Why Crypto Token Launches Are Broken and How to Fix Them | Shane Molidor
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Shane Molidor, founder and CEO of Forgd, about why token launches keep failing and what it would actually take to fix them. Shane, who previously led trading desks at Gemini, AscendEX, and FBG Capital before founding Forgd, explains why the structural gaps that bull markets used to hide are now fully exposed, and why founders, VCs, and public sale participants are all down bad as a result.
He breaks down how IPOs are engineered with book building and underwriters while crypto launches rely on hope, retail speculation, and market makers that overpromise and underdeliver.He walks through how Forgd's free-to-use benchmarking tool tracks over 600 market maker engagements across 35+ desks, why data-driven RFQs are replacing voice brokerage, and how the exchange listing decision between Binance and OKEx can meaningfully change the shape of a token's chart. The conversation covers why institutional demand for new launches is near zero, why active market making is a glorified pump and dump, and what a fundamental shift to fundraising and book building would actually look like.
TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Intro (01:06) State of token launches four months after crypto’s all-time highs (02:03) Structural gaps bull markets hide: who is getting hurt and how (05:23) Why IPOs are engineered and crypto launches are improvised (06:56) Should crypto adopt IPO-style book building and will it happen (08:41) Is now a good time to launch a token? The double-edged sword argument (10:27) Tools Forgd is seeing increased demand for right now (12:30) How Forgd’s benchmarking tool works: 600 engagements, 35+ market makers (15:43) How reputation plays into market maker selection and what changes it (17:46) Why data-driven RFQs are replacing legacy voice brokerage (21:39) Why Shane built Forgd after running a trading desk and seeing the gap firsthand (26:51) Top performing market makers on the leaderboard right now (29:35) How founders say the historical data has changed their decision making (30:43) Forgd’s 2026 roadmap: exchange listing tools, tokenomics simulations, and AI (33:40) Exchange listing strategy: what the data says about Binance vs OKEx vs Coinbase (39:30) How institutional demand for new launches has collapsed and what teams are doing instead (42:22) What the actual solution looks like: rethinking fundraising and book building (44:57) Final advice: use data, not gut instinct, when selecting market makersEpisodes air every Tuesday and Thursday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, X and more.
For more updates, subscribe to the Talking Tokens newsletter here: https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/ And follow us on X: Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Token Relations: https://twitter.com/Token_Relations This podcast is built by Token Relations. Please note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.
Why Crypto Token Launches Are Broken and How to Fix Them | Shane Molidor
Subscribe & Listen
More from Talking Tokens
Why Fomo Thinks Social Trading Is the Next Big Investing Shift
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Se Yong Park , co-founder of Fomo, a social-first trading app with about 3 million users, to discuss how social media, blockchain and changing consumer behavior are reshaping how people discover and invest in financial markets. Se breaks down why Fomo abstracts away wallets, gas, bridges and chains, how the platform is reaching users outside traditional crypto channels, and why social trading could become a much bigger part of investing. They also discuss bringing more assets onchain, tokenized equities, transparent trading activity, creator-driven market discovery and how younger investors are approaching financial markets differently. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:33 How Fomo Reached Millions of Users 02:03 Why Se Yong Park Built Fomo 03:11 Making Investing Easier to Understand 03:48 Making Trades Public 05:03 What 3 Million Users Reveal About New Investors 05:48 Reaching People Outside Crypto 06:45 Why Fomo Targets Instagram and Social Audiences 07:06 Making Crypto Infrastructure Invisible 08:33 What Fomo Got Wrong About Consumer Behavior 09:28 Is Social Trading the Future? 11:35 What's Next for Fomo 12:30 How Social Media Is Changing Market Discovery 13:51 What Fomo Has Learned From Trader Behavior 14:38 Educating and Rewarding Users 16:03 Lessons From Building in Crypto 17:02 Competition and Growing the Onchain Market 17:40 Why Fomo Uses Blockchain 18:03 What Users Are Trading 19:47 How Much Are Users Trading With? 20:40 Security and Risk 21:31 Bringing More Assets Onchain 22:00 The Next Generation of Investors 22:48 Will AI Change Social Trading? 23:43 Se’s Advice for Crypto Founders 🔔 New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 🌐 Follow Jacquelyn Melinek https://x.com/jacqmelinek?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynmelinek ➡️ Follow Se Yong Park https://www.linkedin.com/in/se-yong-park-634782120 https://x.com/seyong #Fomo #SocialTrading #Crypto #OnchainFinance #Investing
What Could Take For Ethereum to Hit $10,000
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Kevin Lepsoe, founder of ETHGas, to discuss how Ethereum could evolve into faster, more efficient financial infrastructure and what that could mean for institutions, DeFi and AI agents. Kevin Lepsoe breaks down ETHGas's vision for real-time Ethereum, why faster blockspace could bring liquidity back to the network, and the practical barriers institutions face when moving large amounts of capital onchain. They also discuss Ethereum's institutional comeback, why traditional credit relies on so many intermediaries, how smart contracts could reshape banking, and why AI agents may naturally gravitate toward DeFi as they begin transacting at machine speed. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:24 Ethereum's Institutional Shift 03:21 What's Still Missing From DeFi 05:43 Building Real-Time Ethereum 06:15 Why Blockspace Matters 07:21 What If Ethereum Were 100x Faster? 09:02 ETH as Strategic Infrastructure 11:51 Is Ethereum Having a Comeback? 13:19 ETHGas as Ethereum's “Supercharger” 14:40 Kevin's $10,000K ETH Thesis 16:43 Ethereum Treasury Companies 18:09 What Ethereum Needs Next 18:41 Bringing Institutional Capital Onchain 20:26 Why Institutions Want to Move Onchain 21:50 Can DeFi Cut Out Banking Middlemen? 23:54 What Institutions Want From Ethereum 25:40 AI Meets Onchain Finance 25:53 Why AI Agents Could Choose DeFi 27:15 Building Through Ethereum's Market Cycles 28:31 Ethereum's Decentralization Advantage 29:46 Where Ethereum Could Be in One Year 🔔 New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 🌐 Follow Jacquelyn Melinek https://x.com/jacqmelinek?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynmelinek ➡️ Follow Kevin Lepsoe https://x.com/lepsoe This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com This episode is sponsored by Binance, the world’s number-one crypto exchange, trusted by over 300 million people. Discover more at: https://binance.onelink.me/y874/talkingtokens . NOTE: Binance is not available in certain countries, including the U.S.; check its Terms for more information: https://www.binance.com/en/terms #Ethereum #ETHGas #DeFi #OnchainFinance #ETH
How Injective Is Building Financial Markets Onchain
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Eric Chen, co-founder and CEO of Injective Labs, the team behind the Injectivea blockchain built for financial applications, to discuss what comes next for tokenization, onchain finance and institutional adoption. Eric explains why simply tokenizing assets isn't enough, where he sees the biggest opportunities for bringing financial markets onchain, and how Injective is building infrastructure for advanced financial products. They also discuss RWA perpetual markets, tokenized stocks, capital formation, institutional adoption, AI agents and the future of blockchain & powered financial infrastructure. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:58 How Eric Chen Started Injective 03:07 Should Founders Still Drop Out of College? 05:27 Why AI Reminds Eric of Early Crypto 07:24 The Security Problem AI Can't Solve 09:27 Injective's Vision for Onchain Finance 11:21 Why Tokenization Is Accelerating 12:31 What Injective's Transfer Agent Registration Enables 14:32 $215M in RWA Perpetual Volume 16:33 Are Perpetual Markets the Future of RWAs? 17:52 Why Tokenizing Assets Isn't Enough 20:16 What's Moving Onchain Faster Than Expected 21:45 What Institutions Are Building on Injective 24:25 What Makes an Asset Useful Onchain? 27:21 Will Onchain Finance Compete With Banks? 27:52 Why Institutional Tokenization Is Accelerating 29:08 What Should Actually Move Onchain? 31:14 What Enterprises Want From Blockchain 33:48 Will Blockchain Become Invisible Infrastructure? 35:37 What Onchain Finance Could Look Like in 5–10 Years 37:26 What Injective Got Wrong 38:29 What Eric Is Watching Next 39:00 AI Agents Move From Analysis to Execution (timestamp needs verification) 41:27 What Eric Won't Trust AI With 41:40 Eric's Advice for Builders Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow Jacquelyn Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Eric Chen https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-chen-b12255421 https://x.com/ericinjective?lang=en