431: Quantum, Privacy & the Future of Tokenization with NextBlock's Pieter van Poecke

EPISODE DESCRIPTION  I sat down with Pieter from NextBlock Ventures live at Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul. We got into the big themes shaping crypto right now , tokenization, stablecoins, and the deep cryptography primitives that most people haven't heard of yet. Pieter shares why he believes Q-day arrives around 2030, why Bitcoin's quantum readiness keeps him up at night, and what drew him to back Soda Labs , a privacy protocol using garbled circuits on public chains like Ethereum. We also dig into fully homomorphic encryption, why FHE plus AI is like magic, and why building privacy into the chains where liquidity lives is the only approach that makes sense. If you want to understand where the smart money is looking five to eight years out, this is the episode for you.  DISCLAIMER Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.  Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/  CONNECT  NextBlock Ventures Website: https://nextblock.vc/ NextBlock Twitter/X: https://x.com/NextBlockvc NextBlock LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/nextblock-vc/home/ Pieter LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/pietervanpoecke/?isSelfProfile=false Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz  KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS  • [00:00] Sam and Pieter open live from Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, discussing why Korea is a uniquely powerful crypto and deep tech market • [02:30] Pieter shares how NextBlock launched in 2022 right as Terra Luna and FTX collapsed, and how that reset shaped their long-term thesis • [05:00] The firm's focus areas: tokenization, stablecoins, and deep cryptography primitives like FHE and post-quantum cryptography • [07:00] Q-day debate , Pieter makes his case for 2030 as the most likely arrival of quantum computers capable of breaking current encryption • [09:30] Tokenization beyond US Treasuries: why stocks are next, with DTCC, Nasdaq, and Kraken all moving in that direction • [13:00] Stablecoins in developed markets , why USD dominance at 98% will persist for a while but local currency stablecoins are coming • [16:00] The Soda Labs investment thesis: bringing privacy to public chains using garbled circuits rather than spinning up separate private chains • [20:00] Plain-language breakdown of fully homomorphic encryption and why FHE applied to AI is one of the most powerful combinations on the horizon • [23:30] Why Bitcoin's lack of a post-quantum roadmap is a $2 trillion risk, and why Ethereum is ahead on this front • [26:30] What Pieter looks for in founders: commercial instincts plus deep technical authority, and why the deep cryptography community is extremely small and tight-knit • [28:30] Pieter's goals for this Korea trip and what types of founders and investors he wants to connect with