Let's get to the big story breakdown in New York morning trade.
We are looking at Bitcoin trading in the mid 70K range now we continue to monitor the price action, but of course there are macro risks that we will continue to monitor and joining us to analyze these market dynamics as well as the regulatory landscape and advances in infrastructure security is Mike Belshe, co-founder and CEO of BitGo.
Mike, great to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning.
Well, as we know, there are a lot of headlines to sift through, not just for the crypto market, but the broader global market as well.
So what do you make of the institutional demand that we're seeing in crypto right now?
I think everything is still going extremely well in our industry.
A lot of excitement about what's hopefully going to come with clarity still, but we have the tailwinds from Genius also still working well.
I saw more announcements from Sofi today.
So everything seems to be moving quite well.
I think this is also a global trend.
It's not just the US, so across the board, people are feeling more comfortable being able to participate in digital assets.
Yes, and Mike, while I have you here, you mentioned Sohi's staplecoin announcement, but we also are focused on clarity, as you mentioned.
So as we look into the second half of 2026, there are a lot of expectations regarding the regulatory landscape here in the US.
So what do you expect to see not just in the coming weeks, but also the rest of 2026?
Actually we've been preparing this for those of us that are in digital assets for quite some time.
So Isn't any real change in terms of what we have to do.
I think the Clarity Act actually tells everyone, it signals to everyone that there is a path forward, legislated, kind of on an ongoing basis right now every bank, every traditional firm in the United States is looking at how they are bringing digital assets into their platforms.
Of course major announcements just this last couple of months with Charles Schwab to Morgan Stanley, Citibank, etc.
So there really isn't any.
New work to be done.
Instead, actually it's building on top of what's already there, and then the Clarity Act makes it so it's very clear that it's all approved.
Yes, and when we take a step back, we're almost at the halfway mark of 2026, and it has been a big year for Bitco.
So what has been happening at Bitco since you have gone public?
So we're an infrastructure company, of course we're an OCC charter national bank here.
Business has been doing very well.
The crypto markets tend to go up and down in terms of trading volume, so that part is there, but on any measure we've seen increased assets coming into the company.
We see new deals every day, so things are moving very well.
Yes, and for viewers out there who are watching right now and they might be focused more on the price action of the crypto majors versus what's happening below the surface when it comes to infrastructure or say tokenization or what's happening around the globe.
So what do you make of the environment we're in now compared to a few years ago?
AI is of course the topic of the last several months.
I think actually a lot of investors are looking at how they are going to participate in digital in AI, and that's affecting digital assets on a short-term scale.
But all of the macro factors that make Bitcoin so valuable as a part of our financial system are still there, and in fact, if anything, they're playing out and proving the thesis over and over again.
So we might see ups and downs like there's different fads and things.
I think most people are predicting we're in a bit of an AI bubble at the moment as people start to figure out how to participate there.
That will affect us indirectly, but the long term trajectory for digital assets, moving all markets 24/7 is simply better.
We know we can do this.
Stablecoins, of course, are simply better payments, and these are the railways which allow us to think how are we going to do our banking system to stay competitive in a global market on an ongoing basis that's different from what we've been doing for the last 100.
Yes, and you mentioned two things that we're paying attention to here on Wall Street, and that is artificial intelligence as well as the macro landscape.
So we've been looking at some headlines that are coming through when it comes to the conflict in the Middle East, and of course we'll have to continue to monitor that situation, the implications of what all of this means for asset classes, but of course artificial intelligence and quantum.
So I understand that Bitco recently completed a post-quantum transaction simulation.
Tell us a little bit about this.
We did, yes.
So in partnership with one of our great partners, Silence Labs, we actually did a transaction which would be quantum resistant if we had a quantum computer available today.
Look, a lot of people are asking about quantum computing.
My own personal opinion, it's mostly a nothing burger for all of digital assets, including Bitcoin, but there's a lot of work to be done and good news like across the various blockchains from Bitcoin to Ethereum, Solana.
Everybody's working on this, and we have good solutions.
So anyway, this is a demonstration.
Yes, we can do quantum resistant transactions on chain that was done on the Ethereum chain.
We can do those today if we have to, but this is all part of research and work that's going on to be ready for when a quantum computer might come online.
And for the layperson who's watching this right now and they're not quite sure the implications and impact of artificial intelligence in the digital asset space, tell us what you're focused on right now.
There are two areas we use it for.
A lot of times you hear the negative headlines of AI is going to learn how to hack everything, and that is a concern.
But remember also we use AI to bolster our defenses, so we're doing that now.
Everybody I think in the space is doing that.
Aggressively right now, so these are new tools that we can actually make our products better, stronger, and safer.
Our job is to stay ahead of whatever adversaries may come, whether they be human or artificial.
So of course we'll do that on the quantum computing concern.
It's pretty far away.
It may in fact never happen.
People like to focus on the bad things that can happen, but in general I think it's actually really good news.
We've got tremendous minds working on what we would do if we needed quantum resistance today.
Nobody thinks we need it today.
It's many years away.
And then on the AI hacking side, of course we're trying to be proactive.
Yes, and as you mentioned, sometimes when it comes to the crypto space when we're talking about the role of artificial intelligence, a lot of the headlines tend to be negative, but with risk also comes opportunity here.
So where are you seeing the opportunities as we head not just into the rest of this year but also beyond?
I think it's our job to kind of Console these fears that come and there's always new ones, you know.
A few years ago, people were worried about different aspects of Bitcoin.
Today this is something that they're worried about, it's front and center.
We heard a lot about this from traditional investors as they start to get access to crypto markets.
They've never had to think about these types of things in quite the same way before, so they're To us to lead, and I think the industry is stepping up to do that, which I think is absolutely great.
That's what we're here to do.
Yes, and Mike, finally, before I let you go, we have about 60 seconds here.
So there are a lot of IPOs in the pipeline, a lot of unicorns set to go public in 2026, but now that Bitco is public, what is your vision for the organization as you move forward?
Well, we're still infrastructure, so we provide infrastructure at all layers.
So at the lowest technology layer, if it's wallet services and self custody, we do that.
At the custody layer we provide, of course we're most known for, and then we build services on top of that which allow institutions to participate.
So all of the traditional financial firms that have been on the sidelines not known how to touch. equities or whatever it is that they're interested in, they can use Bitco technology in order to get started much more quickly.
So anyway, overall the business has been going very well given that there's such an increased interest and being a public company helps everyone see exactly how we're operating, exactly what we do, understand the risks of the business, makes them have more confidence in Bic.
Well, always great talking to you, Mike.
Thank you so much for joining me here at the New York Stock Exchange.
I appreciate your time and all of your insights.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
