Paolo Ardoino (Bitfinex/Tether) – Managing the growth of Tether (EP.87)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 06/08/2020
Sid Powell (Maple) on Maple's Comeback & DeFi Credit Markets (EP.652)
On The Brink with Castle Island
CEO and cofounder joins the show to talk about Maple's huge year so far. In this episode: Syrup and Maple's evolution into an on-chain asset manager Traditional credit players servicing on-chain finance DeFi's strengths and weaknesses relative to traditional markets
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Weekly Roundup 08/01/25 (SEC’s Project Crypto, In-kind ETFs, White House report) (EP.651)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: The White House publishes their highly awaited crypto report SEC Chair Paul Atkins makes a landmark speech Stablecoin-focused L1s DAT mNAV premia are converging to 1 Figma IPO The SEC embraces tokenized securities, airdrops, token issuance, and DeFi In-kind create and redeem has been authorized for Bitcoin ETFs JPM deepens their partnership with Coinbase Roman Storm verdict is imminent Further reading: Blockworks’ Omid Malekan and Zach Pandl, White House, Paul Atkins, Nic Carter,
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Michael Bentley (Euler) on Euler's Comeback (EP.650)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with , the founder of . In this episode: Euler's founding story, infamous security incident, and comeback story How the team and protocol stayed together in the face of immense challenges The value of personal relationships in crypto despite a pseudonymous culture
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Weekly Roundup 07/25/25 (Tether’s GENIUS options, Defending Free Banks, Saylor’s Stretch) (EP.649)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: Defending “Free Banking” from the critics – and why stablecoins are unlike free banks The American Bankers Association doesn’t like new crypto charters Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino announces the company’s plan to launch a new US-based stablecoin this year Strategy announced the plans for the fourth preferred stock offering this week, STRC, or "Stretch." Anchorage Digital, which does hold an OCC banking charter, is a new stablecoin issuance platform. The first stablecoin product will...
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Cyrus Shirazi (Haven) on Better Bookkeeping for Crypto Startups & Beyond (EP.648)
On The Brink with Castle Island
CEO of joins the show. In this episode: R&D tax credits and offering an attractive tax product to early stage companies What on-chain finance needs to fulfill becoming a better ledger for accounting What startups should look for in a tax & accounting partner
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Weekly Roundup 07/18/25 (GENIUS is Law, Clarity passes, narrow banking and GENIUS) (EP.647)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: The Coldplay concert incident It’s Crypto Week in Washington Talos acquires Coin Metrics Do you need an MTL to run a fantasy football league? GENIUS Act is law pending Trump’s signature Clarity Act passes the House ICO Fairshake raises $141m Grayscale is preparing for an IPO Adam Back’s Bitcoin access vehicle Polymarket beats the allegations Is GENIUS creating a narrow bank system? Governor Waller's comments on stablecoins and banks
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Nikhil Raghuveera (Predicate) on Policy Engines for Blockchains (EP.646)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with of to talk policy for blockchain applications. In this episode: How Predicate’s “rules for blockchain transactions” are making on-chain finance more scalable and secure Creating more compliant stablecoin transfer systems suitable to mass financial use cases The future of secure money movement How leading software and financial firms can integrate transaction policies in their workflows
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Weekly Roundup 07/11/25 (New BTC ATH, Crypto Week, Zelensky suit scandal) (EP.645)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Bitcoin hits a new ATH and no one is talking about it Grok goes haywire The White House posts chudjak Core Weave looks to buy Core Scientific Stablecoins are going to pay yield anyway Did Zelenskyy wear a suit? How should prediction markets be settled? ICO is coming up Hester Peirce issues a warning on tokenized securities Crypto Week in Congress is coming up Jonathan Gould has been confirmed as Comptroller of the Currency There are new public access vehicles Andreessen wants you to leave Delaware A fundamental...
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Zac Townsend (Meanwhile) on Bitcoin Life Insurance (EP.644)
On The Brink with Castle Island
, the founder and CEO of , joins the show. In this episode we discuss: Zac’s background and the path that led him to start Meanwhile. The mechanics of Bitcoin denominated life insurance. How Meanwhile generates Bitcoin yield. Zac’s views on the evolution of Bitcoin treasury companies. To learn more about Meanwhile visit
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Charles Hamel (Opera MiniPay) on Globalizing Dollar Access (EP.643)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Charles Hamel, Product Director at joins the show. In this episode: Stablecoin habits in emerging markets Prospects for local stablecoins What’s next on the stablecoin horizon
info_outlineSo far on the crypto-dollarization miniseries, we've covered Tether's stability mechanics, we've heard from traders and OTC desks using the asset, but we haven't heard from the issuers of the stablecoin itself. To give us insight into how they run the system, Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, joins the show. In this episode:
- The factors behind the outflow of BTC and inflow of ETH to Bitfinex
- Fork futures for ETH 2.0?
- Bitfinex' policy on staking on behalf of users
- The principal-agent problem inherent in exchange staking
- Whether the growth of crypto dollars threatens native collateral like BTC and ETH
- Paolo's explanation for the growth of tether after March 12th 2020
- The advantages of cryptodollars over the current financial system
- Why Tether opted to list on 7 different blockchains (note: this was recorded before Tether listed on OmiseGo)
- Paolo's view on the claims that Tether is clogging Ethereum
- How Tether Gold works
- Could Tether go from $9b to $100b – what the constraints to scaling are
- Tether's ability and willingness to surveil transations
- Tether's business model in a negative rate world
- How Paolo deals with the pressure of being the public figurehead for Tether
Stay up to date on the growth of Tether's capitalization here.