The Scoop

On this episode of The Scoop, Bittrex Global CEO Stephen Stonberg joined host Frank Chaparro for a discussion on Bittrex’s US and global businesses, his outlook on security tokens, and how the company is tackling regulatory tightening in an effort to safely enter markets across the world.In its global business, Stonberg said that Bittrex is testing out lending and staking products as well as dipping its toes into STOs or Security Token Offerings, such as in real estate, stocks, cars, etc. Bittrex test-launched a limited number of what Stonberg termed ‘unsolicited ETFs’ like "Google tokenized and Tesla tokenized" which they are currently only selling to a small subset of clients via their Bermuda license.As the market matures and investors eventually look for yield in alternative products outside of utility tokens, Bittrex is positioning itself to capture that market share.“I would expect that as utility tokens become a more mature market, that you won't see those types of returns," said Stonberg.Stonberg views real estate on the blockchain as one of the use cases that will reshape the industry. In fact, Bittrex is exploring the potential of STO-based tokens, such as in real estate as well as possibly art and IPOs, as Stonberg suggested. “I really think that you're going to see everything being tokenized. Why should we not have real estate tokenized? Like, why should if you're IPOing a company, why does it have to be an IPO? Why can't it be in the venture stage?”As for where competitors are in the adoption cycle, Stonberg added: "Right now, we're in the fund build phase where the regulators haven't caught on yet." However, he did not comment on whether Bittrex has plans at this time to fundraise or enter public markets.Episode 56 of Season 3 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and Stephen Stonberg, CEO at Bittrex Global.Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to [email protected] episode is brought to you by our sponsors Bakkt, Kraken, and ExodusBakkt® unlocks the $1.2+ trillion of digital assets that is currently held in cryptocurrencies, rewards and loyalty points, gaming assets and merchant stored value. We began in 2018 with the vision to bring trust and transparency to digital assets. Through the Bakkt Warehouse and Bakkt Bitcoin Futures and Options contracts, we serve institutional clients in an end-to-end regulated market with true price transparency. For consumers, Bakkt aggregates digital assets to enable instant liquidity and to empower users to trade, transfer and pay however they want. Visit Bakkt.com for more informationAbout KrakenWhether you’re an experienced crypto trader or just starting out, Kraken has the tools to help you achieve financial freedom. With 50+ cryptocurrencies to choose from, industry-leading security and a wide variety of features to suit any investing strategy, Kraken puts the power in your hands to buy, sell and trade digital assets. Visit Kraken.com to get started today.About ExodusExodus is leading the world out of traditional finance by building beautiful and user-friendly crypto products. Forget having to learn the nuances of different cryptocurrencies. Exodus is designed for everyone and hides the complex details behind a beautiful and intuitive interface. Buy and sell one cryptocurrency for another from the comfort of your wallet, in seconds. Funds remain under your full control. Secure, manage, stake, and exchange all of your favorite cryptocurrencies from one wallet. No account registration is required. Download Exodus at Exodus.com or directly from Google Play and the iOS App Store and you’re ready to go.

The Scoop's host, Frank Chaparro, was joined by Arca CIO Jeff Dorman.In this episode, Chaparro and Dorman discussed the disconnect between market sentiment and the developments in the crypto space. Dorman goes over the actual use cases of the crypto ecosystem and how they are being drowned out by memecoins and scandals, highlighting that big outside players are beginning to get on board. OUTLINE00:00 Introduction01:11 Sponsor break02:04 Memes taking the spotlight06:40 Crypto’s adolescent stage11:29 Common misconceptions about crypto18:50 Assessing value in the crypto space23:00 Are we still early?29:37 The future of crypto 34:50 Where are the liquid funds?41:30 Tradfi will eventually come45:04 ConclusionGUEST LINKSJeff Dorman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-dorman-cfa-61063129Jeff Dorman on X - https://x.com/jdorman81Arca - https://x.com/arcaArca on X - https://www.ar.ca/

The Scoop's host, Frank Chaparro, was joined by August Co-Founder and CEO Aya Kantorovich.In this episode, Chaparro and Kantorovich went over the state of crypto capital markets, the resilience of DeFi during market downturns, and how banks are looking to get started in DeFi.OUTLINE00:00 Introduction 01:08 From banking to crypto 02:30 Why institutions avoid DeFi 05:33 How institutions impact volatility 10:50 Crypto as the weekend market 17:00 Bitcoin as a reserve asset 20:01 Cambrian explosion of memecoins 26:28 Coinbase earnings 31:42 The resiliency of deFi 37:49 AI Agents 42:00 ConclusionGUEST LINKSAya Kantorovich - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayakantorovich/Aya Kantorovich on X - https://x.com/aya_kantorAugust - https://www.augustdigital.io/August on X - https://x.com/august_digital

The Scoop's host, Frank Chaparro, was joined by Lightspark Co-Founder and CEO David Marcus.In this episode, Chaparro and Marcus discuss the vision and technology behind scaling Bitcoin as a global payment network. Marcus explained how new developments, including stablecoins on Bitcoin, could transform worldwide financial systems and directly lead to an increase of GDP.OUTLINE00:00 Introduction01:52 Lightspark's mission and Bitcoin's Role04:39 Challenges in scaling Bitcoin09:44 Lightspark's evolution16:10 Stablecoins x Bitcoin21:27 Stablecoin improvements over traditional payments27:20 Past regulatory challenges30:23 Changing regulatory climate35:19 Future outlook41:37 ConclusionGUEST LINKSDavid Marcus - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmarcus/David Marcus on X - https://x.com/davidmarcusLightspark - https://www.lightspark.com/Lightspark on X - https://x.com/Lightspark

The Scoop's host, Frank Chaparro, was joined by SonarX Founder Patrick Kim, SonarX Global Head of BD Jesse Bornstein, and Senior Web 3 Specialist at AWS, Everton Fraga.In this episode, Chaparro, Bornstein, Fraga and Kim discussed the challenges of managing and consuming the exponential growth of blockchain data across multiple chains. Patrick, Jesse, and Everton explained how the proliferation of blockchains has led to a big data problem with petabytes of data that is difficult for enterprises to fully utilize, and what solutions there are to these issues.OUTLINE00:00 Introduction 03:02 The Challenge of Blockchain Data Management08:47 Multi-Chain Data Complexity and Solutions14:13 Standardizing and Simplifying Blockchain Data19:57 Institutional Challenges 23:13 Stablecoins, RWAs, and Data Demands28:25 Public Blockchain Data and Practical Use Cases32:23 Supporting Multiple Blockchains 35:11 AI's Role in Blockchain Data Integration38:16 Advice for Developers and Businesses43:23 ConclusionGUEST LINKSJesse Bornstein - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-bornstein-10a774a/Everton Fraga - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evertonfraga/Patrick Kim - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickkim/SonarX - https://www.sonarx.com/SonarX on X - https://x.com/SonarX_HQAWS - https://aws.amazon.com/