Weekly Roundup 09/29/23 (Gensler HFSC hearing, Vespa problems, SBF trial starts) (EP.455)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 09/29/2023
Paolo Ardoino (Tether) on stablecoin bills, pursuing an audit, and getting to 400m users (EP.606)
On The Brink with Castle Island
, 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...
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Brian Foster on Coinbase’s wholesale business (EP.605)
On The Brink with Castle Island
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...
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Weekly Roundup 03/21/25 (Trump addresses DAS, Kraken buys NinjaTrader, FIRM act advances) (EP.604)
On The Brink with Castle Island
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'...
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Weekly Roundup 03/14/25 (SBR is real, Trump and Binance, CZ pardon rumors) (EP.603)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve exists Will the government buy additional Bitcoin? What does “cost neutral” mean? What’s the deal with our cheese reserve Have Bitcoiners lost their libertarian origins? The OCC reverses their anti-crypto guidance Sentiment in crypto is at all time lows Is CZ seeking a pardon deal in exchange for a sale of Binance equity? Senate Banking votes to advance the Hagerty Stablecoin bill The banks are against interest-bearing stablecoins We recap the White House Crypto Summit Banks...
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Jeff Park (Bitwise) on Digital Asset Alpha Strategies (EP.602)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Jeff Park, the Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise Asset Management joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The latest developments at Bitwise, including the firm’s Alpha Strategy division. Yield strategies in the digital asset ecosystem. Stablecoins and how the idiosyncratic opportunities that active managers are pursuing. MicroStrategy Thoughts on market structure and digital asset policy. To learn more about Bitwise visit their . You can also follow .
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Brandon Mulvihill (Crossover Markets) on the future of market structure in the USA (EP.601)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Brandon Mulvihill, the co-founder and CEO of Crossover Markets joins the show. In this episode we discuss: The shifting regulatory landscape in the USA and the impact that it is having on traditional financial institutions. How banks and broker-dealers are responding to regulatory progress. The battle for “Primary Market” in the United States. The future of market structure and the bifurcation of exchanges vs. brokerages. How Crossover is positioned in 2025. To learn more about Crossover Markets visit their .
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Weekly Roundup 03/07/25 (Crypto Reserve, Debanking Bill, Broker Rule) (EP.600)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: We debate the prudence of a BTC reserve A Strategic Reserve of just BTC or altcoins? How would a crypto reserve be “strategic” Should the US Government just seize BTC to build the reserve? Is there a “strategic” purpose to owning a gas token? SEC task force for crypto is starting roundtables SEC drops lawsuits against Kraken, Cumberland, and Yuga labs Tim Scott’s bill to eliminate reputational risk from bank regulation CME launches SOL futures An Argentine prosecutor is looking to seize $110m in the Libra...
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Weekly Roundup 02/28/25 (Bybit Hack, SEC drops lawsuits, bank-issued stablecoins) (EP.599)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic return for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Figure Markets the launch of their YLDS stablecoin, which is the first yield-bearing stablecoin to be approved by and registered with the SEC Crypto exchange Bybit was on Friday for an estimated $1.48 billion worth of ETH in the largest hack in the industry's history n the past week, the SEC dropped lawsuits and investigations related to Coinbase, Robinhood, OpenSea, Uniswap, Gemini, and MetaMask Microstrategy an additional 20,356 BTC last week Crypto exchange OKX $504 million in penalties for anti-money...
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Weekly Roundup 02/21/25 (Milei’s Libra scandal, physical gold chaos, are memecoins dead?) (EP.598)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back with another week of news and deals. In this episode: Milei launches and immediately abandons the Libra memecoin Is the memecoin sector dead? What is the future of Solana post memecoin fallout? Hagerty’s GENIUS act gains bipartisan support Why securities laws exist What laws apply to memecoins? What’s going on with physical gold?
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Weekly Roundup 02/14/25 (OCC and CFTC nominations, nation-state memecoins, Tigran retrospective) (EP.597)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: Our episode with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce The SEC and Binance are pausing their litigation Brian Quintenz nominated for CFTC Jonathan Gould nominated for OCC Central African Republic launches a memecoin Is Vitalik crashing out? CBOE wants to add staking to their ETH ETF We reflect on the Tigran Gambaryan story Rep Waters rolls out a draft stablecoin bill Is there a run on gold vaults underway? Tungsten is rallying
info_outlineMatt and Nic return for deals and news. In this episode:
- Is AI going to cause unemployment for IB associates?
- Blockchain based sneakers
- Tungsten business cards
- What’s happening with OTB merch?
- Nic’s Vespa catastrophe
- Gensler’s HSFC hearing
- How Gensler is the Tonya Harding of crypto
- Made up airlines
- What’s going on with Huobi?
- FTX trial starts next week
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