Martin Carrica (Mountain Protocol) on creating an interest-bearing stablecoin (EP. 450)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 09/11/2023
Weekly Roundup 09/12/25 (Hyperliquid stablecoin, CBOE continuous futures, stablecoin interest) (EP.665)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We reminisce about the fork wars Figure goes public Gemini is slated to list The Winklevoss Quintenz drama rumbles on DAT updates CLARITY updates The fight over stablecoins paying interest continues Prediction markets and sports betting SwissBorg is hacked The CBOE is launching BTC and ETH “continuous futures” Harberger taxes
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Austin Federa (DoubleZero) on Building a Better Internet (EP.664)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with Austin Federa, the founder of DoubleZero to discuss the hardware systems that underlie blockchains and the internet. In this episode: Building a newer, better fiber network How and why much of internet hardware infrastructure is antiquated Why software innovation has taken precedent over hardware innovation Vertical integration and who has access to the best hardware systems Why hardware innovation requires startups and new entrants Why blockchains demand faster, reliable bandwidth Why a token framework offers a better incentive mechanism
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Weekly Roundup 09/05/25 (Stripe’s Tempo, NASDAQ tightens rules on DATs, WLF vs Sun) (EP.663)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We review the US Open The Clippers scandal Fantasy football and the efficient market hypothesis Tax treatment of sports betting on Poly versus sports betting apps Are prediction markets more efficient than bookies? Galaxy launches a tokenized version of their stock NASDAQ is adding supervision rules for DATs Is it over for the DATs? World Liberty Fi launches and gets into a fight with Justin Sun Gemini files to go public Stripe releases details around their Tempo L1 Some academics have an explanation for why MSTR...
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Daniel Lev (Coinflow) on Stablecoin Payments (EP.662)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with , the founder of , to discuss the evolution of payments amidst a wave of stablecoin-enabled innovation. In this episode: Lurking legacy issues of payment networks How our current payment networks benefit end users but not merchants Types of merchant profiles and who stands to benefit Creating faster settlement Marketplace models and better rails How blockchain can reduce fraud and help businesses know their customers
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Weekly Roundup 08/29/25 (Stablecoins in CDMX, DAT issues, GDP on the blockchain) (EP.661)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Nic and Matt return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Nic reviews the stablecoin conference in Mexico City Will the banks obsolete stablecoins? Some DATs are having trouble The government is putting GDP on the blockchain The CFTC opens the door to US customers trading on non-US exchanges Trump fires Lisa Cook Can the Fed be considered “independent” Google is developing a blockchain A BNB DAT gets delisted Tether is building on Bitcoin via RGB How does insider trading work in prediction markets?
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Sandy Kaul (Franklin Templeton) on Onchain Asset Management (EP.660)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with , head of digital assets at Franklin Templeton, to cover Sandy's work with the CFTC and DTCC and creating sandboxes for onchain financial markets. In this episode: How wallets stand to become the hub of asset management Lasting policy for crypto Protecting consumers in an open financial system
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Weekly Roundup 08/22/25 (SALT Jackson Hole, Wyoming Stable Token, Fed drama) (EP.659)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: Wyoming releases a stabletoken “FRNT” Matt’s bear encounter Bowman and Waller’s speeches at Jackson Hole Eric Trump’s Bitcoin prediction Is there an example of a DAT that makes sense? Should DATs trade at a persistent premium? Figure is going public Bullish goes public Is Saylor cornered? Quintenz’ nomination The DoJ decriminalizes writing open source code Is Polymarket cooked? Does a trial by a jury of your peers make sense? Content mentioned: Reducible Errors,
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Cupid & Hercules (Groom Lake) on Preventing and Responding to Cybercrime (EP.658)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with the founders of In this episode: How social engineering attacks are being used to exploit companies in crypto and beyond How companies can better protect themselves and be vigilant of these exploit attempts The future of cybersecurity software for crypto
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Luke Xie (SatLayer) on The Next Generation of Bitcoin Yield (EP.657)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Wyatt sits down with , cofounder of for a conversation about Bitcoin yield. In this episode: What makes financial markets for BTC unique How BTC DeFi will evolve, in the backdrop of the broader macro environment DeFi vs CeFi financial systems for BTC
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Weekly Roundup 08/15/25 (DAT fine print, stablecoin L1s, banks vs stables) (EP.656)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We review the DAT fine print Why being in power is sometimes the hardest part Stripe and Circle announce their own L1s We make the case for stablecoin L1s The irony in Stripe's L1 What about a DAT of DATs? Bullish goes public Breakfast cereals Do Kwon pleads guilty BPI sends a letter to Congress complaining about stablecoin interest Can you prohibit stablecoin yield? Bo Hines steps down Bessent says the USG will not be buying Bitcoin Is monero being 51% attacked? Content mentioned: BitMEX...
info_outlineMartin Carrica, cofounder of Mountain Protocol, joins us to discuss their launch of their USDM, permissionless interest-bearing stablecoin. In this episode:
- Martin’s story and origins of his desire to create a stablecoin
- Obtaining a registered digital assets company in Bermuda
- Martin’s review of regulatory options worldwide and how they ended up in Bermuda
- How Bermuda has distinguished itself from other financial hubs in the Atlantic
- How reinsurance is like stablecoins
- What it takes to get licensed as a digital asset business in Bermuda
- How Mountain Protocol’s USDM stablecoin works
- How rebasing stablecoins work – and how they integrate in DeFi
- How USDM differs from on-chain T bills and other interest bearing stable products
- How USDM was able to achieve a permissionless structure
- How Mountain avoids US clients
- Why the market for stablecoins is mostly ex-US
- Stablecoins as a backend for emerging market fintechs
- Different exchange rates in Argentina
- How Argentine firms use Argentine ADR stocks to manage their corporate cash
- How street moneychangers on the street in Argentina work
- Milei and the prospects for dollarization in Argentina
- The importance of a stablecoin being issued out of a bankruptcy remote structure
Disclaimer:
- USDM and other Mountain Protocol products and services are not available for U.S. persons as well as other restrictied jurisctions.
- For more information and disclosures on Mountain Protocol, please refer to the Terms and Conditions.