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About The Rollup
The Rollup is an independent media and podcast platform focused on digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). It was formerly known as DeFi Slate and has produced over 1,000 episodes distributed via YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. The platform also runs a venture arm called The Rollup Ventures, which has invested in projects such as Nillion, Lava Network, and Fluent.
Its core value lies in simplifying complex blockchain topics for a broad audience, bridging the gap between retail users and institutional players. It addresses the market pain point of information asymmetry and technical jargon in the crypto space by offering accessible education and in-depth interviews with industry builders. The platform helps newcomers understand DeFi, rollups, and tokenization, while giving experienced users insights into emerging trends.
In the past six months (March to September 2026), The Rollup has actively covered key narratives including real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, privacy infrastructure, and institutional adoption of public blockchains. Recent episodes featured discussions on Paxos obtaining a clearing license, Securitize's outlook on tokenized securities, and the role of RWAs as a gateway for traditional finance to enter DeFi. The platform has also highlighted the shift toward public chains over permissioned ones, as evidenced by major asset managers choosing public deployments.
No significant negative events were reported in the past two years. Note that The Rollup is a media brand, not a technical rollup solution, and should not be confused with layer-2 scaling projects bearing similar names.
The Rollup was founded in 2020 by Robbie Klages and Andy C under the name "DeFi Slate," initially focusing on DeFi education. As the industry evolved, the team expanded their scope to Layer2 and Rollup technology, rebranding to The Rollup and becoming an educational platform dedicated to Rollups and DeFi.
Through podcasts, research articles, and events, the platform built industry influence, interviewing key figures such as Jesse Pollak and Haseeb Qureshi, and creating series like Rollup Roundup. Around 2021, the founders leveraged their respective backgrounds—mathematics/philosophy and marketing—to engage deeply in crypto, attending 25+ flagship conferences globally and expanding their ecosystem network.
As an investment arm, The Rollup Ventures has made 75+ angel investments in seed-stage crypto projects and formed partnerships with digital asset and fintech brands, driving blockchain innovation. These milestones transformed it from a content community into an industry player integrating media, investment, and consulting.
Over the past six months (March–September 2026), The Rollup has advanced as an education layer for Rollups, modular blockchains, and DeFi. Its Substack crossed 3.3K subscribers, while it published high-profile conversations with Joe Lubin (institutional Ethereum adoption), Andre Cronje (the coming DeFi boom and Flying Tulip), Frax's founder (stablecoins and onchain businesses), Haseeb Qureshi (perpetual DEX growth), and others—covering institutional adoption, stablecoins, RWA perps, privacy, and AI.
Future focus remains its stated mission: converging legacy finance and DeFi, driving onchain mass adoption, and deepening education on stablecoin payments, RWA tokenization, institutional-grade DeFi, privacy, and AI agents.
Co-founders:
Robbie Klages (Robert Klages): Co-founded The Rollup (formerly DeFi Slate) with Andy in 2020. Graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy. Entered crypto in 2016 after discovering Bitcoin through online poker. Previously worked at TradeStation (crypto strategy) and YouCanTrade (fintech education). Leads business development and partnerships, with 75+ angel investments in seed-stage startups and speaking appearances at major industry conferences.
Andy C: Co-founder of The Rollup and The Rollup Ventures. Dropped out of the University of Florida; previously ran an online marketing business for 5 years, helping clients reach 6-7 figures. Involved in 50+ company investments, organized global events, and traveled to 40+ countries.
No other core executives identified.