PODCAST · business
Lightspeed
by Blockworks
Lightspeed is a podcast for those interested in how crypto can solve real problems and create products users love. It's a callback to the garage days of Silicon Valley, where builders pushed the limits of hardware and software to build world-changing products. We interview the projects and founders that will make this same impact today.
Episodes
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The Future of Onchain Collateral | Misha Putiatin
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Misha Putiatin, Co-Founder of Symbiotic, to discuss the evolution of shared collateral infrastructure, the launch of Core V2, and the future of bringing real-world assets onchain. We also cover liquidity, composability, risk management, compliance…
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The Next Battle for Crypto Trading
Gm! In today's episode, we discuss Strategy's Bitcoin treasury approach, whether crypto markets can decouple from Bitcoin, slowing momentum in tokenized stocks, listing strategies for onchain equities, the battle between Solana, Hyperliquid, and centralized exchanges, and whether renewed meme…
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The Future of Finance Starts Onchain | Armani Ferrante
Gm! In today's episode, we're joined by Armani Ferrante, founder and CEO of Backpack, to discuss the evolution of Backpack, tokenized equities, regulatory strategy, and building a crypto-native financial institution. We also explore Solana's growth, market structure, token design, 24/7 stock...
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Is DePIN Entering Its Next Growth Phase?
Gm! In this episode, we break down the latest developments in tokenized equities, including Backpack’s stock offerings on Solana and growing competition from Base. We also discuss the rise of social trading platforms like Fomo, Noble Mobile’s acquisition of Helium Mobile, Helium’s evolving…
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Future-Proof Money on Solana | Hardhat Chad
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Hardhat Chad, Foreman at ORE, to discuss the origins and evolution of ORE Protocol, including its transition from proof-of-work mining on Solana to its current grid mining system. We cover mining incentives, token emissions, protocol revenue and buybacks,...
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From Memecoins to Markets: Solana’s Next Trade
Gm! In today’s episode we cover prediction market activity around major sporting events, growing interest in tokenized equities following recent IPOs, the role of platforms like Backpack in bringing stocks onchain, liquidity and market structure challenges, the relationship between tokens and...
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Flash Trade Is Reinventing Perps on Solana | Anas Khader
Gm! In this episode, we’re joined by Anas Khader, Founder of Flash Trade, to discuss the protocol’s journey from building alongside Mango Markets to launching a Solana-native perpetuals exchange. We cover Flash Trade’s pool-to-peer liquidity model, expansion into equities, commodities, and forex...
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Blockworks Acquires Messari
In this special episode, Blockworks announces its acquisition of Messari and unpacks what it means for crypto’s next phase. Michael and Jason explore why Messari’s breadth of data, APIs, and research complement Blockworks’ deep on-chain analytics, investor relations, and disclosure products. They...
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Solving Sol Value Accrual
Gm! In today’s episode, we discuss Solana’s value accrual challenges, including proposed tokenomics changes, fee burn mechanisms, inflation reduction, and network upgrade timelines. We also examine the release of Anthropic’s Claude Fable model and its implications for software development,...
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The Era of Tokenized Yield Strategies | Ben Nadareski
Gm! In this episode we’re joined by Ben Nadareski, Co-Founder and CEO of Solstice, to discuss his background in traditional finance and crypto, the development of Solstice’s tokenized yield infrastructure on Solana, and the roles of its USX, eUSX, and SLX assets. We also cover institutional and...
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US Crypto Perps Arrive, Solana Rethinks Fees
Gm! In today’s episode we discuss recent developments in U.S. cryptocurrency perpetual futures regulation, including CFTC approval of Bitcoin perpetual contracts and implications for centralized and decentralized trading platforms. We also cover a proposed Solana fee mechanism aimed at increasing...
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Building the Onchain Brokerage: Glider's Vision for Investing | Brian Huang
Gm! In this episode, we're joined by Brian Huang, Co-Founder of Glider, to discuss his journey from institutional trading and crypto custody to building an onchain investing platform. We explore the rise of tokenized assets, portfolio automation, chain abstraction, DeFi yield opportunities, risk...
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Why Crypto Needs Interest Rate Swaps | Thomas Lefort
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Thomas Lefort, Co-Founder of Exponent, to discuss the evolution of onchain interest rate markets, the limitations of Exponent’s first product iteration, and the launch of Exponent V2. We cover fixed-rate DeFi infrastructure, RWAs, strategy vaults, risk...
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Raiku’s Vision for Solana Markets | Robin
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Robin, CEO and Founder of Raiku, to discuss his background in crypto and the development of Raiku’s Solana infrastructure products focused on faster, more predictable transaction execution. We cover validator economics, stake dynamics, enterprise trading...
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The Institutional Era of Crypto Has Arrived | Christopher Perkins
Gm! In this episode, we’re joined by Christopher Perkins, CEO of 250 Digital Asset Management, to discuss Franklin Templeton’s acquisition of 250 Digital Asset Management, the institutional adoption of crypto, tokenization, regulatory developments, DeFi infrastructure, derivatives markets, and...
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Jupiter’s Push Beyond Crypto Trading | Kash Dhanda
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Kash Dhanda, COO of Jupiter, to discuss Jupiter’s expanding DeFi strategy, including USDE integration, yield-generating assets, lending models, tokenized stocks, and perpetuals. We also cover stablecoin infrastructure, JLP and Jupnet development, Solana’s...
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Inside JTX: Jito’s New Trading Platform | Lucas Bruder
Gm! In today’s episode we’re joined by Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito Labs, to discuss the launch of JTX, a new Solana trading platform focused on professional retail users. We also cover transaction execution, Bam infrastructure, pricing improvements, competition with centralized exchanges, Solana...
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Agentic Finance for Everyday Users | Chris
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Chris from Loyal to discuss building smart-account infrastructure on Solana to automate onchain financial tasks, including stablecoin yield optimization and agent-driven policies. We cover smart wallets, Seeker app development, consumer crypto UX…
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Inside Jito’s New Solana Plugin Strategy | Eric & Hayden
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Eric and Hayden from Jito to discuss Solana Accelerate, the launch of Jito’s Maker Prioritization Plugin, and broader efforts to improve Solana’s market structure through more deterministic transaction scheduling. We also cover validator incentives, BAM...
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Inside Upshift: Building the Future of Onchain Vaults | Aya Kantorovich
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Aya Kantorovich, Co-CEO of Upshift, to discuss the development of multi-chain vault infrastructure, its origins in onchain prime brokerage, and key lessons from past market failures. We cover security risks, institutional adoption, evolving regulation,...
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Solana Was Too Late to Perps
Gm! In today’s episode we discuss Solana’s Q1 performance, highlighting growth in tokenized real-world assets and shifting trading activity. We also cover Pumpfun’s buyback changes, Pumpcade’s token-equity model, and broader challenges in building competitive perpetuals markets on Solana…
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LPing Is Trading: Rethinking DeFi Strategies | Dann & Miir
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Dann and Miir of Meteora to discuss their role as a core liquidity layer on Solana. We cover their evolution from integrations to product focus, the shift from passive yield farming to active LP strategies, and what’s next for DeFi liquidity.Enjoy!…
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Tokenizing Private Markets: Inside the Rise of PreStocks | Xavier Ekkel
Gm! In this episode, we’re joined by Xavier Ekkel, Founder of PreStocks, to explore the rise of PreStocks and tokenized access to private equity. We cover pricing and liquidity dynamics, Solana’s role in distribution, retail participation, onchain price discovery, IPO transitions, and the broader...
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The KelpDAO Hack and DeFi’s Stress Test | Ian Unsworth
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Ian Unsworth, Co-founder of Kairos Research, to break down the KelpDAO hack and its impact on DeFi, from liquidity outflows to risk management. We also cover stablecoin yield strategies, Ethena’s backing model, Layer 2 risks like Scroll, and emerging...
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DoubleZero Edge: Democratizing the Speed Advantage | Austin Federa
Gm! In this episode, we’re joined by Austin Federa, Co-Founder of DoubleZero, to discuss the network’s growth, its shift to Edge-based data monetization, and the role of high-speed data in trading. We also cover Solana’s roadmap, validator dynamics, DeFi fairness, and evolving Foundation strategy...
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How Institutions Are Moving Onchain | Catherine Gu
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Catherine Gu, Head of Product, Digital Assets at Solana, to discuss her transition from Visa to Solana, the institutional adoption of blockchain, tokenization, payments infrastructure, and developer platforms. We also cover privacy and compliance…
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Titan's Solution to Onchain Pricing | defipancakes
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by defipancakes, Co-Founder and CTO of Titan, to discuss a major social engineering exploit affecting Drift, broader DeFi security practices, and the Solana ecosystem’s response. We also explore Titan’s new Dart routing product, market structure trends,...
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The Institutional Shift Driving Crypto Forward
Gm! In today’s episode, we cover institutional crypto adoption, tokenization, and regulatory developments, along with Blockworks IR and disclosure frameworks. We also explore perpetual markets, product innovation, and trends across DeFi, neobanking, stablecoins, and DePIN as crypto and…
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The Future of DeFi Trading: Routers, Perps, and MCP | Eugene Chen
Gm! In this episode, Eugene Chen, CEO of Ellipsis Labs, joins us to break down Solana’s evolving market structure and the launch of Phoenix Perps. We explore onchain trading design, routing and sequencing challenges, MCP’s role, and how user behavior and incentives are shaping the future of DeFi....
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Designing the Future of Payments Systems | Konstantin Richter & Tom Zschach
Gm! This episode features a panel from DAS New York with Konstantin Richter and Tom Zschach. The discussion covers traditional financial infrastructure, the integration of digital assets, and emerging concepts like agentic payments, along with regulatory gaps, system design challenges, and how...
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Investor Relations in the Onchain Era
In this special episode, we introduce Blockworks’ new investor relations platform for onchain businesses. As institutional capital continues to enter crypto markets, expectations around transparency, standardization, and professionalism are rising. But instead of replicating legacy systems,...
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Making Privacy the Default | Kru & Cal
Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Kru and Cal, co-founders of Umbra, to discuss building privacy infrastructure on Solana using MPC and zero-knowledge technologies. We cover product design, compliance, SDK integrations, and how privacy could drive institutional adoption and improve crypto...
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The Future of Digital Assets | Regulation, Value Accrual, and Token Design
Gm! In today’s round up we are joined by Noah Goldberg of Theia Capital to discuss new SEC guidance distinguishing digital commodities and securities, implications for token design and valuation, and evolving regulatory clarity. We also discuss token versus equity models, KYC tradeoffs, global...
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Harmonic Fires Back in Solana’s Block Building Wars | Ben Coverston
Gm! In today’s episode we are joined by Harmonic CEO Ben Coverston to discuss his background in quantitative trading and transition to crypto, the evolution of DeFi on Solana, and Harmonic’s approach to block building and transaction scheduling. We also cover market structure debates,...
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MetaDAO's Permissionless Launchpad
Gm! In today’s episode we discuss crypto market volatility amid geopolitical tensions and rising institutional interest reflected in Solana ETF inflows. We also discuss tokenized equities and the push toward 24/7 trading, before exploring MetaDAO’s evolving launchpad model, including…
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Crypto’s Rebirth Moment | Tushar, Shayon and Spencer
Gm! In this episode we are joined by Tushar Jain, Shayon Sengupta and Spencer Applebaum from Multicoin Capital to discuss their updated crypto investment thesis, emphasizing blockchains as infrastructure for global financial markets. The conversation explores themes including stablecoin-driven...
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Tokenized Equities, Kamino RWAs and zachXBT Investigation
Gm! In this episode, we discuss recent trends in the Solana ecosystem, including declining onchain revenue, continued inflows into Solana-related ETFs, and growth in tokenized equities. We also cover liquidity and structural challenges in onchain equity markets, RWA expansion on Kamino, and the...
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Introducing: Inflection Point | The Crypto-TradFi Convergence
In this first episode of Inflection Point, we explore the accelerating convergence between traditional finance and crypto as institutional adoption begins reshaping the foundations of global financial infrastructure. The conversation examines ETFs, DeFi innovation, market structure shifts,...
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Solana’s Institutional Moment | Nick Ducoff
Gm! In this episode we’re joined by Nick Ducoff, Head of Institutional Growth at the Solana Foundation, to explore Solana’s institutional adoption and the rise of internet capital markets. We discuss the growth of tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, and onchain equities, alongside…
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0xResearch: Jito BAM and Solana Market Structure | Lucas Bruder
Gm! In today’s episode we have a 0xResearch crosspost where they were joined by Lucas Bruder, Co-Founder of Jito Labs to discuss Jito’s BAM block builder on Solana, highlighting transparency, verifiability, and application-controlled execution. They also cover market structure, stake adoption…
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The DeFi-Native Prime Broker | MacBrennan Peet
Gm! In this episode, we’re joined by MacBrennan Peet, Founder of Project 0, to discuss how the platform is tackling capital and risk fragmentation across DeFi venues. We cover unified margin, cross-venue credit, automated strategies, dynamic risk management, integrations across Solana lending...
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Solana’s Block Building Battle: Jito BAM vs. Harmonic
Gm! In this episode we discuss Blockworks’ new Solana-focused Lightspeed IR platform and a report on Solana block building. We examine the rivalry between Jito BAM and Harmonic, impacts on transaction ordering, fees, market structure, validator clients, and the push toward protocol-level…
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Solana’s Policy Push: Crypto’s New Regulatory Era | Kristin Smith
Gm! In today’s episode we are joined by Kristin Smith to discuss her transition to the Solana Policy Institute, recent U.S. crypto policy shifts, and progress under the Genius Act. We also discuss the CLARITY Act, market structure reform, DeFi and developer protections, institutional adoption…
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Solana’s Changing Market Microstructure
Gm! In this episode we cover Solana’s recent onchain performance, revenue trends, and upcoming network upgrades. We also discuss ecosystem token dispersion, client competition between Jito BAM and Harmonic, market structure challenges for perps, Prop AMM profitability metrics, and MetaDAO’s shift...
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Building the Next-Gen Perps Engine on Solana | Tristan Frizza
Gm! In today’s episode we are joined by Tristan Frizza Co-Founder of Bullet to discuss his journey from Zeta Markets to founding Bullet, a next-gen Solana perps exchange. We also discuss Solana congestion challenges, network extensions, ZK rollup design, data availability via Celestia, proving…
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Crypto Stress Test: Fees, Volatility, and Chain Performance
Gm! In this episode Danny, Dan and Ian discuss recent market volatility across crypto and commodities, onchain performance during stress events, chain fee dynamics, AI agents interacting with crypto rails, and Pump.fun’s revenue, buybacks, and long-term value capture debate. Enjoy! -- Follow...
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Building the Onchain Super App | Xiao-Xiao J. Zhu
Gm! In this episode we are joined by Xiao-Xiao, President of Jupiter, to discuss his background and transition to Jupiter, the shift toward onchain finance, growth of decentralized trading, stablecoins, mobile adoption, institutional participation, and Jupiter’s product strategy, and long-term...
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Are the Trenches Finally Back?
Gm! We're back with Carlos for another weekly roundup. We cover Solana’s SKR airdrop and token design, Solana Mobile’s strategy, renewed memecoin activity and launchpad economics, Pump.fun’s evolving revenue model, and tokenized stocks and internet capital markets on Solana. Enjoy! -- Follow...
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Listing Assets Everywhere Onchain | Saeed Badreg
Gm! In this episode we’re joined by Saeed Badreg, CEO of Wormhole Labs, to discuss Solana’s push to expand onchain markets through cross-chain asset listings, historical bridge challenges, Sunrise’s coordinated go-to-market approach, liquidity and distribution strategies, and the future of...
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Bringing State of the Art Perps to Solana | Jun Bug & kdot
Gm! In this episode Jun Bug and kdot co-founders of BULK join us to discuss building a high-performance perpetuals exchange on Solana, testnet rollout plans, covering latency and reliability challenges, validator-based architecture, decentralization trade-offs and incentive structures. Enjoy! --...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Lightspeed is a podcast for those interested in how crypto can solve real problems and create products users love. It's a callback to the garage days of Silicon Valley, where builders pushed the limits of hardware and software to build world-changing products. We interview the projects and founders that will make this same impact today.
HOSTED BY
Blockworks
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Lightspeed have?
Lightspeed currently has 302 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Lightspeed about?
Lightspeed is a podcast for those interested in how crypto can solve real problems and create products users love. It's a callback to the garage days of Silicon Valley, where builders pushed the limits of hardware and software to build world-changing products. We interview the projects and founders...
How often does Lightspeed release new episodes?
Lightspeed publishes regularly with 302 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Lightspeed?
You can listen to Lightspeed on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Lightspeed?
Lightspeed is created and hosted by Blockworks.
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