The Factory

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Whaddup, we're finally back after some personal time away. Expect some more recordings over the next few weeks.

Be sure to check out the op-ed with Andy on DailyCryptoNews about prediction markets and sports betting. Its a good one so don't miss it.

What you get in this chat and more-->

• Why institutions are finally embracing blockchain technology and the role HashKey plays in this shift.
• The trend of retail investors moving towards tokenized assets and how this could redefine wealth management.
• The importance of compliance and regulation in making stablecoins
• Composability and the ways it's changing the finance landscape

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Andy P. Lee is a Partner at HashKey RWA, the tokenization arm of HashKey Group, a leading end-to-end digital asset financial services firm in Asia. Through his work at HashKey RWA, Andy collaborates with global institutions to architect innovative asset tokenization solutions, guiding their strategic entry and expansion into the digital asset class.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Welcome to The Factory.

We’re bringing one thesis per episode from thought leaders willing to put their name on it. We pair this op-ed with a live conversation, then open an opinion market on Fact Machine so the audience can weigh in. Opinions published, debated, quantified.

This week we interview Annabelle Huang about crypto's split - and how two entirely distinct worlds of onchain finance and, well, listen and find out!

Key Takeaways:

• Crypto’s next phase is about practical usability—not ideological purity.
• The most valuable infrastructure is the kind users never have to think about.
• Purpose-built blockchains will outperform one-size-fits-all systems.
• Crypto’s greatest strength is its ability to test and scale financial innovation quickly.
• The future is not crypto replacing TradFi, but both worlds converging while continuing to coexist.

Find the Opinion article on Daily Crypto News.

Annabelle Huang is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Altius Labs, an infrastructure company (backed by Founders Fund and Pantera) that designs high-performance blockchains.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Welcome to The Factory.

We’re bringing one thesis per episode from thought leaders willing to put their name on it. We pair this op-ed with a live conversation, then open an opinion market on Fact Machine so the audience can weigh in. Opinions published, debated, quantified.

This week we interview Sami Start about Fintech companies - and how the best ones know how to prepare themselves best for the future.

Key Takeaways:

• The specific challenges that hinder user onboarding and how to overcome them
• Why outsourcing components like KYC can improve conversion rates and user satisfaction
• How modular tech stacks can revolutionize the fintech landscape and streamline operations
• The critical role of compliance as an enabler rather than a barrier to innovation

Sami Start is the Co-Founder and CEO of Transak, a leading global Web3 payments infrastructure provider enabling seamless fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions globally. Under his leadership, Transak has grown into a trusted partner for top companies such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Ledger, and has reached millions of users worldwide.

Find the Opinion article on Daily Crypto News: https://www.dailycryptonews.net/p/the-best-fintech-companies-know-what

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Welcome to The Factory.

We’re bringing one thesis per episode from thought leaders willing to put their name on it. We pair this op-ed with a live conversation, then open an opinion market on Fact Machine so the audience can weigh in. Opinions published, debated, quantified.

Fomo in DeFi? Or is the bottom a good place to be looking up? Either way, the institutional money is what you can’t ignore, says Ian Dyer, founder of Machines and Money.

On 15 August, we published Ian's accompanying opinion here. He asserts that institutional adoption of digital assets and their functionality (e.g. tokenization and stablecoin rails from big names like Visa, Mastercard, & Stripe) is accelerating even as altcoin valuations sit near post-FTX-crash lows.

Dyer points out that this gap is comparable to the 2000-02 dotcom crash and says it is wide enough to justify building a tracked 20-token index (DeFi20) as an asymmetric bet on quality projects re-pricing when the next bull market hits.

Tell us what you think! Is this the best time in DeFi?

Find the Opinion article on Daily Crypto News: https://www.dailycryptonews.net/p/the-factory-defi-has-never-looked

About Machines & Money:

Machines & Money is a crypto/DeFi research newsletter built around a live, publicly-tracked portfolio. Its thesis: institutional money is now flowing into DeFi at scale, which is expanding the quality and quantity of yield opportunities and because DeFi is permissionless, retail investors can access the same opportunities as large asset managers. The publication runs three weekly series (Yield Spotlight on income strategies, Mid-Week Market Check on market conditions, Friday Features on notable projects) and centers on the DeFi20 Index, a tracked basket of 20 projects the authors consider foundational to DeFi’s next growth phase.

Check out the Website |

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Guest: Ange Gallego, co-founder of dev.fun.

Dev.fun is a platform where AI agents compete, build, and ship. Builders can bring their agent and join the arena to win prizes. Dev.fun is currently building the Arena for AI agents to play poker and test risk.

Ange's accompanying opinion article is here, published 8 August 2026.

The opinion market from Fact Machine will be out on 10 August 2026.

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The Factory publishes one sharp opinion from a founder, researcher, or operator, paired with a podcast interview and a live opinion market.

Join Kyle and Adam as they dive into the world of tech. The Factory is part of the Daily Crypto News ecosystem. Opinion Markets are available at Fact Machine.

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NOT FINANCIAL, LEGAL, OR TAX ADVICE! JUST OPINION! WE ARE NOT EXPERTS! WE DO NOT GUARANTEE A PARTICULAR OUTCOME. WE HAVE NO INSIDE KNOWLEDGE! YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS! THIS IS JUST EDUCATION & ENTERTAINMENT!

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Welcome to The Factory.

We’re bringing one thesis per episode from thought leaders willing to put their name on it. We pair this op-ed with a live conversation, then open an opinion market on Fact Machine so the audience can weigh in. Opinions published, debated, quantified.

Episode one asks a question that sounds simple and isn’t: what does institutional staking actually require and why aren’t most providers ready for it?

Our guest is Wyatt Clancy, VP of GlobalStake, a vertically integrated bare-metal staking provider. They own their servers, run their own validators across tier 4 and 5 data centers, and are one of the few operators built to withstand a public company audit. Clancy came up in traditional finance — Series 7 licensed, family office background — and argues that crypto staking infrastructure was built for retail, not institutions, and the gap is more urgent than the industry admits.

Takeaways

• Ownership of data center infrastructure is crucial for security and performance.
• Regulatory standards like SOC2 and Tier 4 data centers are the gold standard for institutional staking.
• Diversification in staking reduces counterparty risk.
• Transparency and reporting are vital for institutional trust.
• Proactive regulation and education are key to industry growth.

Find the Opinion article from Thomas Chaffee, Co-founder of Global Stake on Daily Crypto News: https://www.dailycryptonews.net/p/the-factory-without-standards-for?r=3p4fu6

Here are the results from the Opinion Market on Fact Machine: https://alpha.factmachine.com/market/w1sgtob4i4s1d6wn5lq6798gd