In this episode of Blocklayer Podcast, Kenzi Takahashi speaks with Sreeram Kannan, Founder and CEO of EigenLayer, about the leap from academia to building one of the most talked-about infrastructure layers in crypto — and what problem EigenLayer is actually trying to solve.

Sreeram shares how he first got pulled into Web3, why he chose to leave an academic path to ship a real product, and the bigger thesis behind his work: that blockchain can unlock a new kind of innovation economy — where builders can earn trust through transparent, verifiable systems instead of needing legacy credentials, reputation, or insider access.

We unpack how that belief shaped EigenLayer’s mission, what challenges in the crypto ecosystem pushed him to build, and what “trust” really means when the goal is to accelerate technology without cent ...