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 about
💡 Why Watch?
If you care about Web3 infra, AI automation, exchanges, wallets, or stablecoins, this episode breaks down the layer nobody sees — but everyone depends on. Yair explains why access layers may become the most important part of Web3’s future.
Follow 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.com
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Timestamps:
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 Constantin
1:53 – Curiosity, Technion & first startup: building a Wix-like product in 2001
3:25 – eToro-style startup & the painful lesson of choosing the wrong cofounders
4:42 – Business intelligence startup, Cloudera exit & retail tech journey
6:04 – NFT summer, meeting Vitalik, mentors & falling fully into the crypto rabbit hole
8:05 – Netflix analogy: what blockchains really are and why access is broken
11:03 – Read vs write: how wallets, swaps & airdrops actually talk to blockchains
11:49 – From “run your own node” to Alchemy/QuickNode — and the new centralization risk
13:25 – The rise of “node runners” & why infra fragmentation doesn’t scale
16:04 – How Lava works: decentralized access layer, node marketplace & routing
19:52 – Sessions, payments & how node runners monetize via Lava
20:59 – Lava Pools: why foundations see RPC as a public good
24:09 – Fireblocks, Smart Router & turning open-source infra into enterprise products
26:54 – Trump meme coin on Solana: extreme congestion & Lava’s 100% uptime story
29:59 – Wallet failures, airdrops breaking & “nobody cares about RPC until it fails”
33:20 – Defining a new category: multi-provider routing for exchanges, wallets & custodians
35:07 – AI agents, intents & why machines will transact 24/7 without UI
38:20 – RPC as the “language” of blockchains & Lava as the roads of a digital city
41:26 – Stablecoins, RWAs & building infra for the next wave of user adoption
47:03 – Regulation, innovation & why infra must mature without killing progress
51:59 – Global crypto adoption, Korea’s retail culture & CBDCs vs private stablecoins
54:37 – Blitz round: outages, trust, single points of failure & invisible infra
55:30 – Yair’s purpose, legacy & why he loves “boring, invisible” problems
57:14 – Closing thoughts: making infra great again & where to find Yair
