Justin Bram

Justin Bram is a technology and digital-asset executive with a background spanning product development, entrepreneurship, growth, business development, and media production. He is Head of Product at Variational, having previously co-founded and served as CEO of Astaria and led growth at Ondo Finance. ^[5]

Education

Bram graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor’s in Film and Television. In 2020, he attended USC Marshall School of Business, where he earned his MBA. ^[2]

Career

Bram began his career as a Summer Intern at Siren Studios in 2014. In 2015, he worked as a Production Assistant at ITV Studios in the Greater Los Angeles Area. In 2016, he served as an Assistant to the Vice President of Production at Fox Broadcasting Company in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. From 2016 to 2017, he worked in Storyboard Production at Fox Television Animation in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. In June 2019, Bram joined Paramount Pictures as a Business Development & Strategic Planning MBA Associate, working in the Greater Los Angeles Area until August 2019. From February to May 2020, he was a Program Associate at Yellow Accelerator at Snap Inc., which supported entrepreneurs and creative professionals working at the intersection of creativity and technology. From 2021 to 2022, Bram served as Head of Growth at Ondo Finance in the United States. In March 2022, he co-founded Astaria and became its CEO, leading the company until March 2025. Astaria developed an NFT lending platform and announced an $8 million seed round in June 2022. Since February 2026, Bram has served as Head of Product at Variational. ^[1]

Interviews

Coinbase vs. SEC

In a June 2023 episode of the eth_call podcast, Bram discussed several developments shaping the crypto market and Ethereum ecosystem. The conversation covered Coinbase’s legal dispute with the SEC and the potential implications of the exchange’s efforts to clarify its regulatory position, as well as the significance of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF filing and similar applications from Fidelity. Bram also discussed Uniswap V4, highlighting its configurable architecture and Hooks while noting potential security and licensing concerns, before turning to EigenLayer’s restaking model and debates around validator centralization and adoption. The discussion concluded with commentary on recent ETH and BTC price movements following ETF-related news, with Bram and the other speakers considering Ethereum’s relative strength, Bitcoin’s rally, and the longer-term effects of regulatory developments on both assets. ^[4]