Sunny Ray sits down with Richard Carthon, Enterprise Account Executive at Messari, to trace his path from a Division I athlete at Tulane and wealth management at Merrill Lynch to becoming one of crypto's most prolific interviewers. Richard explains how a single question about Bitcoin from his boss in 2018 sent him down the rabbit hole, leading him to launch his own podcast and eventually surpass 500 episodes across his show and Edge of Company. He unpacks what makes Messari more than a research shop, highlighting its AI copilot, sentiment signals, and massive fundraising database used by institutions and protocols. The conversation covers the growing overlap between AI and blockchain, why Bitcoin's NFT and memecoin culture may still have its moment, and how institutional adoption is reshaping the market. Richard closes with reflections on his early chocolate bar sales hustle and advice for newcomers, take profits, hold real convictions, and be willing to pivot when you are wrong.
500 podcast episodes and countless crypto conversations later, Richard Carthon reveals how Messari is bridging institutions into web3.
Can you tell us a bit about Messari before we dive into your story?
Messari is your business intelligence gateway into web3, basically the crypto version of Bloomberg. We provide business insights on all things web3 and work with a lot of institutions, funds, and protocols. People know us for our research reports, but we do a tremendous amount more than that.
Take us back to your backstory, where are you from and what was your path before crypto?
I was born and raised in Louisiana, went to Tulane in New Orleans where I played Division I football and baseball, and graduated in business. I did wealth management at Merrill Lynch, then got the entrepreneurial itch and ran my own startup. In 2018 I joined an AI startup and my boss asked what I knew about Bitcoin, I said nothing, looked into it, and never left the space.
What was the moment it really clicked for you with crypto?
I realized this was the internet moment all over again, web1 was read, web2 was read write, and this was read write earn. Coming from wealth management, I saw tools that only wealthy people had access to, and crypto gave everyday people that same access. A friend working in oil and gas telling me he saved fees sending money home as Bitcoin instead of local currency sealed it for me.
How did creating your podcast come about, and how did it grow to 500 episodes?
Back in 2018 during the crash, all the crypto content out there was either get rich quick or overly technical, so I created my own show to dumb it down while still being useful. I did over 300 episodes there, interviewing projects super early and building relationships, then joined Edge of Company as a host and added hundreds more, crossing 500 episodes total.
What drew you to Messari and how does the role fit your broader mission?
I had followed Messari for years through their newsletter and research reports even before working there. I saw TradFi eventually flowing back into web3 through things like the Bitcoin ETF and favorable regulation, and I wanted to be part of the company bridging institutions into this space, so when the opportunity came up I applied and got in.
What do people often not know about Messari beyond the research reports?
We have a huge amount of data beyond research, including Copilot, our AI system trained on over 180 terabytes of data paired with other LLMs for deep web3 answers. We also have Signals for market sentiment tracking and the largest fundraising database in the market, with over 20,000 investment rounds, which is huge for both protocols and VCs doing diligence.
How do you see AI and blockchain converging over the next several years?
I think AI will offset a lot of jobs, and the future splits between people who leverage AI and those who do not, similar to the early internet era. As AI does more, we may need something like universal basic income, and that requires blockchain infrastructure to support those AI driven payment systems, which is already being built in the background.
What advice would you give your younger self from five years ago?
Take profit, and for the projects you truly believe in, hold. For the riskier bets you are unsure about, just take the profit. Beyond that, create your convictions, test them, and be willing to admit when you are wrong and pivot rather than sticking to a broken thesis.
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