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Public Keys at @NYSE: Crypto IRAs, ETFs and CRCL
Recorded: March 23, 2026 Duration: 0:30:56Space Recording
Full Transcription
I'm going to go to the next video. Thank you. Hey, everyone. I'm Jennifer Sanasi, and this is Coindesk's Public Keys at the New York Stock Exchange. This show is all about crypto in the public markets from IPOs and digital asset treasuries to ETFs and the biggest market moving headlines.
Over the next half hour we'll break down the president's 48 hour ultimatum to Iran that's rattling global markets.
Look at how crypto can fit into your retirement portfolio and take a closer look at the rise of staking ETFs.
All right, let's get into it and take a look at the weekend discourse and how it's impacting crypto markets in our weekend recap.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday with a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran,
demanding it reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face U.S. strikes on key power plants.
Crypto markets reacted swiftly with Bitcoin erasing last week's
rally, sliding to below $69,000 as fears over disruption to a critical global oil route hit
risk assets. The move triggered roughly $299 million in crypto liquidations in just 24 hours,
with about 85% hitting bullish long positions. With the deadline looming, geopolitical risk is
overshadowing even the Fed's
dovish stance, setting a tense tone for both crypto and broader markets. And that tension showed up in
the narrative battle around Bitcoin, too. Investor Anthony Pompliano posted that Bitcoin is the only
asset purpose built for when the money printer is turned on, reinforcing the long-standing view of
Bitcoin as a hedge against loose monetary policy. But the market reaction we saw tells a more complicated story.
When geopolitical risk spikes, Bitcoin is still trading like a risk asset, not a safe haven.
So while the Fed's dovish stance should in theory support crypto, this weekend's sell-off
highlights that macro shocks can override that narrative, at least in the short term.
And there may be a structural reason why Bitcoin took the hit first.
CoinDesk senior analyst James Van Straten took to X to point out that Bitcoin tends to sell off on weekends
because it's one of the only major liquid assets that trades 24-7,
making it a go-to source of liquidity when markets are closed.
When macro uncertainty hits outside of traditional market hours,
traders can't sell stocks or commodities, but they can sell Bitcoin.
That's made it something of a pressure valve for global risk.
Across all three of our stories this morning, the same theme is emerging.
Macro is in control.
Whether it's oil spiking, Bitcoin's narrative as a hedge being tested,
or weakened liquidity dynamics,
crypto is still deeply tied to global risk sentiment. As James pointed out, until markets like equities and commodities are tokenized and trade 24-7,
Bitcoin becomes the asset that absorbs weekend shocks first.
All right, Public is expanding crypto into retirement investing,
announcing that users can now trade digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum directly within traditional and Roth IRAs.
Here this morning to break the news is Public co-CEO and co-founder Life Abraham. Hey, Life.
Hey, thanks for having me.
Thanks for being here. Congratulations on the launch.
Thanks. Talk to us about what this means for folks who are planning for retirement. Yeah. So obviously now people are able to also hold and trade crypto within their IRAs.
Thanks.
Talk to us about what this means for folks who are planning for retirement.
And there are a few aspects to that. Right. Number one we've seen how this generation of investors call like digital natives for them crypto and specifically also Bitcoin
Ethereum like those kind of blue chip coins like a better wedding have been really something that is like a core part of their portfolio. And that also is for the long
term as well. And so now the ability for them to hold them also in IRAs basically means obviously that they can have these
assets also for the long term. And the other side obviously is that IRAs have certain tax benefits by tax on the thirds. If you
trade a lot also you know like your your crypto assets also means that you don't necessarily get the immediate tax hit at the end of the year.
And so you can compound your wealth there much more because of the benefits that an IRA generally already provides.
And that now also is available for crypto as well.
When we talk about it being a core part of portfolios for younger people who are planning for retirement, What is core mean. How much percentage of a portfolio are we talking here.
Yeah I mean we see it obviously across the board. It's and you know sometimes might even be double digit percentages in terms of you look at
their entire portfolio. But generally speaking I think what we're seeing is that especially from like a buy and hold perspective that's
that especially from like a buy and hold perspective that's you know the major cryptocurrencies are just like a very normal part of
people's portfolios. And you've seen that rise especially also when ETFs came in as well which was kind of like the first hack for
people to you know have some crypto exposure in their IRAs as well was actually through the ETFs right. And that also opened up a
lot of the markets around you know people that wanted to get some crypto exposure into the portfolios because suddenly you know AND THAT ALSO OPENED UP A LOT OF THE MARKETS AROUND PEOPLE THAT WANTED TO GET SOME CRYPTO EXPOSURE INTO THE PARTFOLIOS BECAUSE
SUDDENLY THEY MIGHT HAVE FELT MORE COMFORTABLE HAVING THAT
REGULATORY WRAPPER AROUND THE ASSETS THEY WANT TO HOLD.
WE ALSO SAW A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT DID NOT TRADE CRYPTO AS THE
SPOT ASSETS BEFORE IN THEIR PARTFOLIO.
YOU SEE HOW THAT MASTER CLASS HAS MATURED DRAMATICALLY OVER
THE YEARS. I THINK WITH ALL THE REGULATORY PROCESS WE ARE SEEING IN THE Yes. So you see how that masterclass just has matured dramatically over the years. And I think with all the regulatory process we're seeing also in the U.S. right now as well that just adds to that.
And you know now having the ability to also have that in your IRA being able to trade those in your IRA with all the tax benefits etc.
We see that is something that's you know our customers specifically are quite excited about. Build on that a little bit more for me. Why might a young person want to hold in their IRA and trade from within
their IRA rather than just buying and holding spot. Yeah. So obviously IRAs have tax benefits as tax deferred. Right. So you only get tax later on in
your life when you're actually trying to get either you know when you're retiring you're getting tax free or you get, you know, taxed moments. And so the main thing there is is really that because of that, if you, for example,
someone who, you know, is has a Bitcoin holding that they have been building up. You have now a lot of unrealized gains, you know,
in that holding. And you might want to move money around in your retirement account or you want to diversify it out of it because maybe your allocation has become a little bit out of whack so to say you know like just proportionate into a certain asset. You can then do those like you can do that with balancing for example without having the tax consequences or if you're someone who trades more actively you can have that active trading happening and actually you know have the compounding wealth over without the tax consequences that hit in your regular tax brokerage account with each tax year.
That doesn't happen in the IRA. And so it opens up a whole new set of strategies on how to kind of trade the assets and
how you kind of look at your general portfolio construction there. What kind of demand were you seeing for this product?
And were you seeing demand when Bitcoin was hitting all-time highs? We took a look at the price this morning. Of course, it's below sixty nine thousand dollars on the back of some of the weekends.
Talk to me a little bit about user sentiment. You know, when when are they looking at products like this and is it is it sustained. Obviously the ability to hold and trade crypto within IRAs launching today is actually something that's quite complicated to pull off even just from a regulatory setup.
And so what you need to know to be able to to service that. So why we are one of the very few places in the U.S. where you can do that.
Now we know have people come into customer service and so on all the time basically asking like hey why can I not buy you know for example Bitcoin or other cryptos like in my IRA.
That's something that we're hearing I have been hearing all the time now specifically the behavior we're always seeing is whenever there is
you know more drastic dips people are buying. And so even when you saw you know recently you know crypto you know come down from the all time highs now. Right now we're in the 60s again and so on. These are mostly overseeing moments of net
buying. And so what people actually add to their positions. And again also on public specifically people build portfolios for the
long term. They kind of compound their wealth there as well. And so in those moments people often see it as a long term investment. They add to their portfolios. They kind of deploy some cash they might have had on the sidelines and
you know and kind of you know by the dip. You just mentioned one of the few platforms to offer a service like this to customers. What's your competitive advantage.
What makes this different than what's already out there. Yeah I mean first of all so public is a multi asset platform. So you have stocks ETFs crypto options
treasuries corporate bonds. We launched something called generated assets where you can essentially create your own investable
index with AI. You can just prompt it and be like give me companies you know and crypto. So to write that is that a founder
led and grow more than 30 percent year over year and debt free and where the founders are marathon runners. And then it creates an THAT ARE FOUNDER-LAD AND GROW MORE THAN 30% YEAVER YEAR AND ARE DEBT-FREE AND THE FOUNDERS ARE MARATHON RUNNERS AND
THEN IT CREATES AN INDEX OUT OF IT DRIVEN BY THAT PROMPT AND
YOU CAN INVEST IN THAT. WE HAVE A LOT OF INNOVATIVE
PRODUCTS ON THE PLATFORM THAT REALLY HELP PEOPLE BUILD THESE
MULTI-ASSET PORTFOLIOS.
THAT MULTI-ASSET THEN ALSO SHOULD HAPPEN THE SAME WAY IN
YOUR OTHER ACCOUNT TYPES. IT SHOULDN'T MATTER IF IT'S YOUR And that multi asset then also obviously should happen the same way in your other account types. It shouldn't matter if it's your regular brokerage account your retirement account.
It's on like those type of strategies you should be able to execute anywhere. And that's exactly why it was so important for us to really figure it out in order for people to also hold and trade crypto in IRA as well.
as well. So that no matter the account type they can kind of run the same strategies they have. And they're you know within. But the main thing for us is really to give
people the opportunity to have this like multi asset portfolios and give them you know these like very you know kind of sophisticated tools heavily
powered by these days. Right. To be very smart about that. For your portfolio such and like taking advantage of these opportunities like for example to do buying and other things
Life congratulations on the launch today. Thank you for coming on the show to break that news
Thanks for joining the program. Thanks. All right. That was life public co-CEO and co-founder. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Oh, come on. Welcome back to CoinDesk's Public Keys at the New York Stock Exchange.
Joining us now to unpack everything investors should know about staking is Global Stake co-founder Richard Shorten. Hey Richard. Hey there.ING AT GLOBAL STAKE. LAY A FOUNDATION FOR US.
TALK TO US ABOUT GLOBAL STAKE AND WHAT IT IS YOU OFFER.
GLOBAL STAKE IS PROVIDING THE UNDERLYING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT
PROVIDES YIELD ON STAKED ASSETS.
IN THE EXAMPLE ABOVE, SOME EXCHANGE TRADE PRODUCTS ARE
CUSTOMERS OF GLOBAL STAKE, WHICH ACTUALLY RUNS THE
OPERATING INFRASTRUCTURE IN A GLOBAL NETWORK TO PROVIDE THAT YIELD, TO DIRECT THAT YIELD.
SO IT'S SORT OF A TECHNOLOGY LAYER UNDERNEATH THE FINANCIAL
ASSETS.
ALL RIGHT.
SO WHAT DO FOLKS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STAKING ETFS?
OF COURSE INVESTORS ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT BEING ABLE TO EARN
ON A PRODUCTIVE ASSET, A PRODUCTIVE CRYPTO ASSET.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW?
IT'S OBVIOUSLY A RELATIVELY NEW PHENOMENON, THE EMERGENCE As a productive crypto asset. What do we need to know. It's so so you know it's obviously a relatively new phenomenon the emergence of
staking on you know within an ETF structure. You know I think the beauty is it starts to introduce the concept of yield on crypto
assets which I think is something that's been unfamiliar to most people. They think about Bitcoin. They think about a theory and they
think about token go up token go now. It's a very volatile asset. But yield is actually an
inherent attribute of a lot of these assets. The yield varies by blockchain. Ethereum of course being the most well established proof of
stake chain. But the reason that the yield exists and this is sort of a hard concept for many people to get their head around is the yield exists because the yield creates an incentive for liquidity to stay in the ecosystem and for operators like a company like ours to run the physical infrastructure the flashing lights in the data centers to actually secure the network.
So this the yield is actually like meshed into the value proposition of the crypto protocol itself. It's a pretty cool pretty cool attribute.
So talk to me about staking ETFs itself. I know that you've noted that the one we saw launched just a few weeks ago BlackRock's has has a high percentage that BlackRock actually keeps for themselves.
And we look at staking rewards. Break that down for us. And talk to us. Yes. So right now look we're at an early
we're at a very early adoptions phase. Right. The thing that matters most in crypto today is trust. Right. BlackRock brings just a
preeminent brand and a level of trust that matters you know significant. I think and I think that what I would say is is
And I think that what I would say is is other ETF providers have variants of the structure some much more competitive on price.
I think what hasn't happened yet at real depth is unpacking what happens underneath the ETF itself and its fee structure itself.
So the ETF of course charges a fee. There of course are underlying infrastructure providers like global stake that that generate the yield.
They take a fee. The mechanisms by which they take a fee are very complicated on many and in many cases and involve very very specific decisions
about how and what types of transactions you will support or not support. And this layer of sort of the technical areas I think is one HOW AND WHAT TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS YOU WILL SUPPORT OR NOT SUPPORT. AND THIS LAYER OF SORT OF THE TECHNICAL AREAS I THINK IS ONE
THAT HAS NOT YET BEEN FULLY UNPACKED BY THE MARKETS.
THEY WILL BE. MORE PLAYERS ARE IN THE MARKET.
JUST ABOUT EVERY BIG NAME YOU CAN THINK OF OUT THERE IS INTRODUCING
ETS. BUT THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF
UNDERSTANDING WHERE AND HOW THE FEE STRUCTURES SHOULD SIT AND early stages of understanding where and how the fee structures should sit and where those fees should be allocated between and
among the various players that provide and generate the yield and bring in the capital assets. At the end of the day I think that
crypto ETFs like other ETFs are going to end up in fee structures that are going to be in the 50 basis points 20 basis points for
some types of products depending upon their complexity.
I think that's what's going to happen over time. How how long do you think it will be before we get there. It'll be fast. I think it'll be very quick.
I think I think that what will happen is there will be the when the staking ETFs were first introduced last fall really there was a rush to there's a rush of liquidity into them and then the crypto markets generally sold off. And I think that
muted what is otherwise a pretty robust adoption curve among crypto based ETFs and the entry of the market. So the numbers get smaller
partially because the underlying assets have declined in value. But the core principles that drive interest in the sector and the composability of these networks
decentralization the ability to create sort of mini economies. Those things haven't stopped at all. In many cases they've
accelerated partially because the new liquidity the new investor interest that the ETFs provide causes it to get attention.
Right. Brings more people into the world, causes more holders to exist.
And therefore there's more capital interested in unpacking these complex issues.
And just before we go, drive it home for us.
What is it going to be that's going to bring these fees down so quickly?
Is it going to be competitiveness?
Is it going to be the underlying infrastructure?
Is it going to be a combination?
I think it's going to be the continued entry of the largest players and their continued effort to unpack the complexity of sort of where and how and the differentiation of what providers like global state can provide. We were on a competitive network to Ethereum. Solana we've been able to generate the highest yields of any infrastructure provider due to small nuances and how we run our network, how we own our and control our own infrastructure.
And those kinds of differences, the 20 basis points, the 10 basis points, as the numbers get larger, those make a huge difference. So I think that over time, capital and ETF providers will begin to sort of discern around these things,
not just going with IBM or going with the largest known name, which is the way most decisions are made today. I I know I said it was the last question. This is really the last. No I love it. For for investors out there who are looking at the different products. How can they go about looking at the technology and understanding the infrastructure so they can make a better decision on maybe what ETF provider to go. Well I actually say I mean I would say CoinBest CoinDesk does a good job of like you know having having
data around a lot of these products. What I'd say is the ETFs themselves the issues themselves do a pretty good job of describing
you know the the protocols and the technologies and the ones that are that are coming forward with ETFs are the most well
established. They're not your random cryptocurrency that you know your your your 13 year old buys and sells. These are these are the much more established networks with much more developed roadmaps.
And what I what I would say is understanding if you understand the nuances some of the nuances the difference between Ethereum and Solana and Bitcoin you understand enough to
then begin to explore you know in the sector in a you know in a small way. You don't the point of a global stake is that you don't have to
understand all those specifics. The the of course the portfolio manager at the ETF provider where they're going to understand all
these nuances in granular detail. They're starting to ask those questions. Richard thanks so much for joining the show. It was a
pleasure having you on. Yeah. Thanks a lot for having me. Appreciate it. That was Richard Shorten co-founder of Global Stake.
All right. if you're
just joining us, this is Coindesk's Public Keys at the New York Stock Exchange. Speaking of ETFs,
we're going to take a look at Bitcoin and Ether ETF flows now. Bitcoin spot ETFs are extending
their rebound, posting a fourth straight week of inflows. But momentum is cooling after a $767
million surge the week prior. Inflows slowed to just 95 million dollars last week.
Now this marks a strong recovery after heavy outflows earlier this year when losses topped
a billion dollars. That tells me things are starting to stabilize. This week the focus
shifts to whether that softer inflow trend holds as macro and geopolitical risks pick up.
If uncertainty continues to build and flows re-accelerate it could signal investors are
turning to Bitcoin as a hedge.
But if flows stall or reverse, it may point to broader risk-off positioning.
Ethereum spot ETFs, on the other hand, flipped back into outflows last week, losing about $60 million after returning to positive territory the three weeks prior.
That reversal highlights continued inconsistency in institutional demand for ETH, especially compared to Bitcoin.
Now, this data suggests that institutions could be less convinced on ETH's near-term narrative,
whether that's around network activity, fees or broader positioning in a macro-driven market.
Now, what to watch here is whether last week's outflow can turn into another sustained stretch of redemptions,
particularly as macro and geopolitical risks rise. STATCH OF REDEMPTIONS, PARTICULARLY AS MACRO AND GEOPOLITICAL RISKS RISE. IF IT CONTINUES TO WEAKEN, IT COULD REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT ETH IS
VIEWED AS A HIGHER RISK CRYPTOALLOCATION. BUT IF INFLOWS RESUME, IT MIGHT SIGNAL THAT INVESTORS ARE STARTING TO SEE VALUE AT THESE LEVELS AND
GAINING CONFIDENCE IN ETHERIUM'S LONGER-TERM STORY. Oh! Oh. Welcome back to Coindesk's Public Keys at the New York Stock Exchange.
For more on the crypto market movers and what you should be watching this week, we're joined by Bitwise Asset Management's head of research, Ryan Rasmussen. Hey, Ryan.
Hey, Jen. Good to be here. Good to see you, IRL. Yes. Yes, it's great.
All right. We have taken a look at a few things throughout the show.
Of course, we talked about the weekend's events and the rising tensions that are going on in the Middle East.
And we just took a look at ETF flows.
Bitcoin is looking a little subdued when we compare it to last week and ETH of course saw outflows this week.
Let's start with the tensions in the Middle East. Talk to me a little bit about what you're watching there and how that might inform crypto markets this week.
Yeah I mean it's certainly volatile time and there's surprising news it seems almost every single day.
Even this morning we saw an interview with Trump where maybe things are easing faster than people expected. WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE CONFLICT EASING SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE CONFLICT EASING SOONER
RATHER THAN LATER.
WE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE MIDDLE
EAST BECAUSE IT AFFECTS INVESTORS RISK APPETITES AND
HOW THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT ALLOCATING ACROSS THE SPECTRUM
INCLUDING TO BITCOIN.
OUR GENERAL VIEW IS THAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE CONFLICT EASE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. later that investors are going to turn risk on. We think that's net positive for Bitcoin, Ethereum and all other crypto assets. That was definitely a view we heard last week. But after the weekend's events it really felt like things were escalating quickly. As you said we heard from the president this morning it's feeling like things are going to ease. It really feels like we can't make a prediction in these environments. So just give me your bull and bear case. I mean, like if if it doesn't ease, what happens?
What do you expect to see in the crypto market? Yeah, I think the important thing to remember is that a bit wise when we're talking to
financial advisors and other professional investors, they're very long term oriented and how they're making allocations.
They're very systematic. They allocate based on models and model portfolios. So many investors that we're speaking to when they're
thinking about investing in Bitcoin or Ethereum or other crypto assets, they're thinking three, five, ten year time horizon.
So from that perspective, I don't think what happens, whether it's a month, three months, six months from now, when these tensions ease and when this conflict eases, I don't think that's extremely important for the long term allocations.
But short term, it certainly impacts sentiment. We've been on the road talking to advisors for the past few weeks. I've met with over 700 investors last week and I can say they're heavily engaged in crypto. They're asking about all kinds of things from tokenization to stable coins to Bitcoin to Ethereum Solana regulation. So they're very engaged despite what's happening. What's the most surprising thing they're asking you. What would I be surprised to hear that the institutions you are talking to on the road are asking about?
One thing that I got asked this past week which I was surprised about was around how the rising energy prices affect Bitcoin mining.
And so the reason that surprised me is because it's kind of an in-depth question for a financial advisor to be asking when they don't spend a lot of time
thinking about crypto. And a year ago or two years ago the questions we were getting was isn't the government just going to ban Bitcoin.
So now they're thinking about things on a second and third order. So I think that's great. Otherwise getting a lot of questions about XRP which is always fascinating to see out in the professional investor world.
I think Ripple is doing a really good job of winning mind share in that space. Speaking of miners I think I saw a story this morning that said miners are losing about $19,000 a coin in the current environment.
How are you looking at the public Bitcoin miners right now? Bitcoin mining is a tough space. It's a commoditized business. The margins are very thin.
So I do think that with rising energy prices, it is going to put a bigger squeeze on that profitability. As you mentioned, they're losing money right now in most cases. IT IS GOING TO PUT A BIGGER SQUEEZE ON THE PROFITABILITY. IT IS GOING TO PUT A BIGGER SQUEEZE ON THE PROFITABILITY.
THEY ARE LOSING MONEY RIGHT NOW IN MOST CASES.
IF THE PRICE OF BITCOIN STAYS WHERE IT IS AT, IT WILL CONTINUE
TO HAPPEN. WE WILL SEE CONSOLIDATION ACROSS
THE SPACE. FEWER MINERS ARE PARTICIPATING
AT THE LOSS THAT THEY ARE OPERATING AT RIGHT NOW, THAT WILL
REDUCE THE COST TO MINE FOR THOSE MINERS WHO CAN WITHSTAND THIS DRAWDOWN. I THINK WE WILL SEE SOME CONSOLIDATION. THOSE WELL CAPITALIZED MINERS those miners who can withstand this drawdown. So I think we'll see some consolidation and those well capitalized miners will continue to profit. The AI tailwind has been great for a lot
of these miners, of course, because it gives them a second revenue line and second driver of growth
that they can focus on. And I think that's a really interesting space to watch. I want to talk
about Circle now up 100 percent in a month. Talk to me a little bit about what's driving this.
Yeah. Circles had a fantastic run over the past month. As you mentioned I think there's a lot of excitement about stable coins.
Most investors that we talk to a bit wise are asking about stable coins.
A lot of the big big wealth platforms are interested in how to invest in stable coins and Circle is one of the only pure play ways to get exposure. INVESTED IN STABLE COIN. CIRCLE IS ONE OF THE ONLY PURE PLAY WAYS TO GET EXPOSURE.
YOU CAN INVEST IN THE UNDERLYING INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE
ETHEREUM OR CHAIN LINK OR SOLANA.
IF YOU WANT PURE PLAY EXPOSURE CIRCLE IS ONE OF THE
BEST WAYS TO DO IT.
ESPECIALLY FOR PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS.
WHAT HAS BEEN DRIVING THE GROWTH OF CIRCLE OVER THE
PAST MONTH IS THE RENEWED INCREASE IN STABLE COIN AUM.
ALSO THIS REGULATORY TAILWIND AND THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL AND INTEREST BEING INVESTED IN AND FOCUSED ON increase in stablecoin AUM but also this regulatory tailwind and just the massive amount of capital and interest being invested in and focused on stable coins from traditional payment in companies like MasterCard and Visa etc.
And so Circles is just a pure play way to get exposure. Investors want exposure to an industry that's going to grow from 300 billion to 4 trillion over the next five years like Scott Besson says. And Circles is very well positioned to take advantage of that growth. So investors really understanding the stablecoin narrative right now it sounds. I think INTO FOR TRILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, LIKE SCOTT BESSEN SAYS, AND CIRCLE IS VERY WELL POSITIONED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF THAT GROWTH.
SO INVESTORS REALLY UNDERSTANDING THE STABLE COIN
NARRATIVE RIGHT NOW, IT SOUNDS.
I THINK THAT THEY HEAR THAT COMPANIES LIKE TETHER MAKE
MORE PROFIT THAN GOLDMAN SACHS AND THEY WANT TO INVEST IN THAT
KIND OF A COMPANY.
AND THEY HEAR THAT IT'S GOING TO GROW FROM 300 BILLION TO
4 TRILLION. AND THEY WANT EXPOSURE.
THEY DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO GET EXPOSURE.
AND SO WHEN THEY OPEN UP THE BLOOMBERG TERMINAL AND THEY
START SEARCHING AROUND CIRCLE IS ONE OF THE FIRST NAMES THEY LAND ON. CIRCLE IS A REALLY GREAT
COMPANY AND THEY HAVE A STRONG POSITIONING PARTICULARLY IN THE REGULATED STABLE COIN SPACE
WHICH IS WHAT A LOT OF INSTITUTIONS CARE ABOUT. IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHERE THE REGULATED STABLE
COIN SPACE IS GOING TO GO POST GENIUS ACT IN JANUARY 2027 AND AFTER THE CLARITY ACT, THAT'S
REALLY IMPORTANT FOR A LOT OF TRADITIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT THEY ARE OPERATING and after the Clarity Act, that's really important for a lot of traditional financial institutions that they're operating within the confines of that regulation.
And Circle may only have 30% of the traditional stablecoin market,
but they have something like 80% to 90% of the regulated market.
And I think that's where a lot of the growth is going to occur.
From $300 billion to $400 billion, I think a lot of that's going to occur in the regulated stablecoin space,
and they just have a really strong grip on that market.
Clarity Act, of course, got held up over the stablecoin yield debate. It seems like there's a little bit more momentum behind it now. Talk to me a little bit about how institutions are watching that. How concerned are they about market structure legislation and whether or not that's going to pass. Institutions are pretty concerned about market structure. I think they've been waiting on the sidelines for so many years now. And those of us in the industry have been saying regulatory clarity is coming. And of course it's happening with the SEC. It's happening with the CFTC. I THINK THEY HAVE BEEN WAITING ON THE SIDELINES FOR SO MANY YEARS NOW. THOSE OF US IN THE INDUSTRY HAVE BEEN SAYING REGULATORY
CLARITY IS COMING.
OF COURSE IT IS HAPPENING WITH THE SEC AND THE CFTC.
WE HAVE SEEN GREAT PROGRESS ON THAT SIDE OF THINGS OVER THE
PAST FEW MONTHS.
BUT THEY REALLY WANT TO SEE LEGISLATION BE PUT INTO PLACE
SO THEY CAN KNOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO BE AND WHERE THEY
CAN OPERATE IN OVER THE NEXT 3, 5, 10 YEARS.
SO IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GET THE CLARITY ACT PASSED. THEY ARE PAYING A LOT OF ATTENTION TO IT. they can operate in over the next three, five, ten years. So it's very important that we get the Clarity Act passed. They're paying a lot of attention to it.
And I think it's surprising a lot of investors that it's such a focus point on you in D.C. for lawmakers. I think two years ago you would have never thought that they were
spending a lot of time talking about stable coins and you know this banks versus crypto dilemma playing out. And so I think it's just capturing a lot of mind share right now. And investors see that and it grabs their attention. All right. Ryan as we wrap up the show we head into the week. What are you watching. What should folks at home be watching. And how do you think it's going to inform the markets as we head deeper into the week. Well I do think what's happening on a macro perspective is really taking the front seat right now with markets. We've seen a big pop in markets this morning following Trump saying that perhaps there's a deal that they're going to reach. But I think over the next few weeks seeing what happens to clarity is very important. The closer we get to midterms I think the harder it is for that to get past. So really hoping to see that pass perhaps in Q2. And I think that will drive a lot of sentiment going forward around the L1s and around the stablecoin and tokenization space.
Ryan, thanks so much for joining the show and setting us up for the week. It was a pleasure.
Great to be here with you in person.
That was head of research at Bitwise Asset Management, Ryan Rasmussen.
All right, finally, we're going to do a quick check on market sentiment.
The crypto fear and greed index has dropped back down to eight firmly in extreme fear territory.
That's a deterioration from last week, signaling a renewed wave of risk aversion
as volatility and macro uncertainty weigh on investor confidence.
Historically, readings at these levels tend to coincide with periods of capitulation
where selling pressure is elevated and weaker hands exit the market.
What to watch now is whether that extreme fear persists or begins to reverse in the days
ahead. If sentiment starts to recover alongside stabilizing ETF flows and price action, it could
point to a potential bottoming process. But if fear remains pinned at these levels, it may signal
continued caution and downside risk in the near term. That's it for Coindesk's public keys from
the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Jen Sinassi. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next week.
