Episode Details

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Presented collaboratively by Early Riders & Onramp Media…

Final Settlement is a weekly podcast covering capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, bitcoin applications and protocol development.

Michael, Liam, and Brian open the first ever Final Settlement live stream on the Liquid Network exploit that drained roughly 4,000 Bitcoin, about $320 million, after the attacker inflated the supply of LBTC and pegged out against reserves the sidechain did not have. They get into hot keys and federation quorums, why the base chain held while the layer above it did not, and where the real spectrum of risk sits between an early stage protocol and a bank. The middle of the show turns to Ben Carmen open sourcing Lightspark's lightning service provider, GPT-6 Astra and the AGI question, and Matt Pines and StarCloud on physical superintelligence. The back half is settlement plumbing: 21 banks including Bank of America, Citi and Goldman lining up behind a joint dollar stablecoin, why the collateral layer is the real prize, the SEC's proposed transfer agent overhaul, Circle buying Tazapay, and the rumor that ARK, BlackRock and Fidelity could trade tokenized funds through a transfer agent alone. They close on AMC's chief executive going after Robinhood over tokenized stock, and the meme coins now paired to it.

Chapters

00:00 - The first ever Final Settlement live stream

01:37 - 4,000 Bitcoin drained from the Liquid Network

04:21 - How the LBTC supply was inflated

06:11 - Hot keys, quorums, and why TradFi moves slowly

09:21 - The added risk of moving off the base chain

12:54 - A spectrum of risk, from Mt. Gox to open protocols

15:45 - Ben Carmen open sources Lightspark's LSP

18:56 - GPT-6 Astra, Claude 5.1, and the AGI question

22:27 - Matt Pines, StarCloud, and physical superintelligence

24:26 - 21 banks line up behind a joint stablecoin

25:24 - Why the collateral layer is the real prize

29:37 - Transfer agents, T+0, and who owns the ledger

37:16 - Felix Pago, Open Reserve, and Circle buying Tazapay

41:39 - The rumor: tokenized funds from ARK, BlackRock, Fidelity

45:49 - Pledging your ETF and the daisy chain risk

48:34 - AMC's CEO versus Robinhood on tokenized stock

52:54 - Meme coins paired to tokenized equity

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Keep up with Michael:

https://x.com/MTanguma

Keep up with Liam:

https://x.com/Lnelson_21

Keep up with Brian:

https://x.com/BackslashBTC