In this episode, I sit down with Yury Mitin, Partner and CBDO at AlphaTON Capital, one of the first public digital asset treasury companies focused on the TON ecosystem and Telegram economy.

We explore the meeting point of Wall Street discipline and crypto-native culture, and how TON is evolving from a token into a real business ecosystem built on top of one of the most used apps in the world.

From entering public markets through eToro to evaluating TON startups, Yury breaks down what makes TON different, how acquisitions work, and why real revenue matters more than hype.

We discuss the growth of mini apps, AI agents, TON wallet adoption, Telegram bonds, MasterCard integration, and why real utility could shape TON into a top ecosystem in the coming years.

Yury explains:

🚀 Why TON is one of the few tokens directly tied to a real global platform

📱 1B users on Telegram and what happens when crypto becomes native inside a super app

🏢 Public markets vs crypto culture and why speculation alone does not survive

💰 Acquisition strategy: revenue thresholds, 51 percent ownership, valuation logic

🕹 TON verticals: gaming, NFT 2.0, DeFi, AI agents and media

💳 TON MasterCard card and bridging crypto to everyday spending

📈 How TON bonds, yield and staking feed back into acquisitions and growth

🌍 North America expansion and how institutions get exposure to TON

Why watch?

If you care about digital asset treasuries, TON, Telegram adoption, Web3 real-world revenue, or the intersection of traditional finance and crypto, this episode is a masterclass in how public companies can build on-chain ecosystems with real fundamentals rather than speculation.

Follow AlphaTON and Yury

🔗 Website: https://alphaton.capital

📲 Telegram: t.me/atonofmemes

💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/yury-mityan

✖️ X: https://x.com/@AlphaTONCapital

Listen to the full podcast

🎧 https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan

Subscribe to the channel

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@ConstantinKogan

Follow me on socials

🌐 Website: https://ckogan.com

📲 Telegram: https://t.me/constantinkogan

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/constkogan

💻 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/constantin-kogan

✖️ X: https://x.com/constkogan

Timestamps

0:00 Intro, who is Yury and what is AlphaTON Capital

1:04 From tech founder to 17 years in venture capital

2:09 First exposure to public markets through eToro

4:09 What digital asset treasuries are and how they differ

5:51 The summer of treasury copycats and speculation

6:56 Why TON and Telegram stood out among hundreds of tokens

8:07 Entering TON Open Network and working with the foundation

10:57 Thousands of mini apps and filtering real businesses

13:23 Key verticals: gaming, NFT 2.0, DeFi, AI agents

15:06 Revenue thresholds and 51 percent acquisition model

18:01 Multiples, valuation logic and public market expectations

22:35 Two worlds meeting: Wall Street vs crypto culture

26:10 Institutional access to TON and common treasury mistakes

31:57 TON Mastercard card and real world payments

34:16 Telegram bonds, yields and feedback loop to TON

41:01 KPIs that matter for growth and sustainability

47:00 Regions, expansion and North America strategy

52:07 Blitz round: DeFi, surprises in 2026 and upside

55:24 Yury on life, family and building what he loves

In this episode, I sit down with Yair Cleper, founder and infrastructure builder, to uncover the invisible layer that keeps crypto running — RPC, nodes, and decentralized access.From UX and fintech startups to building Magma Devs and contributing to Lava Network, Yair explains how blockchains actually communicate, why most of Web3 still relies on a handful of providers, and what happens when AI agents start transacting on-chain nonstop.He breaks down:🧩 What RPC really is — and why it’s the “language layer” for every blockchain🌐 Why early crypto was simple (run a node, trust no one) vs today’s multi-chain reality🏗 How Lava turns thousands of node runners into a decentralized access layer⚙️ DIY nodes → Alchemy/QuickNode → decentralized routing🚨 The Trump meme coin incident on Solana & how Lava kept Fireblocks at 100% uptime🔐 How infra failures silently break wallets, DEXs & airdrops🏦 Why foundations like NEAR use Lava Pools as public-good infrastructure🤖 Why AI agents may soon execute most on-chain transactions💸 How stablecoins, RWAs & CBDCs rely on infra we rarely think aboutFollow Yair Cleper & Lava Network🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cleper🔗 Lava LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lava-network/🌐 Lava Network: https://lavanet.xyz✖️ X: https://x.com/yaircleper✖️ Laba X: https://x.com/lavanetxyz✉️ For any business inquiries, email me here:ck@ckogan.comListen to the full podcast🎧 https://anchor.fm/constantinkoganSubscribe to my channel🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@ConstantinKoganFollow me on socials🌐 Website: https://ckogan.com📲 Telegram: https://t.me/constantinkogan📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constkogan💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constantin-kogan✖️ X: https://x.com/constkogan🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/constantinkoganTimestamps:0:00 – Cold open: crypto, RPC, AI agents & “nobody knows RPC until it fails”0:36 – Intro: Who is Yair Cleper? Magma Devs, Lava Network & friendship with Constantin1:53 – Curiosity, Technion & first startup: building a Wix-like product in 20013:25 – eToro-style startup & the painful lesson of choosing the wrong cofounders4:42 – Business intelligence startup, Cloudera exit & retail tech journey6:04 – NFT summer, meeting Vitalik, mentors & falling fully into the crypto rabbit hole8:05 – Netflix analogy: what blockchains really are and why access is broken11:03 – Read vs write: how wallets, swaps & airdrops actually talk to blockchains11:49 – From “run your own node” to Alchemy/QuickNode — and the new centralization risk13:25 – The rise of “node runners” & why infra fragmentation doesn’t scale16:04 – How Lava works: decentralized access layer, node marketplace & routing19:52 – Sessions, payments & how node runners monetize via Lava20:59 – Lava Pools: why foundations see RPC as a public good24:09 – Fireblocks, Smart Router & turning open-source infra into enterprise products26:54 – Trump meme coin on Solana: extreme congestion & Lava’s 100% uptime story29:59 – Wallet failures, airdrops breaking & “nobody cares about RPC until it fails”33:20 – Defining a new category: multi-provider routing for exchanges, wallets & custodians35:07 – AI agents, intents & why machines will transact 24/7 without UI38:20 – RPC as the “language” of blockchains & Lava as the roads of a digital city41:26 – Stablecoins, RWAs & building infra for the next wave of user adoption47:03 – Regulation, innovation & why infra must mature without killing progress51:59 – Global crypto adoption, Korea’s retail culture & CBDCs vs private stablecoins54:37 – Blitz round: outages, trust, single points of failure & invisible infra55:30 – Yair’s purpose, legacy & why he loves “boring, invisible” problems57:14 – Closing thoughts: making infra great again & where to find Yair

In this episode, mining and commodities expert Mikhail Zeldovich joins host Constantin Kogan for a rare deep dive into the real engines of the global economy — critical minerals, geopolitics, and the future of resource investing.From BCG to Rio Tinto to negotiating in Beijing and analyzing assets in remote mining camps, Mikhail brings nearly two decades of on-the-ground experience across metals, energy transition, and global supply chains.He breaks down:⚒️ How he “accidentally” entered mining at BCG — and why he never left🌏 How China quietly built full dominance across mining, processing, equipment, and end products📉 Why commodity stocks are supposed to be more volatile — and how smart investors use that🔋 His view on lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earths, antimony & tungsten📈 The overlooked Australian copper play that quietly 3.5x’d in six months🛰 Why satellite imagery + AI are changing exploration🪙 How tokenization might transform mining finance📍 What retail investors should understand before betting on resource plays💡 Why Watch?If you care about EVs, energy transition, metals, macro, or tokenized real-world assets — this is the deep, unfiltered look at the sector that powers everything.Mikhail explains where real opportunity lies — and why the next decade of mining won’t look like the last.*************************************Follow Mikhail Zeldovich:🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikhail-zeldovich🌐 Website: https://mineral-intel.com*************************************✉️ For any business inquiries, email me here: ck@ckogan.com*************************************Listen to the full podcast here!🎧 https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan*************************************Subscribe to my channel:🔗https://www.youtube.com/@ConstantinKogan*************************************Follow me on socials:🌐 Website: https://ckogan.com📲 Telegram: https://t.me/constantinkogan📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constkogan💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constantin-kogan✖️ X: https://x.com/constkogan🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/constantinkogan*************************************0:00 – Intro01:04 – Who is Mikhail Zeldovich? From law to BCG to mining03:40 – Entering Rio Tinto & the early mining years05:01 – Working across Moscow, Kazakhstan, Mongolia06:47 – When geopolitics meets minerals08:39 – China’s four-layer dominance: mining, processing, equipment, end-products12:21 – Why the US can’t catch up yet14:26 – Mining timelines vs political cycles16:52 – Environmental approvals: West vs Indonesia/Australia18:37 – Where to invest: funds, majors, juniors21:45 – Volatility in commodity stocks explained24:30 – The rare-earths landscape: MP, Lynas & new players27:06 – Lithium, cobalt, nickel fundamentals30:20 – How to pick winners in mining33:41 – Under-the-radar: antimony & tungsten35:48 – Gold & silver cycles36:49 – How retail investors can realistically win38:14 – Mining tech, AI & satellite-based discovery40:48 – Tactical investing around geopolitical events41:51 – Shipping, logistics & processing opportunities43:44 – Tokenization & critical minerals finance47:03 – Commodities trading 24/7?48:11 – Future geopolitical winners: India, Brazil, Africa52:31 – China vs West vs India: a three-way commodity world54:09 – What could derail each strategy56:15 – AI, automation & the next mining frontier59:14 – Blitz round01:03:40 – Final thoughts & where to find Mikhail#Web3 #Mining #CriticalMinerals #Geopolitics #EnergyTransition #Commodities #Lithium #RareEarths #Tokenization #Investing #ConstantinKogan #HolisticInvestments #MikhailZeldovich