FINNOVATORS

From the Securrency Liquidity Lounge in Davos, Jason talks about a global savings crisis and why each investment needs a protective halo. Having bootstrapped his firm to a top 10 global fintech, Jason has three golden tips for startups. With $7bn of structured products transacted by Halo over the last few years, he is only getting started though, and predicts that blockchain and smart contracts will further revolutionize financial markets.

Our first regulator on Finnovators, and well deserved too! Emmanuel shows how regulators can work hand in hand with fintechs and virtual asset firms to shape the future of finance. A sleeves up regulatory approach that is principles-based and gets deeply involved in tech governance and the creation of digital marketplaces. No surprise then, that Securrency Inc., Securrency Capital and many exchanges, brokers and custodians, have chosen ADGM as their home. 

Why is a combat & investment banking veteran speaking to US Congress and at Davos on crypto?  Chris lays bare some, perhaps  surprising, opportunities for financial institutions and market infrastructure providers. Direct distribution, operational efficiencies and risk mitigation are great, but even greater are the fundamental values inherent in web3. Identity as private property, the creator economy and token governance present a unique opportunity for all of us to stop working the land as serfs in web2! 

How does white-labeled liquid staking benefit DAOs, DeFi users, bridges and L1 protocols alike? Why are dynamic withdrawal pools the newest investment opportunity in Defi? Tune in and listen to our conversation with Simon to find out how Geode is aiming to set a trend of making liquid staking derivatives prominent in DeFi. 

Why are NFT's the perfect solution for a multi-billion dollar collectibles market? We answer this and more, with Niko Hosn, CTO and cofounder of Raremint, and Carlos Betancourt, founding principal at BKCoin Capital. Niko explains how the NFT adds value layers to the physical asset, the challenge of bringing physical assets into the digital world, and why sports memorabilia are a great starting point. Carlos explains how asset-backed NFT's add value to an institutional portfolio, especially once integrated into DeFi and the Metaverse. Be ready to "collect to earn"! 

True blockchain interoperability is of utmost importance for the future of web3, however it has remained largely elusive and "bridges" have been targets of some of the largest online thefts the world has ever seen. A novel approach by L1 Zetachain promises omnichain interoperability with cold wallet security and hot wallet convenience. Brandon explains how his team of engineers is approaching this hard problem and how it enables unified global liquidity, portable digital identity and various other use cases. 

"Only innovation leads you to freedom!" DODO cofounder Diane Dai explains what freedom means to her, and how her decentralized exchange (DEX) is truly innovative in the crowded field of AMM DEX'es. On this episode, we talk about Effective Value Locked vs. Total Value Locked, the limitations of yield farming, DODO facilitating professional market makers entering DeFi, future roadmap, and how she deals with the crypto twitter drama show. 

Trader-turned-builder 0xDorsal talks to us about the importance of pseudonymity, the challenges of placing large trades on DEX'es and the solutions put forward by Integral, the active risk of "passive" yield farming, effective liquidity, on-chain light pools and how every builder needs a tribe. 

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As staking solutions explode in variety and complexity, there is an opportunity to help users and institutions identify the best staking opportunity that suits their needs and risk profiles. Smart-contract based, non-custodial platform, Stader, aspires to be aggregation layer across multiple blockchain networks.  Amit Gajjala co-founded Stader in April 2021 and has already amassed nearly $1 billion in AUS and a $450m valuation. We talk about the different participants in the ecosystem, institutional solutions, and how to onboard the next billion users.  

Alex explains how Nansen is the Harvard of "degens". A $750m blockchain analytics firm backed by the world's leading VC's  that labels hundreds of millions of wallets on a variety of chains and provides valuable metrics and insights to crypto and NFT investors and traders. He takes us through the major analytics use cases, the use of machine learning in labeling wallets and pricing NFTs,  the work he does with institutions and even Google, his expansion plans, and some of the major trends in crypto.  Alex combines a data science background with deep blockchain expertise and most importantly: true passion. Don't miss this episode and make sure to subscribe!