CFB Talks Digital Assets

We’re delighted to welcome one of the most esteemed and authoritative institutional crypto practitioners back to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast - Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management. As well as informed insights on recent market volatility, we’re also fortunate to get Matt’s take on critical regulatory and political developments impacting the space so far this y...

Recorded March 11, 2025. Time for the Q1 market review edition of our CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast - where the CF Benchmarks research team, Gabe Selby and Mark Pilipczuk, put that complex first quarter under the microscope. Key themes: ■ How sharp does a crypto market tumble need to be to constitute a correction? And when does a crypto correction become a bear? Get our analysts’ take on the eq...

Following Franklin Templeton’s recent launch of Franklin Crypto ETF, ticker EZPZ, the asset management giant now has three digital asset ETPs in its roster. But if you thought Franklin’s crypto journey only began with the Bitcoin and Ether ETFs it listed last year, you’re probably unaware of just how significant and longstanding its digital asset footprint actually is ... not to mention the laser...

One of Ethereum’s newest and most exciting Layer-2s is of course Ink, unleashed by Kraken on the Optimism Superchain in December - so we’re thrilled to welcome Andrew Koller, Ink’s founder, to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast. With deep on-chain expertise, Andrew dives into some of the most critical topics shaping the future of Ethereum, institutional participation, and how the network scales...

Recorded 29 January 2025. We’re beyond stoked to welcome Marco Santori as our guest on the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast. Marco was Kraken’s Chief Legal Officer for, quite possibly, 5 of the most pivotal years crypto will see for some time, and he remains a senior Kraken advisor. Widely thought of as ‘Crypto’s Attorney’, Marco has been the driving force behind several initiatives in the US - ma...

Recorded 17 January 2025. The potential for factor-based investing to one day be applied to digital assets, has long been a tantalizing prospect. But it’s not been possible - till now. CF Benchmarks’ recent report - ‘A Factor Model for Digital Assets’ - demonstrated the existence of ‘classic’ asset market behaviour patterns (factors), like Momentum, Liquidity, Value and others, within the crypto a...

Recorded 7 January 2025. Digital assets have a high bar to beat in 2025, after a stonking 2024! But with a new pro-crypto US administration waiting in the wings, this year promises to be just as consequential. Markets-wise, January is off to a less than sure-footed start. As CF Benchmarks Head of Research Gabe Selby, CFA, and Research Analyst, Mark Pilipczuk point out in our first podcast of 2025,...

Recorded 19 December 2024. The final CF Benchmarks podcast episode of the year is the perfect companion for exploration of our research team’s 2025 Market Outlook Report, which is picking up a lot of well-deserved media attention right now! Join Head of Research Gabe Selby, CFA, and Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk, as they unpack the highlights with Head of Content, Ken Odeluga. Get our analysts’...

Recorded 10 December 2024. After one of the most consequential crypto quarters for years, join CF Benchmarks' Head of Research Gabe Selby, CFA, and Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk on the latest CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast, as they talk through the major global market, on-chain, macro and blockchain economic drivers spotlighted in their Q4 Quarterly Attribution Report! Start with an informed r...

Recorded 26 November 2024. As crypto’s banner year draws to a close, we’re stoked to welcome two of the most insightful experts in the capital markets space to CFB Talks Digital Assets: FalconX’s Head of Research, David Lawant, and their ETF Business Development Manager, Nello Cafcules. FalconX is the world’s leading crypto prime brokerage, so who better to talk through the recent debut of options...

Recorded 18 October 2024. CF Benchmarks’ recently launched quarterly market outlook series is on tap for an extra special episode of the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast! The first report in the series, for Q4 2024, landed in the run-up to the hotly anticipated U.S. election. Join our Head of Research, Gabe Selby, CFA, Research Analyst, Mark Pilipczuk, and Head of Content, Ken Odeluga, as they tal...

Recorded July 26, 2024. For the latest episode of CFB Talks Digital Assets we sat down with Nuno Serafim, Managing Partner at Lisbon-based 3 Comma Capital, who recently launched their Global Crypto Fund, deploying our regulated CF Ultra Cap 5 EUR index as its benchmark. It was a rare opportunity to look over the shoulder of and hear granular insights from a veteran portfolio manager of traditional...

Spot Ether ETFs are finally here! Just like for Bitcoin ETFs though, the path to approval has been full of suspense and drama. Whether it was SEC chair Gary Gensler’s previous view that Ether was a security; the controversy over staking (note: no spot Ether ETFs include staking) or regulatory actions against non-ETF platforms ... the process often felt like it was one plot twist away from complete...

Recorded 20 June 2024. With Bitcoin’s realised volatility still regularly touching 50%, the multibillion dollar launch of US spot Bitcoin ETFs this year underlines institutions’ need for more efficient ways of managing crypto risk. This makes the new CF Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVXS), the only direct measure of CME BTC implied volatility, a timely addition to our roster of regulated benchmarks. B...

Recorded 13 June 2024. 2024 is already crystallised as one of the most consequential years ever for digital asset adoption, but unfortunately, the recent quarter saw asset prices mostly consolidating - at best. As CF Benchmarks’ Head of Research, Gabe Selby, CFA, notes in his latest Quarterly Attribution Report (QAR), “price action was primarily driven by opposing forces”. Gabe sat down with CFB’s...

Recorded May 22, 2024. One of our earliest and longest-standing clients, Monochrome, today forged another major step for institutional digital asset adoption in Australia, by listing Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (ticker: IBTC), the first and only Aussie fund that invests directly in Bitcoin. We were lucky enough to grab half an hour with their busy Head of ETF Operations Grayson McLeod, just ahead of th...

Recorded April 30, 2024. With so much mainstream attention on the launch of digital asset funds on US exchanges, it’s easy to overlook the fact regulated spot crypto exchange traded products (ETPs) have been around for far longer in Europe than in the States! This highly active and liquid market is typified by firms like ETC Group, one of the region’s largest crypto focused fund managers, in AuM t...

Recorded March 27, 2024. The CFB TDA crew hosts David Lawant, Head of Research at FalconX, a leading institutional digital asset prime brokerage that provides secure, efficient, and compliant access to digital asset markets. Join us as we lift the veil on one of the more exciting yet less covered areas of the market and get an insider's view on the OTC trading segment: who are the institutions mak...

Recorded 15 March 2024. Digital asset markets just saw one their best quarters since the end of ‘Crypto Winter’ - and you guessed it, the unprecedented influx of demand, liquidity and inflows into the new investment product class of Bitcoin ETFs played a major part. But that’s not the whole story of course! CF Benchmarks’ Head of Research Gabe Selby CFA, talks through the December-March quarter’s...

Recorded March 1, 2024. Political intrigue at the SEC, the fastest-growing ETFs in history, and what chance of a spot Ether ETF by this summer? Exclusive insights from James Seyffart, one half of the Bloomberg Intelligence ETF team that successfully predicted the launch of the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, and who now place the odds of a spot Ether ETF approval at 60%.

Recorded 21 December 2023. It’s time for another episode of CFB Talks Digital Assets and this time we’re featuring our latest Quarterly Attribution Report (QAR)! This QAR is written, as usual, by Lead Research Analyst, Gabe Selby, CFA. In this episode, Ken and Gabe discuss the following topics: Could SEC-approved crypto ETFs spark mainstream adoption? CME futures interest is surging on ETF hopes....

Recorded 20 December 2023. It's crunch time for the seven major investment management firms aiming to use our CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate - New York Variant (BRRNY) to benchmark the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs! The SEC is expected to come to a final decision in coming days. A 'yes' will change the face of mainstream investing forever. At this critical juncture, we are honoured and unbelievably...

Recorded 16 November 2023. On the latest episode of CFB Talks Digital Assets, we’re fortunate to be joined by Yubao Flora Lou, Chief Product Officer of Meta Lab HK, the fast-growing #digitalassets unit of Harvest Global Investments Limited! This follows the recent launch of our CF Meta Lab GameFi Index. Key talking points: What is #GameFi exactly? (AKA, Play-to-Earn Gaming.) A look under the hood...

Recorded 19 September 2023. In this edition of CFB Talks Digital Assets, Ken and Gabe discuss the main takeaways from the latest quarterly performance attribution analysis on our flagship indices. They dive deep into what has been driving crypto markets, from the recent spot Bitcoin filings to the court decisions on GBTC and Ripple. Ken and Gabe highlight what this will all mean for both instituti...

Recorded 9 August 2023. In this episode of CFB Talks Digital Assets, Hosts Ken Odeluga and Gabe Selby, CFA, alongside CFB’s Lead Quant, Cristian Isac, dive deep into the heart of our proprietary digital asset taxonomy, revealing its vital role in helping practitioners better understand the blockchain economy. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting your journey, understanding how diffe...