The podcast where crypto, capital, code, and law collide.
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Tony from Epicentral on bringing American style options onchain, the Solana Options Standard, and why options are the biggest gap in DeFi. We cover why options have never scaled in crypto, how option pools replace the order book with onchain Black-Scholes pricing, why you can write options without putting up 100 SOL of collateral, and why he calls options the original prediction market. Plus binary options vs real options, the quadrillion dollar market Solana doesn't yet capture, and options as a hedge against impermanent loss. Guest: Tony, Epicentral Host: 8bitpenis
Shrii from Credible Finance on instant settlement for high-risk payments, raising on MetaDAO, and building a Stripe for the businesses traditional gateways won't touch. We cover why Stripe can't follow him into this market, what T+0 settlement means for gaming and prediction market platforms sitting on cash flow risk, how the open payment stack lets teams self onboard and spin up their own DeFi pools, and the two pivots that turned a trade finance idea into a full-blown PSP. Plus futarchy, the $103 micropayment mystery, and why only speed and price matter. Guest: Shrii, Credible Finance Host: 8bitpenis
Ranga from Solomon Labs on building a productive dollar, raising on MetaDAO, and why USDv is the stablecoin you default to instead of the one you chase yield for. We cover why the old token playbook is dead, the 100M raise and the Cloudflare outage that nearly derailed it, how YaaS makes monetary policy programmable so USDv can stay liquid and always earning, the pivot off the basis trade into a Treasury-backed model, and what actually backs USDv. Plus futarchy, the most-traded decision market in MetaDAO history, and why you already take on reserve risk with USDC and USDT but get none of the upside. Guest: Ranga, Solomon Labs Host: 8bitpenis
Hunter from Laso Finance on private crypto prepaid cards, raising on MetaDAO, and the case for agentic commerce. We cover privacy at the point of spend, how Laso stays compliant with no ID upload, why the 4% of volume from AI agents may matter more than the 96% from humans, and why he's building agents to start businesses rather than to ease shopping. Plus Bitrefill, x402, and the on-chain endgame with Tempo and Plasma. Guest: Hunter, Laso Finance Host: 8bitpenis
Arad, founder of Lightcone, makes the case for impact markets — permissionless decision markets that don't require the questions or assets to be ones you control. We cover Polymarket's origins as an "information markets" platform, why futarchy fails when proposals lack information, the two-universe mental model behind Lightcone's settlement, and why Arad believes the Oracle problem in prediction markets is really a market definition problem. Closing on insider trading across market types, why Lightcone is launching on Solana, and the political backlash he expects when election impact markets ship. Arad: https://x.com/aradtski Lightcone: https://x.com/lightconexyz Sponsored by MetaDAO and Umbra.
Proph3t, founder of MetaDAO, breaks down futarchy from first principles — a governance system where prediction markets, not token holders, decide what a protocol does. The conversation moves fast: from the origin story of MetaDAO to ownership coins, liquidating failing projects as a feature, insider trading risks in onchain governance, and buybacks as value accrual. Then it zooms out — Proph3t's actual goal is to apply futarchy beyond crypto, to corporations and eventually governments. If you've ever lost money to a rug and wondered if there's a structural fix, this episode is it. Sponsored by MetaDAO. Hosted by 8bitpenis. Produced by Blockformer.
Maushish, founder of Paystream, comes back 5 months after raising $750K through MetaDAO to give a honest account of what building post-raise actually looks like. He covers his early skepticism about futarchy, how the Omnipair and Umbra raises convinced him, what the Ranger liquidation proved about the mechanism, and why Paystream has since pivoted from LPing to funding rate arbitrage on perps. The back half of the conversation gets technical — how funding rate arb works, why most opportunities are under $20K, how Paystream's auto-close mechanism protects principal, and what the path to sustainability looks like before the treasury runs dry. A rare episode that skips the pitch and goes straight to the reality of building inside the MetaDAO ecosystem. Hosted by 8bitpenis. Sponsored by MetaDAO. Produced by Blockformer.
Sheldon from P2P joins 8bitpenis to explain why a startup backed by Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures chose MetaDAO over another VC round. The answer is about regulatory survival. P2P operates in India, Brazil, Argentina, and Indonesia — markets without clear regulatory frameworks for crypto on/off ramps. Decentralizing ownership to 50,000+ token holders across 50 countries isn't ideological. It's structural protection. The conversation covers how P2P actually works (USDC settlement over UPI, Pix, and PromptPay in under 90 seconds), how they prevent fraud with zkKYC and an AI fraud engine, how the spread-based revenue model works market by market, and what the Circles of Trust token model means for global expansion. If you've wondered why stablecoins were built for emerging markets and not the US — this episode explains it clearly. Hosted by 8bitpenis. Produced by Blockformer. Sponsored by MetaDAO.
In this episode of Ownership, Chris, founder of Loyal, joins 8bitpenis to discuss the chaotic reality of communication in crypto. Most teams coordinate through Telegram, but the platform was never designed for managing large volumes of sensitive information. Loyal is building a privacy-first layer that helps knowledge workers in crypto navigate conversations, extract insights, and maintain confidentiality. Chris explains how the team approached fundraising through MetaDAO, why they avoided traditional VC funding, and what building privacy infrastructure means in a post–Tornado Cash world. The episode also touches on lessons from Umbra, Avici, and Squads, and why tools for crypto knowledge workers remain one of the most overlooked opportunities in the industry. Follow on X: Host — https://x.com/8bitpenis Guest, Chris — https://x.com/candyflipline Loyal — https://x.com/loyal_hq Produced by — https://x.com/BlockformerLLC
In this episode of Ownership, 8bitpenis sits down with Kru, founder of Umbra, to unpack a different approach to building in DeFi. We explore how Umbra launched, the decision to go through MetaDAO, and what it means to rethink capital formation in crypto after the ICO era collapsed. Kru shares his journey from early crypto cycles to building Omnipair, why traditional fundraising models feel broken, and how $UMBRA fits into a new ownership-first framework. This conversation covers: • Why ICOs failed• Launching through MetaDAO• The psychology of fundraising in crypto• Building on Solana• Token alignment vs speculation• Lessons from early web3 cycles• Why ownership structures matter Ownership is a podcast about capital formation in crypto and beyond. Follow on X: Host — https://x.com/8bitpenis Kru - https://x.com/kru_tweets Produced by — https://x.com/BlockformerLLC Follow for deeper conversations on governance, ownership, and the future of DeFi.
In this episode of Ownership, 8bitpenis explores the deeper mechanics of crypto governance, token design, and capital formation in DeFi. We unpack what’s broken in current token models, why most governance systems fail, and what it actually means to build sustainable ownership structures in crypto. This conversation touches on: • Why token confidence is broken • Futarchy vs traditional governance • Ownership coins as a legal and economic structure • Revenue sharing vs growth reinvestment • The perps landscape and high-performance DeFi • What it takes to scale serious financial infrastructure on Solana Ownership is a podcast about capital formation in crypto and beyond. Follow on X: Host — https://x.com/8bitpenis Produced by — https://x.com/BlockformerLLC Follow for more conversations on governance, ownership, and the future of crypto-native finance.
Welcome to Ownership. In this intro episode, 8bitpenis lays the foundation for the series - why Ownership exists, what problems it explores, and why capital formation in crypto needs a rethink. This episode covers the breakdown of traditional token models, the failures of capital allocation in Web3, and the emerging ideas shaping the next generation of crypto-native ownership. Season 1 will focus on MetaDAO, new governance models, ownership coins, and the builders pushing these ideas forward. Follow along on X: Host — https://x.com/8bitpenis Produced by — https://x.com/BlockformerLLC
