Podcast
172: four rules, five days
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. I don't think Washington has ever shipped this much crypto policy in a single week. Each one would normally be the headline. * The US Labor Department proposed allowing Bitcoin in 401(k) plans, opening digital assets to $7.7 trillion in American retirement savings. * US Congress advanced a payment stablecoin framework, pushing dollar-backed digital currencies closer to formal regulatory recognition. * The Treasury published its first rule under the GENIUS Act.
171: NYSE and Nasdaq pick sides
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. Tuning in from DAS New York this week (which was much more institutional than last year). A few things that caught my eye: * A bipartisan Senate deal on stablecoin yields finally broke months of gridlock on the Clarity Act (banks won). * Both NYSE and Nasdaq announced tokenization partners this week, but they have very different ideas about what comes next. Our other highlights this week: * Franklin Templeton puts five ETFs on the blockchain * Coinbase and B
The man who co-wrote HTTP/2 just IPO'd a crypto bank, with Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ The man who co-wrote HTTP/2, the protocol loading this page right now, just IPO’d a crypto bank. Priced at $18 in January, trading at ~$10 today. And he doesn’t care. Watch on Youtube Mike Belshe started BitGo in 2013 and spent 13 years doing the boring work nobody wanted to do: multi-sig wallets, cold storage, SOC audits, trust company licenses in seven jurisdictions. While every other crypto firm was chasing volume or yield or hype, BitGo was filing paperwork. Now the fir
Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. The SEC did something this week that people will look back on. * They issued a 68-page joint interpretation on token classifications together with the CFTC, for the first time in 183 years of combined existence. * Chairman Atkins proposed a principles-based framework, replacing stock-market checklists with broad standards like disclosure and investor protection. * Director Moloney declared the end of the Howey Test for crypto, the 80-year-old standard used to c
"I apologize", SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on Crypto's New Rules
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ An SEC Commissioner just apologized to the crypto industry. On the record. To us. “The regulatory approach made your lives a lot more difficult. I’ve talked to people who really were hurt. I do apologize for that.” Watch on Youtube That’s Hester Peirce, who spent eight years as the SEC’s lone crypto dissenter and now leads its entire Crypto Task Force. The woman who quoted the cypherpunk manifesto from a government podium and wore protest t-shirts during commission meetings
169: NYSE, OKX, Kraken, ECB, Revolut
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. NYSE picked OKX. Nasdaq picked Kraken. America's two largest stock exchanges are now both building tokenized equities through crypto-native settlement partners, and neither picked a bank. Also this week, the SEC and CFTC signed a historic MOU to coordinate on digital asset oversight, with Chairman Atkins pushing for a unified framework including joint product reviews. Here are our highlights this week: * Nasdaq to build tokenized equities with Kraken * ECB lau
168: NYSE, OKX, Kraken
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. The SEC submitted a proposal outlining how securities laws apply to crypto. This means: SEC won’t wait for Congress. And Washington is betting on private stablecoins and regulated crypto. [SEC] More on that below. Here are our highlights this week: * ICE (NYSE’s parent) invested in OKX at a $25 billion valuation, with plans to let OKX users trade tokenized NYSE-listed stocks on-chain by H2 2026. [RELEASE] * We sat down with the man responsible for this.
He ran the NYSE, now he's putting it on a blockchain, with Michael Blaugrund, VP at ICE
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ We sat down with Michael Blaugrund, the man bridging the world’s most important equity market, the NYSE, on-chain. The platform goes live later in 2026. It’s the biggest change to capital market since electronic trading. “Irrespective of where crypto asset prices are, the infrastructure momentum at this point is unstoppable.” All US equities on-chain by 2030? Michael thinks not quite. By 2035? He’s betting yes. Watch on Youtube “For a crypto-native investor, the idea of ma
The liquidity cycle just broke bitcoin, with Michael Howell, Founder at CrossBorder Capital
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ There's a chart making the rounds right now. Gold at $5,400. Bitcoin at $66,000. One is at an all-time high. The other is down 47% from its October peak of ~$126,000. Same "store of value" thesis that the crypto community sold to investors over the last 5 years. Wildly different outcomes. We sat down with the man who saw it coming. Dr. Michael Howell, one of the world’s foremost authorities on global liquidity, founder of CrossBorder Capital and creator of the Global Liquidit
167: Stripe wants to eat PayPal alive
Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. Welcome back to your weekly briefing. The US stablecoin regulation is maturing. The OCC just proposed new rules to put guardrails around stablecoins (digital money tied to the U.S. dollar), following the GENIUS Act that passed last year. The rules cover everything from who can issue them to how they must be backed and managed. [RELEASE] 👉 Join the 51 live session with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce on March 6, 3pm EST. Spots are limited! Reserve your spot Other
166: Apollo bought 9% of a DeFi protocol
166: Apollo bought 9% of a DeFi protocol0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. Welcome back to your weekly briefing. Here's where we are: * BTC is holding around $67K with the broader market steady near ~$2.3T. Polymarket odds for BTC reaching up $75K in February sit at 15%. * Institutions kept averaging into the drawdown: BitMine bought 45,759 ETH ($90M), while Strategy added 2,486 BTC ($168M). * Now, DeFi had an interesting week. Strong announcements (BlackRock x Uniswap, Apollo x Morp
165: The dip is being bought
165: The dip is being bought0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. After last week’s brutal sell-off that pushed BTC toward the low around $60k (2024 level), the market has finally staged a calm. Institutions are back in business buying the dip; * BitMine bought 40,613 ETH ($79M) while Strategy added 1,142 BTC ($90M). * Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) added about 8,770 BTC ($600M). * Goldman Sachs’ recent SEC filing showed about $2.36B in crypto exposure through ETFs, includ
Ethereum, AI, and the end of trust: Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum & CEO of Consensys
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ The world is broken. Trust in nearly all institutions is lost. The complex systems we rely on for our survival are daunting and unwieldy. We are in the dying stages of an 80-year monetary regime and debt supercycle. The conclusion is clear: the current system is unsustainable. The answer is decentralization. That’s Joseph Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys. While most people are watching the daily candles of Bitcoin and Ether, Joe is watching the “Fourth Tur
164: Capital is repricing
164: Capital is repricing0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. What a week, folks – and only in crypto. We have a packed newsletter for you today to untangle everything that happened. In case you missed it: Bitcoin crashed 30% in 7 days below $60K (is not already back at $70K) amid a brutal market-wide crash that wiped over $1T in value and lead $5B+ in liquidations. Strategy and Bitmine are sitting on billions in unrealized losses, choosing not to sell and instead continuing to buy more,
163: The Canton moment
163: The Canton moment0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. While Blackrock took a quiet $100M stake in Canton, BitGo IPO’d at $2B and Tether launched its US stablecoin USAT, the biggest shift in crypto this week came from Capitol Hill: “Advancing this bill brings us closer to a U.S. regulatory framework that protects consumers while allowing American innovation and businesses to thrive.” — John Boozman, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman * The Senate
162: Davos just confirmed it
162: Davos just confirmed it0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Davos is usually where the establishment pats itself on the back. This year, they looked over their shoulder. Suddenly, crypto isn’t a “scam” , but national defense. And the bankers who spent a decade mocking it? They are panic-buying the infrastructure. Jamie Dimon (and others) are realizing that if they don’t upgrade to the “new physics of money”, they won’t just lose market share, they’ll be displaced. “We can now move infinite data a
161: Washington stalled. Bitcoin didn’t.
161: Washington stalled. Bitcoin didn’t.0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Big week for crypto regulation: The industry just shot itself in the foot. “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.” — Brian Armstrong, CEO and Co-founder of Coinbase Twenty-four hours before Congress was set to vote on the most comprehensive crypto bill in U.S. history, Coinbase pulled its support. His stance: the CLARITY Act would ban stablecoin yield, narrow tokenized asset pathways, and expand surveillance in DeFi. Plu
Why Polygon chose payments, with Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “The idea of general purpose blockchains or blockchains where all block space is worth the same is going to go away. Within a year, maybe two years, you can guarantee they’re pretty much identical. In that world, we recognized a need to differentiate ourselves again.” That’s Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs, explaining why being just “another fast L2” is no longer a viable business model. For years, Polygon owned DeFi. Fast, cheap transactions. $10 billion TVL at peak. T
Leading economist on why Bitcoin’s biggest risk isn’t regulation, with Garrick Hileman
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Everyone has a boss. The central bank’s boss is a devil known as inflation. When inflation is tame, they can tune the economy and bail out the system. But when price pressure stays steady, the central bank gets constrained. That’s the environment crypto sits in today.” That’s Garrick Hileman, one of the few Bitcoin advocates who’s deeply skeptical about what Bitcoin will actually become. Watch on Youtube 🚨We’re opening sponsorships for our next podcast series. Top guests.
160: The signal showed up fast.
160: The signal showed up fast.0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. 2026 didn’t wait. Last week, we shared our top 12 narratives for 2026. Seven days later, the market started confirming them. On January 5, Bank of America opened the door for 15,000 advisors to recommend Bitcoin ETFs. Forty-eight hours later, Morgan Stanley crossed a bigger line: filing to launch its own Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. You’re right: Not distribution, but issuance. Coincidence? No. It’s regulation finally doing its job. Thes
159: 2026, the year of...
159: 2026, the year of...0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Happy Holidays! Below are the sharpest signals we’ve seen hiding beneath the year-end noise. Here are my top 12 narratives I am interested in going into 2026: 1. RWA’s & 24/7 settlements 2. Stablecoin TradFi implementation and rails 3. Onchain cross-border payments 4. Tokenized treasuries & deposits (vs stablecoins) 5. Public vs. corporate chains 6. DeFi x TradFi (yield products) 7. Privacy 8. Quantum resistance 9. Predicti
Why the application layer is crypto’s next $10T opportunity, with Richard Galvin, CIO of DACM
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ "We think the space now moves to a growth phase where the underlying build-out is largely done and value really shifts to the applications that sit on top.” That’s Richard Galvin, Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM), describing the most compelling arbitrage in crypto right now. Watch on Youtube Richard’s thesis is simple but profound: The era of investing only in "Blockchains" (Layer 1s) is ending. The era of "Applicati
158: Exchange everything
Hey, it’s Marc. “Public blockchains are more transparent than any legacy financial system ever built... crypto could become the most powerful financial surveillance architecture ever invented.” — Paul Atkins at SEC crypto task force roundtable The real action this weeks are infrastructure updates: Coinbase, DTCC, SoFi, JP Morgan. The winners? Ethereum, Canton, and Solana. On top of that, the OCC has approved five national trust bank charters for digital asset entities. Now, these entities wi
Why altcoins will be bigger than Bitcoin, with Yat Siu, Co-founder of Animoca Brands
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Capitalism is the superior system broadly. But when left unchecked, it has a lot of problems. And the reason communism and socialism have become more popular is because most people in the world are not participating in the capitalist system.” That’s Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, outlining what drives Animoca Brand’s investment thesis. Animoca has quietly built a $1.4 billion portfolio of over 600 companies. Their bet? That while Bitcoin is the
157: The Fed is bullish
(but read this)
The $400 trillion tokenization migration, with Carlos Domingo, CEO Securitize
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “The $400 trillion market is any asset that is recorded on an antiquated ledger... If we go to $2 trillion in the next five or 10 years, that would be a very good outcome for everybody.” That’s Carlos Domingo, CEO and co-founder of tokenization pioneer Securitize. Watch on Youtube And he clears up a big myth: “Tokenization makes the asset easier to trade... But that doesn’t necessarily make it liquid unless the asset is liquid itself because the liquidity is intrinsic to t
156: Wall Street just surrendered
(but read this)
The crypto playbook for 2026, with Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Zero is crazy because it means you’re just completely against the market... The starting point is about 2% of the size of the equity market and that should be the neutral starting point.” That’s Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management, on Bitcoin allocation. His point isn’t that one needs to be a crypto evangelist or a “laser-eyed” maximalist. It’s simply that in a world where Harvard is tripling its exposure and sovereign wealth funds are doubling down, having 0% expos
155: Downgraded
Bitcoin erases 2025 gains (but read this)
154: Quantum, Kraken, Circle
154: Quantum, Kraken, Circle0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Investors are trying to make sense of one of the sharpest, most confusing selloffs of the year. Here are the top 6 narratives right now: 1. Vitalik Buterin and Ray Dalio warning about crypto’s lack of quantum resistance 2. The rise of privacy coins such as Zcash, a feature Bitcoin can’t deliver (Jan Van Eck talked about this on CNBC this week). 3. a major market maker may have taken balance-sheet damage, thinning liquidity when the mar
153: ICO's are back
153: ICO's are back0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Introducing… 💎 Investor Insights (PRO): our new bottom-of-newsletter section loaded with alpha: * Each week we break down the biggest news in crypto. * Now, for PRO readers, we answer the only question that matters: How can you act on that and front-run the market? You’ll get trade ideas, allocation plays & actionable alpha. 👉 Upgrade to PRO to unlock this week’s Investor Insights. Let’s get into it… This week, at the Cantor’s Crypto & AI/
Europe’s €11 trillion stablecoin opportunity, with Sveinn Valfells, Co-Founder of Monerium
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Fiat needs to move 24/7. And that’s what blockchains are built for.” That’s Sveinn Valfells, co-founder of Monerium, one of Europe’s oldest and largest stablecoin players – and one of the few people in Europe who’s not just talking about on-chain finance but actually building the regulatory-compliant rails to make it happen. In this episode, we talk about how Sveinn helped write the stablecoin playbook that’s now shaping global policy. His company, Monerium, issued the firs
152: Billion-dollar checks
152: Billion-dollar checks0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. This week, I had the chance to speak with Raoul Pal on the big debasement trade, rising debt, Bitcoin vs Gold and the best macro play for the next 5 years. Then, the signal of the week: Mastercard: $2B for Zerohash. Coinbase: $2B for BVNK. Kraken: $1.5B for NinjaTrader. Ripple: Palisade. Securitize: $1.25B SPAC. The pattern is unmistakable: crypto and payment giants are writing billion-dollar checks to own the infrastructure layer of digi
Raoul Pal’s 2026 Playbook: Dollar, Debt, and Crypto's Big Debasement Trade
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “We’ve now got the single most powerful factor in all of investing that’s ever existed… Everything is tied to this debasement of currency.” That’s Raoul Pal, CEO of Real Vision and one of the most respected macro thinkers in the world, explaining why the entire financial system has converged on a single trade: outrun the collapse of fiat. In this episode, Raoul lays out a sweeping thesis: The world is caught in a massive sovereign debt spiral that can only be managed by pers
151: Forget tokens
151: Forget tokens0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. When JPMorgan tokenizes private equity, Circle launches a blockchain with 100+ Wall Street partners, and Mastercard drops $2 billion on a crypto infrastructure deal, the signal is clear: We’re in a race to own the rails of the next financial system. Some are building them (JPM, BlackRock, Stripe, IBM, Circle), others are buying them. 2025 has quietly become the year of crypto M&A: * Stripe → Privy * Coinbase → Echo, Deribit * Mastercard → ZeroH
150: Same Game, New Rails
150: Same Game, New Rails0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. J.P. Morgan just did what no major bank had dared: it will now lend against Bitcoin and Ethereum. That single decision pulls crypto into the global credit system. This is a small step for JPM, but a big step for crypto, particularly Ethereum (more below). In the same week, Aave launched Horizon, letting institutions borrow stablecoins against tokenized Treasuries and funds on-chain. Read that together: banks are accepting crypto as collater
149: The Great Repricing
Blackrock to tokenize everything
Ethereum's Endgame: Why Credible Neutrality Beats Speed, with William Mougayar
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “You cannot build a reputation based on what you are going to do. Trust must be earned over time. The track record matters.” William Mougayar on why Ethereum’s 10-year record matters more than competitor speed claims. William Mougayar, an early internet pioneer and one of the first to recognise the potential of Ethereum, has been in the technology business for nearly four decades. He met Vitalik Buterin in late 2013 and has had a front-row seat to the evolution of the blockc
148: Half of Japan
148: Half of Japan0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Today, major news broke that G7 banks are about to launch a stablecoin. They’re coming for Tether and Circle. More on that below. Another story that caught my eye: Luxembourg’s sovereign wealth fund allocated 1% of its portfolio ($9M) to a BTC ETF. That’s first state-level Bitcoin investment in the Eurozone. But did you know that Norways and Switzerland’s Central Bank already hold 100s of millions in Strategy shares for indirect Bitcoin exposure? W
How Stablecoins Are Eating Payments, with Chris Harmse, Co-founder & CBO of BVNK
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Money should travel at the speed of the internet. Stablecoins make that possible.” — Chris Harmse, Co-founder & CBO of BVNK BVNK, a leading stablecoin payment infrastructure provider, just hit $20 billion in annual transaction volume with 320 employees. In May, they partnered with Worldpay, which processes $2.3 trillion annually for 1M+ merchants, to enable stablecoin payouts across 180+ countries. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our podcast. Want to reach 35k
147: Everyone has a stablecoin
147: Everyone has a stablecoin0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. Token2049, the world’s biggest crypto event, just wrapped in Singapore and this year felt different: stablecoin rails, tokenized treasuries, and prediction markets. Meanwhile, SWIFT just picked Ethereum to build a blockchain with 30+ global banks. The same network that moves $150T a year is admitting crypto rails are the future. Stripe just launched stablecoin-as-a-service. Every fintech, exchange, and enterprise can now mint its own s
Inside Pantera’s $500M Solana Treasury Play, with Cosmo Jiang, GP at Pantera Capital
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Solana is just faster, cheaper, and more accessible. It maps perfectly to the same consumer demand cycle that made Amazon unbeatable.” — Cosmo Jiang, General Partner at Pantera Capital 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. 🎧 Jump to the best parts * (10:56) → Why “NAV per share” is the new “free cash flow per share: Cosmo explains how digital asset treasuries work just like banks or Amazon i
146: Vanguard + 401(k)s
146: Vanguard + 401(k)s0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. “There is room for both gold and Bitcoin to coexist on central bank balance sheets by 2030.” — Deutsche Bank, in a new report released this week. Did you know that Norwegian and Swiss National Bank already have $700M+ of Bitcoin exposure by owning Strategy stocks? PS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. Then: Citi came out with a new report and estimated the stablecoin market size to grow up to $4T by 2030. [Full report]
Stable Fees, Infinite Scale with Matt Sorg, VP of Technology at Solana Foundation
Hey, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Solana’s built to be the internet’s capital market fast, decentralized, and ready for the future.” We sat down with Matt Sorg, VP of Technology at Solana Foundation, for an insightful look into why Solana’s high-speed, low-cost blockchain is redefining how value moves globally. From his days leading AI at Unity to steering Solana’s tech vision, Matt’s journey reflects the cutting edge of blockchain innovation. Now, he’s helping Solana power everything from meme coins to in
145: SEC goes all-in on crypto
145: SEC goes all-in on crypto0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. The SEC approved “generic listing standards” that cut crypto ETF approvals from 240+ days to just 75. What this means: instead of only Bitcoin and Ethen reum ETFs, we could see 100+ new ETFs (Solana, XRP, DOGE, you name it) in the next 12 months. [More] On top of that, the Fed cut rates to 4.0–4.25% and signaled two more this year to support jobs: “Federal Reserve doesn't feel the need to move quickly on interest rate cuts.” — Jerome
The $1.6B Solana Treasury Bet, with Kyle Samani, Co-Founder of Multicoin Capital
Hey, it’s Marc. ✌️ “Solana is the foundation for Internet Capital Markets. And we’re building the most on-chain public company in the world to prove it.” We sat down with Kyle Samani — co-founder of Multicoin Capital, early Solana backer, and now Chairman of Forward Industries — a newly launched $1.65B Solana treasury company backed by Multicoin, Galaxy Digital, and Jump [RELEASE]. 📈 NASDAQ: FORD "We are now the largest Solana DAT Treasury company in the world. And I can tell you our aspirat
144: NASDAQ goes on-chain
144: NASDAQ goes on-chain0:00/2001× Hey, it’s Marc. This week felt like a turning point. Nasdaq tokenizing stocks, Tether entering the US, Fidelity moving Treasuries onchain, Franklin Templeton plugging into Binance, and then, this: “Crypto’s time has come. Most crypto tokens are not securities, and we will draw the lines clearly. We must ensure that entrepreneurs can raise capital on-chain without endless legal uncertainty.” — SEC chair Paul Atkins Wow. On top of that, we’ve all been glued
How America weaponized crypto
Hey, it’s Marc. Russia just accused America of weaponizing crypto to "erase its $35 trillion debt." Washington will "shove debt into stablecoins, devalue it, and reset the system." They're not wrong. July 18 was the day the U.S. stopped playing defence and went all-in on digital assets: President Trump signed the GENIUS Act [The law], America's first federal crypto law. The House passed the CLARITY Act 294-134. Together, these laws transform stablecoins into a private-sector engine that fun
The New Entertainment Economy
How blockchain is rewriting music and entertainment.
The 500M BNB Treasury Company, with David Namdar, CEO of BNB Network Company
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️ “BNB is the most overlooked blue-chip crypto asset in the space. It’s tied to the largest company in crypto, and yet Western investors still don’t fully get it.” We sat down with David Namdar — hedge fund veteran, Bitcoin OG, Galaxy Digital co-founder — now CEO of BNB Network Company (BNC), a $500M digital asset treasury betting big on BNB. Watch on Youtube David has been in crypto for more than a decade. From attempting one of the first Bitcoin ETFs at SolidX, to building