a16z crypto show

Four years ago, artist Emily Yang aka pplpleasr began a creative journey that would help break new ground at the intersection of art, technology, and community. 

In this episode, we sit down with Emily — founder of Shibuya — to talk about her evolution from illustrator to Emmy-winning storyteller. 

Emily shares how Shibuya is pioneering “permissionless creativity,” using crypto rails to fund, build, and co-create original IP with global communities. Her breakout project, White Rabbit, became the first crypto-native project to win an Emmy (Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media), proving that grassroots storytelling can reach mainstream acclaim. We dive into: 

How White Rabbit crowdfunded alternate story endings 

What it means to turn audiences from passive viewers into active participants 

Why efficient capital formation is a game-changer for creatives 

Building outside traditional studio systems 

The creative tension between community input and artistic vision 

Plus, Emily's biggest inspirations (Ghost in the Shell, Miyazaki, David Lynch, and more). 

00:00 Behind the Fortune Magazine Cover

01:46 Founding Shibuya, and “Permissionless Creativity”

02:13 Winning an Emmy for White Rabbit., the First Crypto Project to Win an Emmy

03:14 What Is White Rabbit? (Interactive + NFT Model Explained)

05:53 From Passive Viewing to Interactive Storytelling

07:19 Opportunities for Creatives

08:27 Creative Inspirations (Miyazaki, Black Mirror)

09:25 Going With Your Gut, And the Advice Should Founders Ignore 

 

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A hot paper — "Some Simple Economics of AGI" — has been making the rounds, so we sat down with the author, covering: 

Automation vs. verification: the key economic split 

Why AI agents now feel like coworkers - What's happening to junior roles and the “codifier’s curse” 

The “AI sandwich” structure for firms 

The value of "meaning-makers," consensus, and status economies 

Why crypto may become essential infrastructure for identity, provenance, and trust 

Two possible futures: a hollow vs. augmented economy 

Featuring Christian Catalini (founder of MIT Crypto Economics Lab) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO of a16z crypto) in conversation with Robert Hackett, our discussion dives deep into how automation is reshaping labor markets, as well as the nature of intelligence. 

What do these changes mean for startups, the future of work, and your career? 

Highlights 

00:00 Introduction 

01:47 AGI economics optimism and playbook 

05:39 Agents as coworkers 

07:39 Software work becomes verification 

10:47 Automation versus verification 

12:03 "Unknown unknowns" and taste 

16:27 Human augmentation and intent 

17:55 The "AI Sandwich" and "Codifier's Curse" 

21:54 "Meaning-makers" and the human touch 

23:48 Crypto for identity and trust? 

27:10 Measurability: How to think about it 

33:23 Machine coordination and art after automation 

35:46 Trojan horse risks 

37:47 Liability and insurance 

41:08 Crypto and verification 

44:31 A hollow vs. augmented economy 

49:45 Career advice in the AI era 

51:26 The one-person billion-dollar startup 

57:15 Open-source as antibodies 

58:42 Blockchains for coordination 

01:01:49 Closing thoughts 

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What does it actually mean to bring assets onchain — and why should investors care? 

In this episode, Cynthia Lo Bessette, Head of Digital Asset Management at Fidelity Investments, breaks down Fidelity’s roadmap for digital market adoption — from Bitcoin ETPs to tokenized money market funds — and explains why tokenization is about far more than just putting assets on a blockchain. 

We cover: 

The three phases of digital asset adoption: Hold, Use, Build 

Why tokenizing an asset must start with utility 

How tokenized money market funds bridge payments and yield 

The rapid rise of real-world assets (RWAs) onchain 

The impact of the regional bank crisis and stablecoin depegging 

Staking yield inside traditional wrappers 

Institutional adoption of DeFi infrastructure 

Build vs. partner decisions inside a major asset manager 

Cynthia also shares insight into Fidelity’s early Bitcoin mining experiments, how they evaluate crypto founders, and why authenticity is the smallest hill she’ll always die on. 

If you're interested in tokenization, real-world assets, crypto ETFs, DeFi infrastructure, or the future of asset management — this conversation is for you.

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What happens when AI becomes the primary economic actor? 

In this conversation, Sean Neville (cofounder of Circle, architect of USDC, and now cofounder of Catena Labs) shares his vision for the next phase of the internet: an agent-native economy powered by programmable dollars and AI banks. 

As stablecoins put dollars on internet rails, a new question emerges: what happens when AI agents start earning, spending, lending, investing — and even managing our assets — on our behalf? 

From KYA (“Know Your Agent”) to programmable spending policies to secure agent communication standards, this conversation explores the foundational layers that must be built before AI can safely participate in the global economy. 

Sean breaks down: 

Why he believes AI agents could become the dominant economic participants

What an “AI-native bank” actually is (and why we’ll need one)

The missing infrastructure required for safe agent-to-agent payments

How cryptography can encode trust directly into software

Why current financial risk systems are designed to block bots — and what needs to change

The fragmented race to define standards for agent identity, payments, and communication-

Lessons from building Circle and launching USDC

Why he doesn’t love the term “stablecoin”

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*** 

As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

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Restaurants generated more than a trillion dollars in sales last year — but they don’t control the payment rails those dollars flow through.
In this episode, Ben Leventhal (founder of Eater, Resy, and now Blackbird) joins Robert Hackett to explain why that’s a problem, how loyalty and payments have failed independent restaurants, and where crypto fits into fixing it.
Ben breaks down:
Why most restaurant tech misses the point
How Blackbird uses crypto without making restaurants think about crypto
What “restaurant-first” really means in payments and loyalty
Why decentralization only makes sense at scale
Lessons from building multiple companies in hospitality
Why we’re living in the golden age of restaurants
Plus: favorite NYC spots, founder productivity hacks, and the smallest hill he’ll die on.
This is a grounded conversation about technology, ownership, and the future of restaurants — from someone who’s been building in the space for over a decade.
 
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As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

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