About this episode
Ben Lakoff and Arnav Pagidyala from Bankless Ventures lay out how they’re thinking about crypto investing heading into 2026. The conversation spans four persistent pillars of every cycle: DeFi, tokenization, capital formation, and speculation and how each is evolving as crypto matures. Topics include the next wave of on-chain lending, equity perps, DeFi neobanks, verticalized tokenization platforms, compliant ICOs, prediction and opinion markets, and where AI agents may reshape crypto-native finance. A candid look at what’s investable now, what’s changing, and how Bankless Ventures is underwriting the next cycle.------?SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium------BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:?COINBASE | ETH & BTC BACKED LOANShttps://bankless.cc/coinbase-borrow?FRAXNET | MINT, REDEEM, & EARN https://bankless.cc/fraxnet?UNISWAP | CONTINUOUS CLEARING AUCTIONS https://bankless.cc/uniswap-cca?MANTLE | GLOBAL HACKATHON 2025https://bankless.cc/mantle-hackathon?EIGHT SLEEP | IMPROVE YOUR SLEEPhttps://bankless.cc/eight-sleep ------TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro11:59 DeFi36:20 Tokenization50:25 Capital Formation1:00:44 Speculation Markets1:09:58 AI1:13:26 Founders & Teams1:15:31 Closing & Disclaimers------RESOURCESBen Lakoffhttps://x.com/benlakoff Arnavhttps://x.com/0xArnav Bankless Ventureshttps://x.com/banklessvc ------Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
