In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Marco Santori, CEO of Solmate, about the company’s shift from a pure digital asset treasury model into an infrastructure business. Marco explains why Solmate decided to build bare metal validators in the UAE, how geography affects production, and why the region is becoming strategically important for Solana’s global footprint.

They also discuss Solmate’s planned acquisition of RockawayX, how it intends to integrate the firm’s liquidity, asset management and infrastructure, and why tokenization represents the biggest near term opportunity on Solana. Marco shares insights from his career across law, Kraken and venture, and explains why the long term vision is to turn Solmate into an operating business driven by revenues and not market cycles.

Timestamps(00:00) – Intro

(01:16) – Abu Dhabi Finance Week vs Breakpoint and Solmate’s strategic presence in the region

(02:21) – How institutional investors think about high frequency trading and blockchain mechanics

(04:13) – Marco’s background across law, exchanges and venture — and how he navigated the industry

(06:37) – Why Solmate merged its DAT with infrastructure after investor feedback

(08:30) – RockawayX acquisition and integrating infrastructure with liquidity services

(11:02) – What real infrastructure means: UAE’s first bare metal validator

(14:03) – Why UAE’s geography is critical for latency, block production, and global connectivity

(19:16) – Expansion plans, regional market differences, and focus on UAE

(20:00) – Messaging to institutional allocators and pitching Solana as onchain finance exposure

(24:35) – Moving beyond DATs: Solmate’s shift toward an earnings-driven business

(29:08) – Tokenization as the next era of commerce and everyday HFT-style transactions

(33:31) – Solmate’s long-term vision and Marco’s final advice for navigating crypto cycles

Essentials

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZApple Podcast: 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 InstagramTalking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Nitesh Nath, Founder and CEO of DFlow, about building trading infrastructure for Solana and enabling native access to prediction markets, starting with Kalshi, through DFlow’s new API.

Nitesh explains why expanding market access matters for Solana’s trading community, how tokenizing these positions unlocks new DeFi composability, and why every prediction can become an SPL token that plugs into borrowing, trading, and liquidity protocols. They also discuss DFlow’s concurrent liquidity programs, bridging off-chain liquidity onchain, its recent integration with Phantom, and how these systems set the foundation for new financial primitives.

The conversation covers tokenization, onchain market design, expected 2026 milestones, local-market prediction use cases, and how everyday users may eventually use prediction-powered applications without ever realizing it. Nitesh also shares what Solana needs to improve for high-frequency traders, why liquidity provision is still too difficult, and why DFlow is betting on Solana as the most efficient place to build financial rails.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

(01:07) – DFlow’s recent announcements with growing user demand

(01:32) – Connecting Solana traders to Kalshi and the importance of market access

(02:45) – Network effects between prediction markets and Solana traders through DFlow infrastructure

(03:37) – Tokenization as the building block for DeFi and enabling predictions to plug into the ecosystem

(04:18) – Phantom partnership as a new entry point for traders and liquidity providers

(05:12) – The broader unlock for prediction markets as they reach mainstream attention

(06:10) – Concurrent liquidity programs bridging off chain liquidity onto Solana

(07:26) – Global user opportunities and Solana’s ability to attract sports and political audiences

(09:42) – Burning tokens into stablecoins when markets resolve and how payouts work

(12:10) – Open interest expectations for 2026 and how tokenization scales with market activity

(14:16) – Too many markets debate and why niche local prediction markets will thrive

(17:10) – Everyday apps using prediction markets under the hood without users realizing it

(18:31) – Most things eventually moving on chain and how the prediction API integrates into apps

(20:27) – Improving Solana infra for HFT and solving jitter, latency and market maker pain points

(22:27) – Why DFlow is building on Solana and the vision for DeFi as efficient financial rails

(23:08) – Nitesh’s final advice on ignoring price action and thinking long term

Essentials

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify:⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ⁠Apple Podcast:⁠ 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 InstagramTalking Tokens:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/⁠

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Matt Luongo, Founder of Thesis and Co-Founder of Mezo, and Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital. They discuss how Bitcoin collateral, institutional borrowing, and onchain lending are becoming core parts of modern finance.

They dive into why institutions increasingly want to borrow against Bitcoin, how regulatory clarity and qualified custody make these markets possible, and why products like Mezo’s lending and staking are giving BTC holders new ways to access yield, without selling their assets. The conversation also explores the recent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac signals around crypto collateral, how Bitcoin mortgages work today, the rise of BTCfi, and why DeFi lending has historically outperformed centralized lenders through past market blowups.

They also break down volatility management, backtesting, risk frameworks, why conservative collateral ratios matter, and how Bitcoin’s “forever asset” narrative changes long-term financial behavior for both institutions and individuals.

Timestamps(00:00) – Why Bitcoin is becoming a long-term collateral asset

(01:27) – Institutions prefer Bitcoin, altcoins lack institutional traction

(02:21) – Why institutions borrow against BTC and rely on qualified custody

(03:34) – Fannie and Freddie exploring crypto for mortgage eligibility

(05:19) – Bitcoin mortgages today with second homes, investment properties, and growing demand

(06:36) – How Mezo helps users borrow using BTC and why guidance matters

(07:26) – BTCfi is emerging: borrow, earn, or stake Bitcoin onchain

(09:06) – Treasury companies, native yield and why lending is Bitcoin’s true yield mechanism

(10:59) – Transparent, onchain lending vs black-box centralized lenders

(12:00) – Managing volatility, collateral ratios and conservative risk design

(15:26) – Bitcoin staking: short lockups, capital efficiency and borrowing against staked BTC

(19:03) – Why DeFi lending has outperformed centralized platforms across cycles

(22:04) – Bitcoin eating the “monetary premium” of gold and real estate

(32:25) – What success looks like: BTC finance becoming “just finance”

(37:04) – What they’re watching next: treasury companies, UX leapfrogging, AI and machine economies

EssentialsYou can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Greg Di Prisco, Co-Founder of M0, about how stablecoins are reshaping global finance, why banks are losing their grip on deposits, and how the next monetary layer will be built directly into applications instead of traditional banking rails.

Greg explains why stablecoins may ultimately fulfill parts of Satoshi’s original vision, how M0 enables companies to launch their own branded stablecoins, and why the “vertically integrated issuer” model of USDC and USDT will give way to a broader, more decentralized ecosystem. He also breaks down tokenized treasuries, regulatory clarity under the “Genius Act,” and why fintechs are already routing balances to stablecoins without users realizing it.

They discuss how banks will be forced to compete again, what tokenization actually means in practice, why stablecoins could add billions of new users overnight through distribution partners, and what risks or geopolitical shocks could slow down adoption.

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

(01:05) - Defining tokenization & why the term is often misused

(02:24) - Greg’s background: MakerDAO, early stablecoin development & founding M0

(03:09) - Why “everyone becoming their own bank” was 50 years too early

(04:22) - How stablecoins push banks to compete again for deposits

(05:28) - Building M0 and branded stablecoins, issuers & white-label infrastructure

(06:29) - Real client examples like GPU financing & MetaMask’s stablecoin

(07:33) - Why builders want their own stablecoin & capturing yield

(08:17) - The difference between lending USDC vs treasury-backed stablecoins

(09:36) - The biggest shift: fintechs routing balances to stablecoins instead of banks

(11:02) - Greg’s controversial take: stablecoins may fulfill Satoshi’s vision

(12:27) - Algorithmic stablecoins as “tokenized Ponzi schemes”

(13:57) - Why stablecoins, not Bitcoin, will disintermediate commercial banks

(15:24) - Tokenized funds, BUIDL (BlackRock), and onchain treasury management

(17:03) - M0 governance, issuers & risk frameworks

(19:25) - Why one issuer cannot control the money supply

(21:33) - How stablecoin adoption can jump from 200M to billions

(32:20) - Institutional adoption in 2026 and why every financial institution will join

(37:12) - Macro risks, regulation and events that could derail the growth curve

(40:11) - Greg’s final advice

Essentials

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Amanda Cassatt, founder of Serotonin and the former CMO of Consensys, who played a foundational role in bringing Ethereum to market. Amanda shares how she entered the early Ethereum ecosystem, what it was like working alongside early builders, and how those experiences shaped her thinking on storytelling, distribution, and product-market fit for crypto projects today.

They discuss the evolution of L1s, why a general-purpose chain like Ethereum would struggle to launch in today’s market, and how new L1s must differentiate through niches or built-in distribution. Amanda also talks through privacy tech, credible neutrality, and why marketing should feel like the “no-makeup, makeup look” to help people discover products naturally rather than forcing narratives.

The conversation expands into institutional adoption, the influence of enterprises on Ethereum’s early growth, the certification and /corporatization of crypto, and how narratives get shaped (and reshaped) as the space matures. Amanda also shares her views on AI, digital homogenization, cultural flattening, and how individuals can preserve independence thought in a hive-mind world.

Timestamps (00:00) - Why Ethereum is unique & why a general-purpose L1 would struggle today

(00:40) - Amanda’s view on AI extraction vs “nuclear button” fears

(01:26) - How Amanda entered Ethereum in 2015 and joined Consensys

(02:37) - Bringing Ethereum, MetaMask, Infura & early tooling to market

(03:57) - Why new L1s now require niches, advantages, or built-in distribution

(05:25) - Cypherpunk values, privacy pools & modular privacy concepts

(07:52) - Why most users shouldn’t need to understand backend tech

(09:56) - How Serotonin thinks about marketing: matching tech to real user desire

(12:56) - The “no-makeup, makeup look” & why good marketing shouldn’t feel forced

(15:49) - Institutional adoption: the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance & early inflection points

(18:24) - Narrative chasing vs conviction: why rebranding with every hype cycle fails

(20:27) - How stablecoins changed product-market fit expectations for blockchains

(26:24) - Crypto’s corporatization vs preserving credible neutrality and openness

(32:08) - AI, homogenization & how to keep independent thought

(38:57) - Amanda’s final advice: the only test is whether you lived the life you wanted

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Azeem Khan, Co-Founder of Miden, a new privacy-focused blockchain designed to bring configurable, institution-ready privacy to onchain activity.

Azeem breaks down why public blockchains are far more open than people realize, how institutions think about visibility and copy-trading risk, and why privacy has become a prerequisite for real global adoption. He also discusses his founder journey from biotech and the entertainment industry to early crypto startups and how those experiences shape his approach to building trust, credibility, and long-term adoption. He also dives into his unexpected path through the music and entertainment industry, sharing how he worked on large-scale concerts and shows involving artists like Kanye West, Jay-Z, and other major performers. 

They also cover regional differences in crypto appetite, why many enterprises still hesitate, how Miden wants to fit into the broader Ethereum ecosystem, and why the next wave of blockchain users will arrive through distribution partners rather than retail onboarding.They also explore real-world use cases, emerging-market adoption, stablecoins, RWAs, and how privacy can evolve beyond the “North Korea vs transparency” framing that has dominated the industry.

Timestamps

Here’s the Spotify-style timestamp list for this episode:

(00:00) - Intro (01:03) - Azeem’s story through biotech, Boston Marathon and his first startup (03:05) - Getting into crypto in 2012–2013 (04:11) - Early entrepreneurship, family story, and identity (05:20) - Why institutions need privacy to come onchain (07:02) - Why privacy tech didn’t exist during Bitcoin/Ethereum’s early years (08:43) - Balancing transparency and privacy (10:00) - Copy-trading, wallet visibility & risk (12:04) - Misunderstandings about privacy-focused blockchains (13:40) - Why full transparency is unrealistic for real-world finance (15:09) - How Miden works: architecture, ZK lineage & Polygon ties (17:17) - Engaging the Ethereum ecosystem & enterprise teams (18:30) - Why institutional adoption lags: talent, liquidity, decision-making (20:57) - U.S. vs Middle East vs Asia (23:06) - Credibility, integrity & building long-term trust (25:15) - Enterprise pipelines, warm intros & outbound strategy (27:12) - Bringing blockchain to the masses through distribution partners (28:35) - Why most chains still fail emerging-market use cases (30:53) - Speculation vs real utility: shifting the industry mindset (32:33) - Creating success stories to unlock global adoption (34:32) - Privacy hype cycles & how long it lasts (35:22) - Parallels between entertainment, branding & crypto (38:50) - Celebrity stories, crypto, and why most don’t understand the tech (40:59) - Fan engagement isn’t solved: why previous attempts failed (42:46) - RWAs, risk-based stablecoins, yield clarity (46:45) - Final advice: conviction, long-term thinking & ignoring noise

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with David Phelps, Co-Founder of JokeRace, an onchain platform that wants to turn governance, incentives, and community engagement into lightweight, fun, and highly participatory experiences. David breaks down why governance has failed in most crypto communities, how JokeRace simplifies participation, and why real utility often comes from small, low-friction interactions rather than complex systems.

They also discuss how communities can design better incentives, what JokeRace has learned from thousands of contests, and why the future of onchain engagement depends on experimentation, humor, and user-driven creativity. David also walks through his recent Base controversy, what he actually meant in his comments vs how it was interpreted online. He also talks about expectations placed on L2s, foundations, and application teams building in public.This episode is sponsored by Forgd. Thousands of Web3 projects leverage Forgd’s free tools to design smarter tokenomics, engage market makers on fair terms, plan listings strategically, and monitor liquidity after launch. Start using the Forgd platform for free, or sign up for white-glove advisory services, at Forgd.com

Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro

(01:27) - Devconnect Buenos Aires and public-access events

(02:08) - How someone buying substances introduced David to crypto

(03:07) - Discovering programmable money and why it “changes everything”

(04:13) - Bitcoin vs Ethereum and how Bitcoin creates value

(07:04) - Stablecoins, USD dominance, and crypto’s internal contradictions

(09:23) - Why DAOs failed and how that led to the creation of JokeRace

(10:29) - Participation, incentives, and why governance must be fun

(12:27) - Subjective prediction markets and competition inside JokeRace

(15:32) - Tribalism, rivalry, and true community psychology

(19:06) - Who actually uses JokeRace and how mainstream users onboard

(21:36) - Governance failures, branding, and why DAOs aren’t entertaining

(32:03) - The Base controversy: what David meant vs what people heard

(35:09) - Why chains must be opinionated and focused, not “for everyone”

(44:22) - Token launches, market makers, and structurally short deals

(49:03) - David’s best advice on being online and embracing authenticity

Essentials

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Eunice Giarta, Co-Founder of Monad, a new blockchain that just launched on mainnet. Eunice explains Monad’s design philosophy, the team’s focus on distribution and decentralization, and why the public token sale with Coinbase represents a new approach to retail access.

They also discuss Monad’s viral airdrop campaign, the team’s long-term vision for performance on EVM, and what the launch means for developers building DeFi, gaming, consumer apps, and new real-time experiences onchain.This episode is sponsored by Forgd. Thousands of Web3 projects leverage Forgd’s free tools to design smarter tokenomics, engage market makers on fair terms, plan listings strategically, and monitor liquidity after launch. Start using the Forgd platform for free, or sign up for white-glove advisory services, at Forgd.com

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why distribution and decentralization matter for Monad

(00:17) - Introduction to Eunice Giarta & Monad’s launch week

(01:42) - How the team prepared for mainnet and the Coinbase public sale

(02:36) - Why Monad chose a public token sale model

(03:10) - Day-1 validator distribution and network participation

(04:18) - Rethinking token sales and reaching new audiences

(05:39) - The viral airdrop: design, gamification, and community reaction

(08:22) - Keeping new users engaged & building long-term community value

(11:02) - Why launch another L1? Eunice’s differentiation argument

(12:38) - Monad’s origin story and the idea of “Solana speed on EVM”

(14:45) - How performance engineering shaped Monad’s architecture

(17:21) - Competing or coexisting with Ethereum and Solana

(19:47) - What will launch on Monad: DeFi, order books, gaming, betting

(22:19) - Expected number of apps live at mainnet

(22:57) - The roadmap for Monad

(25:28) - How Monad changes design constraints for developers

(27:11) - Expanding into payments, remittances & stablecoin infrastructure

(29:57) - What healthy long-term ecosystem growth looks like

(31:00) - Real-time settlement & long-term vision for blockchain

(32:04) - Final advice from Eunice

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with John Nahas, Chief Business Officer at Ava Labs. John discusses Avalanche’s approach to scaling through purpose-built L1s, how dedicated infrastructure supports institutional and enterprise adoption, and why many organizations are shifting toward onchain-first products.

The conversation explores Avalanche’s burn-based token model, the role of instant finality in real-world asset tokenization, and how stablecoin clarity is shaping global strategies heading into 2026. John also breaks down regional differences across Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S., and shares insights on Avalanche’s priorities for users, transactions, and L1 distribution.This episode is sponsored by Forgd. Thousands of Web3 projects leverage Forgd’s free tools to design smarter tokenomics, engage market makers on fair terms, plan listings strategically, and monitor liquidity after launch. Start using the Forgd platform for free, or sign up for white-glove advisory services, at Forgd.com

Timestamps

(00:00) - Why the industry still struggles with token purpose

(01:00) - John Nahas returns to the show

(02:11) - Avalanche’s approach vs Ethereum and Solana

(03:30) - Why the industry lacks clear onchain applications

(04:52) - Purpose-built L1s and long-term scalability

(06:24) - How Avalanche’s many L1s work together

(08:16) - What early assumptions about “everyone needing a chain” got wrong

(11:59) - How Avalanche handles shifting market narratives

(15:26) - AVAX burn mechanism and value accrual

(18:02) - Tokenization momentum and institutional partnerships

(23:56) - Stablecoin clarity and 2026 adoption trends

(35:25) - Avalanche’s top priorities: users, assets, transactions

(37:01) - Strengthening Avalanche’s identity and narrative

Essentials

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcast: 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 Talking Tokens: https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Ben Coverston, Founding Engineer at Temporal, a Solana-based R&D firm focused on blockchain performance, and cofounder of Harmonic.

The conversation explores Harmonic, a new open block-building system designed to make Solana’s transaction sequencing more efficient, decentralized, and transparent. Ben discusses how the system creates a competitive marketplace for block builders, improves inclusion latency, and could help Solana reach 1 million transactions per second while maintaining decentralization.

They also talk about the lessons he learned from Solana’s early struggles, the evolution of validator coordination, and how Harmonic’s work brings the network closer to functioning like an “onchain Nasdaq.”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.xyz⁠This episode is sponsored by Forgd. Thousands of Web3 projects leverage Forgd’s free tools to design smarter tokenomics, engage market makers on fair terms, plan listings strategically, and monitor liquidity after launch. Start using the Forgd platform for free, or sign up for white-glove advisory services, at Forgd.com

Timestamps

(00:00) - Intro: Solana’s progress & how Temporal fits in

(01:03) - Creating an “onchain Nasdaq” for Solana

(02:15) - Ben’s background: from math & CS student to interning at Citadel

(03:19) - What drew him from traditional finance to crypto

(04:11) - First impressions of Solana’s speed and performance

(05:25) - Why Ben left HFT firms to build in decentralized finance

(06:20) - Problems with centralized markets and the appeal of DeFi transparency

(07:04) - How Solana achieved real efficiency and low fees

(08:50) - Understanding more about Harmonic

(10:15) - Why sequencing and inclusion latency matter for DeFi apps

(11:35) - Standardizing Solana’s transaction rules with ACE (Application Controlled Execution)

(13:13) - Why open sequencing helps apps like DEXs and liquidators

(14:04) - Bringing predictability and competition to Solana’s block production

(15:32) - How multiple builders competing improves network throughput

(16:51) - The goal: Solana reaching 10 to 100x throughput with stability

(18:06) - Long-term potential can be 1 million TPS and sustainable decentralization

(19:22) - How open sequencing improves inclusion, latency and efficiency

(20:57) - Building trust between validators, builders, and applications

(22:13) - Preventing toxic block-building practices

(23:46) - Why transparency and fairness increase validator revenue

(25:04) - What “success” looks like for Solana developers and apps

(26:33) - Why Solana’s user and institutional adoption is accelerating

(28:10) - The role of liquidity providers and market competition

(29:12) - Institutional capital, DeFi adoption & network maturity

(31:04) - Advice from Ben: ignore short-term noise, keep building

(32:33) - Closing thoughts & future of open blockchain design

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review!

Spotify:⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ⁠ Apple Podcast:⁠ 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 Talking Tokens:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/⁠

Note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.