Why Crypto’s Next Phase Depends on Real Utility and Faster Settlement

Remy: We can trade stocks in milliseconds, but it still takes days for the actual cash and collateral to move through the labyrinth of global settlement. Now, this latency isn't just an annoyance, it is a massive drag on global liquidity. And joining me as we keep a close eye on the crypto majors this morning is Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, the New York based tech company behind the Daml smart contract language. Well, Yuval, good morning. Thank you so much for joining me.

Yuval: Thank you for having me.

Remy: Well, we are looking at read across asset classes equities precious metals and crypto. So tell us what's happening in crypto and why we're seeing this sharp pullback in Bitcoin.

Yuval: Yeah. So it almost feels like there's a monster on the floor. And it's just affecting everything. There's clearly a macro trend that is happening. And we're seeing it's affecting all asset classes. Specifically we are in the crypto industry. I think what we are realizing, and it's something that I have been saying for a very long time. We as an industry have made a lot of promises about the utility that we can bring. But I think that as an industry as a whole, we haven't delivered on the utility. I mean, of course it's a maybe it's a too large of a generalization. Of course there are areas where you do see that. And I just think that investors are asking, you know, show us the proof. And as a result of that, we're seeing a much significant pullback in the crypto market.

Remy:Yeah.And I'm so glad you mentioned fundamentals, especially given what we're seeing not just here in the U.S. but also across the globe. And you've spent the last couple of weeks, it's hard to believe we're only in month two of 2026, given everything that has happened. But you have travel across the globe and you're hearing about the reaction to political geopolitical sentiment that is affecting fundamentals. And this is as we keep an eye on those technical levels. And I understand that you have referred to racing Ferraris on a dirt road in terms of infrastructure and the underlying functioning when it comes to blockchain. So give us your take on where we are right now. Are we paving that dirt road as we go along?

Yuval: Yeah, I think we are. And to be honest, I even wrote about it yesterday on X that, you know, if we were to think about where we are today, about a year ago, everybody would have said that crypto should be 2x, maybe from where it was in the beginning of the year. And generally speaking, I agree with the sentiment in terms of what we're seeing is we're seeing more and more institutions looking to use the technology for their fundamental business. That being said, I think that when you look across the board, there are a number of networks that exist and how much is happening on them.

I think that there are a lot of roads, but unfortunately those roads haven't been paved for what I would call real world businesses. And as a result of that, we're seeing that there's not much traffic running on those roads And I think that's what now investors are kind of like punishing the market for. That being said, there are a few examples of exceptions. For example, maybe I'll call out a different network like Hyperliquid, which is clearly show that if you actually create a business model that shows utility for investors, and as a result of that utility and value for the holders, well, Hyperliquid outperformed the rest of crypto. I think at Canton, when we launch the network, we're thinking about it very similarly. We have to show real world utility. And, you know, we've just got selected by DTCC for putting U.S. treasuries. And I think what we will see in U.S. Treasury is that not only a lot of activity in the U.S., but we will actually see global, systemic, global players that are now going to be connected to the DTCC to move U.S. treasuries globally in a much more efficient and streamlined manner.

Remy:Yeah. And you bring up a lot of important points, because when we look at what's happening across the digital asset space, we are looking at real world assets and tokenization, as you mentioned. And a lot of this technology, when we're looking at the demand for U.S. equities or treasuries, we take for granted the infrastructure and what we have here in the U.S. But for 2026, what is your outlook? What areas are you watching? Not just in the U.S. but also overseas?

Yuval: Yeah, I think I think the reality is that the U.S. is still the predominant market globally, and it is the one that is now, after many years that it hasn't is moving faster than the rest of the world. And now you're seeing the rest of the world trying to catch up with the U.S., which is reassuring. But the other thing that you're seeing is that a lot of global players are saying, actually, this is also an opportunity because the U.S. is moving faster. There is an opportunity for better connectivity to the U.S. and as a result of that, bringing liquidity to other markets. I'll give just an example. Imagine if you're an emerging market that today delivering U.S. treasuries or U.S. dollars to set market is very hard. Well then if you think about a derivative market, it's kind of hard to global players to trade in these local markets because it's not very easy to deliver collateral in order to enable trading.

Well, now we're talking to some emerging market derivative exchanges that are saying, well, actually, if now we can pledge U.S. treasuries because they're tokenized and they can move in real time, we can actually allow access as a result of that to markets that today would be much harder to penetrate So I think you're seeing two dimensions. One is people are trying to mimic the U.S., which is good from a local perspective, but it's also now that U.S. assets are much more liquid and available. They're also looking at how do we bring U.S. liquidity into foreign countries.

Remy: Yeah, I think moving forward liquidity is the key word here. And for viewers out there who are watching right now keeping an eye on what's happening in crypto and in particular digital assets. Tell us about your recent partnerships between Canton Network and Fireblocks, as well as JP Morgan. What are you doing and why?

Yuval: Sure. Again, I'll go back to the fundamental view, which is we have to deliver utility. And utility means that you have to enable real businesses to operate on Canton. And rather than saying, you know, big statements, we're just going to change the world overnight. It happens in drips. So you have to have the best custodians in the network. And that's the integration with Fireblocks. You have to best the best type of payment solutions or payment assets. That's JPMorgan. You want to have the best assets on the network. That's the DTCC. So what we're doing is drip by drip, we're adding more and more building blocks that are critical for them businesses to be able to build real applications on top of the network.

Remy: And Yuval, finally, before I let you go, when we're talking about digital assets and simplifying what's actually happening under the hood when it comes to the bigger financial institutions, of course, there are references to glass pipes and walled gardens, especially with the work that you do. So for people out there who are trying to understand what's happening and where you're going to go from here. In a nutshell, what would you say to them?

Yuval: We are making the world much more connected in a much more streamlined manner. You mentioned the T+2. That's actually in the most liquid market. If you actually goes to less liquid markets, like it takes two months to settle an annuity, it takes a month to settle a loan. We are really just streamlining it. And the idea is to bring the same type of experience you get with streaming music or streaming movies to that ability to stream assets. That's really what we're doing.

Remy: Yeah, and that's the plumbing that you're referring to. And earlier this year, the New York Stock Exchange also announced its intentions to also tokenize assets. So you're having the bigger exchanges, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, getting into the space as well. So what are the implications and the impact?

Yuval: Yeah, I think I think there's still time to see how this all plays out. I think the what's really important, kind of like what you would see in most technical trends is everybody's focused on the technology, and therefore it's not a question of if but when. Right. We'll have to wait and see. Again, we're still, I always say a lot of people think that we're like, so far in, I'm actually I think that we're pretty early on. But all of those announcements. New York Stock Exchange, where we are at Nasdaq, DTCC, you'll see global payment companies that are doing- just yesterday we did the first payroll on Canton that actually enables privacy. So now you can actually do day to day activities with much better efficiency. So I think it's the combination of all of those things that is very exciting because it's going to happen. What is the final, you know, market structure? How does it all play together? I think it's still early to tell.

Remy: Yeah. And you mentioned a key term there. And that is market structure. That is something that we're watching for in terms of regulation from the nation's capital. But when it comes to institutional finance of course with Canton Network privacy is key. Compliance, scalability they're all important. So for viewers out there who are wondering where are we on the timeline? I'm sure you have a vision for this. Where are we exactly and how much further do we have to go?

Yuval: So first of all, when we built Canton, we didn't build it in the hopes that regulation has to change to make it work. I do think that the GENIUS Act have been very helpful for the industry. I wish that the Clarity Act would have passed already, because I think it would have been good for the industry. That being said, I think that what's more important to me, and that's why we're still seeing without the Clarity Act, all of these large organizations moving forward.

It's actually the posture of the administration and the regulators that are very pro the technology. Even before this administration, even when some of our clients thought that they were doing everything according to the law, they would hesitate because they would think that they would get scrutinized just by using the technology So although I'm excited and I think the Clarity Act eventually will pass, I think that to me, what's more important is that what we're seeing is the government, the regulator, and not just in the U.S., also globally, are actually starting to understand that there's a lot of merits to the technology. They're leaning forward. And as a result of that, we're seeing global companies actually using it and moving forward.

Remy: Well,Yuval, it's always great talking to you. Thank you so much for joining me as we kick off 2026, I'm sure we will have a lot of conversations as we head into the new year.

Yuval: Thank you for having me.