In this episode of Sat Chats, we welcome Aly, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and star of Crypto Knights, the Shark Tank-style crypto pitch show now streaming on Amazon Prime. But long before Ali was backing 200+ startups with a $75 million fund, he was grinding for slushie money with a $2 paper route and running a full-blown DVD burning operation from his bedroom before age 13.

Aly shares how growing up as the son of East African refugees shaped his relentless work ethic, what building a life from nothing taught him about power, and how Bitcoin became his ideological North Star. We unpack the difference between scarcity and leakage, why Bitcoin might be the only honest monetary system left, and how fiat currencies and altcoins have more in common than you’d think.

We cover:

✅ From paperboy to partner: how Aly built Blockchain Founders Fund

✅ Why he sees Bitcoin as a check on corruption and unchecked power

✅ The leakiness of fiat and what national currencies get wrong

✅ Why most crypto is the penny stock of the digital world

✅ The ideological core that still keeps him bullish on BTC

✅ What Crypto Knights taught him about BS detection and founder hype

✅ How Bitcoin could’ve prevented Uganda’s collapse under Idi Amin

✅ Lemon Garlic hummus and the case for slushie-fueled ambition

Chapters

00:00 Episode Preview/Intro

01:55 Building a Venture Capital Fund

04:45 Early Life and Entrepreneurial Spirit

07:55 Philosophical Perspectives on Bitcoin

10:27 Bitcoin's Role in Economic Systems

28:08 The Economics of Currency and Value Leakage

34:10 Bitcoin vs. Cryptocurrency: A Beginner's Guide

38:09 Insights from Crypto Knights: A Shark Tank for Crypto

42:09 The Importance of Ethics in Cryptocurrency

45:32 Recap and Reflections on the Conversation

51:42 The Offer: Sats or Cash

At the end, Aly gets a choice: $50 in fiat or 45,902 sats… and you already know what he picks.

Support Sat Chats directly by:

— Zapping Lightning to satchats@getalby.com

— Grabbing your slot in the studio today at https://satchats.com/

— Sending Bitcoin to bc1q5yrwe6qxujzumg5j28g0rvckx9n859sa08fupc

Links for today’s Show Notes:

Aly via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alymadhavji/

Aly via X (Twitter): https://x.com/Aly_Madhavji
Blockchain Founder Fund: https://blockchainff.com/

CryptoKnights via Amazon Prime: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/CryptoKnights/0LSNGHKUQPIJGY573U2KWBLUPH