Crypto, Key Management & AI Agents | David Sneider, Co-founder of Lit Protocol
What if smart contracts could manage keys, secure assets, and run AI agents autonomously?
This week on The Index podcast —Host Alex Kehaya sits down with David Sneider, co-founder of Lit Protocol, to dive into decentralized key management, threshold cryptography, and the future of AI in Web3.
David shares his journey from building in the Bay Area tech scene to launching Lit Protocol, with stops along the way that include the acquisition of his SaaS startup by LinkedIn and working alongside crypto pioneer Chris Cassano. The two get into how threshold cryptography is powering the next wave of secure computation and enabling new use cases for AI and smart contracts.
You’ll hear how Lit is rethinking identity recovery and asset security through multi-party computation (MPC)—with real-world examples like the Fuse Wallet, where managing crypto feels more like using a banking app. Alex and David also explore how smart accounts, MPC, and AI agents are coming together to shape the next-gen developer stack.
Later in the episode, they look ahead to decentralized AI frameworks, the role of open-source models in avoiding centralized AI control, and why community-owned infrastructure matters.
If you’re building at the edge of crypto and AI, this one’s for you.
Website: https://www.litprotocol.com/
Show Links
The Index
X Channel
YouTube
Host - Alex Kehaya
Producer - Shawn Nova
00:00 - Introduction to David Schneider and Lit Protocol
03:27 - Understanding Key Management and Authority
08:12 - MPC Wallets and Secret Key Security
16:52 - AI Agents and Key Management
23:49 - Open Source AGI and Internet Capital Markets
33:04 - Future of Personal AI and Digital Control
39:30 - Closing Thoughts and Final Reflections