TFTSL Ep45—John Church
Today in the Sky Lounge, we are joined by John Church, lead product manager at Nethermind and adjunct professor at Duke University. John has been deep in the blockchain world since 2017 — from speculative ICOs to running treasury management for a 20,000-person decentralized autonomous organization, to now working on zero-knowledge cryptography and AI agent infrastructure.
In this conversation, John breaks down what stablecoins actually are and why their adoption matters far beyond the crypto-native crowd. He explains why Ethereum’s decentralization gives it an edge over faster competitors, and what it means that AI agents are already building wallets and executing trades on their own. He also shares his take on how he’s preparing engineering students for a world where AI compresses timelines — and creativity matters more than syntax. Plus, a survival school story from the Utah desert involving a wanted poster, stolen macaroni casserole, and a well-timed lie.