
How ReserveOne Plans to Shake Up the Crowded DAT Market | Jaime Leverton
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Jaime Leverton, CEO of ReserveOne, about building a publicly-traded diversified digital asset reserve inspired by the U.S. Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. Jaime explains why she left traditional tech and her role as CEO of Hut 8 to build ReserveOne from the ground up, how the company's 80% Bitcoin and 20% alternative assets strategy differs from single-asset treasury models, and why bridging crypto jargon to traditional finance language is critical for institutional adoption. She walks through why Bitcoin's historical four-year cycle may have ended, what 2025's surprising sideways price action tells us about 2026, and why ReserveOne raised $1 billion through a SPAC merger. The conversation covers regulatory tailwinds, institutional maturation, breaking crypto's echo chamber, Figure's real-world use cases, truth and provenance in the AI era, and why the next generation expects financial systems as fast as Roblox.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro (01:07) How Jaime got into crypto through Bitcoin miners flooding data centers in 2017 (03:07) Taking over Hut 8 as CEO during the Covid liquidity crash (03:51) What drew Jaime to ReserveOne and building something from the ground up (06:06) It’s big list of board members: Wilbur Ross, Sebastian Bea, Gabriel Abed, John D'Agostino, Reeve Collins (07:23) Bridging crypto jargon to make digital assets accessible to traditional investors (09:03) When ReserveOne plans to launch and current SEC filing status (10:02) How ReserveOne differs from single-asset passive treasury companies (11:04) 80% Bitcoin 20% alternative assets inspired by the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile (13:20) How digital asset treasuries evolved (17:04) What sophisticated investors understand now vs a few years ago (18:36) Misconceptions around Bitcoin (19:04) How the 2025 market surprised everyone and broke the four-year cycle (21:13) Why IBIT was the top performing ETF, yet had negative returns (23:31) Bitcoin's unique finite supply: only 1 million Bitcoin left until 2140 (25:05) What really matters in public markets: trust and transparency (28:30) Why diversification is increasingly important given global volatility (29:01) The crypto IPO boom and clearing the 2021-2024 backlog (31:11) Crypto entering a more mature institutional era vs the ICO Wild West (33:04) Figure solving real-world problems onchain as the most exciting use case (34:26) What the industry looks like in 5-10 years: eradicating analog financial systems (35:29) Why the next generation expects speed and efficiency like Roblox (37:10) Following Clarity Act progress and sovereign nation Bitcoin strategies (38:13) Truth and provenance: solving for what's real in the AI era (40:23) Final advice: stay humble curious and surround yourself with different views
ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.
How ReserveOne Plans to Shake Up the Crowded DAT Market | Jaime Leverton
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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.

Most RWAs Are Built Wrong | Ayyan Rahman
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Ayyan Rahman, co-founder and chief growth officer at OnRe, about why most real-world asset (RWA) projects in crypto are fundamentally misaligned with how DeFi actually works.Ayyan explains that tokenization alone isn’t enough and that many RWAs today function more like repackaged traditional finance than truly composable on-chain assets. He breaks down why this creates a risk of “Wall Street exit liquidity,” and what it actually takes to build an asset that integrates properly into DeFi systems.The conversation explores why reinsurance offers a unique source of uncorrelated yield, how tokenization can unlock more efficient capital scaling, and why liquidity, redemption mechanics, and risk modeling need to be rethought for on-chain markets.They also discuss the impact of Drift Protocol’s exploit on market confidence, what stress reveals about DeFi systems, why the idea of “risk-free yield” is flawed, and how institutional capital is evaluating onchain opportunities. The episode closes with a broader look at where crypto is heading from speculative markets toward more structured, resilient financial systems built around real assets.This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders’ journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on https://www.token-relations.com/investor-updates/all?network=Solana TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction00:32 The Tokenization Illusion01:59 Tokenization vs Reality03:15 Why Reinsurance Actually Matters06:22 The Real Unlock: Scaling Capital09:05 Building a DeFi-Compatible Asset12:14 What Breaks DeFi Under Stress17:13 The Question That Actually Matters22:07 Redefining Risk in DeFi23:49 The Yield Trap29:06 Best Gameplan for Growth36:37 Where Adoption Actually Comes FromEpisodes 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.

Crypto Is Built on a Broken Internet | Tom Warner
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Tom Warner, head of BD at DoubleZero, about why crypto is fundamentally limited by the public internet and how a new high-performance network layer could change everything. Tom explains how blockchains like Solana are hitting a performance ceiling not because of the chains themselves, but because of the infrastructure they run on. He breaks down how traditional finance firms rely on private, ultra-fast networks, why crypto has never had access to that level of connectivity, and how DoubleZero is building a decentralized alternative using subsea cables and high-performance routing. The conversation covers the launch of DoubleZero Edge, a real-time market data distribution platform designed to level the playing field for traders, why predictable latency matters more than raw speed, and how crypto still lags behind Wall Street in execution reliability. Tom also explains Solana “shreds” through a simple analogy, how multicast technology changes data distribution, and why inconsistent transaction timing is one of the biggest barriers to institutional capital. They also explore the future of 24/7 markets, the convergence of DeFi and traditional finance, the growing tension between banks and stablecoins, and what still needs to happen before crypto becomes the dominant financial system. 00:00 Introduction 00:33 What is Double Zero? 01:18 The Internet Is Slowing Crypto Down 02:47 The Hidden Network War You Never See 04:56 Solana’s Bottleneck Isn’t What You Think 06:35 What DoubleZero Edge Changes 10:22 This Analogy Explains Everything 19:16 Crypto Still Can’t Compete With Wall Street 23:32 What Happens When Markets Never Close 26:14 What’s Still Holding Crypto Back 31:52 Banks vs Stablecoins Is Just Getting Started 33:31 Where the Real Opportunities Are You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.