Scenius Studio

Hosted by Scenius Capital

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May 2026

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About the show

With this podcast, we aim to give listeners inside access to the best and brightest investors in the crypto asset management space. In each episode, host, Ben Jacobs will chat with a leading crypto and blockchain venture fund or hedge fund manager as we explore the complexities of operating an investment fund at the bleeding edge of innovation.

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60 recent

May 10, 2026Episode 6144 min

Belem Capital - Stan De Maistre (Episode #61)

In this episode Ben sits down with Stan de Maistre, Founder of Belem Capital. Belem operates one of the largest DeFi native, delta neutral strategies in the industry. With purely on-chain alpha sources, Belem strives to offer consistent, low-volatility returns irrespective of the broader market environment. With 400m in AUM, Belem has established itself as one of the premier crypto-native hedge funds that has won the interest of traditional allocators looking for yield.Connect with the guestBelem Capital⁠⁠ https://www.belemcapital.comDisclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

April 15, 2026Episode 6052 min

ParaFi Capital - Ben Forman (Episode #60)

In this episode, Ben sits down with Ben Forman, Founder and Managing Partner of ParaFi Capital, a $2bn+ AUM crypto dedicated institutional investment firm, pursuing a range of strategies. Since founding the firm in 2018, Ben has repeatedly found creative means of launching strategies and delivering returns for his LP base. Ben’s ability to sniff out opportunities at the edges of liquid and private markets separates ParaFi from the fly by night crypto firm. We cover a lot of ground in this show so let's get into it.Connect with the guestParaFi Capital⁠ https://parafi.com/Disclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

April 1, 202657 min

Edge Capital - Vadim Khramov (Episode #59)

In this episode, we’re returning to our bread and butter. We’ve explored use-cases but what the people really want is insights into how the top investors are positioning themselves in this rapidly evolving and dynamic asset class. In this episode, we dig into the crypto market neutral space with one of the largest and most sophisticated players out there. Vadim Khramov, the Founder, CEO, and CIO of Edge Capital has built a behemoth by understanding DeFi and risk management better than most. His firm operates a range of on-chain strategies while offering investors various crypto-denominated share classes. No one understands the investment challenges and opportunities in DeFi better than Vadim so let's get into it.Connect with the guestEdge Capital https://edgecapital.xyz/Disclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

November 19, 2025Episode 5850 min

The Use-Case: OpenFX - Prabhakar Reddy (Episode #58)

In this episode, Ben sits down with Prabhakar Reddy, Founder and CEO of OpenFX.OpenFX is the fastest growing blockchain start up you’ve never heard of and Prabhakar is one of the industry’s most revered and proven founders. OpenFX has built a global FX system using stablecoins and blockchain rails to process tens of billions of volume per month while serving many large fintech providers. Prabhakar is no stranger to growth, however. As co-founder of FalconX, he scaled crypto’s first prime broker to unicorn status before starting OpenFX. This is a special and episode and I’m thrilled to share it with the Scenius Studio audience. Let's get into it. Connect with the guestOpenFX ⁠https://www.openfx.com/Follow OpenFX on Twitter/X https://x.com/openfx_/Disclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

November 5, 2025Episode 5751 min

The Use-Case: USD.AI - David Choi (Episode #57)

In this episode, Ben sits down with David Choi, Co-Founder of USD.AI. USD.AI is an emblematic project for crypto’s promise in the real world. The protocol leverages the strengths of DeFi to solve a bottle neck and pain point in the rabid AI infrastructure build out. By facilitating GPU backed loans, USD.AI unlocks capital efficiency for these companies scaling AI while providing real yield to on-chain lenders. David and the USD.AI team have caught lightning in a bottle and we’re thrilled to share their story with the Scenius Studio audience.Disclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

September 10, 202544 min

The Use-Case: Transrypts - Zain Zaidi (Episode #56)

In this episode, Ben sits down with Zain Zaidi, founder of Transcrypts.Through Transcrypts, Zain has developed a solution that elegantly tackles two of blockchain’s most fundamental applications: identity and ownership of private data. To start, Transcrypts empowers individuals to receive proof of employment and income verification in a trusted and private manner. But this is just the beginning. Soon Transcrypts will allow for various forms of critical private data to be brought on-chain in a legible format that can be used ubiquitously by traditional organizations and institutions.Let's get into it. Connect with the guestTransCrypts https://www.transcrypts.com/Follow TransCrypts on Twitter/X https://x.com/transcrypts_Disclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

July 2, 2025Episode 5549 min

The Use-Case: Coop Records - Cooper Turley (Episode #55)

In this episode, Ben sits down with Cooper Turley, Founder of Coop RecordsCooper has invested in and helped build many of the blockchain industry’s more culture and creator focused projects. Now he is combining music, his other passion and area of expertise, with blockchain to develop a novel protocol for musical artists to distribute their music while empowering consumers to earn for their curation. Cooper is a rare talent with a deep understanding of the music and crypto industries. If anyone could figure out how crypto can disrupt the rigid, weird world of music, it’s Cooper.Let's get into it. Connect with the guestCoop Records https://www.cooprecords.xyz/Follow Coop on Twitter/X ⁠⁠https://x.com/cooprecsmusicFollow Cooper Turley on X https://x.com/cooopahtroopaDisclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

May 7, 202553 min

The Use-Case: Life AI - Tuan Cao (Episode #54

In this episode, I sit down with Tuan Cao, co-founder of Life AI.Tuan and his team started by building a web 2 alternative to 23 and Me, focused on the Asian genome.But with the key difference, they gave users full control over their data.That was just the beginning of a long road to build one of the industry's leading decentralized science projects.Long before decI was even a term, Life AI has been building a decentralized foundation for genetics-based medicine and research.Today, Life AI has established itself as a baseler protocol that traditional healthcare players are building on top of cheaply and quickly.The future of genetic-based personalized treatments might have crypto underneath the hood.Let's get into it. Connect with the guestLife AI ⁠https://www.lifenetwork.ai/enFollow Life AI on Twitter/X ⁠https://x.com/lifenetwork_aiDisclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

April 23, 2025Episode 5350 min

The Use-Case: Grass - Andrej Radonjic (Episode #53)

In this episode, Ben sits down to Andrej Radonjic, co-founder of Grass.Grass gives users the ability to earn ownership in the Grass network by supplying the protocol with their unused internet bandwidth for data scraping purposes (something that is already happening to most of us and we don’t get paid!). The grass protocol packages this scraped web data and sells it to AI companies who have insufficient data to further develop their models. With over 3 millions users and 8 figures of annualized revenue, Grass is a real commercial business with a roadmap that makes it one of the most exciting projects at the intersection of crypto x AI and data.Let's get into it. Connect with the guestGrass https://www.getgrass.io/Follow Grass on Twitter/X https://x.com/getgrass_ioDisclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.

March 26, 2025Episode 5248 min

The Use-Case: Daisy - Ray Lee & Ian Ettinger (Episode #52)

Welcome to “The Use-Case” a mini-series brought to you by Scenius Studio.Through Scenius Studio, I've interviewed 50 of the crypto industry’s top GPs and CIOs across liquid and private markets. One thing is clear, crypto has some savvy investors. Yet, both inside and outside the industry, the same question lingers: where are the real-world use-cases? We’ve built the infrastructure, but where are the apps? What commercial opportunities can blockchain and crypto uniquely unlock? Is speculation really the only game in town?With The Use-Case, we’re spotlighting underrepresented companies and protocols that are building real, commercially viable businesses—ventures that couldn’t exist without crypto’s underlying technology. We’ll sit down with Founders and CEOs who are reshaping industries with blockchain at their core. Crypto isn’t just an asset class. it’s an enabling technology rewiring entire sectors. In this episode, I sit down with Ray Lee and Ian Ettinger, Co-Founders of Daisy. With deep experience in digital marketing and paid media, they’ve built a product that helps marketers drive results in an online environment that’s increasingly opaque and competitive. By discreetly using crypto tooling: zkTLS, stablecoins, and token incentives, Daisy is carving the path for the future of online advertising. I hope you enjoy learning about the future of marketing with Daisy. Let's get into it. Connect with the guestDaisyPay https://daisypay.io/Follow Daisy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/daisypay.io/Follow Daisy on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@daisypay.ioDisclaimer Ben Jacobs is a partner at Scenius Capital Management. All views expressed by Ben and the guests of this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Scenius Capital Management. Guests and the host may maintain positions in the assets or funds discussed in this podcast. You should not treat any opinion expressed by anyone on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of their personal opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only.