Weekly Roundup 07/25/25 (Tether’s GENIUS options, Defending Free Banks, Saylor’s Stretch) (EP.649)

Wyatt sits down with Michael Bentley, the founder of Euler. 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

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 launching a new stablecoin issuance platform. The first stablecoin product will be USDtb in partnership with Ethena Labs The Senate Banking Committee released their discussion draft for crypto market structure legislation this week, designed to build off the House's passage of the CLARITY Act last week Citadel Securities has expressed concern around the rise of tokenized securities Bhutan’s Bitcoin trade BitGo, a crypto custody provider, and Bullish, a crypto exchange, both announced that they had confidentially filed an S-1 Further reading: Wired, The Great Crypto Re-Banking Has Begun Galaxy Digital, Crypto Policy Under Trump: H1 2025 Report

Cyrus Shirazi, CEO of Haven 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

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 Pump.fun 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

Wyatt sits down with Nikhil Raghuveera of Predicate 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

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? Pump.fun 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 valuation model for L1s? GMX is hacked for $42m  Tim Massad's exchange with Bernie Moreno Content mentioned in this episode: Hester Peirce, Enchanting, but Not Magical: A Statement on the Tokenization of Securities Fidelity, Blockchains as emerging economies Bridge, How Meow and Bridge Make USDC Payments as Seamless as Cash  

Zac Townsend, the founder and CEO of Meanwhile, 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 meanwhile.bm  

Charles Hamel, Product Director at Opera's MiniPay, joins the show. In this episode:  Stablecoin habits in emerging markets Prospects for local stablecoins What’s next on the stablecoin horizon

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 bitcoin treasury companies  No crypto language was included in the BBB  

Chris Maurice, founder of Yellow Card, 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 in Africa? Is dollarization happening on the ground right now Tether and TRON market share developments Where we are in stablecoin infra and tooling and what needs to be built Why we need a stablecoin clearinghouse The future of Yellow Card a few years ahead How banks will engage with stablecoins