#512: Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge, on Stablecoins, The Incentives of Financial Systems, Tokenization, and Economic Realignment

Austin Campbell is a finance and risk management professional with two decades of experience spanning trading, portfolio management, executive leadership, and academia. He is the Managing Partner and Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting and serves as an Acting CFO at Glueti, having recently held the role of Acting CEO at WSPN Ltd. He has taught as an adjunct professor at both NYU Stern and Columbia Business School, specializing in finance and markets. Previously, Austin was Chief Risk Officer and Head of Portfolio Management at Paxos, following senior trading and portfolio management roles at Citi, Stone Ridge, and JP Morgan Chase, where he advanced to Executive Director in Rates Trading. He began his career as a catastrophe risk analyst at Benfield and John B Collins Associates, with early research experience in mathematics at California State University Chico. In this conversation, we discuss:- Open Frontier - Stablecoins - Tokenization of assets - Traditional payment systems vs crypto - Decoupling lending incentives from user incentives - The importance of the Genius Act - Economic realignment that returns power to mainstream - The fragmentation of the financial systems - Composability of blockchains - “smart regulation” - Zero Knowledge Consulting Zero Knowledge Consulting X: @ZKZeroKnowledgeWebsite: www.zero-knowledge.comNewsletter: www.zero-in.beehiiv.comAustin CampbellX: @austincampbellLinkedIn: Austin Campbell---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Jesse Knutson is Head of Operations at Bitfinex Securities, a regulated security token platform offering issuers and traders access to capital and tokenized securities. Jesse started his career in traditional finance having worked at global investment banks including Barclays and Macquarie. In addition to his role as Taiwan Head of Equity Capital Solutions, Jesse was also a founding member of Macquarie’s digital asset working group, and deal lead on the firm’s first equity investment into the Bitcoin mining space. Prior to joining Bitfinex Securities, Jesse was VP of Financial Products at Blockstream where he worked on developing and distributing financial products built on Bitcoin and backed by Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining. In this conversation, we discuss:- Tokenized securities - Tokenization is in a position to challenge traditional payment rails - NYSE going 24/7 trading - How tokenized stocks work - The convergence of tradfi <> crypto - Freedom is the killer feature of stablecoins - Will RWAs be the next boom for tokenization? - El Salvador Plan B conference - 4 year crypto cycles will have less impact than before - Bitfinex Securities - Capital rotation and fund flows - The relationship between gold <> bitcoin - Building on Bitcoin Bitfinex SecuritiesX: @BFXSecuritiesWebsite: www.bitfinex.com/securitiesLinkedIn: Bitfinex SecuritiesJesse KnutsonX: @KnutsonJesseLinkedIn: Jesse Knutson---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Matt O’Connor is the Co-founder of Legion, a platform for compliant and merit-based public token offering that enables teams to select investors based on criteria such as onchain history, social clout, and developer contributions. He is the former lead algorithmic engineer for Bridgewater Associates; tokenomics researcher for the Stacks Foundation (SEC qualified 2019 ICO); and token economics lead for Status (2017 ICO). His open source book, Tokenomics for Builders, has been positively reviewed by founders and VCs from Monad, Placeholder, Tensor, AllianceDAO, Galaxy Digital, and more. In this conversation, we discuss:- ICOs, IDOs, launchpads, private SAFT rounds - Merit-based, compliant token offerings - Why IPO access has deteriorated for retail investors - How Legion differs from AngelList, Carta, Republic, or SeedInvest - The convergence of IPOs <> ICOs - Companies with equity holders and token holders - Tokenomics 101 - Common mistakes when designing tokenomics - KPI based vesting for founders LegionX: @legiondotccWebsite: legion.ccLinkedIn: Legion | Merit-based FundraisingMatt O’ConnorX: @matty_LinkedIn: Matt O’Connor---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Nic Roberts-Huntley is the CEO and Co-Founder of Blueprint Finance, leveraging his unique background spanning medicine, economics, and finance. A former surgeon who practiced at prestigious institutions, including Oxford University Hospitals and The Royal Marsden, Nic pivoted to finance after completing his MBA and Master's in Evidence-Based Policy Evaluation & Economics at Oxford University. His career trajectory includes roles as Vice President at Point72, Venture Architect at Virtual Ventures, and various surgical fellowships.At Blueprint Finance, Nic oversees two innovative protocols: Concrete, which provides institutional-grade financial services through its Earn, Borrow, and Protect products that optimize yields and offer liquidation protection; and Glow, a Solana-based protocol offering advanced trading, lending, and liquid restaking solutions. His multidisciplinary expertise and quantitative approach position him as a distinctive voice at the intersection of traditional finance and DeFi innovation.In this conversation, we discuss:- Institutional yield generation becomes crypto’s next major unlock - Nic’s career path: surgeon to trad-fi to crypto - M&A in digital asset markets accelerates - DeFi grows up from speculation to infrastructure - Crypto vaults - Delta-neutral trading strategies in vaults - Nic’s critique of “chasing headline APY” - DeFi’s Next Frontier: Credit, Tokenization & New Markets - Insurance will unlock the next frontier of crypto - On-chain credit markets - Composability across DeFi Blueprint FinanceX: @Blueprint_DeFiWebsite: blueprintfinance.comGlow FinanceX: @GlowFinanceXYZWebsite: glowfinance.xyzDiscord: discord.gg/glowfinanceConcreteX: @ConcreteXYZWebsite: concrete.xyzDiscord: discord.gg/concretexyzNic Roberts-HuntleyX: @nic_buildsLinkedIn: Nic Roberts-Huntley---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon Music

Irina Chuchkina is the Chief Growth Officer at Wallet In Telegram. Irina is an accomplished leader in crypto and fintech with over 18 years of experience building world-class brands at the intersection of payments and technology, across Europe and Asia. Currently, Irina is leading Wallet's global expansion strategy with a target of 15 new countries in the next 2 years.Previously, she was CMO at Volt, driving their brand and global marketing strategy. She was also part of Southeast Asia super-app giant, Grab, where she helped to launch GrabPay, Grab’s mobile wallet, and GrabRewards, its loyalty platform across Southeast Asia.In this conversation, we discuss:- Wallet in Telegram - Difference between Wallet in Telegram vs standalone crypto wallets - Finance inside messaging apps - Telegram as a Super-App - The convergence of messaging, payments, and identity - Go-To-Market for wallets - Stablecoins as the backbone of global payments - 3 pillars of wallets: distribution, utility, simplicity - The recent launch of xStocks inside TON Wallet - Why growth in crypto is fundamentally different from Web2 growth Wallet In TelegramX: @wallet_tgTelegram: t.me/walletLinkedIn: Wallet In TelegramIrina ChuchkinaX: @pogodasuperLinkedIn: Irina Chuchkina---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Carlos Lei, CEO of Uplink, one of the leading DePIN players, operates as a connectivity marketplace using existing Wi-Fi routers to help telecom companies save millions of dollars. In this conversation, we discuss:- 2026 will be the year of DePIN - Insights from building in connectivity since 2015 - The future of connectivity - Mesh networks - Sharing connectivity using existing infrastructure - There isn’t enough infra to connect devices in the future - The connectivity incentive layer - How ULX and Network Credits work together - Building on Avalanche - Network effects in crypto UplinkX: @uplink_xyzWebsite: www.uplink.xyzLinkedIn: UplinkCarlos LeiX: @CarlosLeiSantosLinkedIn: Carlos Lei Santos---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

A treasury company pioneer, Marco launched the very first altcoin treasury on the Nasdaq. Prior to joining Solmate as CEO he was a partner at Pantera Capital, where he helped to structure some of the industry’s best-performing treasuries. A trained attorney, Marco was once dubbed the "Dean of Digital Currency Lawyers" by the Editor-in-Chief of American Banker. He was the Chief Legal Officer at Kraken, one of the world's largest digital asset exchanges, for five years.Prior to Kraken, Marco was the President of Blockchain.com, as well as a Partner at Cooley LLP, where he led the firm’s global financial technology team. At Cooley, he invented the SAFT Framework and co-authored the SAFT Project Whitepaper, which became a market standard for crypto capital formation. He was an advisor to the International Monetary Fund and an IMF delegate speaker on financial technology in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.In this conversation, we discuss:- Inventing the SAFT Framework - Stories from being Chief Legal Officer at Kraken - Crypto in Abu Dhabi and UAE - The geographical importance of the UAE - Why Solana - Solana in 2026 - Raising $300 million - Planned Acquisition of RockawayX - The Infrastructure Flywheel Strategy SolmateX: @SolmateWebsite: www.solmate.comLinkedIn: Solmate $SLMTMarco SantoriX: @msantoriESQLinkedIn: Marco Santori---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Kyle Okamoto is the Chief Technology Officer at Aethir: the leading decentralized enterprise-grade cloud computing network. With over 20 years of experience in cloud and edge computing, digital media, IoT and AI, Kyle's leadership has been pivotal in scaling growth businesses and driving technological innovation at Aethir.Before joining Aethir, Kyle served as the General Manager of Aeris Communications and Ericsson’s enterprise businesses, overseeing Internet of Things, Security, and Connected Vehicle portfolio companies. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Edge Gravity, a global edge cloud platform facilitating cloud gaming, AI, and media and entertainment applications. Kyle's extensive experience also includes his tenure as Chief Network Officer of Verizon Media and his role as a founding member of Verizon Digital Media Services, which grew to a multi-billion dollar business before its acquisition by Private Equity.In addition to his work with Aethir, Kyle is an early investor and advisor to Theta Labs, holds board positions in various technology companies and non-profit organizations, and is an active angel investor and advisor in the venture capital and private equity spaces. Kyle holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.In this conversation, we discuss:- AI’s growth is now gated by access to compute rather than model quality - Compute is becoming a financial asset class - AI demand continues to outpace supply - GPUs - Investors are starting to treat compute like infrastructure, not software - Financial structures are becoming essential to scaling AI infrastructure - Decentralized compute offers an alternative path during the global GPU shortage- Enterprises are moving toward multi-source compute strategies - Financing compute - The financing of compute is as important as the tech side AethirX: @AethirCloudWebsite: www.aethir.comLinkedIn: AethirKyle OkamotoLinkedIn: Kyle Okamoto---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Tom Trowbridge is an entrepreneur and business builder; he is a co-founder of Fluence Labs, and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) where he was President from Inception. He hosts the DePIN Day conference series and the DePINed podcast and is an investor in leading DePIN projects and crypto funds. Tom is an advocate for decentralized systems and distributed ledger/blockchain technology and believes these open source tools provide the best opportunity to build fairer, more transparent, and higher-functioning societies, government, and business ecosystems. He is passionate about driving education regarding blockchain, Bitcoin and the great promise of distributed systems. In this conversation, we discuss:- The early days of HBAR - Decentralized storage/compute - Difference between decentralized compute vs centralized cloud - DePIN - DeAI - Crypto economic models - Fiat-linked rewards address crypto reward volatility - Staking models for cloud DePINs - DePIN offers a new, sustainable model for value creation Fluence LabsX: @fluence_projectWebsite: www.fluence.networkTelegram: t.me/fluence_projectTom TrowbridgeX: @TheTomTrowLinkedIn: Tom Trowbridge---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All

Austin King, Founder of Nomina, is a Harvard-trained computer scientist, is a proven entrepreneur with a record of building and scaling high-impact ventures. He sold his first company to Ripple, where he co-authored a new payment protocol with CTO David Schwartz and led its go-to-market strategy. Today, Austin draws on his combined expertise in engineering and business development to drive growth and innovation in the next generation of financial infrastructure. In this conversation, we discuss:- What’s going on with Ripple and XRP? - Why the pivot to Nomina? - Perp DEXs - Being delta neutral - Funding rate arbitrage - How to make money on funding rate arbitrage - Hyperliquid changed the crypto narrative - Current state of bridging in crypto - The future of financial advisors - Altcoins will get crushed over the next 18 months NominaX: @NominaWebsite: www.nomina.ioTelegram: t.me/nominaannouncementsAustin KingX: @AustinKingLinkedIn: Austin King---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All