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The Rollup

Where digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.

Website: https://therollup.co/

Latest Episodes:

How to Invest in the Intents Economy with Haseeb Qureshi, Avichal Garg, & Matt Kummel Jan 23, 2026

Show notes

Intents are reshaping cross-chain infrastructure, but where does value actually accrue?

Haseeb Qureshi, Avichal Garg, and Matt Kummel break down the intents investment thesis, how to allocate capital across the stack (apps, protocols, solvers), and why institutions will drive trillions in intent volume.

We discuss:

- Why NEAR Intents Hit $11B in Volume

- The Intents Investment Thesis: Where to Allocate Capital

- Value Accrual Across the Stack (Apps, Protocols, Solvers)

- Network Effects & Competitive Moats

- The Stripe/Twilio Comparison for Cross-Chain

- Why Institutions Will Drive Trillions in Intent Volume

- Physically Delivered Assets vs. Derivatives

- The Agent Economy & AI's Role in Intents

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:09 Matt Hummel Introduction

01:36 Investing in the Intents Stack

02:55 NEAR Investment History

04:37 Intents Stack Value Accrual

06:11 $11B Volume, 500K Users

08:45 The Stripe/Twilio Analogy

10:02 Monetization Strategy & Fee Competition

11:33 Hibachi, Trezor, YEET Ads

12:27 Centralized Exchange UX in DeFi

13:33 Market Structure & Solver Economics

16:15 User Experience & Value Delivery

17:25 Winner-Takes-Most Dynamics

19:01 Network Effects & Scaling Strategy

21:11 Physically Delivered Assets vs. Perps

21:38 infiniFi, Halliday, Kalshi Ads

22:50 Structural Risks to the Intents Thesis

23:24 DeFi Growth & AI Agent Economy

26:59 Counterparty Risk for Institutions

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𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥: 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘍𝘪 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴.

Why Private AI Is The Only Way Forward For The USA And What Comes Next with Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

The US military is now using ZK proofs to secure autonomous drones in combat.

Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh from Lagrangedev breaks down why private AI is the only path forward for the USA, how ZK proofs are securing defense systems, and why blockchain has become critical for AI security.

We discuss:

- Why ZK Proofs Are Securing Autonomous Drones

- The Defense Industry's Crypto Pivot

- How Private AI Protects Against China

- Token per Second: Where ZK Performance Is At

- Why Blockchain = Security for AI

- The Dual-Use Thesis: Defense Meets DeFi

- What Wins in 2026: Privacy or Transparency?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:37 RedStone Ad

02:00 Lagrange's Dual-Use Mission

04:19 Why ZK Matters for Autonomous Weapons

09:59 Hibachi, infiniFi, Halliday Ads

11:09 Proving AI Inference at Scale

14:58 Drone Dominance & Consensus

11:14 Proving AI Inference at Scale

14:58 Drone Dominance & Consensus

17:07 Mantle Ad

19:35 Kalshi, YEET, Trezor Ads

20:45 Teaming & Swarming Problem

21:43 Polymarket Ad

26:06 AI x Crypto Investment Thesis

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The Neo Finance Bull Cycle Is Here - Chuk Okpalugo Jan 17, 2026

Show notes

Neo finance is having its breakout year already.

Chuk Okpalugo reveals why distribution beats issuance for stablecoins, how the barbell thesis explains issuers vs applications, and what the reserve management's commoditization means for the liquidity dynamics of onchain RWAs.

Plus…who is set to win the neo finance category, and why M0's modular approach is the key to interoperability.

We cover:

-Why new niche customer distribution is what matters for issuers

-The barbell thesi: Apps vs Bare Metal Infrastructure

-Reserve management liquidity moats (For now)

-Who could win the Neo Finance super app race?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:45 Frax Ad

02:24 Neo Finance Market Map Unveiled

04:40 The Investor's Value Accrual Framework

07:48 Applications vs Bare Metal: The Barbell

11:09 Three-Part Stablecoin Stack Breakdown

15:29 Halliday, Infinex, YEET Ads

16:30 Distribution is the New Moat

21:05 Reserve Management Deep Dive

25:08 Tokenized Treasuries & 24/7 Settlement

29:09 Interoperability: The Hidden Challenge

33:00 Fintech vs Crypto-Native Neo Banks

35:34 The Fat Wallet & Super App Quest

37:37 Kalshi, Tezor, Hibachi

38:07 Chuck's Closing Thoughts on Building Now

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd...

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://goodidea.ventures/

How Claude Code is Changing the World with Nick Emmons Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

The Claude Code renaissance is here.

In today's episode, Nick Emmons from Allora reveals why Claude Code is about to explode, sharing master-level tips that separate good vibe coders from great ones.

We break down context graphs, multi-agent workflows, Ralph Wiggum automation, and practical prompting strategies to level up your AI coding game.

This is the next big thing in AI.

We discuss:

- Why Claude Code Is Dominating Right Now

- Master-Level Tips: Good vs Great Vibe Coders

- Context Graphs vs Context Windows Explained

- How To Use Ralph Wiggum for Autonomous Coding

- The Death of SaaS & Software's New Era

- Multi-Agent Workflows & Parallel Instances

- MCP Tools That Actually Matter

- Why 2026 Is The Year of Agentic Coding

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:38 Claude Code's Viral Moment

03:52 Context Graphs Breakdown

07:43 Vibe Coding Tips & Tricks

10:52 Commoditization of SaaS

14:00 Hibachi, Trezor, YEET Ads

15:00 Labor Market Impact

15:07 Becoming A Master Vibe Coder

19:15 Parallel Instances Strategy

24:04 Speculative Economy Shift

25:59 Git Workflows for Vibe Coding

30:02 Kalshi, Halliday, infiniFi Ads

31:05 Multi-Modal Coding Approach

35:23 Allora Network Update

37:08 AI x DeFi in 2026

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

The Neo Finance Bull Thesis with Vance Spencer & Michael Anderson Jan 11, 2026

Show notes

A new category is being born, and it's going to reshape crypto investing.

In this episode, we sit down with Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson of Framework to explore the rise of neo-finance and how 2026 creates crypto's Magnificent 7.

Vance and Michael break down Sky, Sirup and the 3-4 assets worth owning, sustainable yields vs Ponzinomics 2.0, why equity outcomes are surging, and the biggest market shift happening right now.

We discuss:

-The Rise of Neo-Finance: Why DeFi No Longer Works

-How 2026 Creates Crypto's Magnificent 7

-Token Structure Clarity & Property Rights

-Sky, Sirup & The 3-4 Assets Worth Owning

-Sustainable Yields vs. Ponzinomics 2.0

-Why Equity Outcomes Are Surging

-Market Structure Bill & SEC Innovation Hub

-BMR's Massive ETH Call Position

-The Biggest Market Shift Happening Right Now

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:17 Neo-Finance Terminology

03:52 Why DeFi Needs a Rebrand

06:02 The NuFi Thesis

10:31 Stablecoins & Asset Management

13:30 infiniFi, Halliday, Kalshi Ads

14:39 2021 CeFi vs. 2025 NuFi

18:13 Market Structure Bill Impact

20:40 Token-Equity Dilemma

27:05 Investable Crypto Assets

32:56 YEET, Trezor, Hibachi Ads

32:22 Property Rights for Tokens

35:00 The Mag 3-4 of Crypto

40:36 Bull Case: ETFs & Positioning

44:58 BMR's ETH Play & Innovation Hub

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Jordi Alexander on Market Outlook, Token Buybacks, and Neo Finance Jan 10, 2026

Show notes

Token buybacks are about to change everything in 2026.

In this episode, we sit down with Jordi Alexander of Selini Capital to explore the token buyback playbook that actually works.

Jordi breaks down systematic vs strategic buyback approaches, the 2026 market outlook, real businesses going onchain in the tokenization wave, and which revenue-generating apps are undervalued right now.

We discuss:

-Why Token Buybacks Actually Work (Despite What Critics Say)

-The Death of Altcoins vs. The Rise of Revenue Tokens

-Systematic vs. Strategic Buyback Approaches

-2026 Market Outlook: Q2 Liquidity Surge Coming

-Real Businesses Going Onchain: The Tokenization Wave-

-Which Revenue-Generating Apps Are Undervalued Right Now

-Canton, Layer Zero & The Neo-Finance Meta

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:54 2025 Performance Recap

02:56 Token-Equity Dilemma

07:24 Why Every Chart Goes Down

09:42 The Buyback Debate

12:17 Systematic Buyback Strategy

14:29 Jupiter & Hyperliquid Cases

18:29 Valuation Framework: Revenue vs. Speculation

21:31 2026 Bullish Sectors

23:35 Hibachi Ad, Kalshi Ad, YEET Ad

24:04 Global Brand Tokenization Thesis

27:36 On-Chain IPO Era

29:20 DATs Post-Mortem

34:00 Neo Finance & RWA Plays

38:12 Trezor Ad, Halliday Ad, infiniFi Ad

30:55 2026 Game Theory & Positioning

44:14 Revenue Token Basket

45:15 Canton Thesis

49:03 Chainlink Discussion

50:37 Rapid Fire: Bitcoin $150K?

51:03 Best Quarter Prediction

51:45 Health Maxing Journey

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

The Year of Stablecoin Unification with Sam Kazemian Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

2026 is the year stablecoins go full stack.

In this episode of Stable Up, Sam Kazemian joins us to discuss why end-to-end integration matters more than ever. From Stripe orchestration to DeFi utility, we explore which stablecoins will dominate this year's hockey stick growth phase.

We discuss:

- The Year of Unification: Token Economics Clarity

- End-to-End Stablecoin Integration (Stripe, Bridge, Tempo)

- Why Most Stablecoins Will Fail the "Full Stack" Test

- Tesla FSD vs Waymo: A Stablecoin Analogy

- fraxUSD's Path to Becoming the "Third Default" Money

- Greenland, Venezuela & Macro Tailwinds

- State Stablecoins: Innovation or Nothing Burger?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:13 Stapled Up Intro

01:27 2026: The Hockey Stick Year

03:10 Neo Finance Convergence

06:04 Q1 Partnerships & Integrations

08:17 Mike Novogratz's Business-Driven Token Thesis

15:08 Kalshi Ad, YEET Ad, infiniFi Ad

19:42 Vertical Integration Strategy

23:09 Rain's Role in Neo Banking

27:48 Stablecoin Interoperability Vision

28:39 Macro & Regulatory Outlook

32:33 Greenland Geopolitical Analysis

35:27 Halliday Ad, Trezor Ad, Hibachi Ad

36:44 Genius Act Implementation Timeline

39:26 Wyoming's Friend Token Analysis

42:44 Full Stack Stablecoin Requirements

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Ex-BlackRock Head of Digital Assets: Why Ethereum Will Dominate 2026 Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

SharpLink holds more ETH than the Ethereum Foundation. Here's why that matters.

In this episode, Rob sits down with Joseph Chalom, founder of SharpLink and former head of digital assets at BlackRock, to explore how Ethereum will tokenize all of finance.

Joseph breaks down native staking vs liquid staking strategies, why the 40-day unstaking queue is a business opportunity, and why we're still in the first inning of DAT mania.

We discuss:

- How SharpLink Became Ethereum's Second Largest Holder

- The Standards DeFi Protocols Must Meet for Institutional Capital

- Native Staking vs. Liquid Staking Strategies

- Why the 40-Day Unstaking Queue Is a Business Opportunity

- DAT Mania: We're Still in the First Inning

- Tokenizing the S&P 500 on Ethereum

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:23 SharpLink's ETH Accumulation Strategy

04:44 Responsibility as a Major Stakeholder

07:05 Standards for Deploying Billions in DeFi

11:48 Risk-Adjusted Staking Operations

13:28 Hibachi Ad, Trezor Ad, Halliday Ad

14:11 BlackRock vs. SharpLink Approach

19:00 Tokenizing Traditional Assets

23:46 DAT Space: First Inning Reality

27:30 Kalshi Ad, YEET Ad, infiniFi Ad

28:39 SEC Investigation & Market Dynamics

33:22 MNAV Strategy & Share Buybacks

38:11 Transparency Standards for Treasury Companies

2026 Crypto & AI Predictions with Haseeb Qureshi Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, we sit down with Haseeb Qureshi from Dragonfly to review his 2025 predictions, grade his calls, and reveal what's actually coming in 2026.

Haseeb breaks down stablecoins exploding 60% through neo-banking cards, DeFi consolidating into 3 major players, Big Tech acquiring crypto wallets, and why prediction markets will steamroll everything.

We discuss:

-Bitcoin Hits 150K, But Altcoin Dominance Declines

-Why EVM Won The Architecture War

-Stablecoins Explode 60% Through Neo-Banking Cards

-DeFi Perps Consolidate Into 3 Major Players

-Big Tech Acquires A Crypto Wallet

-Fortune 100 Companies Launch More Blockchains

-Equity Perps Take Off & Insider Trading Scandals Hit

-Buyer's Remorse On Crypto Regulation

-Why Prediction Markets Will Steamroll Everything

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:22 AI Agent Predictions Review

06:02 EVM vs SVM Market Dominance

07:38 Kalshi Ad, YEET Ad, Trezor Ad

11:55 Ethereum's Bullish Reversal

15:11 Corporate Chain Reality Check

20:40 App Chain Migration Challenges

23:28 The Death of Airdrops & Points

27:29 Asteroid Mining & Gold's Bitcoin Risk

31:35 Dragonfly's Biggest Wins & Losses

31:50 Halliday Ad, infiniFi Ad, Hibachi Ad

36:17 2026: Fintech Chains Will Underwhelm

39:16 Big Tech Wallet Acquisition Coming

44:20 DeFi Perps 40-30-20 Consolidation

48:35 Equity Perps & Insider Trading Scandals

52:13 Stablecoins Grow 60% Via Neo-Banking

59:50 Crypto Regulation Buyer's Remorse

1:03:05 Prediction Markets Dominate

1:04:34 AI Security & Software Engineering Focus

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd...

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

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The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Quantum Resistance Isn't The Threat (...AI Singularity Is) Dec 24, 2025

Show notes

AI Singularity 2030 comes before quantum breaks crypto. Are you ready?

In this episode, we sit down with Jan Camenisch from Rialo and Jens Groth, Chief Scientist at Nexus, to explore the eternal trade-off between privacy and verifiability.

Jan and Jens break down the real threats facing crypto, why ZKVMs cost 100,000X more than native computation, and how blockchain becomes the only way to secure AI agents.

We discuss:

- Privacy vs verifiability: the eternal trade-off

- Why quantum resistance isn't as urgent as you think

- AI Singularity 2030: the real threat to crypto

- How AI deepfakes will force verifiable content only

- ZKVMs cost 100,000X more than native computation

- Why blockchain is the only way to secure AI agents

- Jan's move to Rialo and SubZero

- Latest work on ZK proving bottlenecks

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:08 Jan's Move to Rialo & SubZero

04:34 Latest Work on ZK Proving Bottlenecks

06:55 Verifiability vs Privacy: Which Matters More?

09:17 Measuring ZK Performance

11:42 Privacy, Verifiability & Real-World Applications

16:25 Passport Data & Zero-Knowledge Proofs

18:33 Quantum Resistance: How Urgent Is It Really?

23:25 AI Singularity Is More Urgent Than Quantum

28:13 The Blockchain Trilemma Revisited

30:35 AI Agents & The Need for Organic, Verifiable AI

37:12 Managing AI Agents Like Employees

39:36 Privacy, Verifiability & The Future of Finance

Website: https://therollup.co/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd...

Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcast

Follow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollup

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Join our TG group: https://t.me/+TsM1CRpWFgk1NGZh

The Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

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