You Can't Code Your Way Out of Risk | Amor Sexton | Blockdaemon [EP. 314]

You Can't Code Your Way Out | Amor Sexton, BlockdaemonIn the last few weeks, Drift and Kelp lost $577 million between them. Neither one was a code exploit. Both were operational and governance failures.Amor Sexton, Chief Operating Officer at Blockdaemon, was last on MoneyNeverSleeps in October 2022 (EP 193) talking about how institutional client expectations of resilient processes would drive blockchain adoption. Three and a half years later, the industry just got an extremely expensive lesson in exactly that thesis.In this episode, Pete and Amor get into:- Why "this isn't a hack, it's a governance failure" is the conversation the industry isn't having- How compliance is a subset of risk — and why DeFi keeps confusing the two- The Web2/human layer compromise that exploits a legitimate Web3 feature- Pluto on Castle Island: "Everything that TradFi has built in terms of circuit breakers, we're just speed running relearning those things in crypto"- The Kelp configuration was a known vulnerability — and 47% of operators chose it anyway- The two or three governance questions every DeFi protocol and LP should be asking right now- Why it always comes back to people, not codeChapters:00:00 Cold open00:24 Welcome back to MoneyNeverSleeps00:55 $577M, 18 days, no code exploit02:00 Compliance is a subset of risk03:15 Guardrails and governance04:30 The Web2 layer compromise05:45 Speedrunning what TradFi already built07:30 Why 47% chose the risky configuration09:00 Three governance questions every protocol should answer12:30 It always comes back to people13:30 Sign offConnect with Amor:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amor-sexton/Blockdaemon: https://www.blockdaemon.com/About MoneyNeverSleeps:MoneyNeverSleeps is hosted by Pete Townsend, GP at Norio Ventures. Sharp riffs, big ideas, and real insights from smart people in crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.Connect with Pete:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petetownsendnv/X: @petetownsendnvNorio Ventures: https://www.norioventures.comSubscribe to MoneyNeverSleeps wherever you get your podcasts:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moneyneversleeps1814Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTndApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294#MoneyNeverSleeps #Blockdaemon #DeFi #Crypto #AmorSexton #Governance #RiskManagement

Dan Gold is founder and CEO of Stratiphy, and as far as anyone knows, the only platform offering tax-efficient crypto exposure to UK retail investors right now.The path got narrow fast. The FCA lifted the retail crypto ETN ban in October 2025. HMRC then closed the stocks-and-shares ISA route at the start of this tax year, leaving crypto ETNs eligible only for Innovative Finance ISAs, which no mainstream platform offered. Stratiphy re-opened the door, partnering with 21Shares to offer bitcoin, ether, and the new BOLD bitcoin/gold hybrid inside an ISA wrapper.We get into the regulatory maze, whether Bitcoin is a lottery ticket or a real line item, and what launching into a 35% drawdown tells you about who your customers actually are. Plus: why the IFAs will come around whether they like it or not.Follow Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-gold-5186091b2/Learn more about Stratiphy: https://www.stratiphy.ioCHAPTERS:00:00 Tax-Efficient Crypto in the UK: The Short Story00:25 The Regulatory Sequence03:00 IFAs and the Education Gap04:00 Portfolio Construction or a Punt?05:30 Bitcoin: Lottery Ticket or Asset Allocation?08:00 Launching Into a Down Market09:30 Where Stratiphy Goes Next11:30 Sign-Off🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#MoneyNeverSleeps #Crypto #Bitcoin #ISA #UKInvesting #ETN #Fintech #21Shares #Stratiphy

Tokenization has a perception problem. The industry keeps selling it as an efficiency play — less friction, more transparency, better infrastructure. But if tokenization doesn't help you sell more of whatever you've tokenized, it's irrelevant.Alejandro Gutierrez leads Solana Superteam Ireland and has been building in this space since before most people knew what tokenization meant. Co-founder of the Defactor DeFi protocol. Creator of a blockchain-based supply chain financing application with Consol Freight. And the only builder on a KPMG panel last week alongside the Central Bank of Ireland, Invesco, and Dillon Eustace — in a room of over a hundred people from the heart of Irish financial services.The POC phase is long gone. Ireland has all the ingredients. Now it's time to move product — or get left behind.Also: Castle DAO is coming to Slane Castle. The TradFi Band is yet to be confirmed.Follow Alejandro on X and LinkedIn: https://x.com/A_gutierrohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-gutierrez-98979b43/Follow Superteam Ireland on X and LinkedInhttps://x.com/superteamIElinkedin.com/company/superteam-ireland/CHAPTERS: 00:00 Sell More or Don't Bother 01:00 Is Crypto Getting Boring? 02:00 Guardrails, Governance and the Drift and Kelp Hacks 03:00 The KPMG Panel — The Builder in the Room 05:00 The Commercial Reality of Tokenization 06:00 What Defactor and Consol Freight Unlocked 08:00 The Colombian SME and Global Capital Formation 09:00 Does Ireland Have What It Takes? 11:00 The POC Phase Is Long Gone 12:00 Before We Go — Buildstation, Colosseum and Castle DAO🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#MoneyNeverSleeps #Tokenization #Tokenisation #Solana #Ireland #DeFi #Web3 #Crypto #Fintech #Blockchain #IrishFintech #OnchainFinance

Brian McNulty has been building toward this moment for a decade. When he co-founded the Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group with the London Stock Exchange back in 2015, he was helping the industry imagine what tokenized funds might one day look like. On April 21st 2026, he rings the bell at that same exchange to launch DVF — Lingfeng Capital's Digital Venture Fund — and the circle closes.In this episode, Brian and Pete trace the journey from FAC to the Apex exit to DVF, and dig into what VC 3.0 actually means: a venture fund first, a tokenized structure second, built to fix the distribution problems that have kept private markets broken for decades.They cover why the underlying investment case always has to come first, how Archax and LSEG's Digital Markets Infrastructure underpin the model, what structured transferability actually looks like in practice, who DVF is really for, and the real hurdles the industry still has to clear.DVF is Lingfeng Capital's $100 million regulated tokenized venture fund investing in Series B through pre-IPO fintech, AI, blockchain, and digital infrastructure companies across global markets.Find Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmcnulty/EP 116 — the original FAC episode from 2020: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/116-all-these-funds-brian-mcnulty-and-fac/CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction00:45 From PTDL to Lingfeng — The Journey02:00 What FAC Got Right and Wrong03:15 Why Tokenization Alone Is Never Enough04:00 Private Markets Distribution Is Broken05:00 Venture Fund First, Token Second07:00 How DVF Works — LSEG, Archax and VC 3.009:00 Structured Transferability vs True Liquidity09:30 Who DVF Is For — Four Investor Buckets11:30 The Real Hurdles Left to Clear13:15 Ringing the Bell at the London Stock Exchange🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#MoneyNeverSleeps #VentureCapital #Tokenization #PrivateMarkets #DVF #VC30 #Fintech #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #LingfengCapital #Archax #LSEG

Who's watching the agent? That's the question at the heart of this episode — and it's one that's going to define the next decade of finance.Rob Viglione spent his career figuring out how machines make decisions in high-stakes environments. From the US Air Force to Afghanistan, and now as Co-founder and CEO of Horizen Labs, he's building the cryptographic trust infrastructure for the agentic economy.Every asset class will be tokenized. Agents will be trading 24/7 across all of them. Your data will be completely public. All the time. The guardrails don't exist yet — and the answer is Zero Knowledge Cryptography. The technology that lets agents prove they did what they were supposed to, without revealing how they did it.Find Rob at horizenlabs.io and follow him on X at @robviglioneMoneyNeverSleeps is on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@moneyneversleeps1814And on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294CHAPTERS:00:00 Who's Watching the Agent?01:30 The Stakes of Agentic Commerce03:00 What Breaks When Agents Hit Financial Rails05:00 Is TradFi Infiltrating or Integrating with DeFi?07:30 Zero Knowledge Cryptography and Privacy on Public Rails09:30 Baking Privacy into the Protocol11:00 Is This ZK's Moment?#MoneyNeverSleeps #ZeroKnowledge #AgenticEconomy #HorizenLabs #Crypto #Fintech #Web3 #Privacy #Tokenization #AI #Blockchain #ZKProofs

Talent is equally distributed. Opportunity is not. John Hill, VP of Story at Whop, has spent his career watching founders in Cape Town, Lagos, and Medellín build something real — and then hit a wall the moment they try to get paid. Whop is an AI-backed platform where anyone can build a digital business in minutes, and in February 2026 it closed a $200 million investment from Tether to embed stablecoin payments across 144 countries. The shift from finding a job to being the job is already happening. This is what the infrastructure behind it looks like.We coverWhat the wall actually looks like for a founder in Lagos, Cape Town, or MedellínWhy talent is equally distributed but opportunity is notHow Whop has removed the barriers that once kept entrepreneurship out of reachWhat Tether's $200M investment means for creators and builders outside the western financial systemThe shift from finding a job to being the jobWhy the Boston Irish diaspora is the original first dollar entrepreneur storyHow two students turned one skill into $140,000 a year — while still in schoolFor full show notes and guest links visit moneyneversleeps.ie🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/MoneyNeverSleeps explores one big idea each week in under 15 minutes with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.Subscribe and join the conversation.#Entrepreneurship #FutureOfWork #Tether

Markets don't close when the exchange does. They just move somewhere else.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Alex Pollak of 21Shares about why crypto ETPs are not just surviving the rise of onchain finance — they're about to become part of it.Alex Pollak is Managing Director and Head of UK and New Markets at 21Shares, which provides the largest suite of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products in the world. Drawing on over 20 years in the ETF and ETP industry, Alex explains why the wrapper that made crypto accessible to institutions is now evolving into something programmable, tokenized, and potentially tradeable around the clock.Across crypto, fintech, and traditional finance, the conversation around tokenized assets and 24/7 markets is moving from theory toward product reality. Exchanges, brokers, and issuers are beginning to ask what happens when the underlying assets never sleep but the fund structure still does.Rather than being displaced by direct crypto ownership or onchain alternatives, ETPs may be about to get smarter — evolving from simple access vehicles into programmable baskets that operate inside a financial system that no longer has opening hours.This isn't a crypto-versus-TradFi conversation. It's a discussion about financial infrastructure, total cost of ownership, and how one of the most successful product innovations in market history is quietly reinventing itself.We coverWhy buying crypto directly isn't always cheaper than using an ETPHow total cost of ownership changes the calculation for institutional investorsWhy basket products are the next frontier — and what's holding them backHow regulators in the US, UK, and Europe are shaping the pace of innovationWhy 21Shares wants to tokenize its own ETPsWhat a 24/7 tradeable ETP actually looks like in practiceWhy the long runway for crypto ETPs is just beginningAlex brings a perspective shaped by two decades of watching skepticism turn into a multi-trillion dollar industry — and sees the same pattern emerging in crypto ETPs today.If you're a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how traditional financial products and onchain systems are beginning to converge, this episode offers a clear-eyed view of where things are heading.00:00 Markets never close: the cold open00:30 Intro and guest welcome01:00 How investors access crypto today02:30 ETPs vs direct ownership: who uses what03:30 Total cost of ownership and the spread argument04:30 How ETP spreads have tightened over time05:00 From single asset to basket products06:00 What regulators in the UK, US and Europe are allowing07:00 The dream: funds as smart contracts08:00 Tokenizing ETPs and the 24/7 market problem09:30 Technology ahead of regulation10:30 The long runway for crypto ETPs11:00 Closing thoughts and where to find 21SharesFor full show notes and guest links, see below.MoneyNeverSleeps explores one big idea each week in under 15 minutes with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.If you're interested in where financial infrastructure is heading — from tokenized assets and crypto ETPs to programmable markets and onchain settlement — subscribe and join the conversation.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#CryptoETPs #TokenizedAssets #OnchainFinance

DeFi transparency means every onchain trade is visible.Which means the moment a strategy works, the market can copy it.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Matteo Manzi, co-founder and CEO of Orion Finance, about a structural challenge emerging in onchain asset management: the same transparency that makes blockchain markets verifiable can also expose the intellectual property behind trading strategies.Matteo describes this tension with a simple phrase: “transparency equals liability.” If every transaction is visible in real time, sophisticated traders — or automated smart contracts — can monitor strategies and replicate trades almost instantly.Orion Finance is building infrastructure designed to address this problem. The idea draws inspiration from the multi-pod hedge fund model used by firms like Millennium, where multiple trading teams run independent strategies while sharing capital, infrastructure, and execution efficiency.Matteo calls this concept “Millennium onchain.”Instead of isolated vaults competing in the open, Orion’s architecture allows strategies to operate within a shared system where trades can be netted internally, capital can be allocated across strategies, and execution costs can be reduced — all while preserving the confidentiality of the underlying trading logic.Across crypto and traditional finance, the conversation around onchain asset management is beginning to shift from simple tokenized products toward actively managed strategies, capital aggregation platforms, and composable financial infrastructure.If transparency allows markets to verify what is happening, privacy may be required to make those markets investable.We cover• Why transparency can become a liability for trading strategies• How onchain vault strategies can be copied in real time• What Matteo means by “Millennium onchain”• How multi-strategy capital platforms could emerge in DeFi• Why internal trade crossing and netting improve capital efficiency• How composable vaults could reshape investment productsMatteo brings a builder’s perspective shaped by designing infrastructure for onchain portfolio management, explaining how privacy, verifiability, and capital efficiency can coexist in the next generation of financial markets.If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how professional asset management may evolve onchain, this episode explores one possible path forward.⏱️ Chapters00:00 — Cold open: strategies get copied00:28 — “Transparency equals liability”02:40 — Why DeFi strategies leak alpha04:05 — Orion’s multi-pod architecture07:05 — “Millennium onchain” explained10:30 — Composable vault strategies12:45 — The future of DeFi asset managementFor full show notes and guest links, see below.MoneyNeverSleeps explores one big idea each week in under 15 minutes with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.If you're interested in where financial infrastructure is heading — from stablecoins and tokenised assets to AI-driven markets — subscribe and join the conversation.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#DeFi #OnchainFinance #CryptoMarkets

Money doesn’t become digital overnight.It becomes digital when the rails of finance begin to change.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Emma Landriault of JPMorgan about why stablecoins and bank-issued deposit tokens may end up reinforcing, rather than replacing, each other.Emma Landriault is Executive Director at JPMorgan and global product lead for JPM Coin, a deposit token that enables institutional clients to move money between accounts in real time, 24/7.Drawing on her work building deposit tokens and financial market infrastructure, Emma explains why stablecoins, deposit tokens, and potentially central bank digital currencies represent different layers of the financial system rather than competing forms of money.Across crypto, fintech, and traditional finance, the conversation around stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and onchain settlement is moving from experimentation toward real financial infrastructure. Companies such as Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and major global banks are increasingly integrating these rails into payments, treasury, and settlement systems.Rather than replacing banks, digital money is emerging as a modular system where different forms of value serve different roles — from programmable treasury operations to onchain settlement and institutional liquidity management.This isn’t a crypto-versus-banks conversation. It’s a discussion about financial architecture, interoperability, and how the rails of global finance are quietly evolving.We cover:• Why stablecoins and bank-issued deposit tokens are designed to coexist• How liability and trust anchors shape different forms of digital money• Why corporate treasurers are beginning to manage liquidity directly from wallets• What programmable treasury operations could mean for financial workflows• How traditional institutions are approaching onchain assets and digital markets• Why the future financial system may look more like interconnected networks than isolated payment systemsEmma brings a systems-level perspective shaped by building real financial infrastructure inside one of the world’s largest banks, explaining why operational reality matters as much as technological innovation — and why the next phase of digital finance will likely be defined by interoperability rather than disruption.If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how traditional finance and onchain systems are beginning to converge, this episode offers a practical perspective on where things may be heading.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Why stablecoins and banks can coexist01:00 – Layers of digital money02:30 – Liability, trust, and financial infrastructure04:10 – Deposit tokens vs stablecoins06:00 – Yield, liquidity, and treasury operations07:10 – How corporate treasurers use digital assets08:40 – Programmable treasury and wallet infrastructure10:00 – Institutional interest in onchain finance11:15 – Convergence and network-based financial systems13:00 – The future architecture of digital money13:40 – Closing thoughtsFor full show notes and guest links, see below.MoneyNeverSleeps explores one big idea each week in under 15 minutes with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.If you're interested in where financial infrastructure is heading — from stablecoins and tokenized assets to AI-driven markets — subscribe and join the conversation.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#Stablecoins #DigitalMoney #OnchainFinance

Money doesn’t become geopolitical overnight.It becomes geopolitical when the rails start to change.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend is joined by Sean Lee for a focused conversation on what China is really building with the digital yuan and why this moment is about infrastructure, not currency replacement.Drawing on recent meetings with the People’s Bank of China, Sean explains how the digital yuan is moving beyond a domestic CBDC experiment toward offshore settlement, trade finance, and geopolitical optionality. Rather than replacing the dollar, China appears to be building parallel rails designed to keep trade moving in a more fragmented world.This is not a CBDC hype episode. It’s a grounded discussion about trade, trust, gold, and how digital infrastructure reshapes global money flows.We cover:• Why the digital yuan is shifting from onshore use to offshore settlement• How trade, geopolitics, and optionality are driving new money rails• Why gold still matters in a digital financial system• Where stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenised deposits coexist• What founders should be building for as interoperability becomes multi-dimensionalIf you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand where global finance is actually heading beyond headlines and hype, this episode is worth your time.⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – The next money rails01:00 – From domestic CBDC to offshore settlement02:40 – Trade, geopolitics, and optionality04:00 – Incentives vs mandates05:00 – Gold, trade flows, and Asia’s role07:30 – Digital RMB and new denominations09:00 – Gold-backed stablecoins and layered money10:30 – Stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenised deposits11:45 – What founders should focus on next13:30 – Closing thoughts🔗 Connect with Sean LeeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-lee-4b7a98/X: https://x.com/CryptoSeanLee🔔 Subscribe for moreMoneyNeverSleeps breaks down one big idea each week in under 15 minutes, with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/Hosted by Pete Townsend.