On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sits down with Stephen Hess, founder of Metaplex and director of the Metaplex Foundation — the protocol that powers 99% of tokens and NFTs created on Solana. What ERC-20 is to Ethereum, Metaplex is to Solana — but it’s also much more than that.

They discuss how Metaplex helped define the NFT era, what the new Genesis platform brings to onchain token launches, and why memecoins, stablecoins, and real-world assets are converging into a single unstoppable wave. Stephen shares insights from his early Solana Labs days, breaks down the hard lessons from its Candy Machine protocol, and explains why true transparency and permissionless innovation are the keys to the future of crypto capital markets.

TIMESTAMPS

(0:00) - Metaplex's Dominance on Solana: 99% of NFTs and Tokens

(1:26) - Stephen's Background: Solana Labs, NFTs, and Infrastructure

(5:00) - Candy Machine Era → Genesis: Evolving Token Launch Standards

(7:03) - Standardizing Onchain Token Offerings with Transparency

(10:00) - Why Most Token Launches Are Broken — and How to Fix Them

(14:00) - Tokenomics, Project Types, and Launching With Integrity

(17:13) - Metaplex By the Numbers: 10M Wallets, $10B in Value

(18:22) - Beyond Memecoins: DeFi, Stablecoins, and App Layer Growth

(20:15) - Startups Will Launch Onchain — Here's What That Looks Like

(24:26) - Token Market Oversaturation? Why He’s Bullish Anyway

(26:04) - IPO vs Permissionless: What 'Onchain' Really Means

(29:25) - Regulation, Timeline, and Real Assets Coming to Crypto

(30:43) - NFTs: Rebuilding After Fatigue, One Community at a Time

(33:06) - Why NFTs Still Matter and the Hidden Strength of Their Ecosystems

(34:52) - What Makes a Good Crypto Product — and a Better Founder

(37:09) - Final Advice: Stay Scrappy, Stay on Day One, Stay Building

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