Award-nominated host @JacqMelinek interviews the most consequential leaders in onchain finance, on the record. Brought to you by @StrataMedia_

Every Tuesday and Thursday
Joined February 2022
Today's pod is with @wagmiAlexander, CEO of @DromosLabs and Core Contributor to @aeroxyz, diving into: - Aerodrome and Velodrome merging into Aero - Its expansion across 7 networks including @Base, Ethereum and @RobinhoodCrypto Chain - What's next for Aero with predictive allocation - Why he thinks onchain exchanges can compete with the Nasdaq's of the world - How @Coinbase's tokenized stocks did about $1.5B in volume on Aero in roughly a month and more - Centralized exchanges becoming "distribution rails," with DEXs doing the work underneath TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:55 Aerodrome Becomes Aero 01:51 Why Aero Is Going Multichain 03:27 Is Base Still the Leading L2? 04:56 Robinhood's Onchain Growth 07:30 Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchanges 09:22 Will Consumers Actually Use DEXs? 10:20 Bringing Stocks Onchain 12:00 Why Onchain Markets Can Compete With Nasdaq 13:55 Turning Stock Exchanges Into Code 15:09 $1.5B in Tokenized Stock Volume 16:01 How Fast Can Tokenized Markets Grow? 17:01 Taking Market Share From Traditional Exchanges 17:40 Bringing Exotic Assets Onchain 18:22 Why Markets Want to Be 24/7 19:24 Do Crypto Tokens Create Real Value? 21:59 Why Aero Redistributes 100% of Value 24:02 What's Wrong With Traditional Token Models? 25:04 Competing With Wall Street 26:16 What Alex Would Do Differently 27:20 What's New in Aero 28:46 How Predictive Allocation Works 30:21 Building Markets From First Principles 31:23 Where Aero Could Be in One Year Watch below or on X:
Aero is here. Get on board.
7
5
1
27
1,668
Are you selling technology or helping customers make money? @YuvalRooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, which builds @CantonNetwork, calls it "blockchain tourism" when companies experiment with blockchain without figuring out the business case. His advice? Solve the problem first, then sell the tech.
2
147
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
The use cases that succeed with institutions show ROI within 3 to 6 months of production, not ones that require transforming the business first. That keeps integration cost low enough to prove results early. @YuvalRooz discusses with @_TalkingTokens.
4
10
758
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
Chainlink's Q3 update came out yesterday with $140B secured and $15B+ migrating to CCIP with DTCC and Swift on the TradFi side. "Today they know what to do. They know how to do it," @Chainlink's Head of RWAs @KarwanLiam05 said about institutions on @_TalkingTokens
4
12
2
73
3,647
More companies may launch their own blockchains, but Kevin Lepsoe (@lepsoe), founder of @ETHGasOfficial, thinks Ethereum will still be the network connecting them. Here’s why:
1
169
The repo market handles trillions of dollars in notional value every day. Yuval Rooz (@YuvalRooz), co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, which builds @CantonNetwork, says moving just 1% of that activity onchain would bring in billions of dollars a day. …And that's just one use case to keep an eye on.
1
6
438
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
Chainlink Tokenization
Today's episode is with @KarwanLiam05, Head of RWAs at @Chainlink Labs. 3 Key Takeaways: - Karwan says institutional conversations have shifted: "They know what to do. They know how to do it. And they come to us to know how to do it successfully." - On how fast this scales: "It's going to be slow, but quicker than we think." He puts the market at roughly $300 billion including stablecoins, compared with $100 trillion in capital markets. - He calls tokenized stocks "properly hyped" and has a view on wrapped versus natively issued equities. TIMESTAMPS: Introduction What Is Tokenization? How Tokenization Has Changed in 12 Months Chainlink's Role in Onchain Finance What Financial Institutions Want From Chainlink Why Institutional Conversations Have Changed Are Tokenization Projects Succeeding? Simple vs. Complex Institutional Use Cases The Next Phase of Institutional Adoption Private Blockchains, Compliance and Interoperability Why Technology Isn't the Biggest Bottleneck Making the Business Case for Blockchain How Quickly Will Tokenization Scale? The $100 Trillion Capital Markets Opportunity Why Chainlink Wants to Connect Financial Networks Which Institutions Are Adopting RWAs? Why Hedge Funds Are Moving More Slowly Is Onchain Finance Ready for Wall Street? Stablecoins, Liquidity and Yield Opportunities Why Fintechs Could Drive Mainstream Adoption Will Consumers Know They're Using Blockchain? Why Crypto Focused on Infrastructure First How Onchain Finance Improves Financial Products Institutional Adoption in South Korea Why Tokenized Equities Matter Are Tokenized Stocks Overhyped? Wrapped vs. Native Tokenized Equities How the Tokenization Industry Has Evolved Why Asset Managers Are Focusing on Distribution Chainlink's Long-Term Vision What Will Drive the Next Wave of RWA Adoption? Fintechs, Stablecoins and New Onchain Demand
1
5
1
53
3,078
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
Chainlink Tokenization on @_TalkingTokens
Chainlink Tokenization
2
5
42
2,007
Dropping tomorrow is our full conversation with @wagmiAlexander, CEO of @DromosLabs and Core Contributor to @aeroxyz. We dug into Aero’s growth this year and its goal to become the exchange layer for the broader onchain economy. Notifications on, we promise it’ll be a big one. 👀
1
3
469
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
TODAY: @Anza implements Alpenglow upgrade on @Solana, cutting finality to ~150ms, from ~12.8 seconds. Tom Warner (@redbeard), Head of BD at @DoubleZero, on @_TalkingTokens about why speed and predictability matter for institutions trading on Solana: "Traditional finance systems are incredibly faster than crypto systems. Every trading firm builds their model around how long does it take to execute, so you have predictability on, if I want to buy the stock, I know it’s going to take me 20 milliseconds, and then you can calculate based on how long your perceived price alpha exists."
3
6
20
1,622
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
Todd McDonald, co-founder of @inside_r3, on the three reasons they chose Solana for the next version of Corda “One is the technology. I personally love their approach to a single mainnet and scaling through a single mainnet. One pool of liquidity. Two is their strategy. Internet Capital Markets, that’s the north star. They’re focused on helping existing capital markets players understand, launch and be successful on Solana.” “Three, the culture of the ecosystem. Both those building on it and the Solana Foundation. They’re viewing this as a long-term business they want to grow. What you really need in this space is long-term alignment with the partners you choose. That was the big thing for us.” @Mcdtv @jacqmelinek @_TalkingTokens
150
29
17
411
87,764
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
In five years, underwriting a loan against assets you already hold, like a $50,000 stock position, could cost close to $0, making collateral lending beyond mortgages and car loans finally viable. @YuvalRooz discusses with @_TalkingTokens.
13
57
5
242
11,611
Talking Tokens Podcast retweeted
Had a blast chatting with the great @jacqmelinek ! Talked tokenized equities, tokenized deposits, and the role @chainlink plays in the space.
Today's episode is with @KarwanLiam05, Head of RWAs at @Chainlink Labs. 3 Key Takeaways: - Karwan says institutional conversations have shifted: "They know what to do. They know how to do it. And they come to us to know how to do it successfully." - On how fast this scales: "It's going to be slow, but quicker than we think." He puts the market at roughly $300 billion including stablecoins, compared with $100 trillion in capital markets. - He calls tokenized stocks "properly hyped" and has a view on wrapped versus natively issued equities. TIMESTAMPS: Introduction What Is Tokenization? How Tokenization Has Changed in 12 Months Chainlink's Role in Onchain Finance What Financial Institutions Want From Chainlink Why Institutional Conversations Have Changed Are Tokenization Projects Succeeding? Simple vs. Complex Institutional Use Cases The Next Phase of Institutional Adoption Private Blockchains, Compliance and Interoperability Why Technology Isn't the Biggest Bottleneck Making the Business Case for Blockchain How Quickly Will Tokenization Scale? The $100 Trillion Capital Markets Opportunity Why Chainlink Wants to Connect Financial Networks Which Institutions Are Adopting RWAs? Why Hedge Funds Are Moving More Slowly Is Onchain Finance Ready for Wall Street? Stablecoins, Liquidity and Yield Opportunities Why Fintechs Could Drive Mainstream Adoption Will Consumers Know They're Using Blockchain? Why Crypto Focused on Infrastructure First How Onchain Finance Improves Financial Products Institutional Adoption in South Korea Why Tokenized Equities Matter Are Tokenized Stocks Overhyped? Wrapped vs. Native Tokenized Equities How the Tokenization Industry Has Evolved Why Asset Managers Are Focusing on Distribution Chainlink's Long-Term Vision What Will Drive the Next Wave of RWA Adoption? Fintechs, Stablecoins and New Onchain Demand
5
1
20
1,901
Users will do what they want, no matter what a platform wants them to do. @seyong, co-founder of @fomo, says restricting access just pushes them to competitors. His approach is to explain the risks and let people decide.
2
8
452
Today's episode is with @KarwanLiam05, Head of RWAs at @Chainlink Labs. 3 Key Takeaways: - Karwan says institutional conversations have shifted: "They know what to do. They know how to do it. And they come to us to know how to do it successfully." - On how fast this scales: "It's going to be slow, but quicker than we think." He puts the market at roughly $300 billion including stablecoins, compared with $100 trillion in capital markets. - He calls tokenized stocks "properly hyped" and has a view on wrapped versus natively issued equities. TIMESTAMPS: Introduction What Is Tokenization? How Tokenization Has Changed in 12 Months Chainlink's Role in Onchain Finance What Financial Institutions Want From Chainlink Why Institutional Conversations Have Changed Are Tokenization Projects Succeeding? Simple vs. Complex Institutional Use Cases The Next Phase of Institutional Adoption Private Blockchains, Compliance and Interoperability Why Technology Isn't the Biggest Bottleneck Making the Business Case for Blockchain How Quickly Will Tokenization Scale? The $100 Trillion Capital Markets Opportunity Why Chainlink Wants to Connect Financial Networks Which Institutions Are Adopting RWAs? Why Hedge Funds Are Moving More Slowly Is Onchain Finance Ready for Wall Street? Stablecoins, Liquidity and Yield Opportunities Why Fintechs Could Drive Mainstream Adoption Will Consumers Know They're Using Blockchain? Why Crypto Focused on Infrastructure First How Onchain Finance Improves Financial Products Institutional Adoption in South Korea Why Tokenized Equities Matter Are Tokenized Stocks Overhyped? Wrapped vs. Native Tokenized Equities How the Tokenization Industry Has Evolved Why Asset Managers Are Focusing on Distribution Chainlink's Long-Term Vision What Will Drive the Next Wave of RWA Adoption? Fintechs, Stablecoins and New Onchain Demand
5
17
5
74
5,916
NEW: The @USOCC has finalized its GENIUS Act rules and declined to treat stablecoin rewards offered by exchanges and other third parties as presumed violations. @KevWysocki, Head of Policy at @Anchorage, said on the show earlier this month that banks’ failure to adopt new technology poses a bigger risk than stablecoin rewards: "You had a number of community banks coming in to senator offices saying, we’re really concerned about deposit flight in the future because of stablecoin rewards. I don’t personally think that the evidence in the past has suggested that the growth of stablecoins has led to that. I get it’s a concern, [but] I think the bigger problem is the failure to adopt new technologies."
The @USOCC just finalized its rule implementing for the GENIUS Act It takes effect Jan. 18, 2027. More details below👇
4
15
659