What Crypto VCs Want Now | Aryan Sheikhalian

Description

Crypto’s next chapter isn’t a shinier coin—it’s invisible rails. In this episode, we sit down with Aryan Sheikhalian, Research Lead at CMT Digital, to unpack the shift from “crypto as an asset” to crypto as infrastructure: 24/7 markets, instant clearing and settlement, and new structured products that couldn’t exist before. We talk about tokenized equities (wrappers vs. native tokenization and why dividends/governance matter), how identity layers and ZK proofs unlock mainstream distribution through banks and fintechs, and where regulation is pushing builders toward partnerships and licensed rails. Chapters 00:00 Hook: crypto as infrastructure, not asset 01:15 Guest intro and research focus 02:06 Incentives, psychology, and mechanism design 04:03 ICO lessons, maturity, and red flags 07:09 CMT Digital’s thesis and “strictly better” 10:27 Tokenized equities drivers and demand 13:40 Wrappers vs native: dividends, governance 16:06 Fintech rails, velocity, cost efficiency 18:26 Banks, distribution, and competitive incentives 20:29 New assets: GPUs, data, energy tokens 23:23 Identity layers and ZK proofs for scale 25:55 State of crypto VC and fund trends 27:51 Overlooked sectors: DePIN and decentralized data 31:26 Prediction markets and resolution design 34:18 Regulation, licenses, and partnerships 39:45 Market outlook: TVL, stables, volatility 42:45 Founder advice: conviction and user focus Explore The Defiant ✨ 📰 Website https://thedefiant.io/ ✉️ Free Daily Newsletter https://thedefiant.io/newsletter/defi... 🤑 Weekly Premium Newsletter https://thedefiant.io/newsletter/defi... ✊ Follow The Defiant X/Twitter: https://x.com/DefiantNews 📬 Contact our Newsroom [email protected] 🤝 Sponsorships & Partnerships [email protected] #TheDefiant​ #DeFi​ #Decentralized​ #Finance​ #Blockchain #Web3