Episode description

In this episode of the Applied Blockchain Podcast, Adi Ben-Ari speaks with Julien Bouteloup - serial builder, investor, and contributor to some of DeFi’s most pivotal projects - about the journey from hackathons to helping shape the foundations of decentralised finance. Julien reflects on a decade of bold experimentation—from building ID systems in Papua New Guinea and AI tools for coconut farms, to co-founding StakeDAO, launching Rekt News, and shaping protocols like Curve and Aave.

They discuss:

• The roots of DeFi: hackathons, AMMs, flash loans, and governance
• Decentralised identity and innovation in emerging markets
• AI in agriculture, autonomous drones, and carbon markets
• Curve’s tokenomics, veCRV, and liquidity dynamics
• StakeDAO, protocol governance, and market coordination
• Rekt News and transparency in Web3
• The intersection of AI, privacy, and decentralised finance

Resources Mentioned

• Rekt News
• StakeDAO & Curve Finance
• Zero Health: Privacy-preserving medical AI
• Giza: Agentic AI trading bots
• Perplexity & Claude: AI-powered research tools