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 aboutFollow 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:[email protected] to the full podcast🎧 https://anchor.fm/constantinkoganSubscribe to my channel🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@ConstantinKoganFollow me on socials🌐 Website: https://ckogan.com📲 Telegram: https://t.me/constantinkogan📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constkogan💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constantin-kogan✖️ X: https://x.com/constkogan🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/constantinkoganTimestamps: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 Constantin1:53 – Curiosity, Technion & first startup: building a Wix-like product in 20013:25 – eToro-style startup & the painful lesson of choosing the wrong cofounders4:42 – Business intelligence startup, Cloudera exit & retail tech journey6:04 – NFT summer, meeting Vitalik, mentors & falling fully into the crypto rabbit hole8:05 – Netflix analogy: what blockchains really are and why access is broken11:03 – Read vs write: how wallets, swaps & airdrops actually talk to blockchains11:49 – From “run your own node” to Alchemy/QuickNode — and the new centralization risk13:25 – The rise of “node runners” & why infra fragmentation doesn’t scale16:04 – How Lava works: decentralized access layer, node marketplace & routing19:52 – Sessions, payments & how node runners monetize via Lava20:59 – Lava Pools: why foundations see RPC as a public good24:09 – Fireblocks, Smart Router & turning open-source infra into enterprise products26:54 – Trump meme coin on Solana: extreme congestion & Lava’s 100% uptime story29:59 – Wallet failures, airdrops breaking & “nobody cares about RPC until it fails”33:20 – Defining a new category: multi-provider routing for exchanges, wallets & custodians35:07 – AI agents, intents & why machines will transact 24/7 without UI38:20 – RPC as the “language” of blockchains & Lava as the roads of a digital city41:26 – Stablecoins, RWAs & building infra for the next wave of user adoption47:03 – Regulation, innovation & why infra must mature without killing progress51:59 – Global crypto adoption, Korea’s retail culture & CBDCs vs private stablecoins54:37 – Blitz round: outages, trust, single points of failure & invisible infra55:30 – Yair’s purpose, legacy & why he loves “boring, invisible” problems57:14 – Closing thoughts: making infra great again & where to find Yair