The Policy Layer

Jannah Patchay (Markets Evolution) and Kofi Genfi (Vaulta Digital Assets) unpack how digital assets are reshaping financial infrastructure across African markets. From stablecoins and cross-border payments to tokenized assets, DeFi, and regulatory coordination, they examine where blockchain is solving real market-access problems and creating new connections to global capital. The conversation also tackles monetary sovereignty, the diversity of regulatory approaches across the continent, and what it will take for locally relevant digital-asset markets to scale. Africa offers a compelling case study for what happens when digital finance is built around utility, access, and real economic need.

We consider the next phase of US crypto regulation after the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate. Norma Krayem of Van Scoyoc Associates, Peter Freeman of FS Vector, and Lee Schneider of Ava Labs follow the practical choices now facing lawmakers and agencies, from rule-making timelines to narrower proposals on software developers and tax treatment. Tune in to hear why new rules could help move policy forward while also changing the terms of the next congressional negotiation.

Bridget McCormack, President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association, joins us to unpack what happens when smart contracts execute, assets move on-chain, and people still end up in conflict. She explains why AAA created a dedicated Web3 arbitration panel, how blockchain records can change the evidence in a dispute, and why decentralization forces legal decision-makers to get much more precise about who did what. We also get into AI-assisted arbitration, cross-border commerce, and why she believes dispute resolution may need to become part of the infrastructure of digital transactions themselves. Learn more about what the AAA is doing at https://www.adr.org [https://www.adr.org/]

This episode offers a 2026 midyear global check-in on crypto policy and focuses on where the conversation is gaining real momentum. It covers tokenization, the US legislative moment around the Clarity Act and stablecoin rule-making, the MiCA review process in Europe, and the continued importance of keeping infrastructure providers out of intermediary categories that do not fit what they do. Taken together, these issues offer a useful snapshot of how the policy landscape is shifting across major jurisdictions. Stay updated and get even more details in our policy comment letters [https://avalanchepolicy.com/en/comment-letters/1/].

Erwin Voloder of Blockchain for Europe joins us to unpack why euro stablecoins still struggle to gain traction under MiCA, despite Europe's push for regulated digital finance. From remuneration and reserve design to legal uncertainty and central bank infrastructure, this episode looks at the frictions shaping the market now and the monetary future Europe may be building toward. The conversation is grounded in Blockchain for Europe's report, Reforming MiCA for Euro Stablecoins: A Status Report, which lays out a sharper case for recalibrating key parts of the current framework. Check out the full report: https://www.blockchain4europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Reforming-MiCA-for-Euro-Stablecoins-26426.pdf