EP-45 Vision of VISION: Bitpanda's Path to DeFi & TradFi
In this episode, Georg Hahn, Delivery and Execution Lead for Bitpanda's Web3 projects, discusses the Vision ecosystem and how Bitpanda is bridging traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Georg explains how the Vision token powers Bitpanda's Web3 infrastructure -- a suite of products empowering both retail and institutional users -- with a focus on tokenomics, governance, and partnerships.Bitpanda is a cryptocurrency trading platform that provides user brokerage services for Bitcoin and other digital assets. It has a wallet and trading platform, enabling users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using Euro, credit cards, Skrill, SEPA transfers, and other methods.Timeline: 00:00 Introduction and Background04:25 The Vision Ecosystem at Bitpanda08:39 Pillars of the Vision Ecosystem12:38 Comparing Vision to Other Tokens18:37 Strategic Partnership with SG Forge20:30 Strategic Goal Behind Bringing SG Forge Stablecoins Directly On-Chain22:02 Balancing Innovation and Compliance25:32 The Future of European Exchanges in Web328:48 Competition vs Collaboration Among European Platforms30:21 Vision Ecosystem's Global Expansion: Focus on Asia34:58 Europe's Web3 Identity: Compliance and Long-Term Sustainability39:11 Vision's Path Forward
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EP-44 With Deribit CEO Luuk: Options, Coinbase, and DeFi
In this in-depth interview, Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers shares insights into the company's journey from a niche crypto options platform to a leader in institutional trading. Deribit is currently the largest cryptocurrency options exchange. Its BTC options trading volume accounts for over 80% of the total market, while ETH options make up more than 90% of the total ETH options market volume.Luuk highlights Deribit's early entry, product specialization, and robust infrastructure as key advantages over multi-product competitors like Binance. Luuk details the reasoning behind Deribit's acquisition by Coinbase, citing strategic alignment and expanded global reach. He addresses regulatory challenges, especially KYC complexities, and emphasizes a continued institutional focus. Luuk also shares thoughts on DeFi competitors, expansion plans, product development (including smaller contracts and longer-dated options), and Deribit's vision as Coinbase's international options arm. Text summary.Timeline：00:00 Luuk's Background and Journey into Crypto02:20 Why Deribit Dominates Crypto Options Despite Big Exchange Competition05:20 Product Depth vs. Liquidity vs. Trust: What Drives Deribit's Market Leadership07:25 Coinbase Acquisition: Why Deribit Chose to Sell and Future Synergies10:05 Addressing KYC Complaints and Future Compliance Under Coinbase13:55 Will Deribit Ban Users from China or Hong Kong Post-Acquisition?14:20 Can On-Chain Platforms Like Hyperliquid Challenge Centralized Exchanges?18:00 Strategic Focus: Deribit's Roadmap After Joining Coinbase20:12 Role of Asia in Deribit's Future Growth20:55 Team Size and Culture: Deribit vs. Coinbase Workforce22:10 Biggest Challenges as CEO and Core Competitive Edge in One Sentence24:25 On Competing with IBIT and Market Share Impacts27:53 Expanding Beyond BTC/ETH: Will Deribit Add More Assets Like Gold?31:14 Linear Contracts and Smaller Sizes to Increase Accessibility32:20 Demand for Long-Dated Options (LEAPs) and RFQ-Based Solutions33:27 Institutional Strategy and Why Coinbase-Style Culture Matters
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OKX Founder in TOKEN2049: Focus on On-Chain and Payments
This episode features two segments from OKX Founder and CEO Star Xu at the TOKEN2049 conference: a keynote speech and a fireside chat. The audio content is in English.In his keynote, Star Xu reflected on the evolution of the crypto industry over the twelve years since OKX was founded, highlighting Bitcoin and stablecoins as two major milestones. He contrasted traditional finance, which he described as a "closed system," with DeFi as an "open system." He emphasized that the future of finance will be built on transparent, interoperable, and global on-chain infrastructure, enabling full tokenization of assets and payments.In the fireside chat, Star Xu focused on the rollout and vision of OKX's payment product, OKX Pay. He revisited the rise of Bitcoin and stablecoins, stating that stablecoins are poised to become the core infrastructure of future payments -- enabling low-cost, cross-border, peer-to-peer transactions, while also exceeding traditional banks in terms of security and compliance.Timeline:Keynote Speech by Star Xu00:00 Bitcoin and stablecoins as the foundation of the crypto industry01:08 The transparency and globalization of DeFi02:51 Self-custody and compliance empower users to regain control04:42 OKX builds real-time on-chain monitoring and global compliance framework05:30 X Layer and OKX Vision Fund support the on-chain financial ecosystemFireside Chat06:30 How crypto payments can integrate into daily life08:40 Stablecoins as the future infrastructure for cross-border payments10:01 How OKX Pay differs from and improves on traditional credit card payments12:38 How on-chain payments enable yield generation for users14:49 OKX as a liquidity hub for stablecoins15:32 Why OKX chose a hybrid "self-custody + compliance" model16:00 Multi-signature security to protect user funds16:40 X Layer as the global infrastructure powering OKX Pay
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EP-43 ChainOpera AI: Returning AI Ownership to the Community
The episode of the WuBlockchain Podcast features an interview with Salman Avestimehr, Co-Founder of ChainOpera, for an in-depth discussion on building an AI-agent and model network through community co-creation and co-ownership. Focusing on the intersection of AI and blockchain, the conversation examined how decentralized AI can impact people's lives—much as the internet once brought individuals closer together—by enabling humans to interface more easily with complex ecosystems, giving individuals a degree of agency when facing large centralized systems, and allowing everyone to participate, co-create, and co-own.Timeline:00:00 Founding catalyst for ChainOpera02:22 What is ChainOpera AI's mission?03:50 What problems is "decentralized AI" meant to solve?06:15 Team composition and roles08:54 What do "Crypto GPT/Crypto AGI" signify?12:06 Where do AI and blockchain best intersect?16:57 How does ChainOpera AI differ from peer projects?18:45 User base and activity metrics20:25 Four-layer architecture and division of responsibilities22:31 Ecosystem progress23:45 How will AI agents evolve?29:33 Next-step roadmap
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EP-42 With Boundless CEO: ZK, PoVW, and Quantum Defense
This episode of the Wu Blockchain podcast features an interview with Boundless CEO Shiv Shankar and RISC Zero Head of Global Marketing Tina Liu, focusing on the Boundless mainnet, the step-change in ZK proof performance, and token economics. Boundless, introduced by RISC Zero, is The Verifiable Compute Layer built in Rust. It provides a componentized stack that simplifies ZK integration, performing computation off-chain while using ZKPs on-chain for cross-chain interactions, batching proofs from heterogeneous systems to reduce on-chain verification costs and improve developer efficiency.Key takeaways: ZK has moved from a "research topic" to mass production, with applications compressing Ethereum block-level (single-block) proofs to ~12 seconds. Boundless achieved decentralization on day one, distributing rewards by contribution via Proof of Verifiable Work (PoVW)—emphasizing "more work, more pay" and non-forgability—to avoid single-point oligopolies. During the public test phase, the mainnet exhibited a Jevons effect: lower costs expanded usage. The project positions itself as the operations and distribution layer for ZK compute, expanding demand through collaborations with Stellar, Base, and EigenLayer. It also stresses the post-quantum advantages of ZK—especially the STARK family—and counters compute monopolies with open bidding and a cloud price cap.Timeline:00:00 Why can Ethereum block-level proofs be compressed to ~12 seconds?03:46 How to balance high-yield narratives with token stability?04:15 Why insist on day-one decentralization?04:47 How does PoVW measure contribution and prevent forged work? Why call it an evolution of PoW?08:34 How does borderless mining attract new classes of compute providers?09:28 Why did a misunderstanding arise around the Kaito airdrop?11:02 Demand-side uplift driven by partner networks16:19 Cost-down applications for extreme workloads19:17 When proof costs fall, the Jevons effect emerges20:24 How do ZK and AI combine?25:07 How to address quantum threats?27:08 How to prevent compute oligopolies?29:06 What are the strategies for China and Korea?37:26 Pathways for government–public chain cooperation on post-quantum security38:22 Closing & next steps
A podcast from professional media brand WuBlockchain that discusses and analyzes important news in the crypto world, with a special focus on Asia. https://twitter.com/WuBlockchain
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