In this episode I talk with Ryan from Toroa Group, a New Zealand-based founder building across tokenised funds and vault strategies, title-backed property tokens, and NZD/AUD stablecoins.

We cover why stablecoins are still the clearest product-market fit, why non-USD stablecoins matter for smaller countries, how to tokenize title instead of fund units, and how they work with existing funds to offer tokenized fund access to DAOs, foundations and on-chain natives.

Ryan also shares his “follow the demand, don’t force education” philosophy and how tokenised assets are now able to provide utility over and above the legacy versions which is supercharging mainstream adoption.

Key Timestamps

[00:00:00] Tokenization reality: Tokens don’t create liquidity by magic – the product still has to solve a real problem.

[00:02:00] Ryan’s background: From med tech and audiology into educating NZ on Web3 and then full-time tokenization.

[00:05:00] Toroa’s focus: On-chain financial products, NZD/AUD stablecoins, property tokens and tokenized funds.

[00:07:00] Non-USD stablecoins: Why NZD/AUD stables matter for cross-border flows and monetary sovereignty.

[00:10:00] Title-based property: Tokens tied to property title, not shares, avoiding financial-product status and paying rent in stablecoins.

[00:17:00] Tokenized feeders: Letting funds offer regulated exposure in token form to DAOs, foundations and family offices.

[00:20:00] Demand > preaching: They focus on inbound demand from funds already being asked for tokenized access.

[00:26:00] Roadmap & raise: Moving group structure to the UK, aiming for a future listing, and raising a £500k pre-Series A.

Connect

https://www.toroa.xyz/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/toroagroup/

https://x.com/toroagroup

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjohnsonhunt/

Disclaimer

Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.

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L1 blockchains have gone through every hype cycle: ICOs, NFTs, gaming, metaverse, now AI. But what actually survives?

In this episode, I speak with Alexander Zahnd, CEO of Zilliqa, an L1 that launched in 2017 and recently became fully EVM-compatible. Alex shares his journey from a decade in Swiss TradFi and treasury/regulatory projects into DeFi, and how that shaped his views on financial rigor, regulation and long-term blockchain adoption.

Key Timestamps

[00:00:00] Mercenary DeFi users: Alex explains why liquidity follows the highest incentives and why this is a problem for long-term protocol sustainability.

[00:01:00] From Swiss banks to Zilliqa: A decade in TradFi, treasury and regulation, discovering DeFi as “finance without intermediaries,” and joining Zilliqa four years ago.

[00:05:00] L1 landscape today: How Zilliqa moved from sharding-focused scalability to full EVM compatibility, and why EVM + SVM gravity is consolidating general-purpose L1s.

[00:08:00] Narrative chasing vs. building: ICOs, gaming, NFTs, metaverse, AI—all tried at Zilliqa; why chasing every hype is fragile and a clear, durable North Star matters.

[00:11:00] AI x blockchain: Alex uses AI tools daily but is skeptical of forced “AI + chain” narratives until real, organic use cases emerge.

[00:13:00] Real institutional adoption: Institutions aren’t allergic to crypto; they’re allergic to operational and regulatory uncertainty. Why audit-ready, compliant infra will be a major driver.

[00:14:00] Where DeFi still has upside: Derivatives, perps, structured products, on-chain treasuries, RWAs, and permissioned DeFi rails for institutions and KYC’d wallets.

[00:17:00] Token design lessons: Tokens should coordinate and power utility flows, not exist purely for price appreciation or quick fundraising.

[00:20:00] Price vs fundamentals: How token price is the easiest visible metric, but often detached from real usage—unlike equities, where mature analyst coverage helps.

[00:24:00] Lowering dev friction: Why Zilliqa’s EVM compatibility and AI-assisted tooling matter for non-engineer builders to prototype and ship ideas faster.

[00:28:00] On-chain LEIs with Liechtenstein: A government-backed initiative for blockchain-verifiable legal entity identifiers as a bridge between TradFi and Web3.

[00:29:00] Alex’s ask: Strategic partnerships, institutional integrations and long-range alliances around regulated, EVM-based infrastructure.

Connect

https://zilliqa.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/zilliqa/

https://x.com/zilliqa

Disclaimer

Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.

It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.

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AI demand for GPUs is exploding – and most of that capacity is locked inside underused data centers.

In this episode, I talk with Mark from Aethir, a decentralized GPU cloud that aggregates idle, enterprise-grade GPUs into a global network. We discuss how Aethir feels like AWS on the front end but works like “Airbnb for data centers” behind the scenes, why compute demand outpaces supply, and how they keep latency low across 90+ countries.

Mark also explains Aethir’s token and revenue model, their work with EigenLayer, and why he believes solo founders now have superpowers in an AI-native world.

Nothing in this episode is financial or investment advice.

Key timestamps

[00:00:00] Intro: Sam introduces Mark and Aethir’s decentralized GPU cloud.

[00:01:00] Mark’s journey: From oil and gas infra and biotech to building GPU infrastructure for AI.

[00:04:00] What Aethir is: AWS-style GPU cloud on the front end, “Airbnb for data centers” on the back end.

[00:06:00] Enterprise-only GPUs: Why they only use data-center-grade hardware and no consumer devices.

[00:07:00] Exploding demand: GPU demand 6–8x supply, with inference-heavy apps driving the next wave.

[00:14:00] Global coverage: 90+ countries and routing users to nearby nodes for low latency.

[00:31:00] Business model: 20% protocol fee, 80% to GPU hosts, plus token rewards and staking for large clusters.

[00:39:00] Solo founder era: Why one-person AI-native companies will be extremely powerful.

[00:41:00] Mark’s message: Focus on projects with strong fundamentals and keep building through cycles.

Connect

http://aethir.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/aethir-limited/

https://x.com/AethirCloud

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrydon/

https://x.com/MRRydon

Disclaimer

Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.

It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
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