Paxos CEO on Crypto Today & Why Stablecoins Are Exploding | Charles Cascarilla
This week, Charles Cascarilla joins the show to discuss the current state of crypto and the future of Paxos. We deep dive into Paxos’ origin story and business model, the growth of stablecoin payments, whether Paxos may look to IPO in 2027, Charles' advice for founders and more. Enjoy!
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:03) The State of Crypto Today
(22:24) How To Fix The U.S Debt Problem
(32:24) ZKsync Ad, Blockworks IR
(33:56) Behind The Paxos Business Model
(43:32) Why Binance’s $BUSD Would Have Been The Largest Stablecoin
(50:12) The GENIUS Act & The Global Dollar Network
(59:46) Agentic Payments
(01:05:32) Will Paxos IPO?
(01:17:06) Advice For Founders
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
The Hidden Costs of USDC | Nathan McCauley & Charles Cascarilla
In today's episode Charles Cascarilla from Paxos and Nathan McCauley from Anchorage reveal why today's stablecoin giants keep billions in yield that could be flowing to users. They unpack USDG's approach through the Global Dollar Network, exploring why major companies might choose collaboration over competition. The conversation spans Tether's surprising resilience, USDC's challenging relationship with crypto builders, and bold predictions for stablecoin regulation and adoption in 2025. Thanks for tuning in!
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Timestamps
(00:00) Introduction
(02:28) Paxos & Anchorage Business Model
(05:45) Stablecoin Landscape
(14:38) USDC's Vampire Effect
(24:53) Economics of USDG
(39:03) Geodnet Ad
(40:01) Uniswap Ad
(40:48) Aptos Ad
(41:31) Bitwise Ad
(42:21) Dynamics of Consortium
(49:35) Market Share of Stablecoins
(55:36) Ethena's Business Model
(59:13) Stablecoin Legislation Outloo
(01:02:14) Bullish Predictions
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
The Everything Bubble | Charles Cascarilla
In this episode of Empire, Jason is joined by Charles Cascarilla, co-founder of Paxos, to discuss the state of the market. How did we get here, and what should we expect next?
Show highlights include:
How the everything bubble started in 1995
What tradeoff the Fed has to make
How low interest rates perpetuated the greatest lie
The 3 likely scenarios going forward
How Paxos plans to bring $700T of assets on chain
Why stablecoins aren't actually stable
What Richard is looking forward to next
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Referenced in the show:
Paxos Website
https://paxos.com/
Charles on "Invest Like the Best" (2019)
https://tinyurl.com/32x95pfb
Charles on "Invest Like the Best" (2020)
https://tinyurl.com/2p92aszt
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(00:00) Introduction
(01:12) The Macros Mess
(08:17) The Everything Bubble
(10:27) How To Invest In This Environment
(13:06) What is Bitcoin's Narrative?
(18:34) BTC and Crypto's Outlook In A Macro Bear Market
(24:18) Short Or Long-Term Pain?
(28:05) Paraswap Ad
(29:13) Almost All Stablecoins Aren't Stable
(35:54) Paxos Aims To Bring All Assets On Chain
(38:28) Privacy Is A Requirement For Adoption
(40:17) Crypto's Unlock
(43:32) What Projects Emerge From The Bear?
(45:35) The Most Exciting Thing in Web3 Today
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Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla on How to Avoid Another GameStop - Ep.236
In this discussion I moderated for Paxos, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla discuss GameStop, the broken traditional financial infrastructure, and how blockchain technology may change the future of settlements. Show highlights:
why Robinhood stopped trading on GameStop and AMC stock earlier this year
what both Charles and Vlad think the feasibility of T+0 settlements versus Citadel’s and the DTCC’s aim of T+1 settlements
how the GameStop scenario would have been different in a T+0 environment
what it would look like if certain markets used T+0 settlements while others still settled on T+1
why Robinhood decided to add crypto back in early 2018
how Robinhood’s crypto operations work on the back end
why Robinhood does not allow users to move crypto off-platform
whether securities trading or crypto will be a larger portion of both Paxos’ and Robinhood’s business model
what Paxos and Robinhood have planned for the near future
Thank you to our sponsors!
E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2
Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange
Episode Links:
People:
Charles Cascarilla
Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/
Coindesk Profile
https://www.coindesk.com/charles-cascarilla-most-influential-2020
Previous interview with Laura
https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/
Blog post on the GameStop saga
https://www.paxos.com/what-lehman-brothers-gamestop-and-the-next-financial-crisis-have-in-common/
Vlad Tenev
Twitter
https://twitter.com/vladtenev
CNN Article
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/investing/robinhood-gamestop-vlad-tenev/index.html
Tweet Thread on T+2
https://twitter.com/vladtenev/status/1356687248746455041
Companies:
Paxos
Twitter
https://twitter.com/PaxosGlobal
Paxos Settlement Service
https://www.paxos.com/securities/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-paxos/paxos-to-launch-settlement-of-u-s-listed-equities-after-secs-no-action-letter-idUSKBN1X727M
Wall Street Journal write-up
https://www.wsj.com/articles/blockchain-makes-inroads-into-the-stock-markets-1-trillion-plumbing-system-11573131600
Robinhood
Twitter
https://twitter.com/RobinhoodApp
Robinhood Crypto
https://robinhood.com/us/en/about/crypto/
Public offering
https://blog.robinhood.com/news/2021/3/23/robinhood-markets-inc-confidentially-submits-draft-registration-statement
Miscellaneous Links
Citadel on settlements
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/95326/citadel-robinhood-shorter-settlements-congress
DTCC on settlements
https://www.dtcc.com/news/2021/february/24/dtcc-proposes-approach-to-shortening-us-settlement-cycle-to-t1-within-two-years
Other:
Caitlin Long Unchained episode:
https://unchainedpodcast.com/caitlin-long-why-avanti-will-be-a-new-kind-of-crypto-bank/
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Paxos's Charles Cascarilla - How Blockchain Tech Could Prevent Another GameStop/Robinhood - Ep.214
In this episode of Unchained, Charles Cascarilla, CEO and cofounder of Paxos, explains how the 2008 financial crisis led him to crypto, what financial plumbing has to do with GameStop, and how Paxos is leveraging blockchain technology to change financial services. In this episode Charles discusses:
his work experience prior to Paxos and how the financial crisis in 2008 opened his eyes to Bitcoin and blockchain (01:07)
what it was like to work in Bitcoin during the early days compared to now (4:02a)
why Paxos decided to focus on building solutions for institutions rather than targeting the retail market like Coinbase (11:38)
the relationship between Paxos and PayPal + why PayPal customers can’t send crypto directly to their wallets or crypto addresses yet (19:37)
how Microstrategy and Tesla are bringing Bitcoin mainstream (25:31)
what really happened with GameStop and Robinhood and why financial plumbing matters (30:34)
how the Paxos Settlement Service is bringing greater transparency to financial markets by using blockchain technology (39:02)
what other assets he thinks will be tokenized (50:32)
stablecoin regulation and why this might be as good as it gets for Tether (58:36)
why Paxos chose to pursue a New York State trust company charter instead of a BitLicense (1:06:15)
what changes he would make to crypto regulation for 2021 and beyond (1:09:28)
what’s next for Paxos (1:15:12)
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://bit.ly/3jzkTAD
Download the Crypto.com app here: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/laurashinpodcasttesla
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Episode links:
Charles Cascarilla
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescascarilla/
Coindesk Profile: https://www.coindesk.com/charles-cascarilla-most-influential-2020
Previous interview with Laura: https://unchainedpodcast.com/chad-cascarilla-on-paxoss-partnership-with-paypal/
Presentation at Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporation’s conference: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/paxos
Blog post on the GameStop saga: https://www.paxos.com/what-lehman-brothers-gamestop-and-the-next-financial-crisis-have-in-common/
Interview with Frank Chaparro: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/61823/the-scoop-paxos-cascarilla-coronavirus
Paxos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaxosGlobal + https://twitter.com/PaxosStandard
Paxos Settlement Service: https://www.paxos.com/securities/ + https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-paxos/paxos-to-launch-settlement-of-u-s-listed-equities-after-secs-no-action-letter-idUSKBN1X727M
Series C Fundraising: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/88133/142-million-series-c-paxos-crypto-stablecoins
Wall Street Journal write-up: https://www.wsj.com/articles/blockchain-makes-inroads-into-the-stock-markets-1-trillion-plumbing-system-11573131600
Plans to tokenize precious metals: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/15413/paxos-plans-to-put-precious-metals-on-the-blockchain
Other Links
Paypal’s crypto-focused business unit: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/93668/paypal-crypto-business-unit-earnings-2021
Paypal’s Q4 earnings: https://www.coindesk.com/paypal-2020-results-outstanding-finish-to-a-record-year
Stablecoin rankings: https://stablecoinstats.com/
Tether whitepaper: https://tether.to/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TetherWhitePaper.pdf
BitLicense: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/apps_and_licensing/virtual_currency_businesses/regulation_history
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Paxos cofounder explains why Wall Street's plumbing hasn't been ready for the coronavirus crisis
A financial crisis triggered by a global pandemic has exposed underlying problems on Wall Street and the market as a whole.
That's according to Paxos chief executive officer Charles Cascarilla, who made an appearance on the latest episode of The Scoop podcast with host Frank Chaparro.
Cascarilla – who spent the most formative years of his career as a hedge fund investor at Cedar Hill Capital during the 2008-2009 financial crisis – talked about unexpected liquidity issues across assets, such as Treasury securities and CAT bonds, and the problematic plumbing at the heart of it all.
Cascarilla said that uncertainty of the pipes and plumbing added to the risk associated with volatility and the inability to price assets during an economic and health crisis. He said less risk can be created by knowing where one's assets are on a blockchain.
In this episode of The Scoop, Cascarilla walked us through how Paxos is trying to usurp the current plumbing of Wall Street alongside power hitters like Credit Suisse and Instinet with a new blockchain-based settlement platform. The episode also dug into conditions that could result in widespread bank failures and nationalization of the industry.
And of course, the discussion touched on bitcoin's role in a global crisis and whether the premier cryptocurrency emerges from this crisis period as digital gold.
Episode 12 of Season 2 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with Frank Chaparro, Ryan Todd and Charles Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos.
A Conversation with Charles Cascarilla, CEO & Co-Founder at Paxos
Paxos wears many hats in the blockchain ecosystem. It offers one of the better known stable coins, $PAX. Operates a crypto currency exchange, that's itBit and the company provides products that help large firms use blockcain to improve their settlement systems. But at the heart of Paxos (according to CEO Charles Cascarilla) is to move the financial system onto the blockchain -- it's a move he says could prevent future financial calamities like what the market saw in 2008. On this episode of The Scoop Cascarilla talked about the growth of it's stable coin and why stable coins are a better alternative for merchants. I hope you enjoy the episode