In a recent podcast episode, AVAX One’s Jolie Kahn spoke about her unique experience bridging the worlds of traditional finance, corporate law and cutting edge blockchain technology.
Watch the full video, or read the transcript below, to get a glimpse into how Jolie balances aggressive innovation with the credibility and discipline of traditional business practices, while building AVAX One’s landmark strategy for stakeholders.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Brian Lofrumento (Host): Hey, what is up? Welcome to this episode of the One Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast. As always, I’m your host Brian Lofrumento, and we are in for an incredible treat today because we are joined not only by a fellow business leader and executive, but really an executive who brings a wealth of experience from so many different industries. She combines all of that into her role as CEO of a remarkable company that is pushing the envelope in the crypto world — when it comes to mining, corporate finance, and so much more.
Let me introduce you to today’s guest. Her name is Jolie Khan. Jolie brings extensive experience in cryptocurrency, corporate finance, and securities law to her role as CEO of AVAX ONE. She previously served as general counsel to one of the largest public Bitcoin mining companies and has provided counsel to various cryptocurrency-based public entities. She has extensive expertise in corporate finance filings, audits, complex financings, M&A, and public company representation. Jolie holds a bachelor’s from Cornell University and a JD — she graduated Magna Cum Laude — from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Being from Boston, I can say she is wicked smart!
Whether we’re diving into law, leadership, or the technical subject matter of her company in the crypto space, Jolie is so talented in so many ways. Let’s dive straight into my interview with Jolie Khan.
Brian: Jolie, I am so very excited that you’re here with us today. Welcome to the show.
Jolie Khan: Thanks so much for having me this afternoon.
Brian: I’m so grateful for your time. I know how busy you are. I am so impressed by your background leading up to everything you do now. You have a very important role as CEO of AVAX ONE, and I know you recently went through a rebrand. A lot of people are going to look at your background and say, “How have you amassed all this expertise?” Give us that backstory of what got you here.
Jolie: There’s a theme that runs throughout all of it, and that’s that I really enjoy being an entrepreneur — which is why I’m so excited to be on your podcast. Throughout my career, I’ve been focused on corporate finance from both the legal and business sides, and the interesting thing is that they’re not mutually exclusive.
I started my career in big law in New York in the ’90s, when the cutting edge of the internet was first coming into play. That’s actually a great backdrop to the story of crypto. It was the first time the world became small enough that you could access it from your desktop, and that was a real game changer. From there, technology has gotten greater and more efficient, especially in the fintech space. What I love is that we can take traditional finance and legal concepts, apply them to an ever-changing landscape, and keep growing — both in terms of scale and accessibility.
I’m really excited to be here and to tell everyone about AVAX ONE, and how one goes from being an entrepreneur to really becoming a thought leader in this space.
Brian: I so appreciate that overview, Jolie. It’s really cool hearing those threads that have woven throughout your career. And when we talk about AVAX ONE — you’re listed on NASDAQ, you’ve got so many incredible things going on, and you’ve recently gone through a rebrand at the tail end of 2025. For listeners who aren’t yet familiar, give us the high-level overview of AVAX ONE.
Jolie: The high-level overview is that last year, a lot of companies jumped on the bandwagon of what we call “digital asset strategies” — basically finding a cryptocurrency you really believe in, accumulating that asset, and watching it grow. That was the thesis behind Strategy and what Michael Saylor did with Bitcoin several years ago.
Last year, I was asked by the board of directors to take over a company I had taken public several years before and find something meaningful to do with that vehicle. We started looking at what are known as digital asset strategies — or DATs — and specifically whether we could find one where we could grow beyond simply holding an asset and waiting for it to appreciate.
We looked at several options, including more traditional ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but we wanted something new, cutting edge, and somewhere we felt we could add a lot of value. We came across Hivemind, a well-known firm in the crypto space — they’ve done a lot of investing and set up funds. We’re really fortunate to be working with them and their chairman, Matt Jeng, who is amazing.
We looked at what Hivemind had identified, and that led us to Avalanche — the cryptocurrency they wanted to support through a DAT in a public company. There were a lot of really compelling things about Avalanche. First, it comes from my alma mater, Cornell, so I had to give it an extra look! But more seriously, it is lower cost to run the blockchain. It’s more efficient and lower energy than something like Ethereum or Solana, which was very attractive.
Avalanche also has a really cool built-in concept called an “Avalanche L1,” which is analogous to a side chain on Bitcoin. You can have your own private use of the blockchain within the Avalanche ecosystem, which lends a lot of security — and of course, security is critically important today.
Another great feature is that you can stake the coins, meaning you can earn revenue from simply holding them. The net yield is running around 6% right now, so we can hold the coins and generate cash flow — which, as a public company, is really important to us. There are also a lot of neat applications one can develop on the Avalanche blockchain. It lends itself to situations where you need speed, efficiency, and low transaction costs.
For instance, a company called Balcony digitized all of the real estate deeds in Bergen County, New Jersey last summer — a very large suburban area right outside New York City. They’ve been able to do remarkable things with it, like creating coins with title insurance built in.
So, we looked at it, we really liked Avalanche for all those reasons, and we closed a private placement of over $200 million in November. We used most of that to buy the underlying asset. Right now, given what’s happened with crypto and the broader stock market over the last couple of months, we’re conserving cash — both as a precaution and because we believe so strongly in Avalanche that we’re looking to onboard companies and technologies that would benefit from building on the Avalanche blockchain. That includes anything in the payment space, a lot of fintech, and also things like prediction markets, which work very well on Avalanche.
Brian: Jolie, hearing the way you talk about all of this, two business concepts come to mind. The first is that quote about how, for those who wonder what the future is going to look like, you can simply be the one who creates it. It seems like you’re really pushing the envelope in that way.
And that leads to the second point, which comes back to my background as an economics and finance major: the age-old saying of “don’t try to time the market — it’s about time in the market, not timing the market.” I think it’s so brilliant that you brought up those macro considerations, because right now everyone is trying to figure out what 2026 is going to look like.
You are uniquely situated — you’re in an innovative market, at a company doing innovative things, listed on a public exchange. Where does your executive mind go when it comes to those macroeconomic conditions?
Jolie: There used to be a concept when I started my career: how do you make yourself recession-proof? What do you do when conditions are adverse? How do you still build a successful company? That’s always something on my mind.
Trends and bright shiny objects are wonderful, but at the end of the day, you need staying power. That’s a traditional concept, but we’re looking to implement it in new ways — taking the DAT concept and supporting it by finding cash-flow businesses we can put on the blockchain.
I also think credibility is enormously important. The discipline that exists in traditional financial markets needs to be adopted in the newer crypto markets, and part of my job is to help make that happen. I’m proud to be a member of the advisory board of the Avalanche Policy Council, which is supported by the Avalanche Foundation and Ava Labs — the company that brought Avalanche to commercialization.
We’ve formed this council with an advisory board that monitors what’s going on in Washington, London, the EU, and everywhere else with respect to crypto regulation. We don’t believe in regulating crypto to the point where it can’t function as a free market. What we want is to normalize crypto — make it available to the average person in a way that has strong transparency, but regulation that still makes it possible to operate a business.
We’re watching things like the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act in the US, and what’s happening with the changes at the SEC as it moves toward being a more market-friendly regulator. We’re also a public company with fiduciary duties to our shareholders. It’s a fine line between regulation that enables business while protecting people, versus regulation so cumbersome that it makes it impossible to operate. I’m honored to be part of those conversations, because I want to make sure we move forward on a level playing field, in a business-friendly environment.
Brian: As a business owner, I really appreciate that answer. You and I both know how difficult it can be to do business in 2026. There are some great payment processors that have emerged over the years — I remember when I started my first business, it was basically just PayPal. That has obviously changed.
But Jolie, I feel like the business world is waiting and hoping for the free market to lower the barrier of entry and make things more accessible. What do you see as those stumbling blocks right now? Is this a business ecosystem problem? A societal problem? Does it go up to the governmental level?
Jolie: There’s one word that comes to mind that we have to protect everyone from: fraud. All the OFAC rules, foreign asset controls, money laundering statutes — those need to be in place to protect us from cartels and illicit activity. But we need to figure out how to differentiate between regulation that protects us from illegal money laundering and regulation that puts up such high barriers that the average person simply can’t participate in the business world.
That’s what we’re still working through. One of the great things about the Avalanche network is that, because of those Avalanche L1 chains, we can incorporate really intelligent AI and other mechanisms that are very good at ferreting out illicit activity — without creating undue burdens on the average person who just wants to run a business. Think of someone in Latin America who wants to transfer assets out of an unstable currency into USD and back into their local currency. There need to be protocols to enable that while still ensuring there’s no money laundering occurring.
Brian: I always try not to bring AI into every conversation, but it inevitably makes its way in. And you’re at the intersection of so many of these things. How is AI factoring into all of this? You mentioned the real-time risk assessment it can perform — for consumers doing the right things, that should ideally make life easier. What’s your broader take? And I’ll layer in one more question, because I know you can handle it: what’s your confidence level that AI is going to accelerate the mass adoption of crypto, blockchain technology, and all the cool innovations that are out there but haven’t yet hit the mainstream?
Jolie: Part of the problem is how we communicate about AI to the public. I’ve heard people lately analogizing AI to a George Orwellian dystopia — some 1984 nightmare scenario. And that’s just not what it is. It’s not going to spy on everyone and broadcast their deepest secrets. At its core, it’s a data manipulation tool. Very smart data manipulation, but data manipulation nonetheless.
If we can build the right protections into it and keep it narrowly focused on the jobs we need done, I think it’s an incredibly powerful tool for the future. But as with many novel concepts, there needs to be education for the average consumer — not just “AI is the greatest thing and it can do anything you want,” but a real explanation of what the actual utilities are. And we need to make sure that while we use it as a tool, it doesn’t replace human ingenuity and human analysis, which remain of the utmost importance.
Brian: I have a big smile on my face, because it’s such a treat having you on the air. What I find so fascinating about your answers, no matter what topic we explore, is the balance you bring. Whether it’s considering both sides of a legal question or a business decision, that balance seems to be a defining part of your executive leadership style. Talk to us about that — especially given that you’re navigating a rebrand, shaping the company’s future, and managing the responsibilities of a publicly listed company with shareholders.
Jolie: The one word I would use — and you didn’t ask me to pick one word, but I will — is collaborative. No one can be an effective leader unless they listen to their constituents. I listen to my management team. I listen to our advisors. And most importantly, I listen to our shareholders, because at the end of the day, we are here to create value for them. Let’s make no mistake: that’s why public companies exist.
I do this through listening, through a lot of transparency, and through taking advantage of my experience across different disciplines — really looking at everything, integrating it, and analyzing the options available to us. I try to thread the needle the best I can. You can talk to ten people and get ten different answers, and then you need to look at them and decide: which three or four really make sense, and how do you integrate them? No person is an island. The more we listen and rely on collective wisdom, the better off we are.
Brian: I love that. And I know you’re giving me a humble answer, Jolie, so I’m going to keep pushing — because there’s such a strength in the fact that you have that executive filter. We all receive advice, solicited and unsolicited. That’s why I love that Teddy Roosevelt quote about it being the man in the arena who counts. You are very much in the arena. What does that executive filter look like for you?
Jolie: Growing up as an only child in New York in the go-go ’80s, and really coming of age with the first generation of women who were widely accepted in leadership roles — all of a sudden I wasn’t the only woman in the law firm. I wasn’t the only woman in law school. It was really the first time you saw close to 50/50 enrollment in law schools. I felt free. Free to innovate, free to push boundaries, free to take a seat at the table and speak up.
I was encouraged to do that. I was raised mostly by my mom and my grandmother, both of whom were real pioneers. My grandmother, during the Great Depression, raised her two daughters on her own. That’s the foundation of my family’s story, and I’m really proud of it.
Taking that history forward means sitting at the table and asking: “I have these advantages and this platform — what am I going to do with it?” Anyone who knows me knows I can be outspoken. If I have strong opinions, I’ll voice them. That doesn’t mean I won’t listen when someone disagrees and gives me good reasons. But you have to have the confidence to really believe in what you’re promoting — and to advocate for it, not just market it. That’s where my legal background has been invaluable. Communication, consistency, and being the squeaky wheel in the room — more often than I’ll admit.
Brian: I love it — those New York roots coming through! And I love the shout-out to your mother and grandmother. That’s important. My own family has immigrant roots, with my mom growing up in the Bronx. It does take a certain grit. I really appreciate how your family’s influence is still a driving force in who you are and how you lead.
I’ve got to squeeze in one more question: with all the metrics that compete for your attention on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, where do your eyes go first? What are the leading and lagging indicators that cross your desk regularly?
Jolie: The good thing and the challenging thing is that we’re a lean company right now. I have a small but excellent staff — both internal team members and some very trusted consultants I’m privileged to work with.
I look at the numerical metrics every day — I have to. We have a stock price. We’re a DAT, so we track mNAV. Numbers don’t lie. And then I look beyond that: What is the productivity of my team? Where do we need more support, more data? How do I plug those gaps?
I look at our public dashboard — it’s on our website — several times a day. But beyond the published metrics, I’m constantly assessing in my mind: what do I need to do, and what do I need my team to do, to translate our activity into those objective numerical goals? And I stay ready to change objectives when the data tells me to.
Brian: I love that. Seeing that you practice what you preach — a publicly visible dashboard, checking it multiple times a day — is really powerful. Numbers don’t lie. Sometimes we don’t want to see them, but they should light a fire under us and tell us exactly where we need to go. It’s so much easier to chart a course once you know your true starting point.
Jolie, you have been such a wealth of knowledge in so many ways. But I want to put you on the spot one last time, because I ask this question at the end of every episode: what is your best piece of advice for our listeners? We have entrepreneurs at all different stages of their journey — and knowing that you are one of us, what’s the one thing you want to leave them with today?
Jolie: It’s actually a combined concept: have confidence in what you believe. Have confidence in yourself. But at the same time, do not ignore the warning signs.
Thoughtful confidence — that’s the best way I can describe it.
Brian: I love that. And there’s that balance again — equal on both sides of the scale. That theme has been so clear throughout our entire conversation today. Jolie, I’m so grateful for your insights, and I know listeners are going to be excited to follow everything AVAX ONE is doing. For those who want to follow along, where should they go?
Jolie: The best place to go is our website: www.avax-one.com. You’ll find our main site there, along with a link to our investor relations page, which has all of our public filings, press releases, videos, and more. And always feel free to reach out — there’s a way to submit comments, and someone from our team will address any questions or concerns you have.
Brian: Listeners, we’re making it easy — the link is right there in the show notes no matter where you’re tuning in from. You don’t have to memorize it. If you’re driving or at the gym, just click through from the show notes.
On behalf of myself and all the listeners worldwide, Jolie — thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Jolie: Thanks so much for having me.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.
