In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO of EtherFi, and Joseph Chalom, CEO of SharpLink, following SharpLink’s deployment ofed $200 million of its $2 billion ether treasury into EtherFi in January and what the due diligence process actually looked like from both sides. Mike explains why EtherFi is building a ‘DeFi bank,’ an end-to-end self-custody alternative to traditional banking with hundreds of thousands of users and over $5 billion in deposits.Joseph, who spent two decades at BlackRock before joining SharpLink, walks through how his team hired people from Bridgewater and FalconX specifically to underwrite DeFi risk, why tail risk is still risk, and how its permanent capital gives SharpLink an advantage most crypto allocators don't have. The conversation covers why the recent wave of DeFi exploits could have been stopped with basic intervention tools, why stablecoin rails will be the main way crypto reaches the real economy, and tokenization growing as NYSE and Nasdaq opens for 24/7 trading.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro
(01:30) The relationship between EtherFi and SharpLink and why they work together
(01:46) What EtherFi is building: the DeFi bank with $5-6 billion in deposits
(02:24) SharpLink's $2 billion Ethereum treasury and why they deployed $200 million into EtherFi
(03:38) Balancing speed and safety: why the DeFi risk playbook hasn't been written yet
(05:28) Why institutions move slow deploying, but go fast when monitoring problems
(07:25) How EtherFi approaches security: in-office teams, formal verification, and constant audits
(08:26) Decentralization theater: why performative decentralization makes protocols less safe
(09:17) Why EtherFi is building an emergency “red button” intervention system without compromising self-custody
(10:53) How SharpLink's team underwrites DeFi risk
(13:28) Why institutions are still in the first inning of DeFi adoption
(17:28) How tokenized securities will unlock DeFi at a scale far beyond bitcoin and ether
(22:11) Qualified custody with Anchorage and why ops alpha matters for institutional DeFi
(23:09) What's next for EtherFi: global licensing and becoming a viable alternative to banks
(25:56) Stablecoin rails as the main way crypto reaches the real economy
(28:31) Tokenization about to expand as NYSE, Nasdaq, and DTCC opening up 24/7
(29:44) Final advice: stay safe, don't chase yield, and invest in young builders

ESSENTIALS

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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.