Ep 61 - January 28, 2026 - Institutions are coming
Welcome to the weekly crypto check-in, your go to podcast for navigating the wild world of cryptocurrencies hosted by Robert Sporthal and Andres Sadate. Today, recorded on January 28. We're diving into the latest market shifts, blockchain breakthroughs, and expert insights to keep you ahead of the curve. How's it
Andres Sandate:going, Andres? Good, Robert. Happy, Wednesday. I, I know there's certain parts of the country that are, you know, recovering from a a winter storm over the the weekend. But, yeah, it's it's chilly in Atlanta where we're at, but at least the sun's out.
Andres Sandate:So we're we're good. How about you?
Robert Swarthout:I'm good. You know, it's to your point, it is chilly. It's amazing how warm 40 degrees can feel, when you're after you've been really cold. And I imagine, come next Monday, we're gonna be wishing it was 40 degrees because it's gonna be cold this weekend. Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:Looking like some wind chill predictions and the negatives for us, which is unheard of in Atlanta.
Andres Sandate:So Yeah. We'll see. Well, we should yeah. We we, you know, we should segue. I I I always try to think what's the best way to segue from talking shop to getting into crypto market structure and crypto market structure bills.
Andres Sandate:Hopefully, this bill is not on ice. Let's go with that one.
Robert Swarthout:Well, that and, really, the weather did impact them as well. Right?
Andres Sandate:It did. Yeah. Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:The huge snow that was dumped on DC, I I guess, put a couple day delay in some work that was being done. But there has been progress, and progress is probably loosely defined here. Yeah. But as a re a quick refresher, this market structure bill that everyone in the crypto world is hopefully looking forward to, I would say, there's kind of two bills that are being worked on in the senate, one in the ag committee and one in the, the banking committee. The ag committee one is for the commodity side of it.
Robert Swarthout:The, the banking side is working on the security portion. So the there was a bunch of it was a curveball, I don't know, a week or so ago where we were talking about stable coin yield and that kind of put a kink in it, and that and that vote for the banking committee got pulled. They did not have that. There's still negotiations going on as far as I'm I'm aware. And then the flip side on the ag committee, they are working towards what looks like to be a vote tomorrow, so January 29 at 10:30, around their market structure version of the bill, again, for the commodity side.
Robert Swarthout:And, you know, I don't know if it's gonna be a partisan vote. It doesn't seem terribly bipartisan, but it it is making progress nonetheless. I think it's the important part there.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. It's it's an attempt, it seems like, at this point to try to like you mentioned before we jumped on to have, you know, less pork. I feel like some of these bills, there always is last minute, you know, horse trading and Right. Things that senators and their constituents think are important. Typically, it's in their, you know, in their backyard.
Andres Sandate:But I think it's like trying to keep this as clean as possible. You made that that point, which I think is a good one. I think the Stablecoin yield is a real one. I think that the you know, I think we'll get into that in our second headline today talking about the b of a CEO. So we'll leave that one for a moment.
Andres Sandate:But it it's it's going to be interesting over the next few days and and, I guess, week, assuming there aren't, you know, unforeseen delays to see. Does this bill continue to march along around some of the big core issues as to the framework of regulating the space, or does it end up getting bogged down because of the stuff that really is irrelevant, and is is just political? And and, hopefully, it's the former for for the industry's sake because I think the two big themes that we talked about kinda coming into this year are still very much, alive and well, and we've seen a lot of activity around tokenization. But there there there does need to be clarity from a regulatory standpoint, I think, for, you know, the the industry to really as we've said for for months, maybe years now Mhmm. That that we've been working on on the space, there needs to be, you know, more clarity so that there is more institutional enterprise and even just, you know, everyday consumer adoption.
Robert Swarthout:Right. And, you know, we'll get into institutions because they are continuing to creep towards the space, announcing the drinks. But, you know, to to be full on, you know, green light, press the gas pedal, we do need this. We need this partially because, you know, if we end up with a different administration in, I guess, two and a half years, you know, they could decide they hate crypto. Right?
Robert Swarthout:And we'll be back where we were a year and a half ago. So I think that I think this gets done. I think this is largely the theater of politics happening here, but, you know, it is it is not a clean process. It it best is sausage making. So
Andres Sandate:Well, I think one of the one of the ideas, from a you know, just from the standpoint of of Stablecoins, again, is, you know, this this this conversation about deposit flight. But Mhmm. It it could be, you know, and I saw one report that stablecoin yields end up sort of becoming much like money market funds. Right? So you can put your money in, like, an interest bearing account in cash, or you can invest effectively cash in money market like or cash like investments.
Andres Sandate:And so maybe that's a compromise. Right? I think it's gonna come down to the parties, on both sides, like, that don't want, you know, this heavy handed regulation or regulatory framework for crypto and then those within crypto that say, hey. Give us freedom to go and and build businesses and compete and don't tie a hand behind our back with the traditional centralized banks and the centralized Right. You know, large institutions that generally crypto was disrupting early on in its Mhmm.
Andres Sandate:You know, in its in its more formative years. So it it's it's gonna come down to, again, at all times, it's it's a compromise, and, hopefully, it's not, you know, a pork laden bill that has to get, negotiated. And then there's obviously just the political theater in DC at all times. Right? Like, will there be enough, you know, votes to keep the government funded for, you know, the next week?
Andres Sandate:All this stuff stuff. So it's it's gonna be some theatrics for sure in the week ahead.
Robert Swarthout:Yep. And it's, to your point, it's it's the theme. Albeit, I don't think it's a theme that anybody wants. Like so, anyways, I I think we can move on here. So we kind of alluded to it or you alluded to it.
Robert Swarthout:So Bank of America CEO, Brian Moynihan, was quoted as saying and, you know, to me, makes sense, but the he quoted as saying that he thought $6,000,000,000,000 in deposits would shift to stablecoins if stablecoin issuers were allowed to pay interest for holding the stablecoin. I think one small thing that we should clear up here is if you hold Stablecoin and you hold it within, say, a Coinbase wallet on their exchange, they do provide the ability to earn interest. They call it yield, and it's because they're likely lending out to the other side. Right? So it is not a pure bank account, like a checking account would be your savings account.
Robert Swarthout:But this would be a little you know, it would be a true checking or savings account type interest bearing thing. So I hope that we get through this market structure bill and don't have to complicate it by adding this to it. We'll find out whether this the banking committee wants to have this in their version, I would imagine, here in the next couple weeks and go from there. It feels like something that we could clean up later, and we don't have to get in complicate what is already a complicated bill.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. I mean, look. There's some heavy handed lobbying going on in DC as we speak. Right? So the banks, this is this this this one is it's hard it's just hard not to have a strong opinion here.
Andres Sandate:I started my career as a banker. Right? I worked for two big super regional banks. Now, you know, one of them is part of one of these SIFI banks, and I think the other one would be considered, like, a too big to fail bank largely Okay. Too.
Andres Sandate:The you know, when when when I worked inside the banks, like, things were great. Like, this was pre o eight, and then o eight happens. Okay? And and you saw banks really needing, you know, the government to step in and save some of them. Right?
Andres Sandate:And then we had these systematically important banks or institutions designated SIFI banks. Right? So you you literally can't fail now. And the giant banks have gotten bigger. Right?
Andres Sandate:And and so we've seen much more centralization of deposits, centralization of markets, centralization of all all all things touch money. And then along comes crypto. And for a long time, the bank said it's all about illicit criminal, you know, activity, and there's no good use for it. And then all of a sudden, the technology becomes relevant. And now you see these bank CEOs coming on and talking about deposit flight.
Andres Sandate:Well, what do we think the banks are doing with the deposits that you and I put in the in in the checking and savings account overnight. Right? Yeah. They're they're levered. Right?
Andres Sandate:So they're lending out that cash. So there's a big part of me. I don't know if it's all of me. There's a big part of me Mhmm. That wants to put the middle finger up at the banks Sure.
Andres Sandate:Here. And then there's another part of me that's, like, for the sake of crypto and moving forward. And and to your point, Robert, not getting this thing bogged down because the banks probably have a lot more spending power right now Mhmm. In in in congress. They have a lot more influence.
Andres Sandate:And, collectively, they have a lot of influence over, you know, politicians. Let's just call it what it is. Right. That I'd I'd have a hard time, you know, keeping my middle finger up because I do think that crypto and the banks do need to find a way to coexist. Right?
Andres Sandate:I do think that we do need a financial system where crypto can be a like, it can it can exist, and it's not the enemy, the mortal enemy that it was made out to be under the last administration. So that's kind of my analysis. I don't know where it this 6,000,000,000,000 figure comes out. It it was probably a propeller head somewhere in his team or her team that, like, came up with this and put it on their desk. And then he need he is the the the vocal, you know, person with the megaphone.
Andres Sandate:So he goes and says this, and he's not the only bank CEO that's saying this. But, I don't know. I I it it's it's it's one of those things where you look at it and you say, are are the banks gonna win? Are they gonna have congress in their back pocket, or are we gonna come up with something that seems reasonable? I don't know if the word fair ever enters, you know, when it comes into politics to play.
Andres Sandate:But what's your take? I mean, I I don't know. That's just me from personal experience, professional experience.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. I sometimes I try to figure out, like, how I stand on things when I think about, like, what's an analogy to explain this to somebody else when it comes to crypto? Yeah. And I think that part of it for me comes down to what what is the most likely path because what is the easiest to happen? Is it easier for it to get slipped into the bill and interest happen, or is it easier for it to not get slipped into the bill?
Robert Swarthout:I don't know which side is stronger. I I tend to think that it won't get slipped into the bill. That will be the breaking point if I had to, I guess, place a bet on something.
Andres Sandate:Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:But at the end of the day, I I think that we eventually get stablecoins that bear you can bear interest on. Like, I think that that happens. I don't know if that happens as part of this process. And it and I just hate to see it again get dragged down in it because of it. Yeah.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess there's there's two sides of it. Right? There's the passive interest, and then there's the activity around staking and yield, liquidity, I guess, sort of solutions. They can you know, they they both solve different things.
Andres Sandate:So, yeah, something to, you know, something to pay attention to. Again, these banks and their CEOs and the lobby is is quite powerful. So for the sake of the bill, it'd probably be a lot easier if, you know, it the loophole, you know, didn't didn't exist, but we'll see.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. You know, and I guess the last thing I'll say on this is, like, is it banks don't wanna pay interest because they think that is their competitive advantage right now? And if that's the case, why don't they just, like, issue b of a USD, have their own stablecoin, and then, like, their customers, if they want it, they can sell it to them. Like, they don't have to leave. I I don't quite understand the motivation, and maybe I'll never understand it in this case, but that that is the, I guess, the sticking point for me.
Robert Swarthout:So Yeah. Anyways, our third topic so MicroStrategy, they always like to announce or Michael Sailor, more specifically, likes to announce when strategy buys more Bitcoin. That seems like 100% of the marketing this company does. And, you know, for a while, it was like every time they were buying bit their next purchase, it was more Bitcoin than they had ever purchased before, blah blah blah. You know, that's snowball.
Robert Swarthout:They now hold as of I guess, when was this? This was two days ago. They now hold 712,000 and change Bitcoin. So for a collective value of excuse me, let me back up. Not for collective value.
Robert Swarthout:If they have spent a total of $54,000,000,000 doing this, their average price now at this point blended is $76,000 and change. That is getting awfully close to our current price, Andres. Like, it is slowly creeping up. And what's interesting to me about all this is if if you kinda overlay when they announce these purchases with how the price the the the Bitcoin price acts, it it doesn't act positively. And you would think that these are all off market trades through OTC desk or dark bulls or something like that.
Robert Swarthout:And I don't know. At some point, you think that this narrative is gonna wear thin. I'm not quite sure what what the outcome is, but I I'm suspect nonetheless.
Andres Sandate:Well, he frames it he, being sailor, frames it as market maturity. Right? And this is the the fact that the price goes down after they buy is a sign that the market's maturing and not, you know, not owned or dominated by one, you know, central player, etcetera. I mean, at least that's the Yep. That's the narrative.
Andres Sandate:I I don't know. I I still think this this whole thing has become the long term capital management of of of crypto. Like, they they can't fail. I I just they just can't. I I just think that that's not a that's that's that's not a a likelihood from the standpoint of, like, all their Bitcoin, you know, has to be sold per se.
Andres Sandate:And and that doesn't mean I'm calling Bitcoin to go to zero or anything, but they they they own so much now. And there's so many implications and so many folks impacted that I I don't see I I don't see how this micro strategy or strategy, doesn't play out. Now I don't know if investors are made whole. I don't know if he makes money, you know, on paper. He's worth, you know, a ton of money.
Andres Sandate:Right. Investors maybe have done okay depending on when they were invested. You know? Take all that and leave it aside. I just think at this point, where Bitcoin is, the horse is out of the barn a little bit.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. I I probably agree with you. I I I would love to know another example if it even happens and without Bitcoin being part of it, where a CEO talks about whenever they purchase something. Like, this is a 100% of what they talk about. And it's just like, if they think this is gonna move the needle or or what's the point?
Robert Swarthout:Like, I I I can I I don't know? I I don't spend tons of time thinking about this. I used to spend more time thinking about it because I was just intrigued trying to figure out what what the what the end result was. And I again, we haven't seen what that may be at this point, but we'll just have to, I guess, put a pin in this one and kind of watch it from afar.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. Yeah. So so Bitcoin is trading around 89, 90,000. Is that about where it's at? Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:You need change.
Andres Sandate:And off of what what was high, I mean, if you look back in '25, I mean, the first three quarters of twenty five for Bitcoin were pretty good. Right? I mean In the fourth quarter, it's just the bottom fell out and Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:It was high 1 twenties, 120,000.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. So, you know, it's it's definitely pulled back from that, and it's been a challenge to kind of see, you know, when the market's gonna move again. I I we said this last episode. I still believe the mark the market structure bill is the catalyst for crypto. We'll see.
Robert Swarthout:But, again, there's all this other crap happening in the world right now that isn't helpful or even in The US. So Yeah. May not may not matter if the bill is passed tomorrow. So
Andres Sandate:Well, you know, it wouldn't be a proper show without a Kansas native having a Kansas headline. So Yes. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah.
Andres Sandate:And we gotta move on from Sailor at some point and talk about, you know, the crypto reserve in the great state of Kansas ad astro per Aspro.
Robert Swarthout:Yep. Yeah. So I I you know, we talked frequently last, I guess, last summer about different states and Yeah. Was this Bitcoin, state, reserve tracker thing that we were following, and it kinda got quiet on that front. And then this kinda popped up, kind of surprised me.
Robert Swarthout:I guess, maybe they had been working on it the whole time. But, yeah, they Kansas is setting it up and well, I mean, the bill has been introduced, to be clear. Right. It has not been fully voted on, but it's it is they're trying at least, I guess.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. And it's unclaimed property. Right? So all over the The US, there's unclaimed property, unclaimed assets. You know, sometimes get these letters in the mail or there's websites where you go type in your name and, you know, you're entitled to some small amount of money from a settlement, tobacco, or, you know, some big case, etcetera.
Andres Sandate:But, so it's unclaimed property. It's not not new purchases per se. What, well, you know, what I would say is it mirrors, like, The US strategic Bitcoin reserve, probably. I'm thinking that's a page that they're taking and and playing. And, if I was a betting person, I'd say it it gets done because Kansas is trying to be more known as a as a job creator.
Andres Sandate:You know? It's it's in the heartland of America. It doesn't have access to the populations and doesn't have access to some of the things that you see on the coast in terms of density. So trying to create you know, not that this will create jobs, but just create more awareness and sort of thinking about the state as a more progressive, more oriented towards, you know, maybe the future economy. And they did land the chiefs, Robert.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. That's correct. So A bit of a coup there. Chiefs. If they got the chiefs, there's no reason they can't get Bitcoin.
Andres Sandate:Yes. Set set up.
Robert Swarthout:That's funny. Yeah. And that's a good point. You know, I think that these especially these states that are trying to figure out how to be, I guess, forward thinking, be part of the twenty first century, you know, this is a creative way to go about it. I like this model much more than I like seeing states saying, oh, we're gonna take tax dollars and go buy Bitcoin or whatever.
Robert Swarthout:Right. I don't think most states are in a position to even think about that and to kinda see them be creative as cool. So
Andres Sandate:Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:Moving on here. Our next topic is about institutions continuing to move towards crypto usage. This is so we haven't recorded for this is this end of the second week. And it's crazy how there'll be no news one week, and then the next week, it's, like, a month's worth of news happens in two days. This is an example of it.
Robert Swarthout:So Citigroup is working to move 45,000,000,000,000 in EU securities on chain. Chainlink is working to help move some US equities, 80,000,000,000,000 of those on. There's so much happening. Meanwhile, Mellon was talking about tokenization is going mainstream in 2026. Again, this is furthering the narrative that we've talked about many times, but, like, Paul, I can say in all US markets will be on chain in the next two years.
Robert Swarthout:This continues to be proof that it's happening. Doesn't feel like it, from a, I guess, an a layman's perspective, because it's just the system continues to work. But things are moving behind the scenes and seemingly picking up pace, which is really awesome to see.
Andres Sandate:Yeah. No doubt about it. I mean, I think this this and the next headline around institutions and traditional market participants at size, right, with with the scale that these institutions have in terms of managing pensions and and managing the livelihoods, right, of of retirees and teachers and firefighters, you know, just just really amazing to think that these institutions because they have belt and suspenders around all the things that they're doing. That doesn't mean they get all of this right. Like, when they do an asset allocation, when they decide, hey.
Andres Sandate:We're gonna go increase exposure to a particular asset class, whether it's equities or fixed income. There's a lot of different Mhmm. Partners and firms and participants involved in that. To mention, you know, government. Right?
Andres Sandate:The board, the investment board, etcetera. So the fact that probably in the survey, they this number, 80 plus percent said they plan to increase exposure, you know, just goes to show you how much there's narrative has shifted and this and the thinking has shifted because these institutions don't Mhmm. Don't real quickly. But when they move, meaning they change their allocation when they adopt a new asset class, even a 1% allocation at a $50,100,000,000,000 dollar pension fund is a meaningful amount of money. Right.
Andres Sandate:And so, yeah, it's always like back to what you said, not what they say, what they do. Right? So we'll see how this manifests itself over the next year or two. But I think that going all the way back to their first headline, that market structure bill
Robert Swarthout:Mhmm.
Andres Sandate:It's really it's looming. It's pending out there, and and that could potentially really unlock more of these institutions to move in as they feel like, okay. There's there's law, there's structure, and there's a framework around, you know, getting, you know, getting more active, more engaged.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. And, you know, we often talk about, like, crypto is $24.07, $3.65. Finance largely has hours. It's largely a, you know, maybe a nine to five or nine nine to seven Monday through Friday type situation. I I think this is where people will notice when crypto not crypto, but just all digital assets and all that takes hold in the system.
Robert Swarthout:We're probably a couple years away from it, but when you'd be able to go talk to your buddies at a football game on on Friday or Saturday or Sunday and somehow you start talking about stocks and you decide you can buy one, you'd able to literally flip open your phone and do it at 10:00 at night on a Sunday. That world is not too far off. Mean, it's less than two years away, my guess. Yeah.
Andres Sandate:And if you think and if you go back to the what you said earlier, Robert, around trying to create an analogy that that everyday people could maybe identify with and relate to. So just let's just take Amazon. I think everybody could could see in their lifetime in the last ten to twenty years, like, Amazon benefits from the Internet boom. It starts off selling books. Right.
Andres Sandate:And now, if you can't get it within hours or certainly by the next day or two Yeah. You're probably going somewhere else to look for that product. And don't even get me started on content services. Right? So Mhmm.
Andres Sandate:We live in this economy now that has become instant on demand. And financial assets have largely been, like you said, you can trade from 09:30 to three. 03:30, like, Monday through Friday, and then, like, you're closed for, like, 19 holidays. Right. So, yeah, I agree with you.
Andres Sandate:I think we're gonna see a remarkable acceleration in this over the next two or three years, and people will look back and say, it's like you know, go back to Amazon. Mhmm. I went from not being able to buy it to now I can get it in an hour. Three hours. Yeah.
Andres Sandate:And that happened. And now we could never go back.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. It's a it any almost like some people are are young enough where they don't even understand that world used to be that way, and they're gonna grow up in this. This is gonna seem natural. But I guess to people that predate it, you know, that the change is will be the ones that notice it the most. And kind of what we've been alluding to a little bit here is which is our next topic is the so the NYSE has kind of really come up with this with this full set of plans that they announced around basically going on chain.
Robert Swarthout:It includes trading, clearing, settlement, custody, and tokenized cash funding. And the numbers are massive. You know, if you look at, like, the annual US equity trading volume is a 100 to $120,000,000,000,000. At some point, that's gonna be a $24.07, three sixty five, and that number, I would imagine, only goes up when you have more hours in the day that you can do this stuff. So Yeah.
Robert Swarthout:Pretty awesome.
Andres Sandate:What's really cool oh, go no. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Robert Swarthout:I guess the last thing I was gonna say is, like, I spent years thinking about what seemed to be a fantasy land of stocks someday would be trading on a blockchain. And it's a little bit surreal to see them announce a plan. It'd be so detailed, and they're basically like, this is what we're doing. It was very little fanfare, and it was just kinda like, we're we're moving forward, and you you better get on the wagon. So
Andres Sandate:Yeah. You know, for those of us that live in Atlanta and and for those of us that are in the markets and financial services, you know, this to me is is one of those headlines that if you read it on the surface, you'd be thinking still the NYSE is that, like, old 80 year old dude with, like, white hair that's always in the pictures when they show the trading floor. And, you know, I don't even know who the guy is. We just become, like, the meme of, you know, the stock market because he's always who they show when they show an image of, you know, the the New York Stock Exchange and the golden bell. And that doesn't that's not how this happens anymore.
Andres Sandate:No. This happens actually down the road from you and I off of 285 And 400 at Intercontinental Exchange Mhmm. Also known as ICE. And and and ICE, not the ICE that's in the news every day, you know, all over the country, but Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the 200 and, what, 50 year old New York Stock Exchange
Robert Swarthout:Yes.
Andres Sandate:And other exchanges, like, they have, like, they they have dropped, obviously, like I wouldn't say it's a bombshell because I think people in crypto expected this, but but I think it's a it's a massive headline. And for us down here in the South, you know, it's it's I think it's cool because I have always wanted Georgia to be one of those 10 states in The US. It's like the place where people wanna come and work. When they think about technology and to think about innovation, they think about financial markets. And, you know, we're not New York.
Andres Sandate:We're not Boston. Like, we have our strengths. Right? We have great universities. We have great weather.
Andres Sandate:We have a reasonably good cost of living, a fantastic airport. You know, all these things that that, you know, if you if you think about what would be another really amazing thing, it would be to be, like, the world's leader around some of the tokenization, some of the market transforming, let's call it, you know, moves that happen in in digital assets and crypto. And to me, ICE stands to be you know, people will still know, you know, the markets, the public stock markets as the NYSEs, like you know? But but to know that that company is here and doing that, I think it's really, really freaking awesome.
Robert Swarthout:Yep. And it's you know, this is this is the plumbing that I often talk about. Yeah. The that that is getting reworked here, and it's we're we're we're not too far away from a very different future, which is pretty awesome to see. So Yeah.
Andres Sandate:We're well,
Robert Swarthout:I'm sure we'll get I'm sure this will get rolled out in phases, and we can follow along, but that's that was some really awesome news about a week ago. Yeah. So we'll move on to our last topic. We often talk about Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple. He's certainly the face of the company when it comes to being out and about.
Robert Swarthout:So Monica Long is the president of the company. She makes appearances out, but not as often as Brad does. But what I found interesting is she was, recently interviewed, and, she basically made some predictions. And it was cool to kinda see kind of, I wouldn't say, taking a gamble here necessarily, but, like, you know, putting her word out and kinda getting her perspective. So she said, in the next five years, stablecoins will become fully integrated in the global payment system, not as an alternative rail, but as the foundation one.
Robert Swarthout:That's pretty cool. I mean, that would be a major shift because it is definitely a a secondary rail, if not a tertiary or even fourth level rail at this point. By 2027, she fully expects financial institutions to tap into the power of regulated stablecoins twenty four seven collateral mobility. So I guess, no. That first half is into the second half for sure.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. And I guess I won't read all of the things here, but she the one thing I'll call out is by the 2026, so this year, she expects balance sheets will hold over 1,000,000,000,000 in digital assets. Roughly half of Fortune 500 companies will have formalized a digital asset strategy. When these kind of comments are made, I don't think that she's just, like, guessing. I I would imagine it there's a little bit of information there from other conversations that Ripple's having as a company because they they have a collateral products.
Robert Swarthout:Not collateral. They have custody products, excuse me, and other things that help inform this. And I would imagine that she's probably gonna be right, which is pretty cool to see. So
Andres Sandate:Yeah. I see a couple of things happening here. One, I'm so excited to see another executive. Not that my Rock Chuck Jayhawk fellow alum, Brad Garlinghouse, isn't somebody that can't explain the story and isn't the right you know, and isn't a great spokesperson for the company and a leader and all that. There's nothing to do with that.
Andres Sandate:It has a lot to do with they they are in a pre IPO state. They are right? They're going to need to demonstrate to Wall Street and to the big customers and to governments that the types of institutions they wanna serve. This is not just the Brad Garlinghouse show. This is not just some startup founder, you know, that that that's out there on a mission.
Andres Sandate:Right? And we've seen that time and time again in startups, right, that it's their start their startup is so synonymous with the founder. And and so I think it's awesome from an executive standpoint to just start to see somebody else out there alongside Brad Garlinghouse talking about Ripple second. I think you're absolutely right, Robert, that you you wouldn't go out there in her position at this stage in their company and put these types of things out there if you didn't feel like there was credible, reasonable likelihood, all of those things. Because at this at the end of the day, like, they're a big enough company.
Andres Sandate:I don't think they're taking these risks by making these proclamations unless they feel like they wanna lead customers to where the industry's going. It's like, if you're not one of those 50% that has a digital strategy, you shit. You better get your shit together. Right? So it's kind of a little bit of also a third thing, which is a little bit of selling around, you know, you you you should probably start thinking about how are you gonna manage your your cash?
Andres Sandate:How are you gonna do settlement? How are you gonna keep up with, you know, the the change that's inevitable? If you think about AI as a parallel, how quickly that that that conversation shifted in the boardroom probably over the last twenty four to thirty six months Mhmm. Around we were doing software and now we're doing AI. Right?
Andres Sandate:And and and then you read a headline, you know, this morning that, you know, SoftBank is looking at putting,
Robert Swarthout:you know,
Andres Sandate:$50,000,000,000, I think, or $3,030,000,000,000 dollars in OpenAI. Like, it's just an astronomical number. Right. And so you put it all together, and I think that yeah. I mean, I I think that this is a positive development for Ripple, but also, right, to hear that companies that probably are talking to Ripple are coalescing around this this moment, like you said, in, you know, finishing the last headline.
Andres Sandate:Right? This is an exciting time for the industry. It's probably easy for us to get excited because there's been so many moments when it's been, like, you know, doom and gloom Right. Where the industry has naysayers and it it feels written off. I don't think any of us ever believed that, but cool to finally see in these last two headlines, you know, the institutional crowd, which we always knew was gonna be later.
Andres Sandate:We always knew was not gonna be that super early adopter, but it's kinda cool to now see people willing to kinda stick their neck out Yeah. And and make these comments. So I I think the next, yes, nine, ten months, eleven months of this year is gonna be pretty exciting.
Robert Swarthout:Yeah. And I think that's a good segue to the end, but I'm gonna use her one of her last closing comments is my closing comment today. She said, ultimately, 2026, we remembered as the year crypto became foundational to the world's financial infrastructure. I couldn't agree more. And to your point, we only have eleven more months in this year left.
Robert Swarthout:It's a lot, but we we will see how it goes and kinda get to follow along here together. So so that's a wrap for this episode of the weekly crypto check-in. Keep updated on the latest crypto insights by searching Tetan Crypto Capital or the weekly crypto check-in in your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a review to share your thoughts, or like Teton Crypto Capital LinkedIn page for more updates. Until next time.
Robert Swarthout:Take care.
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