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What if your AI agent could out-trade institutional desks — from your laptop? In Episode 5 of Dose of Alpha, Bryan Colligan sits down with Taariq Lewis, founder of Seren DB and a crypto OG since 2013, to break down the "Open Claw" world: a future where locally-running AI agents autonomously research, execute, and report on trades — no middlemen, no managed accounts, no waiting on a fund. They cover the rise of autonomous trading agents, why LLMs are powerful but untrustworthy ("they lie"), how AI is the key that finally gets grandma on-chain, and what happens to knowledge workers when...
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Join Alpha Growth CEO Bryan Colligan and DeFi Strategist Eric Waisanen for Ep. 4: Steer & Automation, as Alpha Growth interviews Steer Protocol on the newest podcast episode of: "Dose of Alpha." Real-time intel from the DeFi front lines. Colligan and Waisanen share unfiltered perspectives exploring decentralized finance, market maneuvers, TradFi convergence, and the enduring importance of crypto in today’s political and economic landscape. Today they interview Derek Barrera of Steer Protocol, diving into Carry Trades, Hooks, Rehypothecation, and all things automation: What is a vault?...
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Join Alpha Growth CEO Bryan Colligan and DeFi Strategist Eric Waisanen for Ep. 3: Money Markets vs. CDPs of Alpha Growth's newest podcast: "Dose of Alpha." Get real-time intel from the DeFi front lines. Colligan and Waisanen share unfiltered perspectives exploring decentralized finance, market maneuvers, TradFi convergence, and the enduring importance of crypto in today’s political and economic landscape. Dive deep into DeFi lending with a no-BS breakdown of Money Markets vs. CDPs (Collateralized Debt Positions) – which is better, when to use each, and why CDPs might be underrated...
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Alpha Growth CEO Bryan Colligan and DeFi Strategist Eric Waisanen get deep into the weeds with Alpha Growth's latest podcast: Dose of Alpha- Episode #2: Risk: Are You A Gambler or Investor? In each episode Colligan and Waisanen share unfiltered perspectives exploring decentralized finance, market maneuvers, TradFi convergence, and the enduring importance of crypto in today’s political and economic landscape. Episode #2 brings some incredible questions and answers as Bryan and Eric discuss Risk: What is risk? How do you price it? What kind of risks do you see in DeFi? How does that...
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Join CEO Bryan Colligan and DeFi Strategist Eric Waisanen for the premiere episode of Alpha Growth's newest podcast: "Dose of Alpha." Where you'll hear real-time intel from the DeFi front lines. Colligan and Waisanen share unfiltered perspectives exploring decentralized finance, market maneuvers, TradFi convergence, and the enduring importance of crypto in today’s political and economic landscape. In this Episode, you'll hear them discussing: their journeys into crypto, where they think crypto is headed in the coming years, crypto's role in economic freedom and efficiency, as well as...
info_outlineJoin Alpha Growth CEO Bryan Colligan and DeFi Strategist Eric Waisanen for Ep. 3: Money Markets vs. CDPs of Alpha Growth's newest podcast: "Dose of Alpha." Get real-time intel from the DeFi front lines. Colligan and Waisanen share unfiltered perspectives exploring decentralized finance, market maneuvers, TradFi convergence, and the enduring importance of crypto in today’s political and economic landscape.
Dive deep into DeFi lending with a no-BS breakdown of Money Markets vs. CDPs (Collateralized Debt Positions) – which is better, when to use each, and why CDPs might be underrated infrastructure for protocols and long-term holders.
In this Episode, Bryan and Eric unpack:
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The evolution from early Tether/Bitfinex synthetics to MakerDAO (now Sky/USDS) and modern CDPs like Liquity's BOLD
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Why money markets (Aave, Morpho, Compound) are straightforward, efficient, and ideal for high-frequency trading
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CDP strengths: No counterparty needed, potentially lower long-term borrow rates, superior peg stability in extreme volatility (e.g., the October 10, 2025 flash crash – triggered by tariff news – wiped out $19B+ in liquidations but showed CDPs holding strong while centralized systems cracked)
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Risks exposed: Peg maintenance & redemptions, bad debt in generalized vs isolated markets, liquidation cascades, oracle reliability
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Carry trades & structured products using CDPs for real yield on BTC/ETH/staked assets – borrow cheap, earn more elsewhere
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Who wins: High-frequency users → money markets; long-term holders, carry traders, and protocols building liquidity → CDPs
Whether you're leveraging, farming yield, issuing tokens, or deepening your understanding of DeFi's core primitives, this episode delivers packed alpha straight from the trenches.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:24 Defining Money Markets and CDPs
3:48 The Evolution of CDPs and MakerDAO
5:53 Peg Maintenance and Liquidity Challenges
8:06 Financial Analogies for Lending
8:54 Bad Debt and Bankruptcy in DeFi
11:36 Isolated vs. Generalized Lending Markets
14:55 Comparing Risks Between CDPs and Money Markets
17:14 Choosing Between Money Markets and CDPs
21:22 Hidden Risks in Lending
23:25 Understanding Carry Trades and Structured Products
The Alpha Growth team is excited to bring you real-time intel from the DeFi front lines, each week as we release new episodes. Stay tuned for more! And don't forget to comment and share your thoughts with us on YouTube, Spotify, and X. Bring RWAs onchain with Alpha Growth in 2026: alphagrowth.io.
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Like & comment your biggest takeaway – money markets or CDPs for you?