260: Interoperability for Every Chain: Jon Kol from Hyperlane on Building Seamless Cross-Chain Communication

Jon Kol, founder of Hyperlane, joins Sam Kamani to dive deep into one of crypto’s biggest challenges—interoperability. From his days at Morgan Stanley to building Hyperlane, Jon shares how they’re enabling any chain to communicate with any other through permissionless, modular frameworks. He explains why monolithic architectures can’t scale, how modular security flips the bridge security model, and why interchain accounts will redefine how users interact with Web3. If you're building across chains, this episode is a must-listen. Key Timestamps [00:00:00] Introduction: Sam introduces Jon Kol and the mission of Hyperlane—interoperability for every chain. [00:01:00] Early Crypto Days: Jon shares his Bitcoin and Ethereum rabbit hole moment at Morgan Stanley. [00:03:00] From Wall Street to Web3: Why he left traditional finance to help rebuild the internet of value. [00:06:00] Why Hyperlane: The realization that one chain can’t serve global finance—and the need for scalable communication. [00:08:00] Building Blocks: The philosophy behind Hyperlane and how it differs from LayerZero, Cosmos, etc. [00:10:00] Modular Interoperability: Any chain, any VM—Hyperlane can connect them all. [00:12:00] Security First: How Hyperlane’s modular security avoids the “one breach risks all” trap. [00:14:00] Defense in Depth: Let developers stack their own security modules and future-proof integrations. [00:18:00] Use Cases: From DeFi bridges to governance, interchain AMMs, and yield routing via Superform. [00:22:00] Interchain Accounts: Why the future is one wallet, infinite access—regardless of chain or VM. [00:26:00] The Stablecoin Pain Point: Fragmentation across chains and the case for gasless, one-click stablecoin transfers. [00:30:00] Lessons Learned: What Jon would do differently—don’t wait for others, build use cases in-house. [00:34:00] 2025 Vision: Interoperability becomes invisible—users stay on one chain, access anything cross-chain. [00:36:00] The Ask: Hyperlane is hiring builders who want to fix fragmentation and unlock Web3’s next layer. Connect https://hyperlane.xyz/ https://x.com/hyperlane https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-kol-4bb37a9b/ https://x.com/thepalenimbus Disclaimer Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/