In this episode, Ben sits down with Cooper Turley , Founder of Coop Records Cooper has invested in and helped build many of the blockchain industry’s more culture and creator focused projects. Now he is combining music, his other passion and area of expertise, with blockchain to develop a novel protocol for musical artists to distribute their music while empowering consumers to earn for their curation. Cooper is a rare talent with a deep understanding of the music and crypto industries. If anyon...
Jul 02, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 55
In this episode, I sit down with Tuan Cao, co-founder of Life AI. Tuan and his team started by building a web 2 alternative to 23 and Me, focused on the Asian genome. But with the key difference, they gave users full control over their data. That was just the beginning of a long road to build one of the industry's leading decentralized science projects. Long before decI was even a term, Life AI has been building a decentralized foundation for genetics-based medicine and research. Today, Life AI ...
May 07, 2025•54 min
In this episode, Ben sits down to Andrej Radonjic, co-founder of Grass. Grass gives users the ability to earn ownership in the Grass network by supplying the protocol with their unused internet bandwidth for data scraping purposes (something that is already happening to most of us and we don’t get paid!). The grass protocol packages this scraped web data and sells it to AI companies who have insufficient data to further develop their models. With over 3 millions users and 8 figures of annualized...
Apr 23, 2025•51 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Welcome to “The Use-Case” a mini-series brought to you by Scenius Studio. Through Scenius Studio, I've interviewed 50 of the crypto industry’s top GPs and CIOs across liquid and private markets. One thing is clear, crypto has some savvy investors. Yet, both inside and outside the industry, the same question lingers: where are the real-world use-cases? We’ve built the infrastructure, but where are the apps? What commercial opportunities can blockchain and crypto uniquely unlock? Is speculation re...
Mar 26, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Welcome to “The Use-Case” a mini-series brought to you by Scenius Studio Through Scenius Studio , Ben has interviewed 50 of the crypto industry’s top GPs and CIOs. One thing is clear, crypto has some phenomenal investors. Yet, both inside and outside the industry, the same question lingers: where are the real-world use-cases? We’ve built the infrastructure, but where are the apps? What commercial opportunities can blockchain and crypto uniquely unlock? Is speculation really the only game in town...
Mar 12, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In this 50th episode special edition, Ben sits down with three elite liquid token hedge fund managers. Pranav Kanade of Van Eck, David Kalk of Reflexive, and Joe McCann of Asymmetric represent some of the best CIOs, traders, and big-picture thinkers in our industry. Leading into a consequential election with BTC knocking on the door of all-time-highs, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate 50 episodes of Scenius Studio than to get these three guys around the horn. Let's get into it. Conn...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 50
In this episode, Ben sits down with Chris Rhine, Head of Liquid Active Strategies at Galaxy. Chris spent the last two decades trading a variety of instruments and asset classes at Cohen & Steers and BlackRock. Now, Chris uses his wall street experience to develop and manage highly institutional investment products that offer LPs a risk mitigated long-only approach to the liquid token markets. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Galaxy https://funds.galaxy.com/ Follow Galaxy on Twitter/...
Oct 09, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode, Ben sits down with Jason Kam, Founder of Folius. Folius has become the preeminent blockchain venture firm focused on the application layer, with a strong focus on China-based founders and companies. While Folius is known as a high-signal venture firm, the firm’s liquid strategy constitutes a notably larger percentage of AUM. Jason’s experience as a PM at a traditional emerging markets focused hedge fund give him the skills to navigate the chaotic digital asset public markets. Le...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode, Ben sits down with Matt Halstead, Director of Digital Assets and Real Estate Investing at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, also known as Texas Teachers. Matt built the digital assets program at Texas Teachers from scratch and has helped push the asset class forward via his highly institutional and sophisticated approach to crypto fund allocations. We typically hear from GPs on Scenius Studio but in order for the space to further develop and mature, it is essential we ackn...
Aug 21, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this episode, Ben sits down with Jack Platts, CEO and CIO of Hypersphere. Jack was part of the founding team at Polkadot leading their BD and marketing efforts before launching Hypersphere in 2020. In 2022, Jack avoided the various implosions within blockchain and managed to return 620m in profits to his LPs. Now Jack is managing a multi-manager hedge fund as well as the fund’s next venture vehicle. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Hypersphere https://www.hypersphere.ventures/ Follow...
Aug 12, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode, Ben sits down with Travis Scher, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of North Island Ventures. Travis began his crypto career in 2015, where he led the venture team at Digital Currency Group. After leaving DCG, Travis launched North Island Ventures alongside Glenn and James Hutchins. Travis invests across a range of blockchain categories and possesses strong opinions regarding the entrepreneurs and ideas that will bring blockchain to the masses. Let's get into it. Connect with the g...
Jul 29, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this episode, Ben sits down with Carlos Pereira , Partner at BITKRAFT . BITKRAFT is a premier gaming focused venture firm and Carlos is the lead investor for their crypto-dedicated fund. His perspective into the innovation that crypto uniquely unlocks within gaming is insightful. Moreover, his assessment of the current blockchain gaming ecosystem highlights his experience investing in the sector and the observations he and his team have earned across cycles. Let's get into it. Resources Menti...
Jul 04, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In this episode, Ben sits down with Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner of Dragonfly. Haseeb is highly respected in the space for his synthesis of complex topics, sharp opinions on contentious debates, and repeated ability to back category winners early. With Haseeb at the helm, Dragonfly has established itself as one of the industry’s premier global firms with strong footing in the US and Asia. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Dragonfly https://www.dragonfly.xyz/ Follow Dragonfly on Twitt...
Jun 18, 2024•59 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In this episode, Ben sits down with Min Teo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ethereal Ventures. Together with Joe Lubin, Min leads one of the industry’s most well-respected early-stage venture firms. With an impressive track record that includes seed stage bets in EigenLayer and Aztec Protocol, Min has a knack for uncovering blue ocean categories and companies before they become consensus. Lets get into it. Connect with the guest Ethereal https://www.etherealventures.com/ Follow Ethereal on T...
May 20, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode, Ben sits down with Michael Dempsey, Managing Partner of Compound. At Compound, Michael oversees investments in AI/ML, robotics, biology, and of course crypto. His cross-industry knowledge and deep understanding of blockchain-native challenges and commercial opportunities makes him stand out from the crowd. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Compound https://www.compound.vc/ Follow Compound on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/compoundvc Follow Michael on Twitter/X https://twi...
May 08, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In this episode, Ben sits down with Phil Bonello, Co-Founder and CIO of Plaintext Capital. Phil is an industry veteran, having spent time at Messari, Ikigai, and Grayscale before launching Plaintext. Phil is a fundamental investor who understands what moves crypto markets intimately. He has a proven ability to find emerging trends and then find creative ways to express related trades before the narrative gets hot. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Plaintext Capital https://plaintextcapit...
Apr 15, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 40
In this episode, Ben sits down with Ken Seiff, founder and general partner of Blockchange Ventures. Following a successful career as a founder and retail tech investor Ken discovered blockchain where he has repeatedly made contrarian, early bets that have paid off in spades. His insights into the history of internet innovation shine a light on where we are within the blockchain industry's growth and where we go from here. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Blockchange https://blockchange....
Mar 25, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode, Ben sits down with James Parillo, Managing Partner of Figment Capital. Following a career in taxation and accounting, Jim developed an expertise in digital assets, which opened up the door to the world of venture investing. Now, as part of a collaboration with Figment, the industry's leading institutional staking provider, Jim and his team invest into critical infrastructure and middleware supporting the growth of the blockchain industry. Let's get into it. Connect with the gues...
Mar 11, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this episode, Ben sits down with Allan Cassis, Founder and CEO of LVNA Capital. Born and raised in Mexico City, Allan is a crypto OG and has been operating LVNA since 2017. Following early bets in Bitcoin and the Ethereum ICO, Allan currently operates a liquid and venture strategy that focuses on infrastructure and other pragmatic applications of blockchain and digital assets. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest LVNA https://lvnacapital.com/ Follow LVNA Capital on Twitter/X https://twit...
Feb 28, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode, Ben sits down with Homer Sun , Managing Partner of Animoca Capital . Following an illustrious career as the CIO of Morgan Stanley’s Private Equity business in Asia, Homer took the web3 plunge to launch Animoca’s first growth equity fund. Now at Animoca Capital, Homer is investing in category defining blockchain-related businesses 3-4 years before a potential IPO or strategic acquisition. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Animoca https://www.animoca-capital.com/ Disclaime...
Feb 12, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode, Ben sits down with Larry Sukernik of Reverie. Larry led Digital Currency Group's corporate VC before launching Reverie's consulting and advisory business where he worked with leading crypto projects, such as Uniswap, dYdX, and Osmosis. Building off of his experience working with leading protocols and companies, Larry launched a 20 million fund to invest in founders at the earliest stages. Let's get into it. Connect with the guest Reverie https://www.reverie.ooo/ Follow Larry on ...
Jan 22, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode, Ben sits down with Zoe Weinberg , Founder and Managing Partner of Ex/Ante , a venture firm investing in the next generation of privacy, security, and information tools. Prior to Ex/Ante, Zoe served on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and at Google AI. She has also had stints as an investor at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank and at Goldman Sachs. Tune in for insights into Ex/Ante’s thesis of agentic tech and how blockchain repres...
Jan 03, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode, Ben sits down with Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise. Jeff has had an illustrious career with a variety of roles at Morgan Stanley, Harvard Management Company, and Corbin Capital Partners before focusing his career on crypto and multi-manager solutions at Bitwise. Jeff’s insight into the forthcoming Bitcoin Spot ETF is timely and informative. Moreover, his measured approach when evaluating actively traded strategies demonstrates his mastery of various methods of alp...
Dec 18, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this episode, Ben sits down with Adam Benayoun Founder and General Partner of Collider Ventures. Collider is Israel’s preeminent blockchain-dedicated venture capital fund. Over the last five years, Adam has been investing in the asset class and steering blockchain and digital asset policy in Israel alongside Israeli-born blockchain unicorns such as Fireblocks and Starkware. Collider seeks to back Israeli teams where blockchain intersects with traditional areas of Israeli technological strengt...
Nov 16, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode, Ben sit downs with Alex Lange Founding Partner of Inflection based out of Berlin. Prior to launching Inflection Alex held roles at Google and Index Ventures where he leveraged his technical acumen and deep understanding of hardware to begin exploring cutting edge and non-consensus blockchain investing. Now at Inflection, Alex invests into both the infrastructure and application layer as the firm continues to build its brand as a premier European based early-stage venture fund. L...
Nov 08, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, Ben sits down with Rennick Palley Founding Partner of Stratos, a seed stage focused blockchain venture fund. Rennick is known for his research and understanding of blockchain infrastructure which he integrates into his equity research background. Stratos’ thought leadership into value accrual and token design offers unique insight for those interested in digital asset and network fundamentals. Let's get into it. Timestamps 1:36 How was the trip to Singapore? 2:08 What are some o...
Oct 18, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode, Ben sits down with Evgeny Gokhberg, Founder and CIO of re7 Capital based out of the UK. Evgeny is a DeFi OG having formed re7 as one of the first true on-chain market neutral hedge funds in the asset class. Now Evgeny operates three vehicles: a market neutral fund, a ETH yield fund, and a directional long-biased strategy as part of a joint venture with Republic. Nobody knows the opportunity set and shortcomings of DeFi better than Evgeny and in this episode we cover a lot of gro...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 29Ep. 1
In this episode, Ben sits down with David Kalk, founder and CIO of Reflexive Capital. Dave recently spun Reflexive out of Commonwealth Asset Management where he was head of global macro and digital assets. Prior to Commonwealth, Dave was CIO of Peter Thiel’s Macro Fund and a trader at Goldman Sachs. At Reflexive, Dave brings an institutional mindset and cross asset market experience to liquid tokens and the early stage venture space. Let's get into it. Resources Mentioned Commonwealth https://ww...
Sep 13, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In this episode, Ben sits down with Anand Iyer of Canonical Crypo. Anand founded Canonical after a successful career as a founder, angel investor, and venture partner at Lightspeed and Pear VC. At Canonical, Anand invests into core blockchain infrastructure, middleware, and developer tooling. His thoughts on the intersection of AI and blockchain are representative of how these two technologies need each other to maximize their value to the world. Let's get into it. Timestamps 3:16 Background and...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode, Ben sits down with Jon Moore and Gaby Goldberg of The Chernin Group Crypto. At TCG, Gaby and Jon invest in web3 consumer applications and related infrastructure. Deploying out of a $120mm Fund I, TCG has and continues to invest in payments, collectives, gaming, entertainment, and consumer related utility products. The fund has a unified thesis around digital ownership unlocking net-new and business accretive opportunities. Tune in for unique insights into the application layer, ...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 26
