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Mahesh and John Wu, President of Ava Labs, are joined by J. Paul Meyer, founder of Collar Network, to explore innovative solutions in decentralized finance (DeFi). J. Paul shares how Collar Network, a smart contract-based lending protocol, helps crypto investors borrow against their holdings in a hedged, non-liquidatable manner—addressing challenges like tax implications and liquidity. Drawing from his Goldman Sachs background, J. Paul discusses the need for financial services tailored to crypto's emerging wealthy class and the risks of replicating traditional finance's mistakes. They also touch on regulation, market behavior, and the future of Bitcoin, AI in finance, and Web3 value capture.

Check out Collar's beta platform at beta.collarprotocol.xyz 

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

01:16 - The Role of ETFs in Tokenization

03:10 - Discussion on Goldman Sachs and Its Relevance

06:35 - The Impact of Technology on Financial Services

08:51 - The Consolidation of the Banking Sector

10:19 - Competing with Large Financial Institutions

13:27 - Weaknesses of Large Financial Institutions

17:02 - Overview of Collar Networks and Its Mission

20:32 - Comparison with Traditional Margin-Based Borrowing

22:44 - User Experience in Financial Products

24:51 - Future Product Development at Collar

26:20 - Finding Liquidity in DeFi Markets

28:10 - Working with Major Financial Institutions

30:57 - Concerns About Repeating Past Financial Mistakes

33:02 - Future Strategies for Collar Network

36:54 - Political and Regulatory Considerations

38:27 - Lightning Round: Quickfire Questions

41:02 - Closing Remarks 

Disclaimer: The hosts and the firms they represent may hold stakes in the companies mentioned in this podcast. None of this is financial advice.