Crypto Compliance’s Content King: Stephen Sargeant on Investigations, LinkedIn, and Building Airdropd

Crypto Compliance’s Content King: Stephen Sargeant on Investigations, LinkedIn, and Building Airdropd

From Beyond the Code by Yitzy Hammer

February 23, 2026 · 1h 5m · Episode 90

About this episode

Stephen Sargeant discusses the intricacies of crypto compliance and content creation in the industry.

Stephen Sargeant ( Airdropd ) breaks down what crypto compliance actually looks like from the inside: five years at Bitfinex handling investigations and law enforcement requests, why the compliance community is tighter (and more welcoming) than people assume, and how a single 20-minute video to Chainalysis turned into producing their podcast, Public Key . We also get practical on content: why “AI slop” is making real creators stand out, why LinkedIn is a “value piggy bank,” and what crypto Twitter natives get wrong when they try to port their influence over. Plus: surviving trolls, building narrative in a chaotic industry, and how early-stage founders can approach compliance without killing the business.

People in this episode

Host: Yitzy Hammer

Guest: Stephen Sargeant

Topics covered

  • crypto compliance
  • investigations
  • content creation
  • LinkedIn
  • trolls
  • narrative building
  • early-stage founders

Keywords

  • crypto compliance
  • investigations
  • LinkedIn
  • content creation
  • Airdropd
  • Bitfinex
  • Chainalysis
  • Public Key
  • trolls
  • narrative building

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Airdropd, Bitfinex, Chainalysis

Books & works: Public Key

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