Ali Yahya

"@collision had the five stages of autonomy for agentic commerce. I condensed those into four, and then I added my own fifth." @alive_eth on where agentic finance is going: "My addition is agent-to-agent commerce, and more broadly agentic finance. A world where we're moving beyond what's possible with the existing financial system." @ollieforsyth

Grant Sanderson, (@3Blue1Brown) created one of the most beloved math channels on the internet. Grant is a Stanford math grad, Khan Academy alum, and self-taught animator who built his own open-source visualization engine from scratch. From students learning linear algebra for the first time, to researchers, to millions of curious people on the internet, @3blue1brown makes math feel beautiful. Topics we cover - How Grant wrote the "best wedding speech anyone's ever heard" with 24 hours notice - Why he's never felt the burnout other creators describe after 10+ years His take on the algorithm - The real problem with modern education - Being a source vs. being a relay and original thinking - Why he's now building a team and rethinking sponsorships - and much more! Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:05 How to Write a Wedding Speech 07:04 Use Pauses Like a Pro 11:39 Going Full Time on YouTube 17:27 Why I Left Academia 20:51 Explain It vs. Discover It 27:53 Be a Source, Not a Relay 39:00 The Analytics Dopamine Trap 43:23 Your Algorithm = Your Audience 47:36 Fun Work vs. Strategic Work 52:12 Mental Hygiene for Creators 54:15 Write to Think, Not to Publish 56:49 How My Team Changed Everything 01:01:36 New Ways I'm Making Money 01:06:05 The Loneliness of Solo Creating 01:09:37 How Ego Shapes Your Topics 01:11:31 The Beauty of High Dimensions 01:17:36 Pretty Videos vs. Clear Videos 01:23:14 Will LLMs Kill Motivation to Learn? 01:29:32 Don't Niche Down Too Early 01:34:37 Happiness vs. Fulfillment 01:38:01 Growth vs. Serving Your Audience 01:48:37 Teaching Empathy to Kids 01:51:48 Lightning Round I hope you enjoy this one!! Grant Sanderson (@3Blue1Brown): The High Cost of Being a Second-Hand Thinker is below and on all the major platforms.

Good perspective. Yet another reason why the Senate needs to move forward with the CLARITY Act.

AI and crypto are merging faster than anyone predicted... So we asked the investor with a front-row seat to explain exactly where it’s going. On this weeks pod, @alive_eth, General Partner at @a16z helps us unpack: 1. Should we still be excited about crypto? 2. Inside Andreessen's Crypto Fund 3. Why did NFTs not work? 4. Is privacy the new moat for startups? 5. Will AI agents ever transact on our behalf? 6. How long until AGI is fully adopted? 7. How has fundraising changed for founders? 8. The types of roles that are changing 9. Prediction markets So many hot takes in this episode. Link in the comments! Big thanks Ali for coming on the show!

Crypto sentiment is at a near all-time low, but fundamentals are at all-time highs: - $300B in circulating stablecoin supply - $1.5T+ in monthly transfer volume - Major financial institutions entering the space - Infra ready to support 100s of millions of users - Regulatory clarity improving Great chat with @ollieforsyth. Thanks for having me.

I like blockchain tech quite a bit because it extends open source to open source+state, a genuine/exciting innovation in computing paradigms. I'm just sad and struggle to get over it coming packaged with so much braindead bs (get rich quick pumps/dumps/scams/spams/memes etc.). Ew

Espresso was one of the top seven protocols discussed at Digital Asset Summit 2026, alongside USDC, Solana, Morpho, Hyperliquid, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. In our keynote together with @awscloud , we gave a demo of real-time cross-chain collateral management live on Espresso mainnet. The system reprices millions of positions every 0.3 seconds and can enforce actions across chains at a fraction of the cost of running the same workload on other state-of-the-art chains. Institutions such as @The_DTCC @EuroclearGroup Clearstream and @BIS_org have described collateral mobility as a “killer app” for institutional blockchain adoption. At the same time, they have emphasized that network fragmentation is becoming one of the biggest barriers to adoption and to building at scale. The future of finance will be multichain, which makes real-time interoperability essential. On our DAS panel with DTCC, Nethermind, and BNB Chain, I spoke about how Espresso Network addresses this problem. x.com/EspressoSys/st… Any chain integrated with Espresso Network can coordinate with others in real time. The network already supports many leading Web3 enterprises today and is well suited for institutions exploring tokenization and stablecoins, as well as market infrastructure providers using blockchain technology for collateral management and related use cases.

BREAKING: spoiled streamer unironically mourns the fall of a regime that executed millions of people for speech, as he speaks from a Yale podium while protected by the First Amendment without even the dimmest awareness of his own hypocrisy.

@rhackett either that or there is a top down agenda

Ah, but here, you see—sniff—this is precisely the kind of spectacle that should not reassure but disturb you. Yes, this is exactly the kind of reaction that ideology loves to provoke: a small shock, a sense that something is out of place. “Why is Marxism here, on the main shelves?” But this discomfort is already part of the system itself. Because what is a bookstore? A place where even the most radical critique is perfectly commodified, reduced to another lifestyle choice between, I don’t know, vegan cookbooks and mindfulness manuals. It is not some underground cell of revolution—please—but a carefully curated marketplace of ideas, where even the most dangerous theories are rendered… how should I put it… pleasantly browseable. You pick up Lenin the same way you pick up a tote bag. So yes, Marx and Lenin sit there, calmly, almost ironically, as objects you can purchase with a credit card issued by global finance. This is the ultimate triumph of capitalism: it not only tolerates its own critique, it stages it, curates it, puts it under soft lighting. Capitalism does not need to hide its critics. It puts them on display—gesture vaguely—with nice cover design, maybe a staff recommendation card, sniff. The critique becomes just another object to be consumed. I always use this example—decaf coffee, you know? Coffee without caffeine. And here we have, in a way, revolution without revolution. You can buy Marx, read a few pages, feel a certain intellectual satisfaction, and nothing really changes. So when you ask, “What are we doing here?”—sniff—I would say: we are doing exactly what capitalism wants. We are enjoying the fantasy of radical change in the most harmless way possible. The system is strong enough to sell you the book that explains why the system should be overthrown—and still make a profit.

Apparently, this bookstore in New York really wants you to be a communist. @mcnallyjackson what are we doing here? Marxism/Leninism fully on display on all of the main shelves.

Congress has worked tirelessly to give builders the rules they need. It’s time for members of the Senate on both sides to hammer out the final details of the Clarity Act. When rules are defined, both consumers and entrepreneurs win.  The GENIUS Act unlocked stablecoin innovation. The Clarity Act can do the same across crypto.

Legacy market infrastructure is slow, expensive, and inaccessible. Moving onchain solves these problems. But capturing that opportunity depends on clear rules for the blockchain apps that enable investors to trade peer-to-peer, without rent-seeking middlemen. The @a16zcrypto and @fund_defi safe harbor proposal for DeFi apps would accomplish exactly that. Today, former SEC Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis Craig Lewis submitted an economic analysis of that proposal to the Commission. Though scoped to the proposal itself, Lewis' analysis speaks to something larger: the economic costs and benefits of tokenized securities broadly, and what blockchain technology could mean for the future of financial markets. His bottom line: there are real costs, but the overall economic case is compelling and the proposal offers a sound path forward.

Come work with me @a16zcrypto! We are hiring an investment partner for our crypto team. We’re a small high trust group that focuses on investing in everything related to blockchains including DeFi, onchain finance, decentralized AI, and the infrastructure to support those applications. If you are an onchain degenerate arbitraging between vaults, love working with founders at an early stage, and/or feel passionate about decentralized AI, please talk to us or refer a friend. Our investment partners help identify and select the companies we invest in, thinking critically about new technologies and market trends. They also serve as mentors for the companies they invest in, helping them make progress across product, GTM, fundraising, etc We’re looking for: - Strong DeFi expertise either as a builder directly, a power user, or an investor - Interest in working with protocols and start ups at every stage - A strong network of onchain frens, especially those starting new projects If you’re interested, please send me a DM or refer a friend!

Stablecoins are...

@NinaSuthers @variantfund 👀

@alive_eth @variantfund ♥️ or the beginning of a new era :)

Some news: I’m leaving @variantfund after 4 years - and about 7 years in crypto VC. What made this chapter special wasn’t the title or the deals. It was the people. Variant has this rare thing - a team that genuinely cares. People doing their life’s work, without ego, and showing up for founders in a real way. And the founders - the ones so obsessed they will entire markets into being. I’ve always been hooked on that pre-product, pre-narrative chaos. When the story isn’t written yet, and the right framing can shift the trajectory. Getting to help shape those early stories alongside so many of you was the best kind of privilege. It’s been an honor to be part of Variant. Huge thanks to the team @tomd_xyz @AlanaDLevin @dbarabander @calebshough @firstc0in @PossibltyResult ++ I’ve genuinely loved working alongside you. And to @jessewldn, a longtime friend, exceptional investor, and a really great dad. I’m stepping back for a bit to reset: more time with family, actual books, and learning without an agenda. Then onto what’s next.