Guy Young (Ethena) on a New Model for a Crypto-Backed Stablecoin (EP.459)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Release Date: 10/09/2023
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
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Weekly Roundup 07/04/25 (Tokenized stocks, Crypto Week, BBB passes) (EP.642)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Matt and Nic are back for another week of news and deals. In this episode: EthCC troubles Robinhood has been shipping Figma owns BTC The House GOP has declared "crypto week" in July Circle and Ripple are applying for bank charters AI companies are buying Bitcoin miners Sharia finance The BBB passes America teeters towards default The Sohan Parekh fiasco How do tokenized stocks work? Another architect of OCP2.0 bites the dust Is AI going to usher in a socialist revolution? Ric Edelman wants you to buy crypto Franklin Templeton is worried about...
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Chris Maurice (Yellow Card) on Stablecoin Adoption in Africa (EP.641)
On The Brink with Castle Island
Chris Maurice, founder of , a pan-Africa stablecoin business and exchange, rejoins the show. In this episode: How Chris feels about the crypto space in 2025 as compared to when he started a decade ago How Yellow Card evolved from being a retail BTC exchange to being an enterprise payment platform for stablecoins How Chris realized that stablecoins were all about b2b transfers How businesses in EM use stablecoins, and what the alternatives are Regional differences within Africa in terms of stablecoin adoption Shifting regulatory attitudes in Africa Does Chris worry about crypto-dollarization...
info_outlineGuy Young, the founder and CEO of Ethena, joins the show to talk crypto-backed stablecoins.
- How Ethena began with an Arthur Hayes blog post
- The origins of synthetic stablecoins on Bitmex
- The difference between Hayes’ Nakadollar and the Ethena design
- Why synthetic stablecoins have failed in the past and how Ethena addresses this
- How staked ETH as the underlying collateral opens up a new design space
- How Ethena mitigates their exposure to exchanges with off-exchange custody
- Guy’s backstory and entrance into crypto
- Why the circumstances are favorable for the success of a synthetic stable today
- Why the short leg of the Ethena position has to rely on CeFi for now
- Where the yield from ETH positive funding ultimately comes from
- Limits to scale on Ethena on the short leg of the trade and ETH staking
- Guy’s explanation for where the yield from being long ETH comes from
- Correlation dynamics between the ETH yield and the funding rate
- Why it’s important that crypto yields are somewhat negatively correlated with tradfi yields
- What protects the system when funding flips negative?
- How the system can react to constraints in ETH funding and ETH staking
- The possibility of adding Bitcoin as a collateral type
- Why Ethena distinguished the stablecoin and the yield-bearing component
- Rebasing versus accruing yield tokens
- How they think about different stETH derivatives
- Ethena versus stETH-backed overcollat stablecoins
- Why the supply of stablecoins is shrinking
- Will major stablecoin issuers become interest bearing?
- Ethena’s regulatory strategy
- The BUSD security analysis from the SEC and how interest bearing affects that
- Why end users deserve yield in exchange for taking on the counterparty risk of holding a stable
- Why Guy is excited by Paypal USD
- Guy’s prediction for stablecoin interest-bearing market cap
Further reading:
- Arthur Hayes, Dust on Crust