Jan. 1, 2026
Smart, Safe, & Gasless: Inside PistachioFi’s Vision for Everyday DeFi
The player is loading ...
Brian Smocovich, co-founder of PistachioFi, joins host Dylan Grabowski to explore the challenges facing everyday users in Web3 and how a smart wallet can remove friction through security, recovery, and gasless transactions. He shares his journey from TradFi to crypto, why UX remains Ethereum’s biggest bottleneck, and how PistachioFi aims to make safe, high-quality DeFi accessible to anyone.
In this episode of The Smart Economy Podcast, host Dylan Grabowski is joined by Brian Smocovich, co-founder of PistachioFi, a blockchain finance mobile app designed to make DeFi more accessible. Together, they explore how Ethereum’s scaling journey has shaped product decisions, why L1 and L2 tradeoffs matter for consumer-facing apps, and how smart wallets may help reduce friction without sacrificing self-custody.
What you’ll learn:
- Why Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap introduced short-term complexity alongside long-term scaling benefits
- How liquidity fragmentation and gas costs influence real user behavior
- Why UX challenges like seed phrases, approvals, and gas remain barriers for non-technical users
- How PistachioFi approaches mobile-first, gasless wallet design
- Why cryptographic recovery can improve safety without custodial risk
- How L1 and L2 architecture decisions affect consumer financial products
- What gasless, cross-border transfers could mean for more accessible on-chain finance
- And much more!
Brian Smocovich is the co-founder of PistachioFi, a smart wallet focused on making on-chain finance safer and easier for everyday users. Prior to building in crypto, Brian worked in financial advising and management consulting, where he developed a deep understanding of risk management, financial infrastructure, and user trust. His background continues to shape PistachioFi’s focus on security-first design, intuitive UX, and practical pathways for broader on-chain participation.
Previous guests include: Rusty Matveev, Chief Strategy Officer at Calaxy; Andrew Lawrence, CEO and Co-Founder of Censo; Zac Townsend, CEO and Co-Founder of Meanwhile; Jesper Johansen, CEO and Co-Founder of Northstake; Tama Churchouse, COO of Cumberland Labs; Holly Wood of Boson Protocol; Sid Powell of Maple Finance; Chad Barraford of THORChain; and many others.
Check out our three most downloaded episodes:
- Laying the Groundwork for a Billion-User Blockchain with Rich Rines, Contributor at Core DAO
- Staking the Future: From Blockchain Beginnings to Institutional Innovations with Chen Zhuling of RockX
- The Unstoppable Nature of Blockchain: A Conversation with Bonart Mati of Obligate
Attention all blockchain, crypto, and Web3 professionals! If you're a founder, CEO, or expert doing something innovative in this space, we're interested in speaking to you! Apply to be a guest on our platform and connect with our vibrant community of blockchain professionals: https://bit.ly/SEP-guest
