MoneyNeverSleeps

Alejandro Gutierrez joins the show as guest co-host in this Money Talks segment. Alejandro is the CEO of Defactor Labs, providing all the required technological and financial tools for traditional companies to tap into alternative sources of financing using tokenized Real World Assets as collateral. Congratulations to Defactor Labs for taking home the gong at the inaugural National Fintech Awards in Ireland for ‘Best Crypto, Blockchain or Digital Asset Offering’.

In this episode, Alejandro and Pete Townsend riff on the SEC cracking down on NFTs as a fundraising tool by looking at the Mila Kunis-backed Stoner Cats project and that of LA-based media company Impact Theory. They also step through the story of Visa integrating the Solana blockchain for USDC settlements, Mark Cuban getting hacked, Citi’s new token service, and have some fun with emerging tech hype cycles and Patagonia vests.

STORIES COVERED:

NFT Takedowns

What Happens to Mila Kunis' Stoner Cats NFTs After SEC Settlement? (Decrypt, 13-Sep-23)

SEC settles first NFT enforcement case, fines LA media company $6M (TechCrunch, 29-Aug-23)

Visa+Solana+USDC

‘A Huge Deal’—Visa Reveals Crypto Payments Bombshell (Forbes, 7-Sep-23)

Long Take: Visa, Worldpay, and Nuvei settling transactions using stablecoin USDC on Solana (Fintech Blueprint by Lex Sokolin, 6-Sep-23)

Mark Cuban Hacked

Mark Cuban Loses Nearly $1M to Crypto Scam (CoinDesk, 18-Sep-23)

Billionaire Mark Cuban Loses $870,000 In Crypto Scam (Decrypt, 16-Sep-23)

Citi’s New Token Service

Citigroup Debuts Token Service in Latest Foray Into Digital Assets (Bloomberg, 18-Sep-23)

Citi Token Services will provide payments, liquidity to institutional customers (Cointelegraph, 18-Sep-23)

LINKS:

Follow our guest co-host Alejandro Gutierrez on X(Twitter) and LinkedIn

Learn more about Defactor Labs and follow them on X(Twitter)

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on X(Twitter): Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps

Follow us on LinkedIn: Pete Townsend | MoneyNeverSleeps

Asad J. Malik is an augmented reality pioneer and the founder and CEO of Jadu, a next-gen multiplayer augmented reality fighting game for your phone launching this month. In Jadu, players can settle or start rivalries with friends or compete against strangers for fame and glory in this combat game from the future.

Malik’s critically acclaimed and globally exhibited narrative storytelling projects Terminal 3 and A Jester’s Tale premiered at Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals, positioning Asad as a visionary in the space before completing his undergraduate degree. Asad was named one of Variety’s 10 Innovators to Watch, Rolling Stone’s Future 25, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Adweek’s Young Influentials, and also made The Independent’s Filmmakers to Watch list. He sits on the Board of Trustees for Bennington College as a recent graduate.

In this episode, Pete Townsend and Asad get into the formative experiences that influenced Asad’s desire to bring Jadu to life, before going deeper into the story of Jadu and the complex mechanics of augmented reality and fighting avatars. Asad and Pete also talk about bringing together a community of gamers from all walks of life and explore a few themes at the intersection of gaming, augmented reality, and society.

LINKS:

Join the Jadu community on Discord and X/Twitter

Follow Asad J. Malik on Instagram

Episode title inspired by Vision Clear by Lil’ Baby

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: MoneyNeverSleeps | Pete Townsend

After intersecting stories of meeting Vitalik Buterin and Bono, Pete Townsend and guest co-host Laura Walsh take a look at the recent SEC ruling in favor of Grayscale that many expect will open up the floodgates for the trillions of institutional capital currently on the sidelines of crypto.

We also look at the positioning of NFTs or ‘dynamic digital assets’ as the core technology to drive more expansive yet personalized loyalty programs for big brands and sports teams, all through the lens of Pet Berisha’s Sporting Crypto newsletter. Laura also gave us a run-down of two new web3 venture capital funds from MoonPay and Vessel Capital, and we also exercised our right to ask ‘what the heck Elon Musk is up to now?’.

With over 6 years of experience in the blockchain and web3 space, Laura Walsh is a passionate and innovative entrepreneur, mentor, and consultant. She founded, invested in, and advised multiple startups in the gaming, esports, and decentralized finance sectors, leveraging her extensive network, knowledge, and skills in the industry.

As an Entrepreneur in Residence at Techstars, Laura supports and guides 12 promising web3-based startups, helping them with their go-to-market strategies, fundraising, and scaling. She also collaborates with other web3 experts, investors, and stakeholders to foster a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem. Her mission is to bring the future of finance to today and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs with the tools and resources they need to succeed.

STORIES COVERED:

Grayscale wins SEC suit on Bitcoin ETF

The Real Reasons the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Decision Matters (Coindesk, 29-Aug-23)

Crypto vs SEC: What Grayscale’s court victory means for bitcoin ETFs (FT, 30-Aug-23)

Web3 to Web2 Crossover

Web3 Loyalty: Buzzword or Breakthrough? (Sporting Crypto by Pet Berisha, 4-Sep-23)

Web3 VCs still launching new funds

MoonPay launches venture arm to invest in web3 infra, gaming and fintech (TechCrunch, 29-Aug-23)

Vessel Capital emerges from stealth with $55M fund focused on web3 infrastructure and apps (TechCrunch, 24-Aug-23)

What’s Elon up to?

Elon Musk's X takes on LinkedIn, releases Beta version of job hiring platform for verified companies (Business Today, 26-Aug-23)

LINKS:

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: Pete Townsend | Laura Walsh | MoneyNeverSleeps

Follow us on LinkedIn: Pete Townsend | Laura Walsh | MoneyNeverSleeps

Joining Pete this week are Liang Wu and Dan Herrera from Eleven26 Capital, an early-stage VC firm investing in diverse founders on the evolving Internet across web2 and web3. In this episode, we get into how Liang and Dan originally got together and stayed close through the years, their Evolving Internet thesis across web2 and web3, building a platform for investing through content creation and community into a flywheel, and a ‘so-what’ look at the intersection of web3 and AI.

In addition to his role as the Co-founding Managing Partner at Eleven26 Capital, Liang is also a Senior Researcher at Harvard Business School where he researches Web3 and AI, and writes Web3 and AI cases for the MBA curriculum. He also supports and leads growth and community at Harvard’s Crypto Lab. Liang writes regularly on his Evolving Internet Insights newsletter (@ https://evolvinginternetclub.beehiiv.com/), where he and Dan Herrera curate the most interesting emerging tech stories and add their analysis, insights, and so-whats on top. His professional background is a mix of startups, venture capital, and management consulting. This is Liang’s second time on the show and you can hear his full story on episode 209.

Dan Herrera is also a Co-founding Managing Partner at Eleven26 Capital. Beyond this role, Dan advises a portfolio of venture capital firms and family offices, spearheading everything from portfolio construction and strategy setting to deploying capital for and operationalizing these firms. Dan writes regularly with Liang on the Evolving Internet Insights newsletter, and his professional background is also a mix of venture capital, startups, and management consulting.

LINKS:

Read and subscribe to Liang and Dan’s Evolving Internet Insights newsletter

Follow Liang Wu on LinkedIn and Twitter, or connect by email at [email protected]

Follow Dan Herrera on LinkedIn and Twitter or connect by email at [email protected]

Episode title inspired by The Recipe by Kendrick Lamar ft. Dr. Dre

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: MoneyNeverSleeps | Pete Townsend

We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus this summer, as we took a break to recharge after a few mad months, as sometimes, you need to go away for a while and dream it all up again.  In this episode we recorded on the Fourth of July, we pull the curtain off our upcoming plans, with a big announcement from longtime co-host Eoin Fitzgerald that brings him and Pete Townsend to a fork in the road with MoneyNeverSleeps. But before we get into all that, Eoin and Pete take a look back at Pete’s experience with the Techstars Web3 class of 2023 founders and their ‘distributed demo day’ at the end of June with 3 investor events across 3 cities in 2 countries in 5 days, and an epic journey in the spirit of  Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

LINKS:

Episode title inspired by ‘Encore’ by Jay-Z

Eoin’s reference to ‘The Sheep Shipper’ scene is from the movie ‘Just Go With It’

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Neal Peters is co-founder and CEO of JR Studio, a frictionless web3 gaming platform that gives game creators the superpowers to build, host, launch, manage, and grow their games and communities.

JR Studio is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

After launching his first business as a 14-year-old gamer building websites, Neal spent 18 years as an IT architect and in public/private/hybrid cloud, software development, and blockchain.  He also co-founded and led a venture capital business during the last crypto bull run focused on web3 gaming and NFTs, and that was the step that led him towards getting together with Marco Colaco and Aleks Gecevski in 2022 to build what has become JR Studio.

In this episode, Neal and Pete Townsend riff on his earliest days in tech and the eventual path that he took with Marco and Aleks with JR Studio, before diving into what JR-Studio is now and what it will become. We also get into the long arc of infrastructure and innovation we’ll need to get to the Hollywood vision of the metaverse, and the role of gaming in that journey, along with what Neal points to in his own development as a founder that helps to keep things moving.

LINKS:

Learn more about JR Studio

Connect with Neal Peters on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow JR Studio on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ by Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki remix)

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Federico Panisi is a co-founder and CEO of Loki.code, enabling simplified and intuitive co-creation of smart contracts with a collaborative web app for smart contract designers and developers.

Loki.code is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/announcing-the-techstars-web3-class-of-2023.

Before founding Loki.code in July 2022 with Pedro Wilson, Fabio Manzani, Adam Toth-Fejel, and Malachy Lin-Nugent, Federico’s time in academia included a law degree and a Ph.D. in Law & Business in his home country of Italy with stints in Sydney and Hong Kong, before rounding things out with a Master's in Legal Studies at Stanford Law School with a thesis on smart contracts. Federico is passionate about Web3, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency technologies, so he’s come to the right place!

In this episode, Federico and Pete Townsend riff on the serendipity of how he became an entrepreneur before diving into what Loki.code is now and what it will become.  Federico and Pete also get into the importance of infrastructure and developer tools in getting us to one billion users of web3, building trust with your co-founders, and the surprising intersection of crypto with Dungeons & Dragons.

LINKS:

Learn more about Loki.code

Connect with Federico Panisi on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Loki.code on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘California Love’ by 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre & Roger

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Tatiana Botskina is the founder and CEO of Mintycode, a decentralized IP marketplace for software creators, bringing together software creators, software buyers, and software contributors. By building communities around software creators’ source code and enabling shared ownership, Mintycode helps software creators monetize their work and incentivize and reward contributors. Mintycode is also one of the 12 startups forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023. 

Before founding Mintycode in January 2022, Tatiana began her career as a lawyer before returning to academia and adding disciplines in international finance, machine learning, and blockchain development, Through her time in academia and also through working with startups, Tatiana developed strong beliefs in digital transformation powered by artificial intelligence and global decentralization.

In this episode, Tatiana and Pete Townsend dive into her background that inspired her passion for fairness and justice, her approach to developing Mintycode’s competitive edge, and the natively collaborative context of Mintycode as a platform and a community.  Tatiana and Pete also talk through some of the challenges she’s faced so far as a founder/CEO, and also her love for hackathons.

LINKS:

Learn more about Mintycode

Connect with Tatiana Botskina on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Mintycode on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Power to the People’ by Public Enemy

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Terence Reilly is the co-founder and CEO of OLTA, one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.

OLTA is a protocol for creators and studios to create dynamic media, pushing the boundaries from generative art into interactive art and story. OLTA brings this all to life through dynamic NFTs which enable collectors to determine the outcome of the artwork over time.

Before co-founding OLTA with George Baldwin in 2021, Terence spent 20 years working on 3D character animation projects, including the movies Jurassic World, Iron Man 2, and Paul & Chappie with clients such as Disney, Sony, Google and Aardman, the Academy Award-winning animation studio.

In this episode, Terence and Pete Townsend explore the relationship between art and technology before diving into the deep first-hand experience that Terence has with the problem that OLTA is solving for creative coders and studios.  Terence and Pete also talk through some examples of the OLTA protocol in action, the big opportunity that is the global art market, and what keeps Terence moving through the ups and downs of being a startup founder.

LINKS:

Learn more about OLTA

Connect with Terence Reilly on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow OLTA on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Eye Know’ by De La Soul ft. Otis Redding

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Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter: MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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Javier Tamashiro is the co-founder and CEO of Ospree, a comprehensive anti-money laundering compliance solution for Virtual Asset Service Providers that seamlessly integrates customer onboarding, blockchain monitoring, and the Travel Rule.

Javier and his Ospree co-founders Anne Winston and Jukka Pellinen are one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023. 

By connecting to premium on-chain and off-chain data suppliers, Ospree offers a centralized repository of high-quality alerts for risk and compliance teams. With Ospree, institutions and SMEs serving the crypto and wider digital asset markets today can significantly reduce false positives, benefit from a single point of reference for Travel Rule data transactions, and automate and scale essential compliance operations.

Before co-founding Ospree in 2019, Javier’s tour of duty in TradFi included stops at S&P Global Market Intelligence, Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse.  At each stop along the way, Javier operated in business intelligence and regtech roles, and he has been actively involved in blockchain projects since 2014. 

In this episode, Javier and Pete Townsend explore the blend of Japanese and Argentinian cultures that made Javier who he is today, and the life experiences that led him to the Ospree vision. We then dive into crypto market growth as a proxy for the wider growth of digital assets, and the role that compliance solutions can play in opening up the crypto floodgates for institutional capital.

LINKS:

Learn more about Ospree

Connect with Javier Tamashiro on LinkedIn and Twitter

Follow Ospree on LinkedIn and Twitter

Episode title inspired by ‘Trust’ by NF

Leave a review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify 

Check out our MoneyNeverSleeps website and email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter:  MoneyNeverSleeps  |  Eoin Fitzgerald  |  Pete Townsend

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