Talking Tokens

Jacquelyn Melinek, Token Relations
  • 4.8 (4)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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

  1. Why Bitcoin’s Price Isn’t Affecting Institutional Interest in Tokenization | Thomas Cowan

    15H AGO

    Why Bitcoin’s Price Isn’t Affecting Institutional Interest in Tokenization | Thomas Cowan

    In this episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Thomas Cowan, head of tokenization at Galaxy, about how blockchain technology is upgrading decades-old financial infrastructure and why institutional commitment to tokenization remains strong, despite crypto market volatility. Thomas explains how tokenization connects information and value the way physical cash does, why the convergence of regulatory clarity, technical maturity, and institutional presence is creating unprecedented momentum, and how Galaxy's partnership with State Street demonstrates traditional finance's long-term commitment to onchain capital markets. He explains why understanding the "singleness of money" matters as stablecoins proliferate, how tokenization will upgrade the existing financial system, and why price action no longer dictates institutional tokenization strategies heading into 2026. This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io. TIMESTAMPS (0:00) – Intro (1:21) – Defining tokenization (1:40) – Connecting information and value like physical cash (1:59) – Instant settlement vs credit card transactions (2:23) – Thomas's background at Paxos, Ripple, and Boston Fed (2:44) – Backend financial networks are 50-60 years old (3:07) – Tokenization upgrades rather than upends the system (3:26) – Understanding the singleness of money concept (4:03) – Why all dollars aren't equal on the backend (4:40) – Stablecoin explosion in 2026 and dollar fungibility (4:59) – Comparing stablecoin reserves to bank deposits (5:47) – Why CBDCs, real-time payments, and stablecoins will coexist (6:05) – What tokenization unlocks beyond instant settlement (6:38) – Tech disruption: improving processes then new use cases (6:48) – Three pillars: regulatory clarity, tech maturity, institutions (9:03) – Why this cycle feels different (10:22) – Balancing short-term narratives with long-term conviction (10:56) – Advice for crypto builders navigating uncertainty (11:47) – Galaxy's infrastructure and onchain capital markets (14:03) – Building capital markets within a bank (15:15) – Why blockchains are more than database upgrades (16:39) – Smart money deploying capital onchain (18:38) – 24/7 global markets and reducing settlement risk (20:25) – Building institutional-grade infrastructure (21:58) – Stablecoins and tokenized funds leading product-market fit (23:42) – Industry maturation beyond crypto-native use cases (25:04) – Bridging traditional finance with crypto-first tech (26:48) – How different institutions approach tokenization (29:01) – Standardization enabling innovation (30:44) – Traditional finance bringing new ideas to Galaxy (31:57) – Regulatory tailwinds and institutional curiosity (32:49) – What success looks like for Galaxy in 2026 (33:54) – State Street partnership and tokenized money market fund (34:51) – Traditional finance bringing unexpected use cases (35:42) – Institutional long-term planning vs crypto short-termism (36:22) – Price action no longer shifts institutional sentiment (37:06) – Industry reaching maturation (37:44) – Go deep on Twitter and Discord to understand the tech ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps.Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekTalking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokensFollow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    38 min

  2. 2D AGO

    How Vaults Become the Next Stablecoin Narrative | Sun Raghupathi

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Sun Raghupathi, CEO of Veda, about how DeFi evolved from speculation to a robust financial backend for users, fintechs and asset managers. Sun explains why degens were essential beta testers for early DeFi systems, how vault infrastructure bridges the gap between onchain complexity and traditional finance, and why idle balances should automatically generate yield for users instead of enriching banks. He walks through Veda's growth from serving DeFi projects like Ether.fi to powering yield products for centralized exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase. He also explains why stablecoin yield is the killer use case driving fintech adoption, and how vault infrastructure works across multiple chains. The conversation covers the net interest margin disruption facing traditional banks, enterprise L2 announcements going quiet, and Sun's advice to DeFi founders on meeting reality where it's at during this critical window for execution. TIMESTAMPS (0:00) – Intro (1:06) – What most people misunderstand about DeFi today (1:22) – Getting into DeFi at the 2021 peak and the Wild West era (2:32) – Degens as beta testers for early DeFi systems (2:54) – DeFi transitioning from speculative to robust financial backend for the real world (3:49) – Two kinds of DeFi builders: changing the system vs getting rich (4:33) – Night and day difference between DeFi and traditional finance transparency (4:59) – Veda as a DeFi engine for asset managers, fintechs and financial apps (5:38) – Idle balances should generate yield automatically and vault infrastructure explained (6:59) – Starting Veda in mid-2024 with Ether.fi partnership (7:44) – Exchanges and fintechs entering DeFi unexpectedly (8:24) – Kraken DeFi Earn and Coinbase onchain yield vault products (11:35) – Stablecoin yield as the killer use case driving fintech adoption (14:00) – Veda's TVL growth, yield generation and operating across multiple chains (17:39) – Regulatory environment improving and asset manager interest in onchain products (20:30) – Vaults as the primitive for DeFi adoption at scale (22:03) – Technical architecture, security and risk management in vault design (25:10) – Smart contract audits and safety measures (26:49) – Vaults vs other DeFi yield products (28:43) – Recognizing legitimate vs sketchy vaults through track record and scale (29:44) – Groups Veda wants to tap into and traditional banks engaging with DeFi (30:46) – Hardest trade-offs for banks moving onchain and net interest margin disruption (31:45) – Will DeFi disrupt finance or will finance become DeFi? (32:34) – Watching enterprises building L2s and the quiet period on new chain announcements (33:19) – Advice to DeFi founders: small window to stay relevant and execute (34:00) – Meeting reality where it's at and ensuring the transition happens responsibly ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    35 min

  3. FEB 5

    Why Onchain Vaults Are Following Stablecoins Everywhere | Hunter Horsley

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, about the firm’s launch of onchain vault strategies wiith Morpho and latest Q4 2025 corporate adoption report of bitcoin and ethereum as well as his outlook on digital asset treasuries. Hunter explains what vaults are, why they're following the adoption curve of stablecoins, and how they enable 4-6% yields, while investors maintain custody. He walks through Bitwise's expansion beyond ETFs into staking, options strategies, and DeFi vault curation, why institutions are going from "0 to 500 miles per hour" on crypto, and what the corporate bitcoin adoption numbers reveal. The conversation covers the “honeymoon phase” wearing off for treasury companies, the investor relations role DATs play in the ecosystem, why two-thirds of financial institutions will be in crypto within 6 months, and the shift from the "tell me era" to the "show me era" in institutional adoption. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Intro (01:05) What are onchain vaults and why is everyone talking about them (02:04) Bitwise x Morpho vault announcement (02:32) Why people care about vaults: stablecoins parking and earning yield (03:00) Vaults following stablecoin adoption and doubled in assets last year (03:20) How institutional investors should think about vault risk vs traditional fixed income (05:10) Real world assets hitting $20 billion and stablecoins reaching $300 billion (05:35) Onchain lending rates differ from traditional bank rates (05:50) Why Bitwise is expanding beyond ETFs into onchain yield strategies (06:48) Major banks approving Bitwise ETFs in last 6 months (07:52) Bitwise staking several billion dollars for clients and running bitcoin options strategies (08:49) Building a team that managed $2 billion of DeFi strategies (09:42) Where vault opportunities are going as traditional firms enter the space (11:10) Massive fintechs integrating stablecoins and vaults by end of year (11:50) Q4 2025 corporate bitcoin adoption report key findings (13:00) 19 new public companies bought Bitcoin in Q4 (14:05) Figma put 4% of balance sheet into bitcoin through Bitwise ETF (15:30) His 9-minute call with an AI company that put bitcoin on the balance sheet (16:20) Ethereum holdings: Bitmain, SharpLink, and EtherMachine (16:50) Treasury companies post-honeymoon phase will look very different by year-end (18:05) Why the world doesn't need a million treasury companies (18:32) DATs and investor relations roles that crypto protocols lack (20:43) How many treasury companies can exist per major asset (22:07) Institutions buying more crypto AND becoming more crypto native (23:00) Moving from "tell me era" to "show me era" for crypto (24:50) Banks going from 0 to 500 miles per hour on crypto (26:23) Two-thirds of financial institutions will be in crypto within 6 months (26:49) January 2026 is the most bullish moment in Bitwise's 8 years ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    28 min

  4. FEB 3

    How ReserveOne Plans to Shake Up the Crowded DAT Market | Jaime Leverton

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Jaime Leverton, CEO of ReserveOne, about building a publicly-traded diversified digital asset reserve inspired by the U.S. Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. Jaime explains why she left traditional tech and her role as CEO of Hut 8 to build ReserveOne from the ground up, how the company's 80% Bitcoin and 20% alternative assets strategy differs from single-asset treasury models, and why bridging crypto jargon to traditional finance language is critical for institutional adoption. She walks through why Bitcoin's historical four-year cycle may have ended, what 2025's surprising sideways price action tells us about 2026, and why ReserveOne raised $1 billion through a SPAC merger. The conversation covers regulatory tailwinds, institutional maturation, breaking crypto's echo chamber, Figure's real-world use cases, truth and provenance in the AI era, and why the next generation expects financial systems as fast as Roblox. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Intro (01:07) How Jaime got into crypto through Bitcoin miners flooding data centers in 2017 (03:07) Taking over Hut 8 as CEO during the Covid liquidity crash (03:51) What drew Jaime to ReserveOne and building something from the ground up (06:06) It’s big list of board members: Wilbur Ross, Sebastian Bea, Gabriel Abed, John D'Agostino, Reeve Collins (07:23) Bridging crypto jargon to make digital assets accessible to traditional investors (09:03) When ReserveOne plans to launch and current SEC filing status (10:02) How ReserveOne differs from single-asset passive treasury companies (11:04) 80% Bitcoin 20% alternative assets inspired by the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile (13:20) How digital asset treasuries evolved (17:04) What sophisticated investors understand now vs a few years ago (18:36) Misconceptions around Bitcoin (19:04) How the 2025 market surprised everyone and broke the four-year cycle (21:13) Why IBIT was the top performing ETF, yet had negative returns (23:31) Bitcoin's unique finite supply: only 1 million Bitcoin left until 2140 (25:05) What really matters in public markets: trust and transparency (28:30) Why diversification is increasingly important given global volatility (29:01) The crypto IPO boom and clearing the 2021-2024 backlog (31:11) Crypto entering a more mature institutional era vs the ICO Wild West (33:04) Figure solving real-world problems onchain as the most exciting use case (34:26) What the industry looks like in 5-10 years: eradicating analog financial systems (35:29) Why the next generation expects speed and efficiency like Roblox (37:10) Following Clarity Act progress and sovereign nation Bitcoin strategies (38:13) Truth and provenance: solving for what's real in the AI era (40:23) Final advice: stay humble curious and surround yourself with different views ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    41 min

  5. JAN 29

    Inside Securitize's $1.25B Nasdaq SPAC and Pacific Stock Transfer Acquisition | Billy Miller

    In this episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Billy Miller, COO of Securitize, about how transfer agents evolved from background infrastructure to critical onchain infrastructure and why blockchain technology gave this traditionally overlooked sector a chance to reemerge. Billy explains what transfer agents do, how Securitize acquired Pacific Stock Transfer in 2022, and why its Exodus tokenization was a pivotal moment proving regulated tokenization could work at scale. He walks through why early tokenization efforts focused on the wrong assets, how the market shifted from speculative ICOs to institutional-grade products like BlackRock's BUIDL fund, and why issuers underestimate how easy tokenization can be. The conversation covers institutional adoption timelines, why intermediaries are threatened by onchain infrastructure, FG Nexus tokenization challenges, global investor access, and why within five to ten years tokenization will simply be how capital markets operate. This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Intro (01:19) Defining tokenization (01:58) Transfer agents and infrastructure role (03:25) Transfer agents in the shadows (04:07) Blockchains and transfer agent prominence (05:59) Bridging traditional and onchain finance (06:49) Pacific Stock Transfer acquisition (08:40) Wallets vs stock certificates (08:52) Billy's first tokenization exposure (10:06) Securitize as first digital transfer agent (11:16) Blockchain automation vs responsibilities (11:50) Exodus tokenization pivotal moment (14:00) Shift to important infrastructure (14:18) Early adopters' wrong reasons (17:24) Tokenizing for end utility (18:48) Tokens as DeFi collateral and 24/7 trading (19:45) Investor asset control (20:25) Legacy finance views shifting (21:47) Institutional-grade standards (22:16) Operating in regulated frameworks (23:42) FTX collapse impact on KKR (24:54) Regulatory clarity returns institutions (25:52) Tokenized stocks predictions (26:39) Intermediaries threatened by democratization (27:26) Issuers overthinking tokenization (28:55) FG Nexus infrastructure resistance (30:11) Intermediary exploration easing deployment (31:05) Tokenization inevitability (32:00) Stock certificates and legacy systems (32:53) Timeline: 5-10 year transformation (33:38) Efficient tokenized market vision (35:00) Building new vs improving markets (35:07) Opening doors to global investors (36:04) Most interesting conversation (37:07) Final advice on asking questions ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    38 min

  6. JAN 27

    Building Payment Rails That Banks & Fintech Actually Want to Use | Marc Boiron

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, about the company's expansion into payments through its new Open Money Stack and why connecting onchain systems to real world finance is critical for keeping capital onchain. Marc explains why blockchains, stablecoins, and wallets are converging to make payments easier than traditional correspondent banking networks, and how Polygon's acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence can create a unified API for enterprises. He walks through why general purpose blockchains can't excel at everything, how Polygon is doubling down on its payments reputation, and why the next inflection point happens when merchants, businesses, and developing countries adopt stablecoins at scale. The conversation covers cross-border payments, FX markets, enterprise treasury strategies, the future of Visa and SWIFT, and why blockchain infrastructure will capture hundreds of billions in network value over the next decade. TIMESTAMPS (00:00) – Intro (01:17) – Why payments are finally having its moment (02:24) – Banking networks and their unanswered questions (03:40) – Stablecoins providing certainty on fees, arrival time and transaction visibility (04:05) – How banks view stablecoins as risk vs opportunity (05:20) – Timeline for bank adoption: JPMorgan's Kinexys and chains in 2026 (06:39) – Stablecoins growing beyond trading to cross-border payments and dollar access (07:42) – Why Venmo still beats USDC for domestic payments (08:28) – What's driving stablecoin growth from $300 billion market cap (10:01) – Whether stablecoins replace traditional rails or just upgrade infrastructure underneath (11:19) – Users will know they're using stablecoins for the next 3 to 5 years (12:14) – When stablecoins become ubiquitous with national currencies (13:15) – Polygon's shift from a general purpose chain to payments specialization (15:06) – Blockspace commoditization and why differentiation matters (16:24) – Doubling down on payments through simplified integrations (17:05) – How the Open Money Stack solves the 5 to 10 vendor problem (18:30) – One API for on-ramps and off-ramps, wallets, chains and interoperability (19:07) – Making payments fade into the background and eliminating cross-border friction (20:11) – Keeping money onchain instead of continuous on- ramp and off- ramp cycles (21:16) – Creating an onchain world with DeFi, tokenized bonds and ZK identity (22:03) – What's available today: Morpho, Franklin Templeton and merchant acceptance (23:24) – Enterprises keeping 1 to 3% of capital onchain and that increasing over time (25:05) – Why 2026 is the year enterprises implement stablecoin strategies at scale (27:14) – Consolidation trends and how Polygon's Open Money Stack remains open  (28:49) – Its Coinme and Sequence acquisitions for better payments infra (30:06) – Integration timeline:one API in six months (31:02) – FX markets as the dark horse opportunity in onchain payments (33:00) – Japan, Brazil and Singapore leading non- dollar stablecoin growth (34:33) – Polygon's mission to move all money onchain within ten years (35:45) – SWIFT, Visa and the trillion dollars in network value being disrupted (37:09) – How Agglayer and Trails capture cross-chain payment value (37:31) – Where stablecoins show up in everyday life over the next 3 to 5 years (39:23) – Final advice: don't bet against blockchains ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ 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.

    41 min

  7. JAN 22

    Why AI and Crypto Are Two Halves of the Same Coin | Nikil Viswanathan

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Nikil Viswanathan, Co-Founder & CEO of Alchemy, the infrastructure platform powering over 70% of top crypto applications and more than $150B in annual transaction volume. Nikil explains how Alchemy abstracted away the complexity of building onchain for millions of developers to create crypto products similar to mobile apps on iOS and web apps on AWS. Nikil breaks down why developer adoption, not price action, is the true signal for crypto’s long-term trajectory, and why the next major wave will come from banks, fintechs, and global consumer apps integrating stablecoins and onchain payments. He shares insights from Alchemy’s work with JP Morgan, Robinhood, and web2 companies, explaining how stablecoins are becoming a new global monetary rail especially in emerging markets where inflation, capital controls, and unreliable banking systems limit economic access. The conversation also dives into AI’s impact on software creation, the end of traditional coding careers, the rise of “makers” and why crypto and AI form a natural symbiosis. Nikil also unpacks tokenization, memecoins, DeFi’s return, hyperinflation abroad, and why stablecoins are a powerful export of the US dollar. Timestamps(00:00) - Introducing Nikil and Alchemy powering over 70% of major crypto apps (01:01) - Why crypto infrastructure is hard to explain and Alchemy’s simple analogy to AWS (02:05) - The three major technology shifts: computers, internet and crypto and why each needs an OS layer (03:10) - How crypto will scale to billions of users (05:07) - Nikil’s philosophy of one life, one shot and optimizing for outsized global impact (06:07) - Why founders underestimate infrastructure and how AWS, Apple and Microsoft shaped today’s world (07:30) - Measuring crypto adoption by developer activity, not bull cycles and price volatility (09:00) - How bear markets didn’t stop builders and traditional finance is now entering crypto at scale (10:31) - Banks like JP Morgan replacing internal rails with blockchain for efficiency and savings (12:45) - The innovator’s dilemma why banks fear disruption yet must adopt stablecoin rails (14:31) - Apps with users can become a bank like Uber, DoorDash, Gojek and other consumer apps (16:41) - Stablecoins and the Starbucks effect with consumers already use banking layers without realizing it (18:41) - Tokenization beyond the hype and unlocking global access to the US financial system (20:45) - Hyperinflation and how stablecoins can solve constraints that banks can’t (23:43) - How dollar-denominated stablecoins are America’s greatest export since the Declaration of Independence (25:57) - The rise of global QR payments and why the US financial system lags behind Asia (28:56) - Why money movement is broken worldwide and the historical evolution toward digital currency (32:27) - What stablecoin adoption truly looks like everywhere invisible to users native to apps (34:58) - Categories people overlook (38:49) - The global inflation crisis and why Bitcoin or stablecoins can become default stores of value (43:07) - The future of AI and crypto: merging authenticity, financial autonomy and machine-to-machine commerce (47:44) - How AI eliminates traditional coding and transforms developers into makers (52:04) - Nikil’s life advice: most people misjudge risk and the safe path is actually riskier Essentials Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on XJacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekTalking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice.

    56 min

  8. JAN 20

    Why 50% of DeFi Projects Are Just TradFi Backdoors | Ben Nadareski

    In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek sits down with Ben Nadareski, Co-Founder and CEO of Solstice Labs, to break down how Solstice brings institutional-grade delta-neutral trading strategies to everyday users through a permissionless, onchain structure. Ben explains how Solstice can give a $5 retail depositor access to the exact same real yield that hedge funds, trading firms, and major institutions receive with no backroom deals, no preferential terms, and fully transparent onchain proof of reserves. They discuss how Solstice scales yield to billions through delta-neutral funding-rate arbitrage, why its strategy is sustainable in crypto but nearly erased in traditional markets, and how liquid staking-style receipt tokens unlock collateral efficiency across Solana. Ben also shares why their TVL scaled over $300M in just three months, how institutions are entering crypto through Solstice, and why full transparency is the only way to rebuild trust after years of opaque DeFi yields. The conversation also explores the Solstice token launch, building a non-VC-backed cap table, why Solana’s culture and composability made it the only viable chain, and how Ben’s background in physics and derivatives trading shapes the way he thinks about market structure, risk, capital efficiency, and the long-term path to crypto adoption. This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on www.token-relations.xyz Timestamps(00:00) – Intro (01:16) – Stablecoins as new rails for institutional strategies (02:18) – Achieving 15–20% yield via delta-neutral arbitrage (02:47) – Ben’s background: physics, Wall Street, ConsenSys (03:30) – Deus X backing & prop-trading foundations (03:53) – 131k users and $300M TVL in 3 months (04:01) – Retail and institutional users side-by-side (05:03) – Why institutions want transparency, not token subsidies (06:06) – 50%+ institutional conversion rate (07:29) – Solstice sits between DeFi and CeFi (08:23) – Onchain proof of reserves & audited returns (09:10) – Scaling the US yield token across Solana (09:31) – US as collateral engine for borrow/lend/loop (11:14) – Institutions entering crypto via fiat-onboarding fund (12:30) – Avoiding fiat-backed stablecoins until regulation matures (13:24) – Token launch: presale, points, no VC overhang (15:54) – Avoiding fake or boosted yields (17:55) – 3 types of fake yields: subsidies, mispricing, low caps (19:25) – Importance of yield due diligence (21:06) – Scaling to billions via deep venue arbitrage (22:29) – Why Solstice chose Solana (23:51) – Institutional RWA momentum on Solana (24:29) – What if Solana stablecoins stall? (25:18) – Lessons as a first-time founder (26:44) – Physics mindset: systems as symphonies (28:26) – Retail should watch mass payments adoption (29:12) – Crypto vs CBDCs: sovereignty and government holdings (30:05) – Contrarian take: crypto = bank back offices (31:24) – Challenging dApp norms via decentralization (32:10) – Final advice: if yield isn’t simple, don’t touch it Essentials You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on XJacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinekTalking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.

    34 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Jacquelyn Melinek, Token Relations
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    186
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jacquelyn Melinek, Token Relations
  • Show Website
    Talking Tokens

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