Show notes
Today Sam sits down with Turtle Club CTO Nick Thoma for the first deep dive on how the project has quietly brokered nearly a billion dollars in liquidity for new chains and DeFi apps. Nick explains the brokerage model, the tooling that keeps funds non-custodial, and why a background in NASA robotics shaped his approach to yield markets. If you build protocols, need TVL, or manage capital, this conversation is for you.Timestamps00:00 Intro, Squid contributor rewards, Substack plug01:00 Meet Nick Thoma, robotics to crypto in one jump02:45 How Turtle tracked a billion in TVL before anyone noticed11:00 Vaults, boost deals, and the two-track product line18:15 Pricing yield, risk scoring, and market-rate expectations24:30 Using Veda vaults and Merkle rewards to stay non-custodial27:20 Treasury strategy, revenue, and upcoming token launch32:10 AI agents, account abstraction, and the next five years of DeFi UX41:30 Advice for builders seeking efficient liquidity43:30 Where to find Turtle Club and Leviathan NewsLinks from the show• Turtle Club: https://turtle.club• Leviathan News Substack: https://leviathannews.substack.com• Squid on Fraxtal: https://app.frax.com• Nick Thoma on X: https://x.com/nickjtomaSubscribe to Leviathan News for daily livestreams, protocol breakdowns, and long-form interviews. Hit the bell so you never miss a session, and join our Telegram bot to earn Squid for contributing clips, memes, or story leads.