Vision & Philosophy

In this episode of When Shift Happens, I sit down with Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, to discuss why he believes we are entering the most structurally bullish phase in crypto’s history, what institutional adoption actually looks like behind closed doors, and how crypto is reshaping capital markets, investor behaviour, and even global power structures. Horsley’s core argument is simple, but difficult to fully grasp: everything is aligning at on

In this episode of When Shift Happens, I sit down with Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, to discuss how he led the company through the largest security breach in Web3 history, and why he believes the next generation of crypto exchanges will be full financial platforms for the internet age. From Crypto Exchange to Financial Infrastructure Ben’s story goes beyond Bybit surviving a crisis. It is also about how much the role of a crypto exchange has changed. In the early day

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Jeff Park to discuss why so many young people feel locked out of the modern economy, why the old paths to wealth creation no longer work the way they used to, and why he believes Bitcoin may become the clearest escape hatch in an era shaped by currency debasement, unaffordable housing, and AI-driven labour disruption. What emerges is not just a conversation about markets, but a broader thesis about social frustration, ge

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, to discuss what it truly takes to lead at the highest level, the future of crypto as financial infrastructure, and the personal cost of building a global company while raising a child. Gracy’s story is not a linear climb. It’s shaped by early adversity, unconventional career moves, and a deep conviction about where the world is heading. Today, she leads one of the largest crypto exchanges globa

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Xin Song, Group CEO of GSR Markets, to discuss why crypto’s market structure is fundamentally broken, how misaligned incentives are holding the industry back, and what it would take to rebuild it into something closer to a real financial system. From his early days navigating illiquid crypto markets to his vision of turning GSR into the Goldman Sachs of Web3, Xin offers a perspective that is both deeply operational and u

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Xiao-Xiao, President of Jupiter and former digital assets lead at KKR, to discuss his unlikely journey from concert pianist to private equity operator to one of the most prominent builders in DeFi. It is a conversation about timing, conviction, product velocity, and the deeper shift from crypto as narrative to onchain finance as real infrastructure. At the centre of it all is a simple question: if stablecoins were only t

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Anand Gomes, CEO of Paradex, to discuss what it really takes to survive crypto cycles, how most token launches misalign incentives, why Paradex locked 80% of its team tokens to public performance milestones, and why he believes perpetual exchanges are becoming the financial supercenters of the internet economy. Health as a Founder’s First System The episode opens in an unexpected place, with Anand’s health. Over the pas

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Jeff Yan, Founder of Hyperliquid Labs, to reflect on one of crypto’s most extraordinary moments: a $1 billion community airdrop that grew into $10 billion in value. But this conversation goes beyond wealth to focus on responsibility, decentralisation, integrity, and what it really means to “house all of finance” on chain. The $10 Billion Moment, and What It Meant When the HYPE token launched, roughly $1 billion was distr

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Avichal Garg to discuss why most people lose in crypto, what it really takes to survive long enough to win, and the investing frameworks behind backing more than 25 unicorns. As co-founder and general partner at Electric Capital, and an early backer of companies like Figma, Solana, Kraken, Notion, and Bitwise, Avichal brings a long-term Silicon Valley lens to a simple but uncomfortable question: Are you here because you

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Anthony Pompliano to discuss what real conviction looks like: why he once put 95% of his net worth into Bitcoin, how deep research separates concentration from gambling, and why he would rather risk going to zero than win at what he calls “insider games” that create no real impact. “Relentless” as a way of operating Pompliano describes himself simply: investor, entrepreneur, someone who likes to have fun, but at the same

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, to discuss why Bitcoin may be worth millions per coin, why Solana has one of the strongest setups he has ever seen, and why the most reliable path to wealth in crypto is also the least exciting one. Hougan is not a chain maximalist. He comes from traditional finance, spent more than a decade in ETFs, and now sits at the intersection of institutional capital and digital as

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Kostas Chalkias to discuss why the next decade of blockchain won’t be defined by faster transactions, but by quantum-safe cryptography, AI-native infrastructure, and systems designed for machines and humans. Chalkias is the co-founder and chief cryptographer at Mysten Labs, best known for building the Sui Network after leaving Facebook’s Libra project. With over 15 years in cryptographic research and security, he brings

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Andrej Majcen, co-founder and Group CEO of Bitcoin Suisse, to unpack one central idea: we are living through a narrow, five-year window that may define who preserves and compounds wealth, and who doesn’t. As pension systems strain, trust in institutions erodes, and inflation quietly eats away at savings, Andrej argues that Bitcoin is no longer a speculative trade but a structural response to a broken financial system. Th

In this episode of When Shift Happens , I sit down with Raoul Pal for the 2nd time this year to discuss how to survive and succeed in crypto in 2026 without relying on luck, perfect timing, or constant trading. At the centre of the conversation is a deceptively simple framework: hold the right assets, understand your risk tolerance, and do absolutely nothing. Beneath that simplicity, however, lies a demanding discipline shaped by time horizons, liquidity cycles, and a thoroug

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 Brian Armstrong to discuss what it really takes to build something that lasts. We talk about the myth of the “smartest founder in the room,” the unglamorous muscle of unreasonable determination, and the emotional cost of scaling Coinbase over more than a decade. Brian opens up about burnout, loneliness, ambition, and the mindset shifts that helped him keep going when things felt heavy. We also get into why he believes ca

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 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 Arthur Hayes to discuss why he keeps most of his wealth in Bitcoin, his framework for turning “shitcoins” into more BTC, the stablecoin meta he thinks will reshape finance, and the human routines like skiing, tennis, and discipline that anchor his risk-taking. The Bitcoin Standard Hayes is the CIO of Maelstrom, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX, and the inventor of the perpetual swap. Across an hour of fast exchanges