Blockchain Infrastructure

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon, to discuss what it takes to build through chaos, why he refused to “walk off” when crypto turned ugly in 2022, and what Polygon is really trying to become: not just another blockchain, but a global payments layer powered by stablecoins. Along the way, Sandeep reflects on his childhood, his obsession with individual sovereignty, and the philanthropic moment that turned crypto into a cu

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Meow, founder of Jupiter, to unpack how a decision made in a ramen shop turned into one of crypto’s most important DeFi platforms, why he thinks crypto desperately needs an “iPhone moment,” and what he really means by Web4 and “social money.” From ramen shop to Jupiter Meow’s “cat” persona comes across as a meme, but it’s actually a metaphor for adaptability. Cats survive in any environment, and he wants to be “whatever

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Matej Zak to discuss why self-custody matters, how Czech history shaped his worldview, and what it really takes to build Trezor, the world’s most trusted hardware wallet. From a brutal 1953 monetary reform in Czechoslovakia to today’s billion-dollar exchange hacks, Matej explains why most people in crypto still do not truly own their money, and what would need to change for that to become the norm. A Czech History Lesson

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Anand Gomes to discuss why decentralised exchanges are becoming the new systemically important financial centres, how Paradex can offer zero fees without breaking, and what it really takes, mentally and structurally, to build the rails of a new on-chain economy. Built Different: The Reality Behind “Eating Glass” Anand is very clear: running a crypto exchange is not glamorous. When Paradex processed $5.4 billion in 24 hou

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Mert Mumtaz, CEO and co-founder of Helius, to discuss why he’s betting hard on privacy, Solana infrastructure, and long-term conviction plays like Zcash, SOL, Bitcoin, and Hyperliquid. The conversation goes deep on first-principles investing, how internet connectivity reshapes price action, and the discipline it takes to build and capture value over a 3–5 year horizon. Mert’s worldview starts with time. “Every investment

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Seung Yoon Lee to discuss the $80 trillion creative asset class, why creators are shut out of the value they generate, and how Story Protocol aims to tokenise and “programme” intellectual property so anyone can legally remix it while paying royalties automatically. Fixing Creator Economics Seung’s path to this problem began with a long apprenticeship in media economics. Fresh out of Oxford, he tried to fix journalism’s b

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Zen and Soju to discuss how a 20-person team built Solana’s most advanced liquidity engine, why “Internet Capital Markets” are the next frontier, and what it really takes to launch culture-shaping tokens without losing the plot. Meteora didn’t begin as today’s sleek “liquidity layer”. Its roots trace back to Mercurial, a 2021-era Solana project that launched during the FTX boom. Zen, a product-first operator with a knack

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Paolo Ardoino to discuss how Tether became one of the most profitable businesses per employee in history, why stablecoins matter most to people outside the West, and what it means to build a “stable company” in an unstable world. Ardoino, CEO of Tether and CTO of Bitfinex, is matter-of-fact about the numbers. Tether earned $13.7 billion last year and expects similar performance this year. Some of that windfall reflects m

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Paul Faecks, the founder and CEO of Plasma, to discuss the trillion-dollar...

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, to discuss why Bitcoin and Solana...

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Emin Gün Sirer to discuss his journey from Turkish immigrant to Cornell professor...

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Sergey Nazarov, co-founder and CEO of Chainlink, to discuss why crypto has...

In this episode of When Shift Happens, I sit down with Sam Blackshear, Co-founder and CTO of Mysten Labs, to discuss the creation of the...

Evan Cheng sat down with me on the 125th episode of When Shift Happens  to unpack a bold ambition: fixing the broken foundation of the...

Gavin Wood, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Polkadot, sat down with me on the 124th episode of When Shift Happens  to unpack...

In the latest episode of When Shift Happens , Kevin Follonier sat down with Steven Goldfeder, co-founder and CEO of Offchain Labs, to...

In the wake of an industry-wide crash and the collapse of FTX, many expected Solana to vanish quietly into the crypto graveyard. Instead,...