Mm.
Well, Bitcoin is moving beyond just a store of value and becoming a key asset for institutions.
With the launch of CBTC on the Canton network.
Bitcoin can be used as collateral, and that goes for trading margin and liquidity management as well.
And CBTC is a 1 to 1 Bitcoin-backed token developed by BitSafe, and it does offer fast private transactions with an auditable trail, and this does mean potential opportunities in tokenized finance, opening the path to. adoption of Bitcoin in mainstream finance.
Well joining me live today is Aki Vallow, CEO of BitSafe.
Aki, great to have you.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Well, first and foremost, when it comes to CBTC, explain what it is and why this is all in Canton.
Yeah, so CBTC is a new type of Bitcoin wrapping technology.
We use features built into Bitcoin blockchain itself to secure the Bitcoin in a 15 member multi-SIG that Secured by the 15 largest node operators in the world, that means we're not reliant on one single custodian.
You can mint CBTC by moving Bitcoin into this multi-SIG and it mints to Canton.
And the reason we picked Canton is it's it's an institution.
It's a leading privacy focused institutional focused blockchain with heavy partnerships with Goldman, Citadel, DTCC, you name it.
They want to use Bitcoin or CBTC as margin collateral, so we're supporting all of them.
Yeah, and, for viewers who may not be as familiar with rap Bitcoin versus regular Bitcoin, explain this to us and tell us a little bit about why this is so key.
Yes, so Bitcoin is its own blockchain.
It's very simple.
You can send it or hold it, but that's pretty much it.
You can't really do too much more.
Blockchains like Canton or Ethereum enable smart contract systems where you can build trading systems.
Invest it to earn a return, and that's really what people want with Bitcoin alone, it just sort of sits there and you know you might send it to someone, but usually people just hold it in cold storage or somewhere.
But when you put it on Canton, you can invest it into hedge funds, use it as collateral for trading, borrow stablecoins against it and use that, invest the stablecoins.
So it just opens up this whole world of open finance on Bitcoin.
Yeah, so you just mentioned stable coins, and that is something that has been added to the retail investors lexicon here in the US this year, especially because of the public IPO here of Circle.
So I do want to ask you how does CBTC work with stablecoin?
Well, the number one use case of Bitcoin is borrowing stables against it.
We've seen that on other chains like on Ethereum.
You can borrow against WBTC in a platform called AE, and they've got to.
Became one of the biggest banks or smart contract systems that are not a bank but you know, equaling in size.
So bringing that to Canton and giving that to people is huge.
It just lets you Bitcoin is the world's largest pool of underutilized collateral.
It is heavily underfinancialized.
We need products on it.
People want to use it.
They don't just want it sitting there.
So this wrapping Bitcoin and putting it on different chains and using it in different ways, that is absolutely the future.
Yeah, and Aki, I do want to take a step back because here we are counting down to the end of 2025.
Last time you and I were talking, we were at Gracie Mansion in New York City and we were there for an event for crypto for the mayor of New York City.
But since then we've seen the Genius Act being passed and the regulatory environment here in the US continues to evolve.
So as we head into year end, what are some catalysts you're paying attention to?
You know, we're so early we hear news all the time, some public, some that cannot be shared, but there's just broad institutional adoption.
It was really when the spot EPFs, you know, broke through and were phenomenally successful that I think a lot of Wall Street woke up and said, wait a moment, you know, we've got to really look at this.
And when the regulatory it shifted and became more pro supportive of crypto.
It really just opened up a world.
So I think we're going to see pretty much everything in finance that has been built.
We're going to see it rebuilt in more sophisticated ways, new products that have unique features.
It's just going to be an amazing world and we're just at the beginning of that. and Bitcoin plays a large part because Bitcoin is sort of the first step in most people's crypto journey.
They hear about Bitcoin from a friend.
So like Bitcoin is sort of an on-ramp to defiant crypto, and the world is just starting to kind of or the large institutions in the US are starting to be able to play with Bitcoin and think about, you know, these DLT companies, these treasury companies, you know, where can they put.
Kind of yield can they get?
They build these big storehouses of Bitcoin.
What can they do with it, you know, what can you know large holders, what can government holders do with Bitcoin?
So all of these are like now, now front and center.
Yeah.
And finally, I can, before I let you go, we're fast approaching the opening bell here as we can hear from the Turing in the background.
But I do want to ask you as we move forward into not just the rest of this year from Walt.
Street to Main Street.
What does all of this mean for the retail consumer?
For retail, it's just going to open up more avenues, you know.
The regulatory landscape was in many ways designed to protect retail, but it can also limit retail.
And long story short, various DFI open open finance protocols can let retail also use some of the tools that larger institutions use and you know, make more money, earn more return, you know, be more, you know, take more risks and earn more through that.
So I'm very excited about how what this will deliver to retail, especially because many retail already hold Bitcoin.
So you know, Bitcoin 5 for retail, that's something we're very passionate about.
OK, Aki, well thank you so much for coming on again and thank you so much for joining me here at the New York Stock Expleasure.
