CFB Talks Digital Assets

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CFB Talks Digital Assets is the home of informed conversation about crypto from CF Benchmarks. We are the first and leading digital asset index provider, authorized and regulated by the UK FCA. Respected and innovative financial institutions use our indices and reference rates to power regulated financial instruments, like listed derivatives, investment funds and structured products. Join CF Benchmarks’ Head of Content, Ken Odeluga, Head of Research, Gabe Selby, CFA and Research Analyst, Mark Pilipczuk, as they talk with some of the most accomplished and influential figures in finance, about everything affecting digital assets — crypto protocols, markets, fund flows, on-chain metrics, macroeconomics and more.

  1. Crypto vs. Fractured Fed: Warsh Incoming, Powell Stays, Plus Morgan Stanley and Goldman BTC ETFs

    4D AGO

    Crypto vs. Fractured Fed: Warsh Incoming, Powell Stays, Plus Morgan Stanley and Goldman BTC ETFs

    This episode was recorded live via X Spaces — audio quality varies in places. In the third CF Benchmarks live X Space, recorded April 30, 2026, Head of Content Ken Odeluga is joined by Kraken Chief Economist Thomas Perfumo, CF Benchmarks Head of Research Gabe Selby, and Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk for a packed session the morning after the most divided FOMC vote in over three decades. The DOJ has dropped its probe into Jerome Powell, Kevin Warsh has cleared the Senate Banking Committee on a historic party-line vote, and Powell has signalled he intends to stay on as a board governor — all in the space of a week. Meanwhile, four dissents at Wednesday's FOMC meeting — the most since October 1992 — have laid bare a fragmented central bank just as its leadership transition begins. The team unpacks what it all means for the rate path, risk assets, and crypto specifically, before turning to the Bitcoin ETF distribution war heating up between IBIT, Morgan Stanley's newly launched MSBT, and Goldman Sachs' income-focused filing. 00:00 – Intro & Team Welcome 01:20 – DOJ Drops the Powell Probe: Clearing the Path for Warsh 05:04 – Powell Digs In: Staying as Governor Until 2028 09:33 – Jackson Hole: The Next Real Fed Event 10:26 – Risk Assets in Earnings Mode, Not Rate-Cut Mode 12:18 – Inside the FOMC Decision: Four Dissents, Most Since 1992 24:25 – Rate Cut Odds Collapse: What It Means for Crypto 29:40 – Why Crypto Is Lagging Equities Right Now 31:54 – Morgan Stanley's MSBT: Can a Late Entrant Compete? 35:02 – The Distribution War: IBIT's Portability Edge 41:58 – Goldman's Bitcoin Premium Income ETF: Boomer Candy Arrives 48:07 – Bitcoin's Gamma Ceiling & the Missing Euphoria Bid 52:20 – Capital Flows: ETFs vs. MicroStrategy 54:46 – The Silver Lining: Warsh as Crypto Bull & Fed Deregulation 56:24 – AI CapEx & the Growth Sustainability Question 57:57 – Week Ahead: Iran, Clarity Act, Michigan Sentiment & Earnings 61:03 – Closing Remarks

    1h 2m

  2. APR 28

    BlackRock's Matt Kunke on the Launch of ETHB and Staking ETF Mechanics

    In around four weeks after its listing, BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) had gathered roughly $450M in assets — which BlackRock itself calls a "top-quintile" launch. We're stoked to welcome Matt Kunke, CFA — Director and US iShares Digital Assets ETFs Product Strategist at BlackRock — to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast for a deep dive on what ETHB unlocks, why it sits alongside the original Ether ETF (ETHA) rather than replacing it, and how staking actually works inside an ETP wrapper. CF Benchmarks is the index provider for BlackRock's IBIT, ETHA and ETHB - so this conversation gets technical fast, but Matt is at his lucid best throughout. A sample of what's in store: Why BlackRock built ETHB as a separate product instead of converting ETHA — and the reasoning behind giving investors choiceThe "collateralized bond" mental model for proof-of-stake, and why correlated slashing — the tail risk everyone names — has never actually happenedHow ETHB manages its stated 70%–95% staking range, the entry queue currently sitting at ~50 days, and why the exit queue is the one that really mattersThe Lido stETH precedent: why sophisticated market actors should keep ETHB-style products at-or-near NAV even in stressed environmentsWhere staking yields are headed post-Pectra, the floor mechanics, and why the glide path is gradual rather than abruptETH + staking rewards — how wealth advisors and hedge funds are actually framing the tradeWhy ETH's wirehouse approval trajectory looks today the way IBIT's did roughly nine months agoGrab your beverage of choice and dive in! Recorded April 2026. Chapters 00:00 – Intro & Welcome: Matt Kunke from BlackRock 02:00 – A Top-Quintile Launch: ETHB Hits $450M in Under Four Weeks 04:15 – A New Product, Not an ETHA Conversion 06:14 – TradFi Demand vs. Crypto-Native Sentiment 08:29 – Tax & The Case for Keeping an Unstaked Option 09:08 – Staking 101: The Collateralized Bond Mental Model 11:24 – Three Staking Providers & the Correlated Slashing Defense 13:23 – Slashing in Practice 14:42 – Why 32 ETH? Pectra's Move to 2048 and Validator Consolidation 16:11 – Inside the 70%–95% Staking Range 18:25 – Why Lido's stETH Says Staking Discounts Stay Tight 20:54 – The 50-Day Entry Queue vs. the Empty Exit Queue 23:24 – Genesis of ETHB: Regulation & International Precedent 25:13 – ETH + Staking Rewards: How Investors Frame the Trade 26:31 – The Ethereum Thesis: Lindy, Liveness & Institutional Use Cases 28:59 – Inside Staking Yields: Issuance, Fees & The Gentle Glide Path 33:18 – What's Next: Basis Trades, Covered Calls & Modulated Risk 35:53 – Bitcoin's Bias & ETH's Wirehouse Approval Trajectory 38:24 – Closing Remarks

    40 min
  3. Warsh, Weekend Trading & the $300M Hack: Crypto's Inflection Points

    APR 24

    Warsh, Weekend Trading & the $300M Hack: Crypto's Inflection Points

    Recorded April 23, 2026. In the second CF Benchmarks live X Space, Head of Research Gabe Selby is joined by Kraken Chief Economist Thomas Perfumo, CF Benchmarks Head of Product Thomas Erdosi, and Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk for another packed markets discussion. The team breaks down Kevin Warsh's Senate confirmation hearing and what a shift away from forward guidance could mean for rate volatility. They dive into Strategy's accelerating Bitcoin purchases - now at a 16-month high - and whether the NAV premium can sustain the buying machine. The conversation turns to CME's landmark move to 24/7 crypto futures trading from May 29th, and Kraken's acquisition of Bitnomial, giving it the full CFTC license stack that brings regulated perpetual futures to the U.S. for the first time. A deep dive into the Kelp DAO's $292M bridge exploit opens up a broader discussion on AI's dual role as both threat and defence in DeFi security. The team closes with their Q1 factor performance breakdown and a look at the key catalysts ahead. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro & Team Welcome02:27 – Warsh's Confirmation Hearing: What Did We Learn?05:58 – Killing the Dot Plot? The Forward Guidance Debate09:07 – Why Less Transparency Could Backfire on Rates10:06 – Balance Sheet Reduction: Tough Talk, Tougher Execution12:19 – Strategy's Bitcoin Buying Spree Hits a 16-Month High14:52 – NAV Premiums, STRF & the Sustainability Question18:00 – CME Goes 24/7: A Watershed Moment for Crypto Futures21:40 – The Weekend Gap Problem24:27 – Kraken's CFTC License Stack: Spot, Margin & Perps Under One Roof26:21 – Perpetual Futures Go Regulated in the U.S.29:31 – Will Perps Eat Fixed-Term Futures' Lunch?31:51 – On-Chain Innovation: CF Benchmarks Oracles & Tokenised Indices34:15 – Deep Dive: The Kelp DAO $292M Bridge Exploit38:36 – DeFi's Hidden Counterparty Risk Problem43:00 – AI as Defence: Patching Vulnerabilities Before the Hackers Do44:19 – Q1 Factor Performance: What Worked & What Didn't48:14 – Week Ahead: PCE, GDP, Fund Flows & the Clarity Act52:28 – Closing Remarks

    54 min
  4. War, Rates & Resilience: Making Sense of Bitcoin in a Crisis

    APR 7

    War, Rates & Resilience: Making Sense of Bitcoin in a Crisis

    In the inaugural CF Benchmarks live X Space, recorded April 1 2026, Head of Research Gabe Selby, CFA is joined by Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk, Kraken's Chief Economist Thomas Perfumo, CFA and Senior Product Manager Cristian Isac for a wide-ranging markets discussion. The team unpacks Bitcoin's surprising resilience during Operation Epic Fury, why traditional safe havens like Treasuries failed to protect portfolios, and what the Fed's paralysis between inflation and a weakening labor market means for rate expectations heading into the Powell-to-Warsh transition. They also dig into the breakdown of the Bitcoin–M2 money supply relationship (and why that dislocation may signal undervaluation), MicroStrategy's evolving capital structure and preferred yield, the emerging world of Bitcoin structured products, and what institutional appetite on the ground at DAS tells us about where the market is heading next. 00:00 – Intro & Team Welcome01:02 – Operation Epic Fury: Market Reactions & Surprises03:34 – Why Treasuries Failed as a Safe Haven04:41 – Bitcoin's Resilience: Holding the Line Through Conflict05:49 – CF Benchmarks Flagship Index Recap06:42 – Macro Regimes & Bitcoin's Shifting Role08:58 – NFP Preview & Labor Market Weakness10:20 – Fed Policy Paralysis: Inflation vs. Employment12:54 – Powell's Exit, Warsh's Nomination & Fed Composition17:30 – Should the Fed Look Through the Inflation Spike?19:28 – Global Money Supply & Bitcoin: Building a Forecast Model21:27 – Correlation ≠ Causation: Why Factors Break Down25:05 – Market Dislocations: Gold vs. Real Yields, Forex & M2-BTC Divergence28:07 – Where's the Fair Value? The Case for BTC Undervaluation31:30 – Gold vs. Bitcoin Flows: A Rotation Underway?34:10 – MicroStrategy: Treasury Strategy, Preferred Shares & Yield39:02 – Could MSTR Acquire Discount Treasury Companies?41:14 – Structured Products: Packaging Bitcoin for Institutions46:17 – Bitcoin Volatility Index & Covered Call ETFs50:32 – Vol Products Paradox: Does Selling Vol Kill Vol?52:56 – Institutional Appetite Post-DAS & What's Next55:03 – Closing Remarks

    57 min

  5. MAR 27

    xStocks: Inside Kraken's Tokenized Equities Revolution

    Kraken’s xStocks are nothing short of a global phenomenon - with total transaction volumes reaching $25 billion in just 8 months. The more important question is what that growth says about the future of market structure. On the latest CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast, we explore the rise of Kraken xStocks with Mark Greenberg, Head of B2B at Payward Services / Kraken, and Thomas Erdösi, Head of Product at CF Benchmarks. Topics covered include: How xStocks are gaining traction by combining equity exposure with crypto-native functionality, including 24/7 access, transferability, self-custody, and on-chain facilities How xStocks work: the mechanics behind 1:1 backing, price integrity, and the critical design choices needed to support tokenized stock exposure at scale The role of CF Benchmarks: regulated pricing methodology and calculation infrastructure How Kraken’s new partnership with Nasdaq paves the way for a regulated, permissioned U.S. pathway to tokenized equities, powered by the xStocks infrastructure - and what that means for issuance, settlement, and expanded market accessIf you’re following the convergence of digital assets and traditional markets, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss!

    39 min

  6. FEB 12

    Monochrome's Jeff Yew and Grayson McLeod on What Makes a True Spot Crypto ETF, Asia Expansion & More

    We're delighted to welcome Monochrome Asset Management back to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast. Monochrome is Australia's only asset manager licensed for direct retail crypto custody. Consequently, its crypto ETFs are the only ones in Australia that hold assets directly - not via feeder or sub-funds. Monochrome ETFs are also unusual due to offering in-kind creation and redemption for all investors. Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) and Monochrome Ethereum ETF (IETH) are listed on Cboe Australia, each with a management fee of 0.25%. They're the lowest-cost crypto ETFs in Australia. With IBTC recently passing US$100 million in AuM and Monochrome now expanding in South-East Asia, we're stoked to sit down with CEO Jeff Yew and Chief Operating Officer Grayson McLeod. Listen in for exclusive insights on Oz's institutional crypto landscape, and the potential offered by the country's vast superannuation system. Key talking points: What exactly makes IBTC and IETH distinct as true holders of crypto, and how does this benefit investors?How Monochrome's regulated in-kind facility means no cap on institutional allocationsThe key to unlocking faster growth for ETH ETF allocationsWhat's behind IBTC's and IETH's airtight tracking?How close are we to seeing allocations at scale from Aussie 'Supers'?For a rare look at the evolution of institutional crypto in the pivotal Australian marketplace get Jeff and Grayson's perceptive commentary now!

    54 min

  7. JAN 26

    Bitwise’s Juan Leon on the 2026 crypto playbook: allocator adoption, regulatory catalysts, and product innovation

    The macro canvas for 2026 is shifting, and crypto may be setting up for a broader, more durable “risk-on” regime, but not in a straight line. In CF Benchmarks’ 2026 outlook, “Risk-On Reloaded,” the base case is disinflation with noise, moderating growth, and a policy and liquidity backdrop that can re-open risk appetite and widen participation. We also explore whether Bitcoin and altcoins are poised for a catch-up trade, and whether regulatory clarity unlocks a new wave of product innovation. To pressure-test the thesis, we’re delighted to welcome Juan Leon, Senior Strategist at Bitwise, to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast. From the current state of market structure legislation, to allocator and advisor adoption, to long-term capital market assumptions, Juan dives into Bitwise’s 2026 predictions and maps what matters most in the year ahead. Join us for a discussion covering what we’re watching for in 2026, including: Why “risk-on reloaded” could broaden performance beyond Bitcoin, and what a catch-up trade looks likeBitwise’s “if clarity passes” framework: what a regulatory breakthrough really unlocks for participationWhether Bitcoin’s four-year cycle breaks, and what would have to change for that to happenThe allocator moment: why adoption among endowments, advisors, and institutions may be approaching an inflection point as career risk fallsUtility-driven growth flywheels: prediction markets and stablecoinsWhat Bitwise is focused on next: products, approvals, and the near-to-medium term roadmapIf 2026 is the year macro turns supportive, clarity arrives, and crypto breadth finally shows up, these outlooks will help you navigate the year ahead.

    52 min

  8. 11/21/2025

    Reserve's Thomas Mattimore on how DTFs are revolutionizing crypto and Real-World Asset Tokenization

    Reserve Protocol, the largest Decentralized Token Folio (DTF) platform, recently deployed the first regulated multi-asset crypto benchmark as a DTF - LCAP - based on CF Benchmarks' CF Large Cap index. Index DTFs follow the same basic principles as ETFs, but they're implemented fully on-chain, enabling anyone to achieve a diversified, tokenized investment goal, with just a few clicks. What's more, by referencing an FCA-regulated Registered Benchmark, LCAP paves the way for institutional allocation to index DTFs for the first time. To walk us through exactly how DTFs work, plus the accelerating tokenization trend, we're delighted to welcome the Head of Reserve Protocol, Thomas Mattimore to the CFB Talks Digital Assets podcast. A selection of highlights from our fascinating conversation: Reserve Protocol design features that optimize it for tokenization of any digital asset - and, in time, tokenization of any real-world asset tooDon't underestimate the power of index DTFs: e.g., LCAP offers exposure to 95% of the crypto market in one click -- on a growing number of decentralized and centralized platforms, including KrakenOnly certain institutional ETF participants can leverage the power of create/redeem mechanics, but anyone can mint/redeem a DTF, giving individuals easy access to arbitrage opportunities embedded in unit creation and redemption for the first timeInsanely low slippage observed, so far, in certain index DTF auctions, with up to 99.99999% of the bid filledReserve Protocol's longstanding and deep focus on good governance - and the role of Reserve Rights (RSRs) for incentivizing that governanceStart getting ready for the tokenized future: sit down with your favorite beverage and catch this episode right now!

    44 min
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About

CFB Talks Digital Assets is the home of informed conversation about crypto from CF Benchmarks. We are the first and leading digital asset index provider, authorized and regulated by the UK FCA. Respected and innovative financial institutions use our indices and reference rates to power regulated financial instruments, like listed derivatives, investment funds and structured products. Join CF Benchmarks’ Head of Content, Ken Odeluga, Head of Research, Gabe Selby, CFA and Research Analyst, Mark Pilipczuk, as they talk with some of the most accomplished and influential figures in finance, about everything affecting digital assets — crypto protocols, markets, fund flows, on-chain metrics, macroeconomics and more.

Information

  • Creator
    CF Benchmarks
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © CF Benchmarks 2024
  • Show Website
    CFB Talks Digital Assets