The DeFi Decoded Podcast

Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of DeFi with special guest pplpleasr, a multidisciplinary artist focused on Web3, NFTs, crypto, DAOs, and philanthropy. They discuss pplpleasr's Web3 origin, Shibuya's disruptive approach to content creation, the evolving role of NFTs in art and culture, and the intersection of creativity, culture, and generative AI.

Join Alex Tapscott as he decodes the world of DeFi with special guest Sishir Varghese, CEO and Founder at Spectral. Listen in as they discuss Sishir's journey into crypto, Spectral Finance's founding, how the Spectral protocol works, its different customer use cases, reactions from traditional credit bureaus, the future of Spectral, and more! Sishir has been an active supporter and investor in the cryptocurrency space since 2014, having previously founded and managed venture firm Alphachain Capital, working closely with entrepreneurs and builders. Founded in 2020 by Sishir in New York, Spectral Finance is a protocol designed to evaluate on-chain creditworthiness, allowing users to monitor their credit scores and risk insights. Users can review high-risk loan activity through the platform, view current positions, and receive low health warnings across different DeFi protocols. The MACRO Score is the world's first-ever Web3 credit score that is a numerical representation of an individual's on-chain creditworthiness; Spectral has generated over 50,000 MACRO scores for its users. Spectral's partners gain valuable access to credit risk insights for business decisions and offerings by leveraging on-chain data while users gain exposure to new financial opportunities. Spectral raised $23 million in August 2022, led by Circle Ventures and nine other investors. Tune in to the 89th DeFi Decoded episode to hear Alex and Sishir discuss all things Spectral Finance. What lured Sishir into crypto in 2014, and what ultimately led to his founding of Spectral? How does Spectral's MACRO credit score work, and which traditional themes were leveraged in its design? What is the competition like for Web3 credit scores, and how have legacy credit bureaus reacted to Spectral's success? TIMESTAMPS [0:00] Introduction [3:32] Crypto Origin Story [4:49] Life Before Spectral [7:40] Spectral Founding [11:01] How Spectral Works [12:21] User Personas and Uses [15:22] Tracking Users With Multiple Addresses [17:30] Growth in Different Global Regions [21:40] Reactions from Legacy Businesses [24:15] MACRO Score Design Rationale [25:40] Web3 Competition Outlook For Credit Score [29:00] Future of Spectral [32:09] Conclusion

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of DeFi with special guest Beryl Li, Co-Founder at Yield Guild Games (YGG). Listen in as they discuss Beryl's journey into Web3, YGG's inception, the community's rebranding, Web3 gaming genres, game development trends, the open metaverse, the future of YGG, and more!

Roneil Rumburg, CEO and Co-Founder at Audius, discusses the promises of web3 in the music industry and Audius' decentralized streaming service. They explore the challenges of building Audius, engaging artists and fans, multi-chain possibilities, and creating an artist-focused platform for monetization. They also discuss the value of culture, NFTs, and governance tokens in empowering artists.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of DeFi with special guest Tim Beiko, a core developer and key figure in the Ethereum Foundation. Listen in as they discuss Tim's Web3 origin story, events leading up to and after The Merge, the significance of the Shanghai Fork, and more!

Tune in to the 85th DeFi Decoded episode to hear Alex, Andrew, and Ariel discuss all things Hivemapper and how they are revolutionizing map creation via ownership. How did non-crypto native Ariel find himself at the epicentre of a decentralized mapping platform? What noteworthy aspects from Helium and Waze does Hivemapper leverage? Which global regions are the most active, and how do their contributor counts affect overall reward capture? Tune in!

Tune in to the 84th DeFi Decoded episode to hear Alex and Andrew discuss all things DeFi and learn more about the crypto landscape in Africa. What is going on in South Africa? Why might Africa play a leading role in Web3? How can Africa potentially leap frog its legacy financial infrastructure to tap into Web3?

Join Andrew Young as he decodes the world of DeFi with special guest Jake Hannah, Co-Founder of SX Bet. Listen in as they discuss the NFT regulatory environment, exciting perpetual future projects, layer-2 blockchains, EVM-compatible chains, Polygon's financial health, and the overall value capture of many of the top projects.

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of DeFi with special guest Hamzah Khan, Head of DeFi at Polygon Technologies. Listen in as they discuss Polygon, the future of DeFi, app chain trends, and more! Polygon is a layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution that enables developers to build scalable, user-friendly, and secure decentralized applications (dApps) by "bringing the world to Ethereum." As the Head of Defi, Hamzah remains committed to developing Polygon's cutting-edge technology to grow further the 37,000+ Web3 applications utilizing Polygon. Hamzah is also an angel investor who personally invests in various DeFi and Web3 infrastructure companies. Tune in to the 82nd DeFi Decoded episode to hear Alex, Andrew, and Hamzah discuss all things DeFi and learn more about Polygon. How have Hamzah's two years at Polygon been? What is it that has allowed Polygon to be so successful with business development execution? What does the future of Polygon and DeFi look like?

Join Alex Tapscott and Andrew Young as they decode the world of DeFi with special guest Rebecca Liao, Co-Founder and CEO at Saga. Listen in as they discuss Saga, Rebecca's incredible past leading into Web3, Web3 Gaming and Entertainment ecosystems, and more! Rebecca Liao is the CEO of Saga, a Web3 protocol for launching dedicated blockchains. Saga allows developers to create their own blockchains with just a single click. It provides dedicated runtime environments for high performance and low, predictable gas fees. Users can freely transfer assets between ecosystems using Saga's dedicated chains, which are IBC+ enabled. Rebecca was previously a Co-Founder and COO at Skuchain, a top blockchain company in trade and supply chain finance, reaching $5 billion in annual volume under her leadership. Rebecca is an Advisor to Sommelier Protocol, a Fellow at Stanford Law, Science, and Technology, and has a background in law, writing, and advising presidential campaigns with the Biden and Clinton administrations. Tune in to the 81st DeFi Decoded episode to hear Alex, Andrew, and Rebecca discuss all things Web3 Gaming and learn more about Saga. What led Rebecca to dive into the world of Web3, and what is her experience with presidential campaigning? How does Saga work for users? Which ecosystems should we be most excited about?