Why Caitlin Long and Meltem Demirors Are Worried About Crypto’s Future in the US

Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, and Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of CoinShares, share their concerns about crypto in the U.S. following a wild week in the banking sector. With Signature Bank’s takeover looking like a targeted takedown and crypto-friendly upstarts like Custodia being shadowbanned by the Fed, the two longtime experts look ahead at the fights to come. Is USDC next to land in regulators’ crosshairs?

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• how crypto is viewed as a “big, scary, and strange” industry
• how Signature and Silvergate became so important for the crypto industry with SEN and Signet
• why Caitlin says it’s “crystal clear” that we are now in Operation Choke Point 2.0, with U.S. regulators pushing to debank the crypto industry
• why Caitlin says the Fed’s vote against Custodia’s application was preordained
• whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren had an impact on the current crisis
• how everything comes down to game theory
• whether VCs are responsible for causing the bank run
• whether the rollback in 2018 of certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act played a role in the recent collapse
• Caitlin’s hot takes on what happened with Signature Bank
• the unique characteristics of Custodia’s business model as a bank
• how stablecoins challenge the current financial system
• why it’s so important for crypto to improve its public perception

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com
• Halborn

Guests:

• Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares
• Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank

Links

• Previous coverage of Unchained:
  • Jim Bianco on Why the Banking System Has Always Been Broken
  • The Fed Is In Checkmate: What Will Powell Do?
  • The Fall of SVB: What Happened and How It Affects Crypto
• NYT: Congress Approves First Big Dodd-Frank Rollback
• NYMAG: Barney Frank Talks More About the Surprise Shuttering of Signature Bank
• WSJ Editorial Board: Signature Bank’s Crypto Execution

• Unchained:

• FDIC Denies Asking Signature Buyers to Give Up Crypto: Report
• Was Signature Bank Actually Insolvent?
• Circle to Bring On New Banking Partner for USDC Minting, Redemption
• Circle Clears Backlog of USDC Minting and Redemption Requests
• Regulators Close Signature Bank Following SVB Collapse
• ​​Silvergate to Wind Down Operations in ‘Voluntary Liquidation’