LabTalks: The Non-Fungible Podcast

<p>What does it take to run 25 million ad transactions a day, on-chain? In this episode, Alkimi CEO Ben Putley sits down with Rebecca Simmonds from Walrus Protocol to break down how Alkimi uses Sui’s full stack to power real-time advertising at scale. </p><p></p><p>They unpack: </p><p>1.How Walrus enables sustainable and permanent storage for ad data </p><p>2. Why verification and transparency, not just speed, are redefining AdTech </p><p>3. What “Advertising on the Fastest Blockchain” really means for the $750B industry </p><p>4. How AdFi turns ad transactions into composable, yield-generating financial events This isn’t a hype talk, it’s a blueprint for real business on-chain.</p>

<p>Real Vision's Raoul Pal just EXPOSED the shocking truth about how Platforms have been extracting YOUR attention while you get NOTHING in return... </p><p>Former Goldman Sachs executive and macro investing legend Raoul Pal sits down with our CEO Ben Putley to reveal the dark secrets behind the $750 billion digital advertising industry and why blockchain technology like Alkimi's solution is about to change EVERYTHING. </p><p></p><p>In this eye-opening Lab Talks episode, we dive deep into why the current advertising model is fundamentally broken, how Big Tech corporations have amassed unprecedented power over our personal data, and the revolutionary shift happening right now that will transform how advertising works forever. </p><p>Raoul shares his incredible journey from running hedge fund sales at Goldman Sachs to predicting both the 2008 financial crisis and European debt crisis, ultimately leading him to discover Bitcoin and blockchain as the solution to systemic financial problems. Now, as founder of Real Vision, he's witnessing the same patterns in digital advertising that led to previous market collapses. </p><p>We explore the $100 trillion tokenisation thesis that's driving the next wave of crypto adoption, why institutional money is finally flowing into blockchain infrastructure, and how Alkimi's ALKIMI token represents the future of transparent, efficient digital advertising. </p><p></p><p>In this video, you'll discover: </p><ul><li>Why Google knows more about you than you think (the extent will shock you) </li><li>How AI agents are secretly destroying advertising effectiveness </li><li>The real reason your online ads keep getting more expensive yet less effective </li><li>Why paying users for their attention might not work the way you think </li><li>Raoul's prediction for crypto's path from $4 trillion to $100 trillion market cap </li><li>How blockchain rails will revolutionise financial settlement and advertising</li></ul>

<p>In this episode, Ben Putley speaks with Matt Wilke, Head of Digital Partnerships at Mediaplus UK and former programmatic leader who's worked across the Omnicom stack and WPP GroupM side of the industry. For the past three years, he's been working at independent agencies, bringing a unique perspective from both sides of the industry divide, from large holding companies to independents. </p><p>As someone who's navigated the evolution of programmatic advertising across different agency models, Matt shares candid insights about what's really broken in the current system and explores how blockchain technology could solve programmatic's biggest problems. </p><p>In this episode: </p><ul><li>Why 49% of ad spend disappears before reaching publishers (according to ISBA research) </li><li>Why middlemen who don't add performance value will need to prove their worth or disappear entirely </li><li>Why the open web still represents 50% of UK programmatic spend and where most waste lives </li><li>How blockchain could bring transparency to the programmatic supply chain </li><li>Zero-knowledge proofs for privacy-preserving targeting without cookies </li><li>Why automated market makers could revolutionise ad buying </li><li>The thought experiment: rebuilding programmatic from scratch </li></ul><p></p><p>A must-listen for anyone working in programmatic advertising, ad tech, or digital media who wants an unvarnished look at the industry's current challenges and potential blockchain solutions.</p>

<p>In this episode, Ben Putley speaks with Nic Cary, founder of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Blockchain.com">Blockchain.com</a>, one of the pioneering cryptocurrency companies established in 2011. Nic built the first popular blockchain explorer (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://blockchain.info">blockchain.info</a>) and has grown <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Blockchain.com">Blockchain.com</a> into one of the world's largest crypto platforms, serving millions of users globally. </p><p>As someone who's witnessed Bitcoin's evolution from the early days to today's $3 trillion market, Nic shares his perspective on the current state of cryptocurrency adoption and makes some bold predictions about what's coming next. </p><p></p><p>In this episode: </p><p>- Why despite a $3 trillion market cap, only 200-300 million people globally are actually "on-chain" </p><p>- How regulatory frameworks have inadvertently created barriers to adoption, particularly in markets like the UK </p><p>- The emerging intersection of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology </p><p>- Why AI agents will be conducting most digital payments within five years </p><p>- New interfaces won't be controlled by single companies like current operating systems </p><p>- Why we're moving from "infrastructure decade" to "execution decade" </p><p></p><p>A must-listen for builders, investors, and anyone who wants the unvarnished truth about where crypto really stands – and the massive opportunities still ahead.</p>

<p>In this episode, Ben Putley speaks with Amy Williams, founder and CEO of Good-Loop, a company embedding social impact directly into digital advertising. From her love-hate relationship with the ad industry to pioneering media that’s respectful, effective, and sustainable, Amy shares how Good-Loop is redefining what it means to advertise with purpose.</p><p>They unpack how the digital ad ecosystem became so broken, from intrusive user experiences and misaligned incentives to environmental waste and inefficient capital. They also explore groundbreaking concepts like wallets as anonymous identifiers, the role of blockchain, the evolving landscape of brand safety, and the shifting value exchange between users and advertisers.</p><p>This wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation challenges the current landscape and reimagines what advertising <em>could</em> — and should — be. </p>