The Index Podcast

What’s indexing this week in crypto, blockchain, and open-source AI? Find out on The Index , where we feature exclusive conversations that go beyond code. Each week, host and entrepreneur Alex Kehaya talks with founders, developers, and investors who are shaping the future of Web3. From startup advice to breakthrough strategies, our guests share their stories and take a deep dive into the decentralized future.

The Index Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 204 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Index Podcast, a business show with 204 episodes published.

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  Episode #49

  Ethan Buchman (Cosmos Co-Founder) on Cycles: The Clearing Protocol Reinventing How the World Settles Debt | The Index Podcast

  Aug 30, 202635 minS2026

  What if the biggest unlock in crypto isn't moving money faster — it's not having to move it at all? Ethan Buchman, co-founder of Cosmos, CEO of Informal Systems, and founder of Cycles, sits down with Alex Kehaya to explain why 16th-century bankers may have understood finance better than we do today — and how he's bringing their playbook on-chain. From medieval merchant credit networks to a decentralized clearing protocol built for modern crypto market makers, this conversation goes deep into the history of money, why platforms are "dead" in this cycle, and what real product-market fit looks like in 2026. In this episode: ️ A crash course in medieval banking — how Renaissance-era bankers cleared massive trade volumes using almost no money at all ⚖️ What "balancing the trade graph" means and why it's the missing piece of modern crypto finance How Cycles nets out debts on-chain, automatically, without moving funds between parties Why Cycles is migrating from Cosmos/Neutron to Arc (Circle's new chain) and what that partnership means Cycles' real-world use case: crypto market makers, OTC desks, and liquidity providers settling millions daily with zero clearinghouse Ethan's honest take on the current market, the "infrastructure hangover" in crypto, and why builders need to focus on real users now Cycles Pay is live in the App Store today — private, on-chain payments and invoicing Links mentioned: Cycles: https://cycles.money/ Cycles on X: https://x.com/cyclesmoney Ethan Buchman on X: https://x.com/buchmanster Ethan Buchman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-buchman-10b34944/ The Index Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@theindexpodcast Show Links The Index X Channel YouTube

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  Episode #48

  Matt Van Horn (Lyft) on AI Psychosis & Coding Agents That Never Sleep | The Index Podcast

  Aug 29, 202628 minS2026

  He almost got scammed by a fake "producer" minutes before this interview even started. Then he told us why he wakes up at 5am hearing phantom AI music. Matt Van Horn, Lyft co-founder and now Founder & CEO of Lyft, has built an army of coding agents that ship dozens of open source PRs a day, and on this episode of The Index he breaks down exactly how. What we cover: ️ The wild near-scam that almost derailed this episode, plus the one phrase that reliably outs North Korean hackers on a call "AI psychosis": why Matt wakes up in the middle of the night just to check if his agents succeeded overnight ⛷️ How he built the viral "Last 30 Days" skill in a single 8 hour session, on a ski mountain, using Claude Code Going from zero coding background to a top 10 human contributor on major open source repos Getting banned from open source projects for shipping too many AI generated PRs "Compound engineering," and why Matt calls it the best designed AI skill he's ever seen His take on open vs. closed models, and why every company needs to think about owning its own intelligence stack The private, self-learning system behind his autonomous open source engine (the one he refuses to release) The Index is part of the builder ecosystem spanning Solana, Web3, and AI, spotlighting the founders shaping what's next. If you care about where crypto, AI agents, and startups collide, this is your show. Connect with Matt Van Horn: X: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattvanhorn/ Lyft: Website: https://www.lyft.com/ X: https://x.com/Lyft The Index Podcast: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theindexpodcast Show Links The Index X Channel YouTube

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  Episode #47

  The Stablecoin Router Everyone Will Use: Ryne Saxe (Eco) on Solana, Visa & the Future of Money

  Aug 28, 202638 minS2026

  Stablecoins on Solana just hit $15B, and Eco Co-Founder & CEO Ryne Saxe says that number is going to look laughably small in five years. On this episode of The Index Podcast, Ryne breaks down why Solana pulled ahead in the stablecoin race, why Visa and Mastercard are quietly rebuilding their entire plumbing around digital dollars, and how Eco is building the routing layer that ties every chain and every stablecoin together. If you've ever had USDC, USDT, USDG, and a few more scattered across five wallets and had no idea how to move them, this one's for you. In this episode: ⚡ Why Solana is winning the stablecoin race: chain performance, a laser-focused ecosystem strategy, and the RWA/tokenization wave building on top of it Ryne's bold call: Solana's on-chain stablecoin supply could 10x, maybe 100x, over the next 3-5 years Why Visa and Mastercard adopting stablecoin settlement is a bigger signal than most people realize Inside Eco: how stablecoin routing and orchestration solves the "which wallet, which chain, which coin" mess for good The founder story: from a consumer stablecoin banking app, through the post-FTX regulatory squeeze, to building infrastructure that scales Ryne calls his shot: why a platform like Fireblocks is a perfect next partner for Eco Eco's 12-month goal: becoming the stablecoin layer you route through without even thinking about it More from The Index Podcast: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theindexpodcast Follow Ryne Saxe: X (Twitter): https://x.com/rynesaxe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rtsaxe/ Follow Eco: Website: https://eco.com/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/eco Unleash the Stables: https://www.unleashthestables.com/ Show Links The Index X Channel YouTube

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  Episode #46

  He Got Into Crypto to Save his Cat. Now He's Building Solana's Biggest Trading Card Game. | Natsuki x Rosentica

  Aug 27, 202643 minS2026

  He bought her sick cat's medicine with USDT because no bank or pharmacy would touch it. That same "get it done, on-chain" energy is now powering Rosentica, an original multimedia IP turning old, retired trading cards into a full battle economy on Solana. In this episode, Natsuki, Founder & Executive Producer of Rosentica, breaks down how their game One Arena pulled in $3.3M in volume and $1.8M in revenue in just six weeks by turning pack ripping itself into the game. What we cover: How One Arena turns "ripping packs" into a real PvP game: penalty shootouts, battle royales, and 1v1 duels Giving retired, "dead" trading cards a second life as playable, tokenized RWAs 2% cashback on every gacha pull via Arena Silver, arguably the best EV on the market right now The numbers behind 6 weeks of One Arena: $3.3M in volume, $1.8M in revenue Building Rosentica from scratch: manga, music, visual novels, and games as one connected universe ✍️ Getting published on Shonen Jump next to One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball ⚡ Why Solana (and only Solana) made sense: Colosseum, Superteam, and an ecosystem that actually shows up for builders The full story of how a sick cat led Natsuki straight into crypto Rosentica's 2 to 3 year vision: becoming the Genshin Impact of trading card games Why RWAs and on-chain collectibles are enjoyment first, not just speculation Links: Watch more episodes of The Index: https://www.youtube.com/@theindexpodcast Rosentica website: https://rosentica.jp/ Rosentica on X: https://x.com/Rosentica Natsuki on X: https://x.com/TabinekoKIKI All Rosentica content (manga, music, visual novels): https://bio.to/rosentica Show Links The Index X Channel YouTube

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  Episode #45

  Bernardo Brites (Trace Finance) on Building the $10B Stablecoin Rails Connecting Brazil to the World

  Aug 26, 20261h 2mS2026

  Brazil banned crypto players from moving big money, so this founder got a bank license instead. Now Trace Finance processes over $10B in cross-border volume and powers the top 4 global payment companies in Latin America. On this episode of The Index Podcast, Bernardo Brites, Co-Founder & CEO of Trace Finance, breaks down how stablecoins plus real bank infrastructure (not stablecoins alone) are quietly becoming the backbone of global money movement, and why the US dollar's dominance might depend on it. What we cover: Trace Finance's $32M Series A led by CoinFund, with Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures and Chainlink in the mix, and what it signals about institutional conviction in stablecoin infrastructure Why "stablecoins alone don't solve cross-border payments" and what regulated bank rails add that pure crypto rails can't How Brazil's PIX system works, why it's free and instant 24/7, and why it still stops dead at the border Brazil's new rule classifying cross-border virtual asset flows as FX operations, and why that's a massive tailwind for licensed players like Trace The GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act, and Bernardo's thesis that USD stablecoins are the reason the dollar's global dominance isn't fading Why Brazil was "brutality mode" for building payment rails, and why the US, Hong Kong and Singapore are next The biggest fumble: building a Silicon Valley Bank competitor weeks before SVB actually collapsed Where Trace Finance is headed in the next 2 years, and why enterprises like Amazon and global PSPs are choosing bank-grade stablecoin infrastructure over building it themselves Links: The Index Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@theindexpodcast Trace Finance website: https://tracefinance.com/ Trace Finance on X: https://x.com/tracefinance Trace Finance on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tracefinance/ Bernardo Brites on X: https://x.com/bebrites Bernardo Brites on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bebrites/ Show Links The Index X Channel YouTube

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