BlockLeaders

1 week ago | blockleaders.io | Jillian Godsil

What if every sports fan could set the odds, stake the bet, and walk away a winner, no house, no gatekeepers, no middlemen? That’s the premise behind Wager-LINK, a decentralized, peer-to-peer wagering platform founded by tech veteran Paul Taylor and iGaming heavyweight Heath Samples. Together, they’re building an engagement engine that runs on viral wagers, agentic AI, and smart privacy, not on house profits. “We’re not here to be the house,” says Taylor.

1 week ago | blockleaders.io | Lisa Gibbons

In the heart of opulence, Token2049 Dubai attendees were spoilt for choice when it came to the sheer scale of events, activities and meetings to attend. In a lot of ways it felt like stepping into the future of finance. There was a feeling of optimism for a decentralized future where communities can thrive and individuals can achieve levels of wealth previously unimaginable.

1 week ago | blockleaders.io | Jillian Godsil

Creating a digital twin, a faithful AI replica that captures your essence, not just your outputs, is an act of imagination as much as it is a technical exercise. In a wide-ranging conversation with Daniel Nowak of Sensay, I explored how to build such a twin with sensitivity, purpose and creativity. It is not simply a matter of uploading some files and hoping for the best.

1 week ago | blockleaders.io | Jillian Godsil

Harm reduction usually makes people think of clean needles or drug decriminalisation. But for Caolan Walsh, director of the Harm Reduction Fund on Artizen, it’s much broader than that. “Harm reduction isn’t just about policy,” he says. “It’s about asking, how do we reduce pain, shame, exclusion? How do we care for each other in meaningful, creative ways?”Walsh’s inspiration comes from his degree in human rights and gender studies.

2 weeks ago | blockleaders.io | Jillian Godsil

René Pinnell is not the easiest person to work with. He admits it openly. “I’ve had many co-founders,” he says, laughing. “I burn through them pretty bad.” It’s not malice, it’s intensity. Pinnell works hard. He expects the same. That tenacity has become the foundation of Artizen, a funding platform designed to support artists, technologists, and community leaders, not just the ones who know how to play the old game, but the ones who never had a seat at the table.