Searching for Mana with Lloyd Wahed

Hosted by Lloyd Wahed

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Episodes

176

Latest episode

May 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Searching for Mana explores how technology, capital and institutions are being reshaped in real time. Hosted by Lloyd Wahed, each episode features conversations with founders, investors and policymakers operating at the frontier, from AI and digital assets to global finance and government. These aren’t surface-level interviews. They’re focused on how things actually get built, scaled and implemented. The through-line is simple: what separates those who can turn change into advantage, and those who can’t.

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60 recent

May 28, 202646 min

The Intersection: AI, Crypto and the Institutional Moment

Four conversations from this season of Searching for Mana, woven into one. Chris Perkins on why Franklin Templeton bet on him to run their crypto platform, and why institutions now have more risk if they're not in the space. Sidney Powell on Maple's reverse innovator's dilemma against the JP Morgans and Blackstones now circling the Bitcoin backed loan market. Alex Buelau on what banks actually need from a blockchain, and why instant finality and stablecoin gas fees changed how he built Rails. Boris Revsin from Tribe Capital on the centralising force of AI meeting the decentralising force of crypto, and why the 57th L1 probably isn't capturing much value anymore. Three themes run through it: the institutional moment, the AI and blockchain intersection, and the macro backdrop pushing both. If you've been following along, this is the through-line. If you're new, it's four reasons to come back next week. Follow on X! Lloyd Wahed: @lloydwahed Alex Buelau: @x10xalex Sidney Powell: @syrupsid Chris Perkins: @perkinscr97 Boris Revsin: @brevsin Please Like & Subscribe!

May 21, 20261 hr 5 min

Alex Buelau, Rayls | AI, Banks and the Invisible Future of Finance

"Getting banks to use blockchain has never been about the technology. If you cannot answer why a bank makes more money by going blockchain, there is no reason for them to adopt it." In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Alex Buelau, founder of Rayls, the Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for institutional finance. After more than a decade building infrastructure for banks and financial institutions, Alex believes the next evolution of blockchain will not be driven by speculation, but by the convergence of traditional finance, tokenised assets, and artificial intelligence. Rayls was built around a simple premise: existing blockchain infrastructure was never designed for the operational requirements of institutions. The conversation explores why Rayls chose to build a Layer 1 rather than another Layer 2, the importance of instant finality and stablecoin-based gas fees for banks, and why Alex believes the future of crypto increasingly resembles foundational internet infrastructure rather than an alternative financial system. Alex also shares how Parfin became embedded across major Brazilian financial institutions, why Brazil has emerged as one of the most advanced environments for tokenised finance experimentation, and what it actually takes to bridge institutional liquidity with decentralised infrastructure. Along the way, the discussion moves into AI agents, the future architecture of financial systems, founder resilience, and Alex’s long-standing fascination with technology trends before they become obvious to the market. This episode covers why the next generation of blockchain infrastructure will need to balance public liquidity with institutional privacy, how AI could fundamentally change the way value moves across financial systems, and why the biggest opportunities in crypto may ultimately come from making the technology disappear entirely. Follow on X: Alex Buelau: @x10xalex Rayls: @RaylsLabs Lloyd Wahed: @lloydwahed Please follow and subscribe!

May 14, 20261 hr 26 min

Boris Revsin, Tribe Capital | The Fight Between AI and Ownership

"Maybe the value is created in AI. But the future of ownership is very likely to happen on the blockchain." In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Boris Revsin, CEO of Tribe Capital, a US-based, multi-stage venture firm managing just under $2.5 billion across crypto, AI infrastructure, and frontier tech. Boris joined Tribe in 2022 to run the fintech and crypto group and has spent the last two years as CEO and GP across all funds, with investments spanning OpenAI, XAI, Kraken, and companies operating at the sharpest edge of the AI and blockchain intersection. Boris's story began in Russia in 1986, with a midnight escape to the US. That experience forged a worldview on capitalism, risk, and what opportunity actually looks like that runs through everything he builds. Tribe's current conviction is that AI and crypto aren't competing forces. AI centralises value. Blockchain is where ownership accrues. And the firms that understand both will define the next decade of infrastructure. This episode covers why the next plethora of L1's probably aren't going anywhere interesting, what on-chain agents actually need to function, and why Boris thinks the more important question isn't how AI changes work. It's how it changes everything else. Follow on X: Boris Revsin: @brevsin Tribe Capital: @tribecap Lloyd Wahed: @lloydwahed Please follow and subscribe!

May 7, 202630 min

Bernard Schmid, Areta | Who's Really Winning the Crypto M&A Race

"A business needs to get bought. Not sold." In this episode of Searching for Mana - On Location, Malak Alba is joined by Bernard Schmid at the Digital Assets Forum in London, catching him at the centre of the industry he's helping to build. Bernard is Co-Founder of Areta, the leading crypto-native M&A advisory firm by deal count, and spent years at the Blackstones and Deutsche Banks of the world before making a deliberate bet that crypto would eventually need the same professional financial infrastructure that traditional markets take for granted. That moment, he decided, was worth leaving for. 2025 was a record year for crypto M&A, $8.6 billion across 267 transactions, four times the volume of 2024. Bernard has been at the centre of it. From the Kraken-Breakout deal to the first ever private equity acquisition in digital assets, Areta has been advising on the transactions that are quietly reshaping how the industry consolidates. This episode covers why payments is now the category driving the lion's share of deal activity, what founders consistently get wrong about their own valuation, and why Bernard thinks the most important thing a founder can do before selling is make buyers come to them. Follow on X! Areta: @areta_io Malak: @malakincrypto Please Like and Subscribe!

April 30, 20261 hr 9 min

Sidney Powell, Maple Finance | Why the Next Phase of Crypto Is Credit

“The wave that we're catching is that all of this is going to shift on-chain and be done with stablecoins over the next 10 years.” In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Sidney Powell, CEO of Maple Finance, to explore how on-chain credit is evolving into a serious capital markets category. Maple now manages around $4bn in AUM and has originated more than $20bn in loans since launch. But the deeper story is how crypto lending has changed since 2022: less frontier excess, more risk management, more institutional structure. Sidney explains how Maple lends to institutions on-chain using stablecoins, why liquid collateral changes the risk profile, and how DeFi can become a source of capital rather than just speculation. They also discuss stablecoins scaling into the trillions, the application layer thesis, Maple’s partnership with Aave, private credit, macro cycles, AI, and why Sidney believes the next decade of alternative lending moves on-chain. A grounded conversation on credit, stablecoins, risk, and what it takes to build through the cycles. Follow Sidney & Maple Finance on X: @syrupsid @maplefinance Follow Lloyd: @lloydwahed Please like and subscribe to stay up to date with all the latest episodes!

April 23, 202652 min

Chris Perkins, Franklin Templeton | From Iraq to Wall Street to Crypto

“Technology is not political. It’s just technology.” In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Chris Perkins, Head of Franklin Crypto at Franklin Templeton. Chris’ path into digital assets spans the US Marine Corps, 15 years on Wall Street, and senior roles across crypto, including as President at CoinFund, before stepping into one of the most significant institutional roles in the space. Following Franklin Templeton’s acquisition of 250 Digital, a CoinFund spinoff housing its liquid crypto strategies, Chris now leads the newly formed Franklin Crypto unit, bringing together crypto-native expertise with one of the largest global distribution platforms. The conversation focuses on what has changed. While digital assets are still often framed through volatility and cycles, the more important shift is structural. Institutional capital is moving in, and with it comes a different set of requirements around scale, governance, and distribution. Chris explains why this moment represents an inflection point, and why the next phase of the market will be defined less by ideology and more by execution. They discuss: why institutions are stepping into crypto now, and what has changed how tokenisation is reshaping market structure, from 24/7 trading to global access the role of governance, controls, and regulation in unlocking capital why distribution remains the missing layer across the ecosystem Chris also reflects on the principles that guide his approach, from operating in high-stakes environments to building within regulated financial systems, and how that informs his view on risk, technology, and long-term market structure. Follow on X:Chris Perkins: @perkinscr97Franklin Templeton Digital Assets: @FTDA_USLloyd Wahed: @lloydwahed Please Like and Subscribe! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/searching-for-mana-with-lloyd-wahed/id1491460738 https://open.spotify.com/show/3HmB7fS60zRSvWq3sQgj3X?si=a8aae116ba4d4ebb https://www.youtube.com/@searchingformanapodcast

April 16, 20261 hr 26 min

Max Gokhman, Franklin Templeton | The Mistake Most Investors Are Still Making

“Digital Assets are not a monolith.” In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Max Gokhman, Deputy CIO at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions Digital assets are often framed through cycles of hype and volatility. But from an institutional perspective, the more relevant question is whether something more structural is taking place beneath the surface. Max argues that the current moment is better understood as a dislocation - one that resembles earlier periods of technological change, where new infrastructure quietly reshapes how markets operate. Rather than viewing digital assets as a single category, the conversation breaks down the different roles emerging across the ecosystem. From Ethereum as a form of infrastructure exposure, to Solana as a new model for global transactions, and tokenisation as a way to unlock access and liquidity across traditional asset classes. They explore how institutions are approaching this shift in practice, where the real utility is already visible, and why much of the noise in the market obscures a more fundamental change. Max also reflects on how to navigate this environment as an allocator, the importance of distinguishing between narrative and structure, and what it means to invest in a market that is still being built in real time. Please like & subscribe! Franklin Templeton Digital Assets: https://x.com/FTDA_US Lloyd Wahed: https://x.com/LloydWahed Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/searching-for-mana-with-lloyd-wahed/id1491460738 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3HmB7fS60zRSvWq3sQgj3X?si=424419d0a6b749f4

April 9, 20261 hr 13 min

Eric Saraniecki, Canton Network | How Financial Markets Actually Work (And Why They Don’t)

“The vision is to rotate the world’s economy on-chain.” In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed is joined by Eric Saraniecki, Co-Founder of Digital Asset and a key architect behind the Canton Network. Despite the ambition, the reality today is far more constrained. Financial systems still rely on fragmented infrastructure, delayed settlement, and processes that haven’t meaningfully evolved in decades. What looks instantaneous on the surface often takes days beneath it. Eric explains why previous blockchain approaches have struggled to translate into real capital markets adoption, and why the problem isn’t a lack of innovation, but a mismatch between technology and the requirements of large institutions. From privacy and control to interoperability and governance, the conversation explores what it actually takes to move finance on-chain at scale. They discuss why the future is unlikely to be won by a single chain, the importance of coordination over ideology, and how network effects between institutions, DeFi, and new market participants will shape the next phase of the industry. Eric also reflects on building through multiple cycles, the trade-offs between speed and pragmatism, and why meaningful change in capital markets is less about breakthroughs and more about sustained, incremental progress. Please like & subscribe! Eric Saraniecki: https://x.com/wesarn_real Canton Network: https://x.com/cantonnetwork Lloyd Wahed: https://x.com/LloydWahed Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/searching-for-mana-with-lloyd-wahed/id1491460738 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3HmB7fS60zRSvWq3sQgj3X?si=424419d0a6b749f4 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@searchingformanapodcast

April 2, 20261 hr 8 min

Benedict Macon-Cooney, Chief AI & Innovation Officer at the Tony Blair Institute | Reimagining the State in the Age of AI

“No government in the world is anywhere near AI-native.” In this episode of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed sits down with Benedict Macon-Cooney, Chief AI & Innovation Officer at the Tony Blair Institute. They discuss how artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape government, public services, and the structure of the modern state. Benedict shares insights from working with leaders and governments around the world, explaining why institutions must adapt quickly to the pace of technological change. The conversation explores the widening gap between innovation in the private sector and the slower evolution of public institutions, the transformative potential of AI in education and healthcare, and how countries that master new technological waves position themselves to lead the future. Benedict also reflects on leadership, institutional reform, and the challenge of modernising government systems in an era defined by rapid technological progress. Please like & subscribe! Benedict Macon-Cooney: https://x.com/benedictcooney Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: https://x.com/InstituteGC Lloyd Wahed: https://x.com/LloydWahed Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/searching-for-mana-with-lloyd-wahed/id1491460738 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3HmB7fS60zRSvWq3sQgj3X?si=424419d0a6b749f4

February 25, 202621 min

Yoni Assia, Founder & CEO of eToro | Gen Z, Crypto, and the $100 Trillion Wealth Shift

In this episode of Searching for Mana – On Location, Malak sits down with Yoni Assia, Founder and CEO of eToro, to explore how online trading has evolved from phone brokers and desktop platforms to mobile-first, crypto-native investing. Recorded live at the Milken Institute's Middle East & Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi, Yoni shares how eToro pioneered social and copy trading, introduced Bitcoin to European brokerage clients as early as 2013, and helped shape the tokenisation conversation alongside early crypto innovators. He reflects on the generational wealth transfer set to move over $100 trillion into Gen Y and Gen Z hands, and why digital-native investors expect markets to be global, mobile, and 24/7. They also discuss prediction markets, AI-powered investing through eToro’s “Tori” analyst, the rise of crypto-native users, and what it takes to build a platform that resonates with younger generations worldwide. Tune in to hear how the next generation of investors are reshaping global markets. Yoni Assia X (Twitter): https://x.com/yoniassia Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoniassia/ Malak Alba X (Twitter): https://x.com/Malakincrypto LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malak-albaw/ Enjoyed this episode? Give it a thumbs up & subscribe for more inspiring conversations!