Wyatt sits down with TN, cofounder of Pendle. Covered in this episode: 

• How Pendle works
• The evolution from alt yield to stable yield
• DeFi’s future core assets

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• We have a new Pope
• The etymology of ampersand
• The GENIUS act collapses spectacularly
• Coinbase consummates its acquisition of Deribit
• Did World Liberty Financial’s USD1 torpedo the GENIUS act?
• Did “pro crypto” democrats snake on the industry
• Scott Bessent thinks stablecoins could reach $2T
• The OCC says banks can provide crypto custody and execution
• Stripe is launching stablecoin financial accounts
• The SEC explores a sandbox for tokenized securities
• Tariff the L2s

Check out this episode!

Adam Healy, co-founder of Station 70 and Josh Schwartz, co-founder of Fordefi join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The collaboration between Station 70 and Fordefi on failover MPC wallets. Announcement here.
• The state of the wallet category
• Best practices for blockchain cybersecurity
• The future of bank custody for digital assets
• Station 70’s Bunker product
• Station 70 and Fordefi are holding a joint webinar to showcase this product collaboration. You can register here.

Learn more about Station 70

Learn more about Fordefi

Check out this episode!

Wyatt sits down with David Taylor of Etherfuse. In this episode: 

• MXN stablecoins and other currencies
• Shaping regulatory frameworks
• Who wins out: innovators vs financial incumbents

Check out this episode!

Wyatt sits down with Justin Garland and Hannah JoJo of Asymmetry Finance. In this episode, we cover: 

• The evolution of yield in DeFi
• Primitives users want
• Crypto risk assessment

Learn more about Asymmetry

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Will stablecoins disrupt credit cards?
• The US Treasury Advisory Committee drops a report on stablecoins
• Mastercard and Visa launch stablecoin integrations
• Movement labs has more scandals
• Are quantum timelines accelerating?
• The real risk of quantum to Bitcoin
• Could a quantum break fix Bitcoin’s security budget?
• Are any Bitcoin purists left?
• Circle turns down Ripple’s acquisition offer
• Machinsky is facing a 20-year sentence
• Arizona passes an SBR bill 
• Cambridge releases a new report on bitcoin mining
• Bitcoiners are fighting about OP_RETURN again 
• What is Bittensor 

Content mentioned:

• US Treasury, Report on Digital Money
• Coindesk, Inside Movement’s Token-Dump Scandal: Secret Contracts, Shadow Advisers and Hidden Middlemen
• Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report: Global Operations, Sentiment, and Energy Use
   

Check out this episode!

Wyatt sits down with Kedian Sun, the founder of Level Money. In this episode: 

• Stablecoin usage in DeFi today
• Fiat-backed stablecoins vs other “stable” assets
• Ethereum vs other blockchains for stablecoins

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Is Bitcoin decoupling?
• The Fed rescinds anti-crypto letters from 2022 and 2023
• Upexi raises $100m PIPE to invest in Solana
• Cantor, Tether, Softbank and Bitfinex inject $3.6b into 21 Capital, a Bitcoin acquisition vehicle
• Bitcoin ETFs versus bitcoin acquisition companies
• Trump is hosting a dinner for $TRUMP holders
• Charles Schwab wants to launch crypto trading
• Citi thinks stablecoins could reach $3.7T in supply by 2030

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode:

• We recap Nic’s article on why Signature collapsed
• Crypto exchange OKX announced their plans to expand to the US
• Kraken announced that US equities are now supported on the exchange
• MANTRA, a layer 1 network focused on RWAs, saw the price of its native token crash 90% in a matter of hours
• Global Payments agreed to acquire Worldpay, a payments processor, for $24 billion from FIS and private equity firm GTCR
• The US Department of Homeland Security has launched a probe into Anchorage, the digital asset custodian, related to the company’s AML polices
• Jerome Powell reiterates his support for stablecoin legislation
• Strategy (and others) buy more Bitcoin

Content mentioned in this episode:

• Galaxy Digital,  The State of Crypto Lending
• Nic Carter in Piratewires, Signature Didn’t Have to Die, Either

Check out this episode!

Wyatt sits down with Fred Hsu and Michael Ho of D3 to talk domain markets. In this episode: 

• The existing domain name industry and legacy systems
• An interoperable marketplace for domains
• New financial promitives around domains and RWAs

More about D3

Check out this episode!

Yuval Rooz and Eric Saraniecki, co-founders of Digital Asset join the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The origins of Digital Asset and the path to starting the firm.
• Views on privacy in the context of public blockchains.
• How enterprises and financial institutions are approaching tokenizing assets and leveraging blockchain technology.
• Examples of how on-chain privacy enables use cases in collateral management and stablecoin payments.  
• The role of the Canton Network public blockchain for enabling institutional use cases.
• How Canton Network works from a design perspective.

To learn more:

• Digital Asset Website
• Canton Network

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Is dedollarization happening?
• The SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance released a “Statement on Stablecoins“
• The US Justice Department has disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement team
• The SEC releases new guidance on securities offerings in crypto markets
• FDIC Chair relaxes rules on crypto activities at banks
• Paul Atkins is confirmed
• The SEC has approved options trading for spot ETH ETFs
• Tether is exploring a US stablecoin
• Janover is doing a Microstrategy for SOL strategy
• Michelle Bowman is launching a review of the Fed’s failures in 2023 around the banking crisis
• What happened to Signature? 
• Matt’s critter situation

Content mentioned:

SEC, Offerings and Registrations of Securities in the Crypto Asset Markets

Check out this episode!

Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez of Vaneck Ventures join the show to talk stablecoins and institutionalization. In this episode, we cover: 

• The landscape of stablecoin growth and activity
• A world with many stablecoins vs few stablecoins
• Winning/losing companies in the new stablecoin era
• Impact on the longer tail of altcoins

Check out this episode!

Hoolie Tejwani, the head of Coinbase Ventures joins the show. In this episode we discuss:

• The history and rationale behind the launch of Coinbase Ventures.
• The evolution of the crypto venture category.
• Areas of focus for Coinbase Ventures.
• Stablecoins, Crypto/AI and consumer startup category.
• The regulatory landscape in the United States.
• Operation Chokepoint 2.0 and the impact on startups.
• The rise of the Coinbase Mafia.

To learn more visit coinbase.com/ventures

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• What’s the deal with the tariffs?
• Are the tariffs 4D chess?
• STABLE Act advances from committee
• Galaxy settles with the NYAG for touting Luna
• Trump pardons the BitMEX founders
• Coinlist returns to the US
• FDUSD has a depeg amidst Justin Sun drama
• Fidelity launches a no-fee crypto IRA product
• Larry Fink is bullish bitcoin

Content mentioned:

• AI 2027, by Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean

Check out this episode!

Alexei Zamyatin, the cofounder of Build on Bitcoin (BOB), joins the show to talk about the state of the art in Bitcoin Rollups. In this episode: 

• Can Bitcoin achieve parity with Ethereum rollups?
• How BitVM and BitVMv2 changed the game for Bitcoin rollups
• When will Bitcoin rollups be considered “Stage 1”
• Ethereum’s existential crisis
• Bitcoin fees in a rollup world
• The risk of L2s cannibalizing Bitcoin
• Will Bitcoin DeFi look different from Ethereum DeFi?
• Why Bitcoin deserves Rollups
• What soft forks is Alexei looking forward to?
• Does institutionalization ossify Bitcoin?
• BOB’s progress and roadmap for 2025

Learn more about Build on Bitcoin 

Check out this episode!

Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• We reflect on our podcast with Paolo Ardoino
• The EU’s MiCA rules make launching a stablecoin virtually impossible
• We explain the Ghiblification crazy
• OCC removes Reputation risk from bank supervision
• World Liberty Fi launches a stablecoin
• Hyperliquid suffers an exploit – are they decentralized?
• Fidelity is exploring the launch of a stablecoin
• ICE is looking to use USDC
• Coinbase is reportedly looking to acquire Deribit
• US Treasury lifts sanctions on Tornado Cash
• Sei is looking to buy 23andme

Check out this episode!

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, rejoins the show for a timely discussion. In this episode:

• How is Paolo feeling about political trends in the US today?
• Tether is the 7th-largest buyer of USTs at the sovereign level
• Paolo’s decision to spend more time in the US
• What does Paolo make of the stablecoin bills in Congress?
• Does Tether want to eventually come onshore to the US?
• Tether is pursuing a Big 4 Audit
• The effect of Operation Choke Point 2.0 on Tether
• Tether is moving their HQ to El Salvador
• Paolo’s thoughts on stablecoins in MiCA
• How does Tether get to the figure of 400m global users of the stablecoin?
• Tether’s efforts to better understand their userbase and usage modes
• Tether’s methodology around balance sheet investing
• Is Paolo concerned about crypto-dollarization?
• Tether’s relationship with Cantor now that Lutnick is Commerce Secretary
• Is Paolo concerned about the emergence of interest-bearing stablecoins?

See also:

• On The Brink ep.87: Paolo Ardoino (Bitfinex/Tether) – Managing the growth of Tether (June 2020)

Check out this episode!

Brian Foster, the Global Head of Wholesale at Coinbase joins the show for his second appearance. In this episode we discuss:

• A catch-up on the Wholesale business at Coinbase and the types of customers that are active in this market
• How banks and broker-dealers are accelerating their efforts post-election
• Perspectives on build vs. buy vs. partner decisions that are happening at banks after the repeal of SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin 121
• Views on how banks will approach M&A
• Coinbase’s role in the digital asset ETF market
• How Coinbase engages with government customers
• Views on the Bitcoin strategic reserve

To learn more about Coinbase visit coinbase.com. Also follow Brian on X.

Check out this episode!

Nic and Matt are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: 

• Trump speaks at DAS
• Is anyone in Washington talking about abolishing capital gains tax for crypto?
• Trump denounces OCP2.0
• TON raises a huge round
• Remember IOTA?
• We reminisce about Slock it and the DAO
• What happened to Ethereum Classic?
• Can you redeem PAXG for physical gold?
• Kraken acquires NinjaTrader for $1.5b
• The SEC says PoW mining is not a security
• Tim Scott’s debanking FIRM act advances from the Senate Banking Committee
• We review Bessent’s appearance on All In 
• What was the deal with the ‘vibecession’

Check out this episode!