Stateful
Stateful

The Convergence of AI and Crypto

30 January 2026 44:23 Pantera Capital

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About this episode

Mason Nystrom sits down with Sam Lehman (Pantera Capital) and Rishin Sharma (Solana Foundation) to explore the convergence of AI and crypto—where $211B in AI funding meets blockchain innovation.

AI attracted $211 billion in VC funding in 2025 while crypto AI got just 1-3%. But the intersection is heating up. 

Key Topics:

• Text-to-trade: AI replacing traditional crypto UX ("talk to your phone instead of navigating menus")

• AI-powered wallets as the first $5B+ crypto AI consumer app

• Smart contract auditing and formal verification with AI

• Private AI: FHE, TEEs, and ZK proofs for enterprise

• Agentic payments and X.402 enabling micropayments at scale

• Why we're in an LLM bubble, not an AI bubble

• Agent-to-agent commerce and the new internet economy

The views expressed in the podcast are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of Pantera Capital Partners LP or its affiliates ("Pantera"). The podcast is provided for informational purposes only to provide market commentary and for general educational purposes, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. The podcast is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest. Please see additional important disclosures related to the content discussed in the podcast here.

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