On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Theo Golden, Head of Digital Assets at Baillie Gifford, to talk about BAGEY — the firm's newly launched tokenized bond fund on Solana and Ethereum that yields around 7% and settles in USDC.

Theo breaks down why he sees tokenization as an operating system upgrade rather than a reinvention of finance, how pension funds and private banks are already showing real interest in its new tokenized fund, and why he thinks AI democratizing insight and tokenization democratizing access are two themes that will collide into something nobody has fully figured out yet.

DISCLAIMER: Although our guest this week works at Baillie Gifford, nothing in this podcast should be considered an offer of its investment advisory services or should otherwise be confused for investment, tax, legal or other financial advice.

This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders' journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on www.token-relations.com

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 His Journey to Digital Assets

03:33 From Journalism to Investment Theses

06:05 Learning from Successes and Failures

10:15 The Role of Independence in Baillie Gifford’s Innovation

15:19 Gradual Growth in Tokenization

20:57 Tokenization as an Operating System Upgrade

23:57 Convincing Clients of Tokenization's Value

24:50 Operational Leverage and Risk Management

27:12 The Origin of Baillie Gifford’s BAGEY Tokenized Fund

32:18 Initial Response and Market Interest

34:43 Choosing Solana and Ethereum for the Fund Launch

38:33 Solana and The Future of Internet Capital Markets

43:09 Trust and Adoption Among Institutional Investors

46:07 The Role of Traditional Institutions in Tokenization

47:59 AI and Tokenization: A Future Intersection

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Zaheer Ebtikar, Chief Strategy Officer at Plasma, to talk about why the recent wave of DeFi exploits is forcing a necessary reset and Plasma’s decision behind building a stablecoin-optimized chain around USDT. 

Zaheer also dives into the recent OpenUSD launch and how it can fit into an institutional stablecoin infrastructure world,, and why he thinks the biggest unlock still ahead is making it invisible enough that billions of people just use it without knowing it's there.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:36 - Thoughts on DeFi Exploits & Reconsolidation 

3:59 - Plasma's Stablecoin Strategy 

5:48 - Investor Pushback & Conviction 

9:07 - Lessons Since Launch 

12:46 - USDT & OpenUSD 

17:29 - The Stablecoin Landscape 

21:31 - What Makes a Durable Team 

24:55 - DeFi's Future 

30:49 - Advice for Founders 

40:57 - Plasma's Big Bets & Token Strategy 

45:53 - Long-Term Vision for DeFi

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On this edition of Strata Research, Jacquelyn sits down with institutional research analyst Alex Beaudry to dig into crypto cards, which many assumed were built for consumers but are actually seeing most traction from institutions. 

Alex breaks down why the developed market consumer card is basically a feature in search of a need, what Visa is building that could change the equation, and why onchain credit could be the piece of this stack that makes or breaks the whole argument. 

Check out the associated Strata Research report for more details: https://www.token-relations.com/p/the-real-story-behind-crypto-cards

TIMESTAMPS:

01:21 - What a crypto card actually is and how it works under the hood 

03:04 - Why the developed market consumer card hasn't taken off — and may never

07:22 - Where the real value actually is: B2B and institutional usage 

08:39 - The acquisition wave and why infrastructure is the real prize

11:46 - Onchain credit: what works and what's still broken 

14:01 - What to watch over the next 6–24 months

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Asheesh Birla, CEO of Evernorth, the Ripple-backed digital asset treasury firm holding roughly 473 million XRP tokens, to talk about why he thinks we've finally hit the inflection point that blockchain has been building toward for over a decade. 

Asheesh breaks down why most digital assets sit idle the same way cash sits in a bank account, how Evernorth is building a real-time agentic risk engine to change that, and why he believes the winners in this space will be the ones who develop the three pillars of tech, commercialization and liquidity.

TIMESTAMPS:

02:00 - The best use case for blockchains

04:16 - The pace of blockchain adoption vs expectations

08:15 - How Evernorth is creating liquidity for XRP and digital assets

10:00 - Industry misconceptions: tech vs adoption focus

11:33 - The Evernorth report findings for RLUSD and XRP 

14:11 - The significance of stablecoins for institutional markets

21:01 - The importance of asset optimization and real-time capital management

25:28 - How stablecoins strengthen crypto ecosystems rather than compete

30:33 - Idle capital as an overlooked signal and how to put assets to work

33:00 - Building trust and institutional confidence in blockchain

37:46 - The maturation of DeFi vaults and institutional-grade protocols

40:11 - Preparing Evernorth for listing and success metrics

46:42 - Long-term vision and advice for blockchain enthusiasts

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, we're sharing Jacquelyn’s Proof of Talk chat with Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, to break down why Aave V4 moved away from a single monolithic protocol toward a hub and spoke model that works more like a central bank. Stani gets into why a lot of centralized lenders didn't hold up through both the FTX collapse and last October's market unwind.

Then Stani explains why he thinks the next real growth phase for DeFi comes from financing things like AI infrastructure, tokenized equity, and credit for businesses that have never had access to capital this efficient before.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Aave and Stani Kulechov

03:09 Evolution from Aave V3 to Aave V4

06:03 Risk Management in DeFi

08:45 Building Network Resilience

11:58 Aave V4 and Corporate Treasury Management

14:48 Tokenized Assets and Aave Horizon

18:11 Institutional Interest in Tokenization

20:52 Mainstream Adoption of DeFi

24:02 Future Vision for Aave

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo to talk about MGUSD, the company's new dollar-backed stablecoin built on Stellar with help from Bridge, Fireblocks, and M0.

Anthony explores why launching MoneyGram decided to have its own stablecoin and breaks down how its 60 million active customers and nearly 500,000 retail locations across 200 countries play a role in it. Jacquelyn and Anthony also discuss why the real winners in this space might be the ones who make stablecoins disappear into the background entirely and how the asset can have a dual role in finance.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to MGUSD and MoneyGram's Vision

03:04 The Complexity of Cross-Border Payments

06:31 Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Adoption

10:15 The Role of Cash in a Digital Future

12:35 Stablecoins as a Preferred Payment Method

14:09 Self-Custody and User Education

18:22 The Future of Stablecoins and Consumer Adoption

21:33 Navigating Regional Differences in Adoption

24:07 Stablecoins vs. Traditional Banking

25:52 Choosing the Right Partners for MGUSD

28:40 The Dual Role of Stablecoins in Finance

31:21 Lessons from the Crypto Industry

34:51 Advice for Success in the Financial Space

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn sits down with Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional Relations at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, to talk about how liquid staking is finally breaking into traditional finance. 

From the WisdomTree staked ETH ETP in Europe to VanEck's recently filed S-1 for a Lido staked ETF in the US, Kean breaks down why institutions are asking sharper questions than ever before, how depth of liquidity is the single biggest driver behind Lido winning institutional mandates, and why he sees there's no good reason to hold unstaked ETH when you can get the same exposure with 3%.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Lido

03:00 Growth of Ethereum Staking and Institutional Interest

05:59 Understanding DAO Structures and Institutional Education

09:05 Tokenization and Its Impact on the Industry

11:58 The Role of Custodians in Institutional Crypto

14:58 Risk Management in Staking and Smart Contracts

17:56 The Role of Staking in Current Markets

19:04 Integration of Staking with Traditional Finance

20:04 Regional Perspectives on Staking Adoption

21:55 Timeline for Global Adoption of Staking

22:22 Market Outlook and Building in Bear Cycles

24:43 ETF Interest and Market Dynamics

25:54 The Importance of Retail in Staking

27:17 Unlocking the Next Wave of Adoption

28:56 Impact of Tokenization on Business Operations

30:41 The Evolution of Institutional Conversations

33:40 Long-Term Thinking in Crypto

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Gordon Liao, Chief Economist and Head of Research at Circle, to talk about why traditional financial plumbing is still the biggest bottleneck in money movement globally. 

We discuss Arc, Circle's new institutional blockchain, which is being built from the ground up to handle everything from agentic nano payments to quantum-resistant encryption. Gordon believes that Arc being quantum-ready from day one isn't just a nice-to-have but a decision that could define whether the network and its users survives the next decade of security threats. Gordon also breaks down the three things he thinks the market is underestimating right now and how 99.5% of x402 payment protocol volume is already running through Circle’s USDC.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Gordon and His Background

02:45 The Future of Onchain Finance

05:56 USDC and Its Market Position

08:54 Agentic Commerce and AI Integration

11:57 The Launch of Arc and Its Vision

15:00 Challenges in Blockchain Adoption

17:55 Privacy and Security in Blockchain

20:57 Quantum Computing and Its Implications

24:10 Market Perspectives and Economic Insights

30:02 Final Thoughts and Advice

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content. 

On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Dakota Campbell, Head of Marketing at Collector Crypt, the platform that generated $165 million in volume in April alone by putting trading cards and physical collectibles onchain with Solana. 

Dakota explains the resurgence of physical collecting is what's actually pulling people toward digital ownership, and why Solana's low fees were the thing that finally made tokenizing a five-dollar card make sense after years of the idea being cost-prohibitive on Ethereum.

He also dives into how he thinks about marketing to everyday collectors vs crypto audiences, what it took to scale the business over the past few years and expansion beyond trading card games.

This episode is a part of the Solana Sessions campaign that Token Relations and the Talking Tokens podcast are doing, diving into founders' journeys and startups building on Solana. Check out the accompanying newsletter on www.token-relations.com 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The Evolution of Collectibles

02:55 Digital Collectibles and Nostalgia

06:12 Collector Crypt's Success and Market Dynamics

09:02 The Role of Solana in Collector Crypt

12:02 User Experience: Crypto Native vs. Mainstream Collectors

15:14 Marketplace Dynamics and Price Discoverability

17:45 Attracting Non-Crypto Collectors

21:01 Marketing Strategies for Diverse Audiences

25:21 Understanding Audience Engagement

28:41 Navigating Marketing in the Crypto Space

33:34 Expanding Beyond Trading Card Games

37:18 Rapid Fire Insights on Collectibles

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.

On this episode of Strata Research, presented by Talking Tokens & Token Relations, Jacquelyn sits down with Institutional Research Analyst Alex Beaudry to dig into crypto neobanks. Apps are rebuilding what Chime and Revolut did a decade ago, but on stablecoin rails and Alex explains how founders can set themselves up for success. Alex’s insights cover why the float and yield model is both the most lucrative and the hardest to sustain through a bear market, and where the real opportunity sits for anyone watching this space over the next 12 to 24 months.

Check out the associated newsletter for more details: https://www.token-relations.com/p/the-neobank-playbook

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Crypto Neobanks

02:59 Revenue Models and Market Dynamics

06:02 Challenges and Risks in Crypto Neobanking

08:04 Future Trends and Considerations

You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens 

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Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.