RULEMATCH Spot On

RULEMATCH

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RULEMATCH Spot On

RULEMATCH Spot On is the only podcast focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Hosted by Ian Simpson, each episode brings in-depth conversations with people "in the know" about what banks, hedge funds, asset managers and other institutions are doing in crypto and digital assets - and how they are doing it.

4 DAYS AGO

RULEMATCH Spot On - Next Level Crypto Products

Offering innovative financial products based on crypto assets may sound exciting - but it isn’t easy. Especially for banks. What kind of structuring is needed? How is trading executed? What kind of risks are involved - and how can you control those risks? These are the kinds of questions that faced Vontobel, one of Switzerland’s earliest banks to offer crypto structured products. In the final 2024 episode of RULEMATCH Spot On, Vontobel Head Blockchain Solutions Florian Marty shares a “behind-the-scenes look at how the bank dealt with these topics in the past. He also shares a first-hand look at how Vontobel is evolving its offering to grow and expand in the future… (00:55) Intro (2:03) The backstory of Vontobel's entry into crypto (3:39) Built "in-house" tech (5:23) What was "under the hood" of the first crypto tracker certificate? (7:25) Why plugging into "exchanges" was tough... (8:30) Vontobel's expertise in structured products (9:56) The complexities of offering structured products (11:45) The tough thing about sketchy counterparties... (12:40) The "complexity" of pre-funded crypto trading (13:05) Vontobel's joint-venture for future crypto products (14:15) The evolution of crypto products at Vontobel (16:00) Changing investor appetite for crypto products (17:31) The effect of other (new) crypto products (19:16) Two minds and two profiles of crypto investors (21:40) Balancing the needs/wants of private banking and investment banking (22:50) Looking at Europe and MiCAR (24:39) The challenge of a fragmented regulatory landscape (26:00) Is the financialization of crypto good or bad? (27:21) The prospects for a borrowing/lending market for crypto (31:37) Will there be "regulated DeFi?" (34:10) Learnings from a first attempt at a tokenized structured product (36:49) Why a lack of proper exchanges is a problem (37:32) Does it take a "big boy" like BlackRock to push adoption? (39:02) What are clients asking for? (41:33) Looking into the crystal ball ----- Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

45 min
DEC 11

RULEMATCH Spot On - Crypto Trading by the Rules

For financial institutions, there is only one way to do crypto - by the rules. Whether it is custody of crypto assets, asset management, wealth management - or simple trading, banks and securities firms have to follow the 'narrow path' to provide the highest level of certainty and security for their clients. This is top of mind for regulated companies like tradias - a spin-off of Bankhaus Scheich in Germany - which recently received a BaFin license for its crypto trading operations. In this episode of RULEMATCH Spot On, host Ian Simpson sat down with tradias founder Christopher Beck. They discussed the sometimes difficult path to getting a license, the state of liquidity in crypto spot markets plus implications of upcoming MiCAR rules and the challenges (and opportunities) in crypto market making. Episode show notes: (2:42) The best of times for banks moving into crypto? (4:10) The risk for banks to not be in crypto (4:49) The mind-shift of banks in the crypto asset class (5:59) Keeping the best of TradFi in the crypto industry (8:44) Processes for managing risk in crypto markets (9:20) The “big picture” for tradias (11:01) The “sweet spot” for tradias’s business (11:48) Determining what institutions want in crypto (14:20) “Why a license for crypto?” (16:10) Considerations when going for a license (16:35) Thinking about MiCAR… (20:25) The outlook for stablecoins in Europe (22:37) MiCAR as an “iron curtain”? (23:47) The difference in mindset between European and US banks (29:58) Technical challenges for banks moving into crypto (32:00) Looking for robustness in crypto trading infrastructure (33:48) Dealing with crypto capital requirements for banks (35:30) Hurdles to true crypto borrowing/lending (39:33) Thinking like a new hedge fund manager in crypto (41:10) Is Europe a target for crypto hedge funds? (43:58) The space for new fund strategies (44:54) Looking ahead… ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ----- Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

48 min
NOV 21

RULEMATCH Spot On - Making Market Views

As one of the few banks in the world - if not the only one - Julius Baer offers its clients the opportunity to invest in crypto assets with the support of a full-fledged research department and CIO House View. That positions one of Switzerland’s largest banks as a global leader in the institutional digital assets industry. After the US presidential elections and with rapid market developments, RULEMATCH Spot On host Ian Simpson sat down with Julius Baer Associate Director and Next Gen Research Analyst Manuel Villegas to take a closer look at how digital asset research works at Julius Baer and how the bank is thinking about the asset class. Along the way, Ian and Manuel discussed the implications of Donald Trump’s election, the market developments after crypto spot ETFs in the US and what all the numbers might mean for the next evolution of the market. Episode show notes (1:57) - Why and how Julius Baer started with crypto (3:08) Narrowing down the “token world” for investments (5:51) A pragmatic approach to evaluating crypto asset maturity (7:23) The “oft-repeated” institutional entry to crypto (9:45) How hedge funds/trading firms are “playing the crypto ETF game” (11:08) How people like DRW got into crypto early (12:40) Market effects of the US spot Bitcoin ETFs (16:14) Are geopolitics having a greater effect on crypto now? (20:20) Weighing up the most important factors in crypto research (22:55) Tracking global price discovery (25:08) The big topic in the room: US elections (31: 45) The possible implication of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in the US (35:10) Potential geopolitical competition for BTC between governments (37:20) The strategic geopolitical implications of USD-based stablecoins (39:25) USD vs EUR-based stablecoins (40:50) How Switzerland helped Julius Baer (45:25) Matt Levine’s classification of BTC (48:30) Watching out for: miner equity outperformance (49:47) Why liquidity is still top of mind ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------ Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

52 min
NOV 13

RULEMATCH Spot On - Institutional Crypto Integration

Across the wide, global landscape of crypto markets, financial institutions often face challenges in connecting to venues, managing liquidity and coordinating order flows. To tackle this challenge they often to turn to order management systems providers like Talos. But as the industry gets more sophisticated and complex, the scope of services offered has to keep up as well. As it develops to keep up with demand, Talos and its Co-founder/CEO Anton Katz have collected unique insights on needs and preferences of financial institutions who are expanding their operations. In this episode of RULEMATCH Spot On, host Ian Simpson discussed the state of liquidity in crypto, the developing institutional crypto space as well as Talos’s expanding feature set with a view towards new business opportunities and the coming world of tokenization. Episode show notes: (1:16) Intro (2:16) A Talos perspective on crypto liquidity fragmentation (4:26) Anton’s view on the future of fragmentation (4:55) The incentive to split off liquidity (6:09) Where Talos stands at the entrance to a fragmented market (6:56) The most common question from Talos clients (7:46) How smaller (and bigger) players are trying to take advantage (9:19) Fragmentation of the stablecoin space (10:58) The urge to use stablecoins for settlement and other use cases (13:38) The main trend among stablecoins (14:03) “Old-fashioned” stablecoins for the risk-averse (14:38) Top considerations for choosing a venue (16:45) Order types as a key point (17:09) KYC or KYV for venues (18:18) The consideration of post-trade options for choosing a venue (19:16) Risk as a sizing function (19:54) Why people forget about counterparty risk (20:51) Comparing market models in crypto (23:04) Possibilities for M&A among trading venues (24:22) How Talos’s focus is changing over time (25:34) Connectivity moving towards “plug and play” (27:15) How latency is changing the game (28:31) Differences in alpha (29:15) Why TCA is becoming so important (29:51) Evaluating market needs over time (31:13) Why liquidity providers also need TCA (31:52) Progression in TCA tooling and wash trading detection (35:10) Fragmentation among settlement models (36:56) How prime brokers are helping out (37:28) “One-click settlement” (39:43) Demand for various settlement models (40:59) Tools to handle the flood after ETF approvals (41:20) Talos’s tools with traditional asset classes (43:13) Diving into PBs (44:49) Rivalry between PBs and exchanges (47:12) An opportunity for banks as prime brokers (49:10) Will regulation change the venue landscape? (52:40) The shadow of MiCAR (55:19) Working with clients on compliance regulation (55:45) Remembering the advantages of regulation (56:20) Peering into the future with tokenization (58:29) Fireblocks and Talos with broad network “distribution” (1:00:24) Looking into the crystal ball with stablecoins and lending/borrowing ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering. Neither Talos Global, Inc. nor any of its affiliates is an investment advisor or broker/dealer. This does not constitute an offer to buy or sell, or a promotion or recommendation of, any digita

1h 3m
NOV 5

RULEMATCH Spot On - Institutional Crypto Networks

With more and more financial institutions offering crypto and digital asset services, the need for sophisticated tech to handle crypto is more important than ever. But it goes (far) beyond simple custody… Fireblocks SVP of Coporate Development Adam Levine spoke to Ian Simpson about the expanding role of tech providers in coordinating crypto market infrastructure - connecting liquidity and enabling banks and financial institutions to do bigger and better things in the growing digital assets market. Episode show notes: (1:02) Intro to Adam and Fireblocks (2:15) Is Fireblocks still "just a tech provider"? (4:01) How tech and Fireblocks is developing as the market remains fragmented (6:12) The "layer on top" that institutions demand from crypto market infrastructure (9:00) A difference of attitude and approach between US and European banks (10:36) Why American banks are the least advanced (10:53) The good thing about Europe (12:45) Outsourcing vs "build-your-own" for crypto custody among banks (14:50) Why there is a greater opportunity for banks in Europe to compete (15:10) SDX Web3 custody as a prime example of Fireblocks tech in Switzerland (15:35) What happens when companies "play at being a bank" with custody? (16:55) Why vertical integrated offerings will disappear (18:15) How off-venue custody is evolving (19:20) Why MPC tech supports sophisticated custody setups (20:57) The legal considerations to new custody setups (22:05) Adam's history at CLS and the "unsexy" topic of settlement (24:05) Why Fireblock's off-exchange solution is exciting (25:02) How DvP or PvP mitigates settlement risk (26:02) Will regulation and settlement considerations "localize" crypto markets? (27:34) What could force the creation of a "crypto CLS" (29:16) The progressivism of the UAE (30:05) Top-down vs bottom-up drivers (like BlackRock) (30:33) More technical feature requirements that institutions are looking for (31:49) How soon will "pre-funded" trading go away? (33:18) Is there FOMO among financial institutions? (34:35) A closer look at Fireblocks's work in tokenization (37:58) The details on tokenization possibilities (39:12) Global impilcations of token templates (40:47) Trading for new tokens created through Fireblocks (42:20) Advising on tokens (43:02) More about the Fireblocks Trust Company (43:41) Who to count on in the "tokenization race" (44:32) What to look out for in the collateral management space ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------ Disclaimer:The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

46 min
OCT 31

RULEMATCH Spot On - Crypto Banking Evolution

The relationship between banks and crypto has been complicated over the years. It has also evolved significantly since the first days of the industry. Along the way, Switzerland has been a leader in crypto banking - unrivalled around the world. One reason for that is crypto native banks like Sygnum Bank, which received its banking license in 2019. As Head of Trading, Dominc Lohberger has been involved in building the banks offering - and in particular the trading systems and processes that are needed to fulfil the stringent requirements of regulators. In this episode of RULEMATCH Spot On, Dominic and host Ian Simpson walk through the backstory of Sygnum’s operations, the challenges of the fragmented crypto market and discuss what new approaches are being developed - both at Sygnum and in the wider industry. 1:12 Intro 1:59 Where institutions are looking for opportunities in crypto markets 3:55 Navigating the liquidity maze in crypto 5:44 Why market makers are key 7:21 Where Sygnum sits in the crypto/traditional finance world 8:25 How the product shelf grows 10:25 Balancing retail and institutional considerations 12:24 The boring things that banks and institutions really care about 13:40 The non-existent transaction cost reporting in crypto 15:20 Putting the puzzle pieces together for a financial institution in crypto 17:40 The really tricky thing about capital requirements for banks in crypto 20:02 Is there any standardization coming? 24:10 Who is driving off-exchange custody setups? 25:30 Is finding a quick fix for institutional requirements a good thing? 26:05 How the overall market structure will morph and change 27:05 How post-trade settlement went missing - until now 28:14 The complex scene of settlement across venues 30:25 Building settlement batches in Sygnum Connect 31: 30 Tying in traditional security settlement to crypto flows 32:20 Leaning towards prime brokerage? 33:33 The unavoidable topic of regulation 36:08 Business and operational balance across regions 36:58 Will liquidity in the EU be cut off? 38:30 Dealing with stablecoin trading under MiCAR 40:24 The special considerations for stablecoin popularity 42:20 What to look out for in the next 6-9 months ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------ Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering. Sygnum disclaimer: https://www.sygnum.com/disclaimer/

44 min
OCT 18

RULEMATCH Spot On - Focus on MiCAR

The topic of MiCAR - the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation - is top of mind for crypto asset service providers (CASPs) not just in Europe, but also around the world. The implications of MiCAR for the current crypto market and its potential to shape institutional involvement in the space are wide-ranging and far-reaching. In this episode of RULEMATCH Spot On, host Ian Simpson spoke to Dr. Joachim Schwerin, Principal Economist at the European Commission and a contributor to the drafting and writing of MiCAR. Together they discuss MiCAR's background, implications for stablecoins, liquidity, bank and broker operations and much more. Episode show notes: 00:55 Intro and Dr. Schwerin’s background in drafting MiCAR 2:52 How big a deal is MiCAR (really)? 4:32 The second part of MiCAR’s development 6:52 The danger in global convergence of rules 7:48 The true scope and scale of MiCAR 9:30 How MiCAR reverses the “burden of proof” onto regulators 10:45 The need for a liberalization of financial markets with MiCAR 11:28 How will MiCAR change the crypto market in 5 years? 13:45 How the crypto community should consider regulation 14:19 Traditional financial regulation for crypto is “dead” 15:40 MiCAR: horizontal or vertical? 16:10 The real things to look for in 5 years 17:10 Bottom-up innovation needs new forms of regulation 17:45 MiCAR as a desire to target specific market players 19:02 Creating a “radical place that is driven by experimentation” 19:12 Why educating “the right” way is important 20:06 The influence of MiCAR on regulation in other places 22:40 Why competition goes beyond just company vs company 23:49 MiCAR in the context of industrial policy 24:40 MiCAR and GDPR as EU exports 25:56 GDPR as the first crypto regulation 28:20 Specific implications of MiCAR for: best execution 32:07 The ongoing discussions around best execution 33:43 Specific implications of MiCAR: liquidity 34:50 The political reality around stablecoins 35:20 Competitiveness, the dollar’s decline and Europe’s imperative 36:26 “Deal with it” 37:30 Analyzing the “protectionist” view of MiCAR 39:26 How global crypto players will adapt to MiCAR 41:05 Stablecoins as a passing phenomenon 41:59 “MiCA prohibits nothing…” 42:34 Specific implications of MiCAR: tokens deemed securities 46:44 The potential for tokenized assets in Europe 50:10 A curious case of private crypto tech 51:21 Jealous of Switzerland 54:01 Thoughts on Switzerland’s DLT law and MICAR 2.0 56:38 NFTs and MiCAR 58:40 NFTs in the financial domain 1:01:10 The “unexplainably” strict rules around reverse solicitation 1:04:50 The pace of 2nd-level standards publication from ESMA 1:05:44 Is the tail wagging the dog? 1:07:25 The unhealthy focus on a few standards 1:08:59 The number of CASPs in the pipeline for MiCAR 1:10:33 How long will it take for MiCAR to “populate” across European countries? ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------ Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

1h 15m
OCT 10

RULEMATCH Spot On - All In on Algos

He used to be a rocket scientist in South Africa, but now James Kilroe and his co-founder Geoffrey van Ryneveld run Tendex, a market neutral crypto hedge fund with a focus on medium- and high-frequency trading strategies. Spot On host Ian Simpson and James discussed the background of Tendex's activities in niche crypto markets and its transition to more sophisticated strategies. Along the way, James explained what he thinks of the "financialization" of crypto, the weaknesses with current market infrastructure, market making strategies from TradFi and crypto and how they overlap. (1:05) Intro to a rocket scientist crypto hedge fund manager (3:32) The "financialization" of the crypto market (6:39) The elements coming together for market maturity (7:18) The backstory of Tendex (8:12) Early arbitrage opportunities (8:55) The simple beauty of the crypto market in the early days (10:38) The missing puzzle pieces at the beginning (11:50) From Python script to advance trading venues (12:16) Home-built tech is still the best (14:07) Getting around the fragmentation of unstandardized tech (15:35) Challenges and opportunities of being a market neutral fund in volatile crypto markets (17:22) Overcoming the "flat and the crab" with unique market-making trading strategies (18:19) How Tendex turns tens of millions 10x per day (19:05) Plugging in "slow" strategies to the cutting-edge tech stack (19:40) The decision to go after the biggest, most liquid markets (20:22) The leveling of the market and "time-based" strategies (21:18) Where is the "basis trade" going? (22:18) Why faster venues like RULEMATCH will make a difference (22:28) Why a price discovery venue is needed in Europe (23:18) Cloud-based tech vs bare-metal infra (24:15) The curious thing about latency in crypto trading (25:26) The need for deterministic venues (26:00) What happens when "flows" flow off AWS (26:55) How risk management gets forgotten (27:45) Two lessons from FTX (30:17) How FTX highlighted exchanges playing "bank" (32:02) Handling data and the tech (35:32) The crossover between TradFi and crypto market making approaches (37:44) Trying to determine true price in crypto (38:22) A TradFi strategy that isn't "here yet" (40:31) Post-trade settlement enhancing the role of a prime broker (41:55) How the PB market is changing (42:15) The tricky thing about custodians (43:36) The diverse array of custodial service providers for institutions (46:59) Prime brokers face off against exchanges (49:24) How Tendex is set up with crypto service providers (52:11) Sitting at the heart of Europe (52:25) Understanding crypto investor sentiment and attitudes (55:35) Looking out for stablecoins and digital identity ABOUT THE HOST: Ian Simpson is Director of Marketing and Communication at RULEMATCH as well as host of the RULEMATCH Spot On podcast, focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Previously he was Head of Marketing at Bitcoin Suisse and Head of Communications at the Crypto Valley Association. Ian is a veteran of the Swiss crypto and digital assets industry since 2017. His insights on the Swiss crypto and blockchain ecosystem have been featured in CoinDesk, the leader in blockchain news. ------ Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast about RULEMATCH AG (“RULEMATCH”) and any guest company is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered exhaustive. They do not imply any elements of a contractual relationship nor any offering.

59 min

TRAILER

Introducing RULEMATCH Spot On

RULEMATCH Spot On is the only podcast focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Hosted by Ian Simpson, each episode brings in-depth conversations, global perspectives and practical insights from leading institutions that are active crypto markets. Follow RULEMATCH X LinkedIn Website Follow Ian Simpson X LinkedIn

Jun 6

•

1 min

RULEMATCH Spot On is the only podcast focused exclusively on the institutional crypto and digital assets industry. Hosted by Ian Simpson, each episode brings in-depth conversations with people "in the know" about what banks, hedge funds, asset managers and other institutions are doing in crypto and digital assets - and how they are doing it.

Creator

RULEMATCH
Years Active

2K
Episodes

18
Rating

Clean
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© RULEMATCH
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RULEMATCH Spot On