Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the group sits down with Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire to discuss how the USDC stablecoin issuer responded to the banking crisis that started at the end of 2022, what PayPal’s new stablecoin offering means for Circle and the rest of the industry, and whether central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) represent real competition for stablecoins.
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 the collapse of FTX and other companies led to a de-banking crisis for the industry
- what the Circle Reserve Fund is
- how the banking crisis in early 2023 caused a “flight from safety”
- how regulatory clarity has improved in the aftermath of the banking crisis
- why Jeremy actually hopes PayPal’s recently launched PYUSD is successful
- why Tarun believes Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are one of the most “boring concepts” within the industry
- whether CBDCs pose a threat to businesses that issue stablecoins such as Circle
- Whether the status quo on stablecoins in the U.S. of knowing-your-customer on redemption and minting, but not on holding, is likely to continue.
Hosts:
- Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly
- Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
- Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
Guest:
- Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle
