The Future of Money

The interview was recorded during Abu Dhabi Finance Week. We discuss the future of stablecoins like USDC, how Circle is positioning itself in global finance, and whether traditional banks are prepared for what's coming. - Why Circle chose the UAE for its regional expansion - What the GENIUS Act means for USDC and stablecoin adoption - The growing tension between crypto yield and traditional banks...

We explore how Coinbase is partnering with global banks and sovereign wealth funds to drive institutional crypto adoption and transform capital markets. - Why Coinbase's UAE expansion is central to its global strategy - How partnerships with Standard Chartered and PNC enable "crypto as a service" for banks - Why the Genius Act is a regulatory game changer for stablecoins in the US - Inside JPMorga...

We unpack the evolution of crypto infrastructure for institutions and how Copper is enabling secure, compliant innovation in digital asset trading. - Why the UAE is emerging as a global hub for regulated digital asset services - How Copper is evolving beyond custody into tokenisation, staking, and stablecoin services - The ClearLoop network and its role in reducing counterparty risk for institutio...

My interview with Vincent Chok, Founder and CEO of First Digital. In this episode of The Future of Money, we explore how stablecoins are evolving beyond crypto markets and into real-world payments. From AI agents making payments on our behalf, to the role of regulation, compliance, and emerging markets, this conversation looks at what the next 5 to 10 years of payments could actually look like. We...

My interview with Nic Roberts-Huntley, CEO and Co-Founder of Blueprint Finance. We explore whether DeFi infrastructure is mature enough for institutional adoption, where the biggest gaps still exist, and what needs to change for sustainable, institutional-grade returns in digital assets. - How close DeFi infrastructure really is to being institution-ready - The biggest gaps holding back adoption,...

My interview with Babylon co-founder, Fischer Yu. We dive into how Bitcoin can finally enter DeFi without wrapping, enabling trustless yield and cross-chain settlement with native BTC. - Why wrapping Bitcoin is risky and unpopular - How Babylon enables DeFi on native Bitcoin - The role of oracles, risk, and regulation in yield - Making Bitcoin programmable without changing Bitcoin - Why low-risk y...

Interview with Sidrah Fariq, Global Head of Retail at Deribit.  We explore why crypto options remain a niche, what is holding back retail adoption, and how regulation, education, and access will shape the next phase of crypto markets. - Why crypto options attract sophisticated traders, not mass retail - How regulation and licensing determine who can be marketed to and where - Why customer acquisit...

My interview with NBA Champion and founder of Basketball.fun Tristan Thompson. We explore how Web3 and AI are transforming fan engagement, player empowerment, and the future of professional sports. - How Web3 could give fans a real voice in sports decisions - Why athletes like Tristan are backing decentralised fan platforms - Making DeFi accessible for players and fans alike - Why the UAE is becom...

My interview with Reeve Collins, Co-Founder and Chairman of STBL.  - Why Reeve believes the current stablecoin model must evolve - How Stablecoin 2.0 addresses transparency and user yield - What splitting principal and yield means for compliance - The impact of the GENIUS Act on stablecoin innovation - How global regulations may create regional stablecoin models - Why AI could revolutionise how we...

How $1.6 trillion of real estate can be tokenised and fractionalised?  My interview with Adam Popat, CEO of SettleMint.  - Why Saudi Arabia is putting its entire land registry on-chain - What this means for citizens, banks, and developers - Why MENA may lead the real estate tokenisation wave - How infrastructure is being built for real-world liquidity - Why regulation and readiness matter more tha...

Interview with Noah Perlman, Chief Compliance Officer of Binance. In this episode of the Future of Crypto Compliance series, we explore how AI could transform compliance, whether zero-knowledge KYC can go mainstream, the risks of deepfake scams, and the future of privacy coins and sanctions enforcement. This is a special episode of The Future of Crypto Compliance podcast series exploring the trend...

My interview with Charlie Sandor, General Partner at CMT Digital.  - What sectors CMT Digital is backing for asymmetric upside over the next 12–26 months - Is there still room for new players in the stablecoin ecosystem - How localised stablecoins and infra players could outpace global giants like Circle - Which DeFi verticals hold the most promise today - Why VC funds may offer better exposure th...

My interview with David Namdar, CEO of the BNB Network Company. - Why David is so bullish on the BNB ecosystem and launched a dedicated vehicle  - How the BNB token burn mechanism has changed over time - Where BNB fits among layer-1s like Ethereum and Solana  - The role of digital asset treasuries versus ETFs - Whether digital asset treasuries will be a winner-takes-all game - The crypto catalysts...

My exclusive interview with Christina Rolle, Executive Director at Securities Commission of The Bahamas. This is the first ever public interview where the regulator shares what really happened behind-the-scenes 3-years ago during the collapse of FTX.  How was SBF during the collapse? How were the assets seized? Did the Bahamas insolvency catalyze the U.S. insolvency? This is a special episode of T...

My interview with John D'Agostino, Head of Strategy, Coinbase Institutional. Excited to continue The Future of Crypto Compliance — a podcast series exploring the trends, disruptions, and regulatory forces shaping the crypto space. In this episode, we tackle the complex intersection of governance, decentralisation, and artificial intelligence with one of the industry's top strategic minds.  By cryp...

My interview with Naj Kidwai, President and CEO of C1 Fund. - Why 2025 will be the breakout year for crypto IPOs  - Regulation is finally shifting in favour of digital assets under Trump  - Why SPACs are making a cautious return—but only for prepared firms  - Circle, Kraken, Securitize—who's next in the public markets queue?  - The critical importance of clean audits, profitability, and valuation...

My interview with Viktor Fischer, CEO of RockawayX.  - Why DATs must communicate how yield is truly generated  - The L1 race is over—only business-model-driven chains will survive  - Solana's path to becoming the chain for internet capital markets  - A bold call: Solana at $6,000 if tokenisation scales  - RockawayX's vision to make the UAE the global crypto staking hub  - Q1 2026 as a key inflecti...

My interview with Altan Tutar, CEO and Co-Founder of MoreMarkets. - Why stablecoin yield could become standard in the next 12–24 months  - The shift from centralised high-yield platforms to transparent, collateralised models - How real world assets (RWAs) will drive yield as interest rates drop - The rising importance of user-friendly interfaces and seamless UX - DeFi vs CeFi: how both will conver...

My interview with George Kikvadze, Executive Vice Chairman of BitFury. - How Bitcoin mining scaled from hobbyist rigs to billion-dollar data centres - Why state-backed mining is a natural extension of open-source networks - How miners are pivoting to AI and HPC infrastructure - The mindset founders need to succeed in crypto: resilience, adaptability, purpose - Why complacency is the biggest threat...

My Interview with Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy & Government Affairs of TRMLabs. Excited to launch The Future of Crypto Compliance — a new podcast series dedicated to unpacking the latest trends, innovations, and regulatory shifts shaping the world of digital assets. Each episode brings together leading voices in crypto compliance to explore where the industry is headed, what challenges lie a...

My interview with Brian Mehler, CEO of Stable. - Stable built a Layer 1 blockchain using USDC as its native gas token - Predictable fees and subsecond finality remove key institutional pain points  - Peer-to-peer transfers always gas-free for users - Subscription-based block space model for institutional clients - Stablecoin market growth driven by both retail and institutional demand - Expects US...

My interview with Sam Tabar, CEO of Bit Digital. - Bit Digital pivots from Bitcoin mining to Ethereum and AI - CEO Sam Tabar says Ethereum—not Bitcoin—can rewrite the financial system - Wall Street won't choose blockchains with downtime—advantage: Ethereum - Bit Digital retrofits abandoned sites into data centres in six months - Ethereum price target: $5,000 by Christmas? Powered by Phoenix Group...

My interview with Jehan Chu, Founder of Kenetic Capital.  - Over 250 digital asset treasuries now manage tens of billions across Bitcoin, ETH, Solana and more - These vehicles are creating a flywheel of price support and market momentum - Japan's MetaPlanet and Brazil's Orange are key regional leaders - DARTs offer regulatory, tax, and capital market advantages across jurisdictions  - Crypto expos...

My Interview with Stephen Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer at Fireblocks . - Global banks are moving from outsourced custody to integrated blockchain infrastructure - Stablecoins are challenging the SWIFT model—especially in emerging markets - Fireblocks is seeing demand for turnkey solutions that support trading, custody, and payments - Latin American banks are leading in blockchain integration...

My Interview with Sergej Kunz, Co-Founder of 1inch.  - DeFi trading volumes soar amid Bitcoin's all-time highs  - How 1inch is bridging the gap between CeFi and DeFi through aggregation and APIs  - The Coinbase–1inch partnership and what it means for Web3 adoption  - Hyperliquid's rapid rise — and what it reveals about DeFi simplicity  - Decentralization, security, and the evolving role of KYC in...