Show Notes
EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode, I sit down with Baron, a 20-year veteran of the oil and gas industry who started his career as a trader at Petronas and has spent decades working across crude oil, fuel oil, refined petroleum products, and derivatives. Baron is writing a book called The Litro Standard, and his thesis is fascinating: instead of anchoring money to gold or the US dollar, we should be anchoring digital finance to verified energy. We dig into how the current commodity settlement system is broken , why it takes 90 days to get paid for oil you sold today, why buyers never actually know the price they'll pay, and how tokenizing energy could compress that into an instant. We also get into the real-world oil market dynamics most people miss: why the Brent crude price hasn't exploded despite the Strait of Hormuz crisis, why China is the single biggest factor keeping oil below $100, and what would actually need to happen for oil to hit $130. This is one of those conversations where I genuinely felt like I was downloading years of insider knowledge in under an hour. DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT Baron LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baron-idriss-lamarre-00a390169/ Baron Twitter/X: https://x.com/Baron_Lamarre Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:00] Sam introduces Baron and the Litro Standard , the idea of pegging digital money to verified energy instead of gold or the dollar • [02:00] Baron shares his background: 20 years in oil and gas, starting at Petronas in 2003 as an oil trader, covering crude, fuel oil, refined products, and derivatives • [03:53] What is the Litro Standard? Linking digital money to verified, audited energy , crude oil, natural gas, electricity , as collateral for settlement and trade • [05:17] Key benefits: energy-producing nations can anchor their currency to an asset they control, reducing dependence on the dollar • [08:20] How tokenizing oil in the ground works , buyers get direct access to producers, cutting out intermediaries • [10:13] The 90-day settlement problem: sell oil today, get paid in October , and the invoice price is not the price you agreed on • [13:52] The Strait of Hormuz problem and how the Litro Standard's location swap mechanism could reroute cargo through pooled reserves • [16:38] What is broken in today's financial system: trust is slow, costly, and politically fragile; Swift and correspondent banking have become geopolitical chokepoints • [20:20] The historical lesson people miss , monetary systems follow infrastructure revolutions, not the other way around • [25:35] Who really controls the oil price today: 80% is determined by financial markets and speculators, not producers • [27:01] Common misconceptions about the oil market , it is not as opaque or elite as people think, and refineries sometimes run at a loss just to keep operating • [30:43] Why Brent crude is still around $80 despite the Strait of Hormuz crisis , China's strategic reserve, alternative routes, and the $100 demand destruction threshold • [33:04] China as the buyer of last resort and how ADNOC leaving OPEC and joining the Shanghai Energy Exchange is reshaping price benchmarks • [38:33] Baron's boldest prediction: the next monetary revolution will not begin in central banks , it will begin in commodity markets, transaction by transaction • [40:27] Baron's ask: read the book, question assumptions, and join the conversation about the convergence of energy, technology, and money
More from Web3 with Sam Kamani
I sat down with Pawel Mastalerz, co-founder of Daski.io, to explore the infrastructure he is building so AI agents can go out into the world and actually transact. We talk about how the idea was born when an AI agent got blocked trying to sign up for Gmail, why complex business transactions like registering a company need more than a simple payment protocol, and how Pawel's own agent became the first buyer on the Daski mainnet by incorporating Daski as a Wyoming corporation. Pawel breaks down how the platform uses X402, USDC on Base, the Agent-to-Agent protocol, and on-chain reputation to let agents discover services, pay for them, and follow up on delivery , all without a human babysitting the process. CONNECT Website: https://daski.io/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/daskiio Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/daski Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:00] Sam introduces Pawel Mastalerz and the topic of agentic infrastructure for AI payments • [01:15] Pawel's background: travel e-commerce, FIO Protocol co-founder in 2018, then into AI • [03:07] The origin story: an AI agent got blocked by a CAPTCHA trying to create a Gmail account • [04:42] What Daski is , a marketplace welcoming to AI agents for complex, multi-step transactions • [05:34] How Daski differs from X402 , X402 handles simple one-off purchases; Daski handles complex, ongoing business relationships • [07:15] The first transaction on Daski mainnet: an AI agent registered Daski as a Wyoming corporation • [09:17] How the payment flow works , X402, USDC, splitting contracts, non-custodial by design • [12:26] Wyoming's openness to AI and DAOs, and jurisdictions like Argentina considering AI-owned companies • [16:33] How on-chain reputation works using ERC-8004 signals: transaction count, delivery confirmations, fulfillment time • [18:45] Why crypto and USDC on Base are the natural payment rails for AI agents • [21:00] What Daski is focused on over the next six to twelve months: growing both agent demand and service provider supply • [23:05] The ask: point your agent at Daski, try a free domain with the $10 cashback promotion, and share feedback DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode, I sit down with Gracie, the Regional CEO for Singapore, Australia, and Head of VIP Growth of OKX based in Singapore, right inside her office. She takes me through a career that started at a central bank during the global financial crisis, moved through the private sector and Grab, and landed her at one of the world's most prominent crypto exchanges. We get into what has kept OKX ahead of the curve , from a relentless product obsession to years of early investment in regulatory compliance before it was fashionable. Gracie shares her views on where the industry is heading, why tokenized real-world assets and AI agentic commerce are the two spaces she watches most closely, and how OKX is already building native wallet infrastructure for AI agents to transact autonomously. If you want to understand what separates the exchanges that survive every market cycle from the ones that disappear, this conversation is for you. CONNECT OKX Website: https://www.okx.com/en-sg OKX Twitter/X: https://x.com/OKXSingapore OKX LinkedIn:https://x.com/OKXSingapore Gracie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracie-lin-a8866361/ Web3 with Sam Kamani Website: https://www.web3pod.xyz KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:00] Gracie opens with why consumer expectations around instant cross-border payments are reshaping finance • [01:15] Sam introduces Gracie as Regional CEO of OKX Singapore and sets up the conversation • [02:25] Gracie walks through her 10 years at the central bank, including navigating the global financial crisis • [03:51] Her six years at Grab and how it taught her to build for the end consumer and bridge tech teams • [05:15] How she copes with the speed of change in crypto versus traditional finance • [07:16] Sam and Gracie discuss the true size of the crypto developer ecosystem versus Web2 • [08:08] Why the quieter market is actually attracting serious institutional attention • [10:06] The two innovations OKX is watching most closely heading into 2027: AI agents and tokenized RWAs • [11:51] Why US Treasuries and stablecoins found product-market fit first, and what asset class comes next • [13:43] Tokenized equities , especially AI stocks and pre-IPO shares , as the next major category • [14:31] Why real estate tokenization remains so difficult despite years of hype • [17:02] The two pillars behind OKX's success: product obsession and early regulatory investment • [20:16] Gracie's contrarian view , the younger generation has a genuine choice to opt out of traditional banking • [24:58] What OKX has already built for agentic commerce: wallets, payments protocol, and LLM-based trading tools • [27:30] Why OKX's Agentic Trade Kit workshops in Singapore are oversubscribed every single time • [28:17] Why crypto rails , not credit cards or bank transfers , are the right infrastructure for AI agents • [29:54] OKX's global expansion focus: local teams, licensing, and localized product experiences • [33:17] The biggest challenge right now: hiring exceptional talent in Singapore and Australia
EPISODE DESCRIPTION I sat down with Howard at Token 2049 in 2026 to dig into one of the most overlooked problems in crypto right now: the complete lack of financial privacy on public blockchains. Howard is the founder of Aleo, the team behind Shield , a privacy-first multi-asset wallet and confidential AMM. We go deep on why on-chain transparency is a genuine security risk for everyday users, why institutions absolutely cannot operate without confidential finance, and how Aleo's approach differs from the cypherpunk-style privacy coins of the past. Howard breaks down how zero-knowledge proof technology has evolved from taking three minutes on a MacBook to three seconds on an iPhone, why compliance and privacy are not opposites, and what confidential finance means for the next wave of RWAs, stablecoin payments, and AI agents trading on-chain. This is a conversation I think anyone building or investing in Web3 needs to hear. DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT Shield Wallet: https://shield.app Shield Swap: https://shield.fi Aleo Website: https://aleo.org/ Twitter/X (Aleo): https://x.com/AleoHQ Howard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/1howardwu/?isSelfProfile=false Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [0:00] The core privacy problem: sending USDC reveals your entire financial life to anyone with your ETH address • [1:16] Introduction at Token 2049 2026 , the industry has gone institutional and privacy is now a top concern • [2:56] RWAs, tokenized securities, and stablecoins are coming on-chain , and institutions need confidentiality to operate • [4:16] Real-world stakes: a coffee shop competitor can buy all your business data for the price of one cup of coffee • [6:00] Compliant privacy vs. dark privacy , confidentiality by default and compliance by design • [7:31] The market awareness gap: most people don't realize how much data they're leaking on transparent blockchains • [9:27] Why privacy tech is finally ready: ZK proof generation dropped from 3 minutes to 3 seconds over 10 years • [10:43] Howard's background: advised by Zcash co-founders, worked on ZK proofs at Berkeley since 2015 • [11:11] How Aleo started: the goal was to build private Ethereum the same way Zcash built private Bitcoin • [11:31] Shield Wallet: a privacy-first multi-asset wallet with a confidential AMM (think private Uniswap) • [12:41] Shield Wallet today has no KYC requirement, but includes selective disclosure, freeze lists, and Z-Pass identity proofs • [14:42] Current use cases: cross-border payments, remittances, payroll in emerging economies • [16:01] AI's role: used internally for security, formal verification, and helping developers write Leo smart contract code • [17:25] Aleo is part of the X402 coalition , building toward confidential agentic finance for AI agents • [18:19] Why Leo instead of Solidity: Solidity has no concept of privacy built into the language • [19:54] If starting over in 2026: build agentic-first, make payments and swaps first-party at the protocol level • [21:16] Key challenge ahead: US political and regulatory environment will be a major determinant of mainstream adoption • [23:52] Next narrative: confidential finance will become as big a theme as scalability was 10 years ago • [26:50] Call to action: try Shield at shield.app or Shield Swap at shield.fi
EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode, I sit down with David Lucatch, co-founder of nGRND, a project doing something I had never seen before: tokenizing gold that stays in the ground, untouched. David walks me through how preserved gold works, why leaving gold in the earth can actually be more valuable than mining it, and how the nGRND protocol rewards participants in stablecoins rather than native tokens, a design choice that changes everything. We also dig into how they hit over 288,000 verified users and 145,000 daily active users in just 70 days, the role of dynamic soulbound tokens in keeping bots out, and what David’s 30-plus years across e-commerce, AI, and TradFi have taught him about building things that last. Since our conversation, the nGRND Gold Protocol’s numbers have continued to explode: as of October 2026, they’re running past 310,000 participants with over 6.6 million ecosystem activities completed. If you are a founder, a Web3 builder, or just someone curious about where gold and real-world assets are heading, this one is packed with insight. DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT nGRND Website: https://www.ngrnd.io/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/nGRND_io nGRNDesg: https://x.com/nGRNDesg Dig It Gold Game: https://x.com/DigItGoldGame GAMEE: https://x.com/GAMEEToken Predictfully: https://x.com/predictfully_ Astra Nova: https://x.com/Astra__Nova First Class Metals PLC: https://x.com/FirstClassMetal Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:00] Introduction to David Lucatch and what nGRND is building at the intersection of gold and Web3 • [02:05] David's background: building Canada's first e-commerce payment gateways, launching an AI platform in 2010 with 200M monthly active users, and multiple exits • [05:12] What is preserved gold (in situ gold) and why leaving gold in the ground creates economic value without environmental destruction • [06:31] How nGRND verifies gold using industry-standard reports like Canada's National Instrument 43-101 and equivalent Jorc reports • [08:44] Why nGRND values in-ground gold at 10% of spot price and the risk analysis behind that number • [10:13] The difference between the nGRND Gold Token (virtual asset tied to gold value) and the nGRND Gold Protocol (rewards platform paid in stablecoins) • [11:39] How the land above the gold generates revenue through avoided mining, solar farms, wind farms, and farming partnerships , feeding the rewards pool • [13:02] Why paying rewards in stablecoins instead of native tokens reduces sell pressure and creates a more sustainable ecosystem • [16:05] How nGRND reached 288,000 verified users and 145,000 daily active users in just 70 days • [16:53] What verified means: dynamic soulbound tokens, triple opt-in verification, and bot reduction strategies • [20:44] How dynamic soulbound tokens work, why they are non-transferable, and how they gate access to ecosystem programs • [24:50] The eight participation streams: games, learning, impact programs, wellbeing, referrals, advocacy, agent programs, and governance • [27:22] Why 30% of users come from North America and airdrop hunters are almost non-existent in the nGRND ecosystem • [33:27] Token timeline: gold protocol white paper live now, gold token white paper expected by end of year, token sale and exchange listings coming soon • [36:47] Macro gold outlook: from $359 at the birth of the internet to Goldman Sachs projecting $5,400 , and why long-term gold trends upward • [39:07] How putting gold on-chain unlocks borrowing, lending, and digital transfer use cases • [43:13] The biggest challenge ahead: changing attitudes in a 40-year-old industry and building a trusted brand for the long term
EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode, I sit down with Ian from CoinRoutes, recorded live at Token 2049. Ian has been building since he was 12 years old , starting with Myspace and web hosting , and today he runs one of the most established institutional crypto trading infrastructure companies in the space. We get into why funds can't just use Claude Code to build their own trading systems, what it actually costs to run institutional-grade infrastructure, and why tokenized equities are about to eat the entire offshore market. Ian also shares why TradFi and crypto are converging faster than most people realize, how AI is making hiring a nightmare, and why word of mouth is still the best customer acquisition channel in this industry. If you manage a fund, build trading systems, or want to understand how the institutional side of crypto actually works, this one is for you. DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT CoinRoutes Website: https://coinroutes.com/ CoinRoutes Twitter/X: https://x.com/coinroutes Ian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianweisberger/?isSelfProfile=false Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:00] Teaser: AI cheating in interviews, $2M/year infrastructure costs, and tokenized equities eating the offshore market • [01:30] Ian's background: learning to code at 12 on Myspace, running a web hosting business in high school, and how payment processor frustrations led him to crypto • [04:00] How Bitcoin ETF approvals unlocked 401k and brokerage account access to crypto, and what that means for institutional volume • [05:30] What CoinRoutes actually solves: multi-exchange trading, counterparty risk diversification, P&L reconciliation, and fund admin syncing • [07:00] The new bundled prime brokerage partnership with CRX Trade , one place for everything, soft dollar model • [08:30] Why funds can't just build their own systems with Claude Code: the real cost is servers, maintenance, and 4am on-call engineers • [10:30] AI is breaking hiring: Ian now flies people around the world to interview in person just to verify candidates aren't reading off a screen • [13:00] Why human-to-human relationships are becoming more valuable than ever in business development and sales • [15:00] TradFi and crypto converging: CME going 24/7, crypto solving weekend margin top-ups via stablecoin settlement rails • [17:00] The bifurcated market opportunity: trading firms sitting between offshore Asian exchanges and onshore US markets making 20%+ annual returns on cash • [19:00] Tokenized equities: why they won't take off for US investors but will be massive for offshore investors avoiding tax, inheritance, and FX costs • [21:30] What the industry still misunderstands: market access differences for US vs offshore investors, and opaque contract specs on crypto venues causing liquidations • [23:00] Best acquisition: buying a portfolio management system to vertically integrate the full client stack • [24:00] Best customer acquisition channel: word of mouth after 8 years of keeping clients happy