authenticating luxury goods 17:16 Why Beezie is selling “the chase” 18:14 The future of gamified commerce 19:19 What Beezie learned from sneakers 20:17 What's next for tokenized commerce 21:07 Bringing luxury buyers onchain 23:25 Building trust through authentication 27:23 What traditional collectibles markets get wrong 28:46 Why onchain transparency matters 29:36 Who is the future Beezie customer? 30:10 Andrea's advice for founders 30:38 Why Beezie chose Solana This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign between Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast, diving into founders' journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/solana  As part of the episode, we’re giving away one code for the fastest listener: LUX92244527. Head to solana.beezie.com/claw/Platinum-TCG-9 and sign up for an account, and apply the promo code for the premium Platinum TCG claw machine.   New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141  Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens  Follow Andrea Miele https://x.com/AndreaMYellie https://www.instagram.com/beeziedotcom/

    From Pokémon Cards to Birkins: Inside Beezie’s $200M+ Volume | Andrea Miele

  2. 23h ago

    How Stock Tokens Fueled Robinhood Chain's Explosive Growth

    Robinhood Chain has quickly emerged as one of the fastest-growing blockchains, with roughly 620,000 average daily active users, $1.3 million in daily fees, and $4.26 billion in TVL, at the time of recording. But  Alexander, from our institutional research team, explores in his latest report that some of the most interesting activity isn’t coming from stock tokens alone but also from what happens when tokenized stocks, memecoins, and 24/7 crypto markets collide. Alexander & Jacquelyn  breaks down how Robinhood Stock Tokens work, why memecoins tied to specific stock tokens have created unusual new trading dynamics, and how one HIMS-related stock token traded more than 100% above its underlying asset before reverting. We discuss why limited minting and redemption windows can create price dislocations while crypto markets continue trading, how 24/7 equity markets could reduce those gaps, and the differences between wrapped vs issuer-led tokenization. Alex also explains what has fueled Robinhood Chain’s rapid growth and why he believes the current memecoin-driven boom may already be approaching its end. Timestamps 00:10 The Stock Token Saga and New StrataMedia Research 01:12 Why Robinhood Chain Is Growing So Fast 03:20 How Robinhood Stock Tokens Work 04:55 The Risks Behind Wrapped Stock Tokens 06:11 Why Stock Tokens Are Getting Attention 06:52 When Memecoins Meet Tokenized Stocks 07:58 How a Stock Token Traded 100%+ Above Its Underlying 09:17 The Risks for Companies and Investors 10:51 The Problem With 24/7 Stock Token Trading 12:15 Wrapped vs. Issuer-Led Tokenization 13:17 Is the Robinhood Chain Boom Ending? 13:33 Why Alex Thinks the Market Could Cool Down 15:16 What Comes Next  Follow Talking Tokens https://x.com/_TalkingTokens?lang=en https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens-crypto-onchain-finance-investing/id1743669141 https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/  Follow Jacquelyn https://x.com/jacqmelinek

    How Stock Tokens Fueled Robinhood Chain's Explosive Growth

  3. 4d ago

    Why Robinhood Is Betting on Tokenized Assets | Nicola White

    In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Nicola White, VP of Institutional at Robinhood, to discuss how Robinhood is expanding its institutional crypto business and why tokenized assets could reshape the way traditional financial markets operate. Nicola breaks down how Robinhood's acquisition of Bitstamp plays a role in expansion, the evolution of institutional demand from crypto pilots to real-world use cases, and the growing role of stock tokens, perpetual futures, collateral and capital efficiency. They also explore how Robinhood's stock tokens work, the path toward issuer-led tokenization, and why assets ranging from equities and private markets to money market funds, credit and FX could eventually move onchain.  Timestamps: 00:10 Nicola White's path from TradFi to crypto 03:11 Building Robinhood's institutional business 04:23 How Bitstamp expanded Robinhood's global footprint 05:57 Connecting retail and institutional markets 07:12 What TradFi professionals need to understand about crypto 08:38 What traditional finance still gets wrong 09:44 Are institutions moving beyond crypto pilots? 10:41 What's working for Robinhood 12:34 What are stock tokens? 13:51 Wrapped vs. issuer-led tokenization 14:55 Are stock tokens a bridge? 15:47 Robinhood's biggest tokenization opportunities 16:57 What does an institutional Robinhood look like? 17:48 What institutions are asking for now 18:34 Why capital efficiency matters 19:34 What could unlock the next phase of U.S. institutional adoption This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard  Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com  This episode is brought to you by GSR, crypto’s capital markets partner, learn more at https://www.gsr.io/  New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141  Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Nicola White  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-white-b691003 https://x.com/NicolaWhite444

    Why Robinhood Is Betting on Tokenized Assets | Nicola White

  4. Sep 8

    How Stablecoins Could Double Margins for Businesses

    In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Sam Broner, CEO of The Better Money Company, to unpack what stablecoins need to become everyday payment infrastructure and why interoperability could matter more than which stablecoin ultimately wins. Drawing on his experience across Microsoft, the Federal Reserve, a16z and now building stablecoin infrastructure, Sam explains why today's payment system still has significant room for improvement. They discuss why companies are launching their own stablecoins, how a stablecoin clearinghouse could connect an increasingly fragmented market, and why consumers may eventually use stablecoins without even realizing it. Sam also breaks down the economics of card fees for merchants, whether stablecoins threaten Visa and Mastercard, and why AI agents could increasingly use stablecoins as a default way to transact online. Timestamps 00:00 — Meet Sam Broner 00:44 — From Microsoft and the Fed to stablecoins 02:21 — Why Sam saw the stablecoin opportunity early 04:54 — Is today's money system actually working? 05:23 — What is a stablecoin clearinghouse? 07:17 — Why stablecoin issuers need interoperability 10:10 — Why companies want their own stablecoins 12:25 — Why Better Money doesn't issue a stablecoin 13:40 — What happens if there are thousands of stablecoins? 17:13 — When stablecoins become everyday money 18:56 — What needs to happen for mainstream payments? 21:05 — How quickly could stablecoin payments become normal? 22:53 — The economics of credit card fees 24:41 — Do stablecoins threaten Visa and Mastercard? 26:42 — Stablecoins vs. banks and existing payment rails 28:05 — Why AI agents could pay with stablecoins 30:23 — Your AI agent may use stablecoins without you knowing 31:41 — How much money should you trust an AI agent with? 33:54 — When consumers stop thinking about stablecoins 36:43 — Sam's vision for the future of money 37:10 — Sam's career advice This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard  Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com  New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens  Follow Sam Broner https://x.com/SamBroner?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambroner

    How Stablecoins Could Double Margins for Businesses

  5. Sep 3

    Crypto Grew Despite Bad UX | What Happens When We Fix It?

    In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Edward Woodford, founder and CEO of zerohash, to explore how crypto infrastructure is becoming embedded inside some of the world’s largest banks, brokers, fintechs and payment companies. Zerohash powers digital asset and stablecoin capabilities for companies including Morgan Stanley, Interactive Brokers, Stripe and Visa, helping traditional financial institutions move from crypto trading toward a broader onchain financial stack. Edward Woodford explains why he believes banks will enter onchain finance through wealth and crypto before expanding into stablecoins, tokenized deposits, money market funds and tokenized stocks. They discuss why blockchain usability remains a major obstacle to mass adoption, the importance of abstracting away from chain complexity, how stablecoins could increase the velocity of global money movement, and why Edward has become increasingly bullish on onchain lending and vaults as financial markets move toward faster and more atomic settlement. Timestamps 00:10 Zerohash and the Evolution of Onchain Infrastructure 01:01 From Crypto Trading to Onchain Finance 02:50 How Zerohash Has Changed Since 2017 05:43 Why Blockchain Fragmentation Still Matters 07:44 Solving Crypto’s Usability Problem 08:32 Building Infrastructure for Major Financial Institutions 11:20 How Banks Expand From Crypto Into Onchain Assets 14:26 Why Trust Matters More Than Innovation 17:39 Why Zerohash Says No to Certain Business 20:51 Why Zerohash Stayed Independent 23:47 Building Through Crypto Market Cycles 25:40 How Zerohash Makes Its Biggest Bets 27:27 The Road to Mass Onchain Adoption 30:55 Where Stablecoins Still Have Untapped Potential 33:20 Why Onchain Lending Could Be Next 35:10 Edward’s Advice for Crypto Builders  New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141  Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens  Follow Edward Woodford https://x.com/e_woodford https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardwoodford Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com  Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.

    Crypto Grew Despite Bad UX | What Happens When We Fix It?

  6. Sep 1

    How Banks Went From Avoiding Crypto to Building Onchain

    On today's Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn sits down with Andrew McCormick, Head of Institutional and Market Development at Chainlink Labs, to explore how banks, retail brokers and traditional financial institutions are moving deeper into tokenization and why simply putting assets onchain is no longer enough. Andrew explains why institutional conversations have shifted from “what is a blockchain?” to “how can we plug in?” as well as why large Wall Street banks are increasingly exploring DeFi, and how retail brokers that aren't offering tokenized assets by 2030 could be left behind. They also discuss why tokenized equities could become a breakout category, how programmable collateral can make tokenized assets more useful, and how Chainlink is expanding beyond its origins as an oracle network to support data, interoperability, privacy, compliance and financial infrastructure. Plus, Andrew breaks down why crypto price matters less in institutional conversations today, what DTCC's move into tokenized securities could mean for TradFi-DeFi convergence, and why collateral may be one of the biggest unlocks for the next phase of onchain finance. Timestamps: 01:56 How Andrew defines tokenization 02:32 How the meaning of tokenization has changed 03:06 What “institutional” means at Chainlink 04:11 How institutional adoption changed in 2026 05:48 How banks are changing their view of digital assets 07:19 Chainlink's evolution beyond oracles 08:37 How Chainlink positions itself with financial institutions 09:19 Institutional demand behind the scenes 10:30 How long institutional partnerships take 11:59 Which financial firms are moving fastest? 13:06 Will every retail broker offer tokenized assets? 13:32 How early is tokenization today? 14:13 Could public equities move fully onchain? 15:07 Could stocks eventually function like cash? 15:39 Rebuilding financial workflows with blockchain 17:15 Why institutions may have no choice but to follow 18:32 Which tokenized asset category breaks out next? 19:41 Why retail matters as much as institutions 22:26 Why Wall Street is increasingly interested in DeFi 24:09 What's driving institutions toward DeFi 24:54 Why putting assets onchain isn't enough 25:54 What Chainlink's institutional partnerships reveal 27:43 Do institutions trust crypto more now? 28:48 Why crypto prices matter less to institutions 29:37 How TradFi and DeFi could converge 30:07 What DTCC tokenization could unlock 31:35 Chainlink as financial infrastructure 32:31 The next catalyst for tokenization 33:29 From crypto skeptic to blockchain believer 35:23 Why collateral could be the next major unlock 36:13 Andrew's advice New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens  Follow Andrew McCormick https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-mccormick-70662b88 This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io  Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.

    How Banks Went From Avoiding Crypto to Building Onchain

  7. Aug 31

    DeFi Vaults Just Hit $15B | What’s Driving the Boom?

    DeFi vaults are having a breakout year, with roughly $15 billion in value now sitting across the sector. But as Alexander Beaudry from our institutional research team found in his latest survey, rapid growth doesn’t necessarily mean institutional adoption has arrived. In this episode, we break down StrataMedia’s survey of seven industry leaders from Aave, Veda, Sky, Loopscale, Gauntlet, RockawayX, and Space and Time to explore what’s actually driving the rise of DeFi vaults and why one exec calls 2026 “the year of the vault.” Alex breaks down why distribution is emerging as one of the sector’s strongest competitive moats and reveals a striking divide around institutional demand, with survey respondents rating it anywhere from roughly 4 out of 10 to nearly 10 out of 10. We discuss why exchanges, neobanks, and fintechs rather than institutions themselves are currently driving some of the biggest vault use cases, how tokenization could bring more institutional capital onchain, and why track record, transparency, curation, and regulatory clarity may determine what comes next. Timestamps 00:00 DeFi Vaults and the New StrataMedia Research 01:58 Why DeFi Vaults Are Taking Off 03:30 Distribution Is Becoming the Real Moat 05:22 How Strong Is Institutional Demand? 06:18 Who Is Actually Using DeFi Vaults? 07:18 Tokenization Could Be the First Step 08:17 The Biggest Surprise From the Survey 09:47 Why Sophisticated Capital Is Changing 10:50 What StrataMedia Research Is Exploring Next ▫️Check out the full report:  Follow Talking Tokens https://x.com/_TalkingTokens?lang=en https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens-crypto-onchain-finance-investing/id1743669141 https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/ Follow Jacquelyn https://x.com/jacqmelinek

    DeFi Vaults Just Hit $15B | What’s Driving the Boom?

  8. Aug 27

    What Happens When 2% of the $100 Trillion Stock Market Moves Onchain?

    On today's episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn sits down with Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, to explore what's next for tokenized assets as institutional adoption grows and Wall Street moves more financial products onchain. Carlos breaks down why tokenization is still in its early innings despite Securitize reaching $5 billion in tokenized AUM, and why just 2% of the more than $100 trillion equities and ETF market moving onchain could have an enormous impact on crypto. They discuss tokenized stocks, BlackRock's BUIDL fund, real-world assets as collateral, the convergence of DeFi and institutional finance, and how Securitize is working with firms including BlackRock, Apollo, Hamilton Lane, Neuberger Berman and Cantor Fitzgerald. They also explore why simply putting assets onchain isn't enough, how tokenization could change IPO access and shareholder ownership, and what needs to happen before tokenized finance reaches mainstream investors. Timestamps: 00:10 Introduction 03:32 Securitize's IPO milestone 04:13 The journey to becoming a public company 06:48 Securitize's Q2 results and $5B tokenized AUM 08:12 What Carlos learned from its first earnings  09:55 Building the tokenized asset market 11:15 How much of the stock market could move onchain? 14:24 Retail vs. institutional tokenization 15:11 Bringing fixed income onchain 17:21 Why investors are chasing yield 17:57 Why tokenized assets stayed resilient during the crypto downturn 18:57 Building the full tokenization stack 20:49 What's still missing from onchain finance? 21:32 What institutions are asking about tokenization now 22:51 How BlackRock and other asset managers are expanding onchain 24:07 Tokenized assets as collateral 26:47 Can RWAs make DeFi safer? 27:37 Where institutional finance meets DeFi 29:44 Why Securitize brought on Brett Redfearn 32:28 Bringing IPO access onchain with Cantor Fitzgerald 35:51 Could IPOs become programmable? 36:17 What will take tokenization mainstream? 38:12 What's coming in 2027? 38:57 Three models for tokenized stocks 41:21 The risks of synthetic tokenized equities 42:31 What Carlos is watching next 43:44 Carlos's advice for investors and builders  New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Carlos Domingo https://x.com/carlosdomingo?lang=en https://www.instagram.com/carlosdomingo/?hl=en This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io  Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.

    What Happens When 2% of the $100 Trillion Stock Market Moves Onchain?
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About

Talking Tokens is StrataMedia’s flagship podcast and newsletter, delivering two episodes a week to a growing global audience of crypto-native and traditional finance professionals. The award-nominated show features conversations with the founders, investors, market makers, and leaders shaping the onchain economy. Hosted by Jacquelyn Melinek, founder & CEO of StrataMedia and former senior crypto reporter at TechCrunch. Subscribe: https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/ Follow on X: @_TalkingTokens

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