The Starting Block

The Block

0.0 (0)
Business News

The Starting Block is The Block's new flagship daily live show — the breaking news, the context behind it, and the people shaping where crypto goes next. Each episode is a 45-minute live broadcast hosted by award-winning journalist and broadcaster Gareth Jenkinson and powered by The Block's newsroom and research desk.

4d ago

Polygon eyes payment business shift beyond its own blockchain

The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Polygon CEO Marc Boiron. Polygon CEO Marc Boiron joins Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to discuss the launch of the Open Money Stack on Solana, Polygon's strategic pivot to payments infrastructure, and why he sees Polygon competing with payments players rather than other blockchains. Boiron opened by explaining what the Open Money Stack is: a single API that lets businesses on-ramp money onto a chain, move it across chains, hold it in a wallet, and execute any stablecoin operation through one integration, rather than stitching together separate providers for wallets, RPCs, indexers, on-ramps, off-ramps, and interop. He said the addition of Solana was driven by customer demand, noting that Solana has pushed hard in the payments space and that customers were asking for it. He argued that stablecoin adoption has been slower than it should be since the GENIUS Act passed roughly a year ago — where he would expect 1,000 percent growth in stablecoin payments — and that complexity is the main bottleneck his product is designed to remove. He also cited Polygon's dedicated pay channels, which he said have been tested at 41 million transactions per second, a figure he said no other chain can match and one that will become necessary as AI agents transact at scale. On Polygon's broader evolution, Boiron said chains have become commodity infrastructure — fast, cheap, and largely indistinguishable — and that winning requires vertical focus rather than being a general-purpose chain. He described Polygon's chosen vertical as payments, positioning Solana as strong on trading and Ethereum as the home for deep liquidity on large trades, while Polygon goes after global money movement. He cited Polymarket and Courtyard as flagship examples of what Polygon's infrastructure made possible, saying Polygon was the first chain that could support the transaction volumes Polymarket needed, and that Polygon has 10x'd its scale over the past 12 months to keep pace with Polymarket's growth. He also described the consolidation effort at Polygon over recent years: spinning off non-strategic products, shutting down initiatives that did not work such as the Polygon zkEVM, and watching projects like the privacy-focused chain Myden emerge from that work. Boiron drew an analogy between Polygon and Visa, noting that Visa earns $17 billion a year just from flat data-processing fees on transactions — not volume-based bips — and argued that global money movement as a category is far larger than card-network payments alone. He said he came into crypto excited by sovereign money and fully autonomous systems, acknowledged that vision has had to adjust to reality, but maintained that a more resilient, transparent, and accessible global ledger still materially improves people's lives. He closed by defending his increasingly candid posts on X, saying founders who want to run companies need an intensity that most people are reluctant to voice publicly, and that double-digit numbers of fellow founders have privately told him they agree with what he writes. About the guestMarc Boiron is the CEO of Polygon Labs, the organisation behind the Polygon blockchain and payments infrastructure ecosystem, a role he stepped into after serving as the company's Chief Legal Officer. A lawyer by background, he previously held the Chief Legal Officer position at dYdX. Key topics• Polygon's Open Money Stack single-API now supports Solana for stablecoin payments.• Polygon claims 41 million TPS on dedicated pay channels, targeting AI agent transactions.• Boiron frames Polygon as a payments business, not a general-purpose blockchain competitor.• Polymarket and Courtyard cited as proof Polygon built critical early infrastructure.• Stablecoin payment growth too slow post-GENIUS Act; Polygon aims to fix complexity barrier. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:59 - The Block Briefing07:27 - The Hot Seat: Open Money Stack09:23 - Polygon's Payments Pivot16:24 - Competition Reframed20:51 - Polymarket & Courtyard23:47 - Crypto Meets TradFi29:23 - Marc's Spicy X Takes Guest links:Marc Boiron - https://x.com/0xMarcBPolygon - https://x.com/0xPolygon Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus (00:00) - Introduction (01:59) - Kalshi vs. Utah (02:47) - Coinbase Lists RLUSD (03:43) - Robinhood Q3 Earnings (04:23) - Bitwise Bitcoin Forecast (05:18) - Ripple's 2026 Momentum (07:27) - Hot Seat: Open Money Stack (09:23) - Polygon's Payments Pivot (16:24) - Competition Reframed (20:51) - Polymarket & Courtyard (23:47) - Crypto Meets TradFi (29:23) - Marc's Spicy X Takes
5d ago

EXCLUSIVE - Chainlink deepens ties with S&P

Episode 48 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Andrew McCormick, The Head of Institutional and Market Development at Chainlink Labs. Andrew McCormick, Chainlink Labs's Head of Institutional and Market Development, joined Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to announce and explain Chainlink's expanded collaboration with S&P Global Ratings. The duo also discussed bringing vault risk assessments on chain, and the continuing convergence of TradFi and DeFi. After The Block Briefing, McCormick explained the Chainlink-S&P Global announcement: S&P's vault risk assessments, which rate lending vaults following certain parameters including portfolio credit quality, liquidity mismatch, and protocol governance risk, are now being delivered onchain through Chainlink's Data Link product, and will launch first on Base. McCormick explained that the lending vault market has grown from $1.5 billion to roughly $10 billion in deposits in two years, roughly 600%, and said that putting independent risk data onchain enables both manual decision-making and smart-contract automation for moving assets between vaults. He also stated that Chainlink's recently announced vault adapters, which are designed to let users easily move assets across vaults, will be a complementary product. McCormick spoke about Chainlink's broader infrastructure role, noting that institutions ranging from banks and asset managers to fintechs like Robinhood are using Chainlink for cross-chain operations and tokenized equities data. He pointed to DTCC going live with tokenization services the same day as the interview as evidence the convergence is real. He described the Chainlink Runtime Environment as the tool that allows banks and asset managers to build on blockchain using their existing systems, and said DTCC is already using it. He predicted 2026 as a year of building and 2027 as a year of scaling, and teased the Link NYC conference happening the following day, with over a thousand attendees including leaders from banks, asset managers, Robinhood, and DTCC. Gareth closed with a brief look at the pending FOMC decision, with Polymarket suggesting a 50-plus basis point cut was the consensus expectation. About the guestAndrew McCormick is the Head of Institutional and Market Development at Chainlink Labs, the primary developer of the Chainlink decentralized oracle network, where he leads the company's institutional engagement strategy with banks, asset managers, and market infrastructure providers. He previously spent roughly 15 years in traditional finance and fintech, including leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, E*Trade, and eToro US. Key topics• S&P Global vault risk assessments go on chain via Chainlink, launching on Base.• Lending vault deposits grew from $1.5B to $10B in two years.• DTCC launched tokenization services live, using Chainlink's Runtime Environment.• Link NYC conference set for the following day with 1,000-plus attendees.• Galaxy Digital posts $323M Q3 net income and a $200M share buyback. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction02:29 - The Block Briefing: Top Headlines06:13 - Chainlink x S&P Global07:01 - Hot Seat: Andrew McCormick09:18 - Lending Vaults Explained11:54 - Chainlink's TradFi-DeFi Role13:41 - Link NYC Conference15:44 - The Future of Finance18:37 - FOMC Decision Watch20:43 - Tomorrow's Show & Outro Guest links:Andrew McCormick - https://x.com/AndrewMcMarketsChainlink Labs - https://x.com/chainlinklabs Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus (00:00) - Introduction (02:29) - The Block Briefing: Top Headlines (06:13) - Chainlink x S&P Global (07:01) - Hot Seat: Andrew McCormick (09:18) - Lending Vaults Explained (11:54) - Chainlink's TradFi-DeFi Role (13:41) - Link NYC Conference (15:44) - The Future of Finance (18:37) - FOMC Decision Watch (20:43) - Tomorrow's Show & Outro
6d ago

US midterms & crypto /w Anthony Scaramucci

Episode 47 of The Starting Block was hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, and joined live with SkyBridge Founder Anthony Scaramucci. SkyBridge Founder Anthony Scaramucci joined Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to discuss what he calls the "inevitable" rise of prediction markets, the potential effects of the midterms on the crypto market, his and views on Michael Saylor's Strategy, and ended with some heartfelt advice for former White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia. The conversation opened with reaction to the NBA signing a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC to work with Kalshi and Polymarket as their preferred prediction markets. The NFL, meanwhile, continues to holdout. Scaramucci called the expansion of prediction markets "inevitable," drawing parallels to the NFL's eventual acceptance of Las Vegas franchises. He praised prediction markets as superior forecasting tools compared to polls, pointing to their accuracy in calling Trump's 2024 election victory at 65-70% odds when polls showed a much tighter race. He cautioned retail participants to be careful, noting that most people lose money in these markets. Scaramucci then outlined the thesis of his forthcoming book, tracing the roots of left- and right-wing populist anger in the US to three economic shocks: China's entry into the WTO as an emerging market that hollowed out American manufacturing, two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq funded by two tax cuts at a cost of $8 trillion, and the 2008 bank bailout in which 5,000 bankers received million-dollar-plus bonuses in the same year banks required a $1 trillion rescue. He argued this sequence of events, layered on top of $33 trillion in deficit spending since the Clinton era, created the conditions for Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, MAGA, and the Bernie Sanders movement alike. On crypto regulation, he said he is worried about the gains being reversed after the Trump administration but is hopeful that SEC chair Paul Atkins will codify enough rules, including via the Clarity Act, that a future hostile regulator cannot easily undo the progress. He argued Elizabeth Warren's anti-crypto positioning amounts to carrying water for the American Banking Association. On Bitcoin, Scaramucci said he met Michael Saylor in October 2020, shortly after Saylor's first Bitcoin purchase, and that conversation pushed him to make SkyBridge's first major Bitcoin allocation. He called Saylor one of the smartest people he has ever met and a genuine revolutionary. He said Strategy has a fortress balance sheet and a competitive advantage through its NAV premium, and that STRC preferred shares, which SkyBridge owns, are a safe, higher-yielding way to ride what he calls the "orange tsunami." He argued Bitcoin should already be at $300,000 given macro conditions, with a 30% share of gold's roughly $25 trillion market cap implying a $7-8 trillion Bitcoin market. For 2027, he said geopolitical uncertainty, a potential war in Iran, and an energy supply shock that flipped rate expectations from two or three cuts to two or three hikes represent a 150-basis-point headwind, but that SEC rule-setting and real-world tokenization moves by institutions such as BlackRock and Kraken on NASDAQ should make it a good fundamental year for quality digital assets. About the guestAnthony Scaramucci is the Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital, a global alternative investment firm he founded in 2005, and previously served as White House Communications Director under President Trump in 2017. Key topics• Prediction markets are inevitable; NBA joins CFTC deal while NFL holds out.• Scaramucci's book traces US populist anger to China trade, war debt, and bank bailouts.• Trump-era crypto regulation is positive but grift concerns remain; Clarity Act progress is key.• Bitcoin should be $300,000 based on 30% of gold's market cap, Scaramucci argues.• Saylor's Strategy holds 4% of Bitcoin supply; STRC is a safe higher-yield play. OUTLINE00:00 - Show Introduction01:40 - The Block Briefing06:28 - Prediction Markets Debate11:10 - Scaramucci's New Book15:43 - Trump, Crypto & Regulation18:52 - Codifying Crypto Rules21:30 - Bitcoin Price Outlook25:10 - AI Sector & SkyBridge27:20 - Michael Saylor & Strategy31:31 - 2027 Market Forecast34:59 - Advice for Katie Zakaria Guest links:Anthony Scaramucci - https://x.com/ScaramucciSkyBridge - https://x.com/SkyBridge Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus
Oct 26

Starknet considers L1 transition - live with Eli Ben-Sasson

Episode 46 of The Starting Block, hosted by Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with StarkWare Founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson joined Gareth Jenkinson on episode 46 of The Starting Block, to discuss Starknet's recent community vote to research becoming a post-quantum secure Layer one blockchain, the potential threat quantum computing poses to current blue-chip crypto tokens, and how AI is reshaping both mathematics and blockchain security. The Block Briefing opened with South Korea poised to delay its 22% crypto gains tax for a fourth time, potentially pushing the start date to 2029 to align with the OECD's global framework, giving Korean traders two more tax-free years. Indian exchange CoinDCX admitted losing nearly $16 million after attackers exploited deprecated deposit wallets left over from a July 2025 breach, where an automated sweeping service had quietly stopped working. Hardware wallet maker Keystone disclosed a Shopify store breach that exposed customer names, addresses, and order history, contradicting the company's claim that it wiped shipping data after 180 days. Bitcoin briefly fell below $80,000 on Saturday, liquidating over $36 million in positions — more than $404 million of which were longs — amid spot ETF outflows and Arthur Hayes announcing he had sold his directional book. A federal judge dismissed the criminal case against Argentina's President Javier Milei over his promotion of the Libra token, clearing him, his sister Karina, and Hayden Davis among others. Senator Richard Blumenthal separately called for records from Tether over payments to consulting firms tied to former White House crypto advisor Bo Heinz while stablecoin legislation was being negotiated. In the Hot Seat, Ben-Sasson explained that Starknet's community voted 93% in favor of researching a move away from Ethereum to become a fully post-quantum secure Layer 1, driven by concern that Ethereum's security layer cannot upgrade fast enough to meet quantum and AI-driven threats. He said the research phase should take roughly a month, with development expected to follow at a rapid pace given strong market urgency. He noted that virtually none of today's blue-chip tokens are post-quantum secure, a concern he hears directly from asset allocators, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth funds. On the OpenAI mathematics release, he speculated that the absence of any cryptographic construction breakthroughs among the 700-plus results either means breaks exist but are being withheld, or that near-breaks have been found that labs are reluctant to publish. Ben-Sasson described being personally shocked that AI has effectively ended traditional mathematical research as he knew it, with luminaries now unable to compete with AI on proving breakthrough results. He said all coding at StarkWare now involves heavy AI usage. On Zcash, which he co-founded but is no longer involved with day to day, he expressed support for the protocol while noting his current focus is on post-quantum secure, programmable privacy on Starknet — including integrations with Zcash via near intents that allow privacy-preserving DeFi. He confirmed that Starknet becoming an L1 is specifically about the speed of post-quantum upgrades, acknowledging Ethereum has other issues he left for a separate conversation. About the guestEli Ben-Sasson is the co-founder and CEO of StarkWare, an Israeli blockchain technology company that uses zero-knowledge STARK proofs to address scalability and privacy on Ethereum and beyond via its flagship network Starknet. A former tenured professor at the Technion and a founding scientist of Zcash, he holds a PhD in theoretical computer science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is the co-inventor of the STARK, FRI, and Zerocash cryptographic protocols. Key topics• Starknet community voted 93% to research becoming a post-quantum secure L1.• Ben-Sasson warns no blue-chip crypto tokens are currently post-quantum secure.• OpenAI's 700+ math breakthroughs conspicuously omit cryptographic constructions.• AI has fundamentally disrupted traditional mathematical research, per Ben-Sasson.• Zcash-Starknet integration enables privacy-preserving DeFi via near intents. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:07 - The Block Briefing 04:53 - Starknet L1 & Quantum Threat11:31 - AI's Impact on Math & Security15:35 - Zcash & Privacy's Future17:47 - Wrap-Up & Tomorrow's Guest Guest links:Eli Ben-Sasson - https://x.com/EliBenSassonStarkWare - https://x.com/StarkWareLtd Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus
Oct 1

Bond yields hitting highs & European backlash on stablecoin reward bans

Episode 45 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Coinbase Head of Policy for Europe Katie Harries. Coinbase Head of Policy for Europe Katie Harries joins Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to discuss the stalling of the US Clarity Act, the Stand With Crypto movement's growth in the UK and EU, and the campaign to unlock stablecoin rewards under MiCA. The Block Briefing opened with news that Lloyds and Visa completed a seven-day live pilot settling $750,000 in USDC in under an hour, including over weekends, marking what Lloyds called the first stablecoin settlement trial between Visa and a major UK banking group. Standard Chartered initiated coverage on Ethena with a $2 price target on its ENA token by end of 2028, implying over 600% upside from current levels around 26 cents, premised on USDE stablecoin supply growing from under $5 billion to roughly $40 billion. The briefing also covered the White House reviewing two CFTC proposed rules that would expand the definition of a swap to include event contracts, affecting platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, and the FCA opening its authorization gateway for UK crypto firms ahead of a new regime taking effect in October 2027, with a February application deadline. Coinbase's Base network went live with its Cobalt upgrade, introducing validity transactions that only execute when preset conditions are met before a given block. In the Market Pulse segment, André Dragosch of Bitwise Europe framed the surge in global bond yields as a collision between easy fiscal policy and tightening monetary policy. He noted the MOVE index — the implied volatility gauge for Treasury bonds — hit its highest level since the 2025 tariff tantrum, and that most S&P 500 constituents are already in bear-market territory below their 200-day moving averages. His base case is that a Fed pause or pivot is weeks, not months, away, and that once both fiscal and monetary policy ease simultaneously, Bitcoin enters full bull-market mode. He flagged Bitcoin's correlation with the S&P 500 at its lowest since 2015, called out $92K as the next major resistance level, but said he expects a consolidation back toward the true-market-mean around $75K before the rally resumes. In the Hot Seat, Katie Harries said the Clarity Act advanced further than anyone expected — passing the House with roughly 78 Democrats joining Republicans — but ultimately failed to reach the 60 Senate votes needed for cloture, blocked in her view by legacy financial institutions. She said Coinbase expects regulatory clarity to come through SEC and CFTC rulemaking regardless, pointing to the SEC's recent innovation exemption enabling tokenized equities in DeFi environments. On Stand With Crypto, she noted the movement now has over 3 million US advocates and 4 million globally, with 300,000 in the UK alone — more than any UK political party's membership. A current UK campaign targets bank blocks preventing customers from moving funds to FCA-registered crypto exchanges. On the EU, Harries said Stand With Crypto EU's 50,000 respondents to the MiCA 2 Commission consultation are primarily pushing to unlock stablecoin rewards, which she argued is the key lever for driving euro-denominated stablecoin adoption and keeping the EU competitive against US dollar-backed stablecoins. About the guestKatie Harries is Head of Policy for Europe at Coinbase, the publicly listed US cryptocurrency exchange, where she leads regulatory and policy engagement across the UK, EU, and broader international markets. Key topics• US Clarity Act stalled in Senate despite broad bipartisan House support.• Stand With Crypto has over 4 million global advocates across six countries.• UK banks blocking transfers to FCA-registered crypto exchanges, new campaign launched.• EU MiCA review is a chance to unlock stablecoin rewards and boost euro adoption.• André Dragosch sees Fed pause weeks away, Bitcoin target at $92K next resistance. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:27 - The Block Briefing05:49 - Market Pulse: Bond Yields & Bitcoin10:44 - Q4 Outlook16:01 - The Hot Seat: US Clarity Act22:10 - Stand With Crypto UK & Bank Blocks30:22 - MiCA Review & Stablecoin Rewards Guest links:Katie Harries - https://x.com/KatieFHarriesCoinbase - https://x.com/coinbaseAndré Dragosch - https://x.com/Andre_DragoschBitwise Europe - https://x.com/Bitwise_Europe Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus (00:00) - Introduction (01:27) - The Block Briefing (05:49) - Market Pulse: Bond Yields & Bitcoin (10:44) - Q4 Outlook (16:01) - The Hot Seat: US Clarity Act (22:10) - Stand With Crypto UK & Bank Blocks (30:22) - MiCA Review & Stablecoin Rewards
Sep 30

Unpacking Telegram’s evolving crypto ecosystem

Episode 44 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Walt CCO Alex Kruglov. Walt (formerly Wallet in Telegram) CCO Alex Kruglov joins Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to discuss the company's rebrand, the platform's expansion into trading, tokenized assets and agentic trading, and how Telegram's billion-user network gives Walt a distribution edge over their rivals. Kruglov opened by retracing his career: roughly 15 years in social media, including a decade at Russian social network VK where he served as deputy CEO before the platform became, in his words, more corporate. He and Andrew Ogosev, who had been VK's CEO after Pavel Durov departed, left to build startups inside the TON and Telegram ecosystem, eventually founding the company now called Top.com. Kruglov explained how that background of understanding how messaging platforms integrate mini-apps, bots and blockchain tech, gave the team an edge he compared to experience found mainly inside Asian super-apps like WeChat. Wallet in Telegram began as a simple text bot for purchasing and holding Toncoin at a time the token was not listed on exchanges, and over the years grew into a platform supporting approximately 300 assets, including tokenized gold and tokenized stocks. The rebrand to Walt was driven by the product outgrowing the original wallet concept, coinciding with Telegram stepping back into an active role in the TON ecosystem by launching its own self-custodial Gram wallet. Kruglov explained the split: Telegram's Gram wallet will handle basic ecosystem functions — usernames, tokenized gifts, Stars — for the full billion-user base, while Walt targets users who want trading, yield products, investment access and, soon, crypto cards and agentic trading. On the name itself, Kruglov said it preserves continuity with the prior brand, carries the sound of "vault" for a sense of security, and carries a human quality as a person's name. Walt announced agentic trading one day before Robinhood made a similar announcement, which Kruglov flagged as validation that the industry is moving in that direction. On user behavior, Kruglov said the majority of existing users still trade Bitcoin, Gram and other crypto assets, but 40 percent of new users begin their journey on Walt with a real-world asset — either tokenized gold or tokenized stocks. He attributed this to a broader blurring of the lines between crypto and traditional markets, predicting that within one to two years there will be little meaningful distinction between tokenized real-world assets and what he called traditional crypto. He pointed to a Kazakhstan conference where a locally developed Grain Token for the agriculture industry drew significant attention as an example of where tokenization is heading by 2027. Kruglov argued that mass adoption requires a trusted distribution partner willing to go all-in on putting crypto in front of regular people, and that Telegram — which grew to a billion users without traditional marketing — is exactly that partner. About the guestAlex Kruglov is the CCO at Walt (formerly Wallet in Telegram) and a co-founder of Top.com, the company behind the platform, and builds consumer-oriented blockchain infrastructure products for the Telegram and TON ecosystem. He previously worked for the major Russian social network VK, before leaving to focus on blockchain and crypto projects. Key topics• Wallet in Telegram rebrands as Walt, supporting 300-plus assets.• Walt to launch agentic trading and crypto cards for emerging markets.• Telegram's new Gram wallet acts as entry point; Walt handles advanced trading.• 40% of new Walt users start their journey with tokenized RWA, not crypto.• Robinhood launches crypto perpetual futures with up to 10x leverage on Bitcoin. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:20 - The Block Briefing06:47 - Alex Kruglov Background09:22 - Telegram Ecosystem Explained13:38 - The Walt Rebrand18:36 - Competition & Distribution Edge22:25 - RWA & User Trends Guest links:Alex Kruglov - https://x.com/avk767Walt - https://x.com/walt_io Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus
Sep 29

Bitcoin market update /w Bitfinex, Moca Network goes live

Episode 43 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Moca Network CEO Kenneth Shek and the Head of Operations at Bitfinex Securities, Jesse Knutson. Moca Network CEO Kenneth Shek joined Gareth Jenkinson on episode 43 of The Starting Block, to announce Moca Network's mainnet going live. Shek discussed the various use cases for Moca Network, seeing it as digital identity blockchain that aims to assist in AI agent credentialing that seeks enterprise partnerships. For the Market Pulse, Gareth was joined by the Head of Operations at Bitfiniex Securities, Jesse Knutson. Knutson explained how his platform serves as the capital raise and secondary market trading arm within the Tether and Bitfinex ecosystem. Knutson made the case that tokenization may simply be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, that is, the next logical step in capital market infrastructure, and added that anyone accustomed to 24/7 Bitcoin trading finds legacy settlement timeframes to feel outdated by comparison. He added that emerging and frontier markets, including Bitfinex Securities' licensed jurisdictions of El Salvador and the AIFC in Astana, Kazakhstan, are uniquely positioned to leapfrog established financial centers by building on current technology from scratch. Knutson also previewed the Future of Capital Markets Summit in Lugano on October 22, co-hosted with Blockstream Capital Partners and featuring speakers including Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Adam Back. In the Hot Seat, Kenneth Shek described Moca Network as a purpose-built layer-one blockchain focused exclusively on digital identity — not a general-purpose chain — designed to enable decentralized, privacy-preserving data storage and sharing for enterprises, humans, and AI agents. Shek cited the rollout of government e-ID schemes globally, tightening GDPR-style regulations, and the removal of third-party cookies by Apple and Google as the conditions that make now the right moment for launch. Enterprise partners already live on the network include companies in telecom, loyalty, airlines, ticketing, and entertainment, as well as Delivery Hero, owner of Foodpanda, which uses Moca to verify in-game spending data for gamers. Shek outlined three data-verification methods available on Moca Network: zero-knowledge proof, selective disclosure, and full disclosure — with the user holding the private key and retaining control at all times. He framed the AI agent use case as the network's clearest near-term growth driver: as agents begin booking travel, completing purchases, and handling KYC on behalf of users, Moca allows a human to cryptographically delegate a scoped, revocable key to an agent rather than handing all personal data to a centralized platform. Shek described the company's adoption curve as moving from a stage where enterprises shut the door, to one where they welcome Moca in, with the third stage — enterprises knocking on Moca's door — expected as the network compounds. About the guestKenneth Shek is the CEO and founder of Moca Network, a digital identity infrastructure project built out of Animoca Brands, where he also serves as Managing Director. Key topics• Moca Chain Mainnet goes live as a purpose-built digital identity layer-one blockchain.• AI agents need verifiable, delegated credentials to act safely on users' behalf.• Bitfinex Securities has $500M in listed assets across 12 tokenized products.• Tokenization seen as evolutionary step enabling 24/7, on-chain capital markets.• Emerging markets like El Salvador and Kazakhstan poised to leapfrog TradFi incumbents. OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:04 - The Block Briefings04:37 - The Market Pulse with Jesse Knutson06:24 - Tokenized Markets & 24/7 Trading09:52 - TradFi Disintermediation13:33 - Lugano Capital Markets Summit19:35 - The Hot Seat: Moca Chain Mainnet Launch21:57 - Digital Identity Use Cases25:21 - AI Agents & Verifiable Identity29:53 - Enterprise Traction & Growth34:08 - Gaming & Novel Asset Use Cases36:12 - Data Security & Cryptography Guest links:Kenneth Shek - https://x.com/tylerdurden88Moca Network - https://x.com/Moca_NetworkJesse Knutson - https://x.com/KnutsonJesseBitfinex Securities - https://x.com/BFXSecurities Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto?🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus (00:00) - Introduction (01:04) - The Block Briefings (04:37) - The Market Pulse with Jesse Knutson (06:24) - Tokenized Markets & 24/7 Trading (09:52) - TradFi Disintermediation (13:33) - Lugano Capital Markets Summit (19:35) - The Hot Seat: Moca Chain Mainnet Launch (21:57) - Digital Identity Use Cases (25:21) - AI Agents & Verifiable Identity (29:53) - Enterprise Traction & Growth (34:08) - Gaming & Novel Asset Use Cases (36:12) - Data Security & Cryptography
Sep 28

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen Breaks Down $388M Hack

Episode 42 of The Starting Block, hosted by The Block's Gareth Jenkinson, was broadcasted live with Bitget CEO Gracy Chen. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen joins Gareth Jenkinson on The Starting Block to discuss the $388 million hack of Bitget's hot and warm wallets, how attackers exploited a third-party zero-day vulnerability to bypass risk controls, and how the exchange is using its protection fund to cover all user losses. The attack began at 6:31 PM UTC on September 24, 2026, with two small test transactions of 0.84 ETH and 93 TRX that fell below alert thresholds. About 30 minutes later, the attacker initiated 17 large transfers across Ethereum, XRP, ZEC, BSC, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Avalanche, draining approximately 361 million USDT equivalent before Bitget's reconciliation system detected the discrepancy at 7:05 PM and automatically blocked user-initiated withdrawals. The attack unfolded in three steps: exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in a third-party security product to obtain high-level internal credentials; using those credentials to insert fraudulent withdrawal commands directly into the wallet backend, bypassing risk controls entirely; and then deleting all traces of those commands to slow forensic investigation. Private keys were not compromised and cold wallets were unaffected. Mandiant and SlowMist have been engaged as independent investigators, and Bitget published attacker wallet addresses and on-chain tracing data on day one. Chen said a formal incident report will address the attacker's identity, and declined to name a suspect before it is published, though she said her earlier suspicion has not changed. Chen addressed her public appeal to ThorChain to block the stolen funds, saying the protocol responded that, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, it could not intervene. She expressed frustration with that answer while acknowledging her respect for decentralization, and called out ThorChain as a repeated route for laundering stolen funds, including in Bybit's case. She gave shoutouts to Tether and Circle for quickly freezing a portion of the stolen assets, to Mandiant and SlowMist for their investigative work, to volunteer white-hat group SEAL 911 for alerting her team within 90 minutes of the attack, and to peer exchanges including Binance and OKX for public and private support. On the financial side, Chen confirmed that all user balances are fully protected and will be covered by Bitget's user protection fund, established in 2022 and valued at approximately 465 million USDT equivalent on the day of the incident. The fund will be replenished to at least 300 million within a week using corporate reserves, which a Bitget audit as of August 31 showed totalling more than 1.4 billion. Chen said the 388 million loss falls entirely within that buffer and does not threaten day-to-day operations. In the immediate term, the team is focused on processing withdrawals chain by chain, with Bitcoin withdrawals opening smoothly on Monday and Ethereum withdrawals scheduled for Tuesday, and on working with law enforcement, financial intelligence units across multiple jurisdictions, and blockchain foundations to trace and, where possible, recover stolen assets. About the guestGracy Chen is the CEO of Bitget, a major cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company that ranks among the top platforms for derivatives trading by volume. A passionate advocate for diversity in the Web3 space, Chen is a delegate at the UN Women CSW conference. Under her leadership, Bitget launched the Blockchain4Her initiative, committing $10 million to promote gender diversity and inclusivity in the blockchain industry. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Key topics- Attacker exploited a third-party zero-day to steal $388M from hot and warm wallets.- All user balances fully protected by Bitget's $465M user protection fund.- Protection fund to be replenished above $300M within one week.- Attacker's identity to be addressed in a formal incident report.- ThorChain declined to block stolen funds, citing permissionless design. Notable quotes"Serious doesn't mean existential. We do have the reserve, we do have the team and the capability to go through this." – Gracy Chen OUTLINE00:00 - Introduction01:07 - Withdrawals Resume02:31 - The Hack: Full Recap05:57 - Attack Timeline & Steps11:12 - North Korea Link?13:07 - ThorChain & Laundering17:00 - Industry Support & Shoutouts21:25 - Law Enforcement & Regulators24:47 - Protection Fund & Replenishment28:11 - Solvency & Operations29:11 - The Road Ahead Guest links:Gracy Chen - https://x.com/GracyBitgetBitget - https://x.com/bitget Host links:Gareth Jenkinson - https://x.com/gazza_jenksThe Block - https://x.com/TheBlockCo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to The Block's Newsletters! 🚨 Breaking News👨‍🔬 Expert Analysis📈 Market Insights Subscribe now 👉 https://www.theblock.co/newsletters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiring in crypto? 🧠 Find top talent fast with Campus, powered by The Block!✅ Challenge candidates with our Crypto Assessment Test⚡ Hire faster, build stronger teams Start your free trial today 👉 https://theblock.co/campus (00:08) - Introduction (00:38) - Welcoming Gracy Chen (01:07) - Withdrawals Resume (02:31) - The Hack: Full Recap (05:57) - Attack Timeline & Steps (11:12) - North Korea Link? (13:07) - ThorChain & Laundering (17:00) - Industry Support & Shoutouts (21:25) - Law Enforcement & Regulators (24:47) - Protection Fund & Replenishment (28:11) - Solvency & Operations (29:11) - The Road Ahead

The Starting Block is The Block's new flagship daily live show — the breaking news, the context behind it, and the people shaping where crypto goes next. Each episode is a 45-minute live broadcast hosted by award-winning journalist and broadcaster Gareth Jenkinson and powered by The Block's newsroom and research desk.

Creator

The Block
Years Active

2026
Episodes

49
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 The Block
Show Website

The Starting Block