Ledn

DeFi is approaching a breaking point.After a wave of hacks and growing concerns around smart contract risk, liquidity risk, and hidden dependencies, the biggest question in crypto is no longer just how much yield you can earn, but whether that yield is actually worth the risk.In this debate, Camila Russo is joined by Santiago Roel Santos of Inversion, Daniele Ugolini of Rysk Finance, and Mauricio Di Bartolomeo of Ledn to break down why DeFi yields may be fundamentally mispriced, what TradFi still does better, where DeFi still wins, and what has to change before institutions can trust it at scale.They get into:🟢 why some of the best-known DeFi protocols may still not compensate users for risk🟢 whether trapped onchain liquidity is distorting the market🟢 why builders need stronger guardrails, better risk management, and more transparency🟢 and whether DeFi is on the verge of becoming mainstream infrastructure, or staying niche until it grows upIf you're allocating capital onchain, building in DeFi, or trying to understand where crypto goes from here, this is the debate to watch.

Santiago Roel Santos

INInversion

Daniele Ugolini

Rysk Finance

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo

Co-founder

Ledn

Thank you to our sponsors, Uniswap and Figure Markets! Amid several years of economic challenges, Venezuela boasts a long and intriguing relationship with crypto. Following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. government, these crypto ties have again been brought into focus. In this Unchained podcast episode, Ledn cofounder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo and Economic Inclusion Group President Jorge Jraissati join Laura Shin to unpack this history, including the plausibility of the Latin American country sitting on a $60 billion Bitcoin stash. Mauricio details how the hums of Bitcoin mining rigs became the sound of freedom for Venezuelans. Jorge says post-Maduro Venezuela will “demand” a crypto powered economy. Will the crypto industry shape the future of Venezuela? And what does such a future look like? Hosts: Laura Shin Guests: Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, Cofounder and CSO of Ledn Jorge Jraissati, President of Economic Inclusion Group Links: Bitcoin Rallies to $93,000 After U.S. Attack on Venezuela How Maduro’s Capture and a ‘Pre-War World’ Affects Bitcoin: Bits + Bips Brian Kelly on Token-Curated Registries, Robinhood Crypto Trading and the Petro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo

Co-founder

Ledn

Jorge Jraissati

President

EGEconomic Inclusion Group

Bitcoin’s 2024 rally has been explosive, but is the next phase just beginning? In this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts Noelle Acheson, Ram Ahluwalia, and Alex Kruger are joined by Ledn’s Mauricio di Bartolomeo to unpack the forces shaping the crypto market as the year comes to a close. Mauricio explains how Ledn has grown amidst regulatory and economic shifts, and shares insights on why the “Trump put” is creating a new trading setup for crypto. The panel dissects the undercurrents behind Bitcoin’s surge, explores how MicroStrategy’s presence on the NASDAQ creates unique market dynamics, and debates how much higher BTC could climb. But they warn not to expect “buy” ratings on MSTR. Plus, they dive into why Solana underperformed in recent weeks, how Bitcoin enables capital flight (and how they may be happening from China), and what 2025 could hold for crypto. Packed with data, opinions, and a few book recommendations (well, except from Alex), this episode offers sharp analysis as 2024, a pivotal year for crypto, wraps up. Show highlights: Mauricio’s background and how Venezuela’s regime led him to crypto How Ledn works and how it’s seen substantial growth since the elections What’s driving this wave of growth in the price of bitcoin How much higher BTC will go and what the effects of the end-of-year portfolio rebalancing will be What the risks are for the U.S. economy How BTC is the easiest way to trade the Trump bump Whether the Chinese macro matters for crypto  How MicroStrategy has become a Trojan horse Why Alex likes XRP and ENA and why SOL has been underperforming recently 2024 wrap-up: what everyone was most surprised about  Book recommendations from everyone, except Alex, who’s only focused on shitcoins Hosts: Noelle Acheson, Author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” Newsletter  Alex Kruger, Founder of Asgard Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida Guest: Mauricio di Bartolomeo, cofounder & CSO of Ledn Links Unchained:  Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High MicroStrategy Joins Nasdaq-100, Expanding Bitcoin Exposure to Billions Trump’s Crypto Project Spent Nearly $45M Onchain in 2 Weeks FTX Distributions to Start in Under 2 Weeks Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:38 Mauricio’s journey from Venezuela to crypto 07:37 How Ledn thrived post-elections and saw major growth 15:16 Key drivers behind Bitcoin’s explosive rally 20:30 How high could BTC climb – and might year-end rebalancing affect the price? 25:22 Risks facing the U.S. economy heading into 2025 32:47 BTC as the go-to trade for the Trump bump 36:13 The significance of Chinese macro trends for crypto 47:32 MicroStrategy’s role as a Trojan horse for Bitcoin adoption 53:20 Why Alex likes XRP and ENA, but SOL is lagging 1:02:35 Biggest surprises from 2024’s crypto market 1:06:33 Book picks from everyone—except Alex, who’s all about shitcoins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo

Co-founder

Ledn

After a tumultuous first half of the year, the crypto lending market is maturing, according to Ledn Co-Founder and CSO Mauricio Di Bartolomeo. In this episode of The Scoop, Bartolomeo shares his insider perspective on the state of crypto lending, including what types of lending he believes involves the least amount of risk. According to Bartolomeo, the liquidity crisis following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital earlier this year has the surviving lenders thinking more seriously about risk management:  “Right now there is a huge focus on risk management — everybody is tightening up their covenants, everybody is trying to ensure that this doesn't happen again — and I think that has brought the space to a more balanced equilibrium.” Out of the various sources of demand for crypto loans, Bartolomeo believes delta-neutral market makers provide some of the best opportunities, given such market making strategies do not rely on the market moving in a particular direction: “The entities that performed the best typically were these high-quality market makers that take non-directional positions… that is the type of activity that we think is best suited to minimize risk.” One sign of increasing market maker activity, Bartolomeo explains, is the tightening of average spread on exchanges: “Today what you are seeing is that the average spread in most exchanges is getting tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter, and I think this is an expression of how many market makers are now coming in to narrow those gaps.” Episode 100 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Ledn Co-Founder and CSO Mauricio Di Bartolomeo. 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 podcast@theblockcrypto.com. This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron About Tron TRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo

Co-founder

Ledn

Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy, and Mauricio di Bartolomeo, cofounder of Ledn, discuss how inflation could affect the digital asset industry. Show highlights: how Mauricio’s upbringing in Venezuela and firsthand experience with inflation led him to Bitcoin what a “long-term debt cycle” is and why Lyn thinks the 2020s could be similar to the 1930s and 1940s the difference between inflation and hyperinflation how inflation changes consumer investing and purchasing decisions what the impact of inflation is on Bitcoin how Russia’s war on Ukraine will continue to impact inflation how rising interest rates will affect Bitcoin and stablecoin adoption  what type of economic environment is worst for BTC growth whether Bitcoin is an inflation hedge why Lyn is long-term bullish on stablecoins and Bitcoin what effect a global recession would have on Bitcoin how global inflation has changed adoption rates for BTC in developing economies how Venezuelans use and perceive Bitcoin  why Lyn and Mauricio are excited about Lightning Network in developing countries what Lyn and Mauricio think about El Salvador’s adoption of BTC and its billion dollar BTC bond how Ledn, as a lending company, was able to navigate the Celsius/Voyager crash how Lyn analyzes the risks associated with firms like BlockFi what lessons Lyn and Mauricio have learned in 2022 about digital assets and the economy   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Ava Labs: https://www.avax.network/  Oasis: https://oasisprotocol.org/grant-programs?utm_source=unchained&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=podcast-oasis-grants-program    Episode Links   Lyn Alden Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact  Website: https://www.lynalden.com/ Previous Unchained episodes: Is Ethereum a Good Investment: https://unchainedpodcast.com/lyn-alden-and-raoul-pal-is-ethereum-a-good-investment/ Why Bitcoin Now: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-meltem-demirors-and-lyn-alden-on-the-perfect-conditions-for-bitcoin/    Mauricio di Bartolomeo Twitter: https://twitter.com/cryptonomista LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauricio-di-bartolomeo-780284101   Recommended Lyn Reading on Inflation https://www.lynalden.com/ecb-trapped/ https://www.lynalden.com/investing-during-stagflation/ https://www.lynalden.com/may-2022-newsletter/ https://www.lynalden.com/the-area-under-the-curve/ https://www.lynalden.com/blockfi/   Ledn Information https://ledn.io/  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/07/01/blockfi-approached-with-ledn-led-funding-offer-amid-ftx-acquisition-talks-report/    El Salvador https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/opinion/bitcoin-el-salvador-bukele-crypto.html?searchResultPosition=1 https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitcoin-in-el-salvador-why-would-cypherpunks-support-government-mandated-bitcoin-adoption-ep-375/   Inflation https://twitter.com/nic__carter/status/1538909209022058498 https://www.reuters.com/business/imf-cuts-global-growth-forecasts-warns-high-inflation-threatens-recession-2022-07-26/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGCxEMgnMco&list=PL9flMWibV82fmwt5vd0YROikG2msYYphX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lyn Alden

Independent Analyst and Investor

Lyn Alden Investment Strategy

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo

Co-founder

Ledn