Web3Unlocked Podcast

by Kenzi Moriyama, Sachi Nakamura, Diksha Kshirsagar

Season 2

Ethan Sun | Co-Founder of MyShell : Empowering Creators at the Blockchain-AI Crossroads

Ethan Sun discusses his journey into the intersection of Blockchain & AI, and the founding story of MyShell. He explains how MyShell aims to make AI models accessible to non-technical creators and foster a new wave of the creator economy. Ethan also shares insights on transitioning from Web2 to Web3, the role of blockchain in MyShell, and the Chinese perspective on crypto and AI. MyShell is building an AI consumer layer that connects users, creators, and open-source AI researchers.

S2 · E20

Jul 31, 2026

55:35

DC Builder | Research Engineer at Worldcoin Foundation: Proving Personhood In A Digital Era

DC Builder, Research Engineer at Worldcoin Foundation, shares the project's approach towards decentralization and its mission to democratize digital identity and finance globally, ensuring fair wealth distribution. He highlights the challenges of the web of trust and biometrics in verifying personhood, shedding light on the Semaphore protocol's innovative use. We also delve into the emerging ZKML space and other crypto-AI projects that are reshaping the landscape.

S2 · E19

Jul 31, 2026

57:56

Richard Ma | Co-Founder and CEO of Quantstamp : Securing the Future of Web3

Richard Ma, Co-founder and CEO of QuantStamp, shares his journey from working in the hedge fund industry to the world of Web3. Detailing the operational mechanics of QuantStamp, he highlights the changing customer base in the Web3 space and what makes Web3 startups successful in the long run. Quantstamp is a global leader in blockchain security, on a mission to secure the future of web3. To date, it has performed more than 500 audits and secured over $200 billion in digital asset risk from hackers. Richard Ma is a former software engineer at Tower Research where he developed software that handled millions of dollars using extreme testing methods. He was inspired to found Quantstamp to improve security auditing after investing in the DAO and experiencing the aftermath firsthand. Richard aims to secure the future of blockchain technology through the Quantstamp protocol and better methods for secure enterprise blockchain deployments.

S2 · E18

Jul 31, 2026

50:27

David Tse | Co-Founder of BabylonChain : Scaling Bitcoin To Secure A Decentralised World

David Tse, Co-Founder of BablylonChain, shares the future of scaling the Bitcoin ecosystem with staking, the founding story of BabylonChain, and his journey from academia to now being a Web3 founder. With BabylonChain, bitcoin holders can earn yields from their idle bitcoins in a secure way: no third-party trust, no bitcoin bridging to any other chain. Bitcoin holders simply lock their bitcoins in a self-custodial way to gain the rights to validate PoS chains and earn yields as a return. David Tse is a visionary electrical engineering expert who has made groundbreaking contributions to wireless communication, blockchain technology, and genomics research. He is a celebrated professor at Stanford University and a co-founder of BabylonChain, a blockchain project that is Scaling Bitcoin to secure the decentralized world. In addition, David is an advisor of Bain Capital Crypto, where he provides strategic guidance to the investment firm.

S2 · E17

Jul 31, 2026

45:48

Sergey Gorbunov | Co-Founder of Axelar Network : Scaling Interoperability Networks In Blockchain

Sergey Gorbunov, co-founder of Axelar, shares the future of interoperability in Web3, the founding story of Axelar, and what drives him as a Web3 founder to keep innovating. Axelar is the programmable Web3 interoperability platform, scaling the next generation of internet applications to billions of users. Sergey is the co-founder of Axelar and an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo. He was previously a founding team member at Algorand. He received his Ph.D. from MIT, where he was a Microsoft Ph.D. fellow. His Ph.D. dissertation was on designing cryptographic tools for the cloud using lattice-based cryptography.

S2 · E16

Jul 31, 2026

42:28

Victor Ji | Co-Founder of Manta Network : Building Real World Use-Cases with Zero Knowledge

Victor Ji, the Co-Founder of Manta Network explains the concept of Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs and how Manta is delivering a seamless developer experience for ZK applications. He also shares the milestones and turning points in Manta's journey and the qualities he believes are important for Web3 founders to succeed. Manta Network is building a secure and interoperable future with zero knowledge with a mission to deliver the best developer experience that enables ZK applications. Before his role as the Co-Founder of Manta in 2020, Victor worked as a Research Assistant at Harvard's Belfer Center where he gained expertise in international security, diplomacy, and technology policy.

S2 · E15

Jul 31, 2026

20:56

Sandy Peng | Co-Founder of Scroll : Building Layer 2 Solutions Intertwined With The Ethereum Roadmap

Sandy Peng, Co-Founder of Scroll, discusses the Layer 2 scaling solutions in Web3, the founding story of Scroll, and how to create a successful Web3 project by focusing on just building. Scroll is a community-first native zkEVM Layer 2 solution, and an open source project working at the forefront of zero-knowledge research. Sandy has rich experience in research, business development, and project strategy. Having worked as both a startup founder and blockchain investor, she has unique insights into the development, compliance, and application of blockchain technology and open-source technology.

S2 · E14

Jul 31, 2026

47:05

Chris Spadafora | Founder of BadgerDAO : Bringing Bitcoin To Defi

Chris Spadafora, Founder of BadgerDAO, discusses decentralized governance, crypto tribalism, and his mission of bringing Bitcoin to the Defi ecosystem. BadgerDAO is an open-source, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that enables Bitcoin to be used as collateral across decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The DAO has its native token, BADGER which allows users to vote on proposals put forward by community members. Voting power is determined by the amount of BADGER owned, and proposals that receive enough votes are implemented on the platform.

S2 · E13

Jul 31, 2026

58:30

Eli Ben-Sassoon | Founder of StarkWare : Scaling Blockchain With Zero Knowledge

Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and President of StarkWare, discusses his journey into Web3, building blockchain solutions for scalability, and how StarkWare is working on onboarding the next billion users onto the blockchain. StarkWare develops zero-knowledge proof technology that compresses information to address the blockchain's scalability problem. Before founding StarkWare, Eli was in core academia, earning his Ph.D. under Abel Prize winner Avi Wigderson and completing his postdoc from MIT and Harvard. His research focused on probabilistically checkable proofs (PCPs), and during the 2013 Bitcoin conference, he saw how his technology could address many of blockchain’s issues. Today, StarkWare boasts three major technologies that significantly advance blockchain technology into the future. But Eli believes one of the biggest challenges will be to ensure that blockchain remains decentralized: “Whenever you have a system of great value, some parties will benefit from it, and they will want to increase their hold on it. The whole point of blockchain and Web3 is about resisting that or finding ways to distribute and broaden the influence of various corners of society on it. I don’t know of a good solution today, but it’s the biggest long-term challenge."

S2 · E12

Jul 31, 2026

47:34

Sreeram Kannan | Founder of EigenLayer : Blockchain Brings Trust to Tech Innovation

Sreeram Kannan, co-founder and CEO of EigenLayer, discusses his journey into Web3, why he left academia to build a blockchain product, and how EigenLayer is solving some of the biggest challenges in the crypto ecosystem. Sreeram's journey into the realm of Web3 began with a deep-seated belief in the power of innovation to drive positive change. He recognized the potential of blockchain technology to democratize innovation and empower individuals to create value without the need for established reputations or access to exclusive resources. This unwavering belief led Sreeram to abandon his academic career and embark on his entrepreneurial journey into the world of crypto.

S2 · E11

Jul 31, 2026

1:00:49

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