Over the past week, everyone following the market’s heartbeat has probably felt it speed up and slow down unpredictably. Some friends and companies I advise are actually quite panicked and anxious—after all, just a month ago, Bitcoin was near the 90,000 mark, but last week it was suddenly driven below 60,000, and recently it has barely stabilized around 70,000.
This is an extremely volatile market that plays with people’s nerves; many are confused: Why has the market suddenly turned like this? What exactly triggered this round of panic and sell-offs?
I think that to explain this story clearly, we need to shift our focus away from the cryptocurrency charts for a moment and take a look at what has happened in the outside world over the past two weeks. Because during these two weeks, several very significant events occurred around the world:
Kevin Warsh was nominated as the next Federal Reserve chairman;
Silver and gold experienced extremely sharp fluctuations after hitting record highs;
Several narratives related to AI erupted simultaneously at the same time;
In the general election held in Japan over the past weekend, Sanae Takagi achieved an overwhelming victory;
Regarding AI, events such as the OpenClaw incident we discussed last week;
And last week's sharp drop in software stocks triggered by the new product launch from Anthropic;
Also, Oracle is planning to lay off 20,000 to 30,000 employees as it prepares for AI data centers.
These events seem disparate...
This is an extremely volatile market that plays with people’s nerves; many are confused: Why has the market suddenly turned like this? What exactly triggered this round of panic and sell-offs?
I think that to explain this story clearly, we need to shift our focus away from the cryptocurrency charts for a moment and take a look at what has happened in the outside world over the past two weeks. Because during these two weeks, several very significant events occurred around the world:
Kevin Warsh was nominated as the next Federal Reserve chairman;
Silver and gold experienced extremely sharp fluctuations after hitting record highs;
Several narratives related to AI erupted simultaneously at the same time;
In the general election held in Japan over the past weekend, Sanae Takagi achieved an overwhelming victory;
Regarding AI, events such as the OpenClaw incident we discussed last week;
And last week's sharp drop in software stocks triggered by the new product launch from Anthropic;
Also, Oracle is planning to lay off 20,000 to 30,000 employees as it prepares for AI data centers.
These events seem disparate...
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Author Charlie, Venture Partner at Generative Ventures. Previously served as Vice President of Strike, a cryptocurrency unicorn (involved in El Salvador's Bitcoin bill and responsible for Bitcoin and stablecoin payment businesses in Latin America), macro analyst at Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar fund, and an early member of Adyen North America, a global payment giant. Currently serves as a cryptocurrency strategic advisor to multiple public companies, startups, and investment firms.
This article is the AI-generated transcript of a podcast recorded on February 2nd US time. Interested readers can click [View Original] to listen.
This week, you've likely been bombarded with two terms: OpenClaw and Moltbook. Many people’s first reaction is: another wave in the AI trend, another round of excitement.
But I see it more as a rare, even somewhat brutal public experiment: For the first time, we are witnessing 'actionable AI agents' being deployed on a large scale across real networks, attracting massive attention and speculation.
You will see two extreme emotions emerging simultaneously: on one side is excitement — “AI can finally do my work for me,” not just writing code, creating spreadsheets, or drafting design sketches; on the other side is fear — you’ll come across...
This article is the AI-generated transcript of a podcast recorded on February 2nd US time. Interested readers can click [View Original] to listen.
This week, you've likely been bombarded with two terms: OpenClaw and Moltbook. Many people’s first reaction is: another wave in the AI trend, another round of excitement.
But I see it more as a rare, even somewhat brutal public experiment: For the first time, we are witnessing 'actionable AI agents' being deployed on a large scale across real networks, attracting massive attention and speculation.
You will see two extreme emotions emerging simultaneously: on one side is excitement — “AI can finally do my work for me,” not just writing code, creating spreadsheets, or drafting design sketches; on the other side is fear — you’ll come across...
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Hello everyone, welcome to a new episode of 'The Fuzzy Lion of Sand Hill Road.' In this episode, I want to walk you through two major news stories from last week: both related to M&A (mergers and acquisitions), but in completely opposite directions.
The first is a story that surprised many: Brex was acquired by Capital One for $5.15 billion. The second is the opposite direction: Zero Hash rejected a $2 billion acquisition offer from Mastercard, choosing to remain independent and seek another round of funding.
Strictly speaking, these two deals are not in the same space: Brex leans more towards traditional fintech and even close to the banking ecosystem; Zero Hash is infrastructure built around the stablecoin 'orchestration layer / orchestrator / processing layer.'
But within the larger trend at present, they are essentially telling the same story: stablecoins are becoming the new foundational infrastructure for fintech and banks; regulatory frameworks are also forcing the industry to restructure and reprice. And these two deals happen to be samples of such 'repricing.'
Let's break it down step by step.
One, Capital One’s acquisition of Brex: A big deal, but not friendly to the seller
At first glance, $5.15 billion...
The first is a story that surprised many: Brex was acquired by Capital One for $5.15 billion. The second is the opposite direction: Zero Hash rejected a $2 billion acquisition offer from Mastercard, choosing to remain independent and seek another round of funding.
Strictly speaking, these two deals are not in the same space: Brex leans more towards traditional fintech and even close to the banking ecosystem; Zero Hash is infrastructure built around the stablecoin 'orchestration layer / orchestrator / processing layer.'
But within the larger trend at present, they are essentially telling the same story: stablecoins are becoming the new foundational infrastructure for fintech and banks; regulatory frameworks are also forcing the industry to restructure and reprice. And these two deals happen to be samples of such 'repricing.'
Let's break it down step by step.
One, Capital One’s acquisition of Brex: A big deal, but not friendly to the seller
At first glance, $5.15 billion...
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Hello everyone, today we are discussing a very important event from last week: the CLARITY Act, which the Senate Banking Committee originally intended to advance, was put on hold just before markup and entered a suspension period for negotiations.
It has taken up quite a few headlines and revealed industry divisions that many had not seen before: Coinbase and most other players in the industry have publicly split; conflicts between the crypto industry and the banking system, as well as traditional Wall Street interests, have surfaced. Meanwhile, an alternative route has emerged within Congress—the Senate Agriculture Committee (Senate Ag) is preparing to push forward its own market structure draft, and their announced timeline is moving very quickly.
What is the Clarity Act and its key development milestones
First, let’s talk about what the CLARITY Act itself is. In a nutshell: it is a comprehensive framework for the digital asset market structure. It seeks to answer: should a token be considered a security or a commodity? Should it be regulated by the SEC or the CFTC? How will obligations such as brokerage, custody, disclosure, and investor protection on trading platforms be implemented?
The industry has been looking forward to it for a long time because, for many years, U.S. regulation has largely relied on enforcement actions. For both startups and public companies, whether a new product can be launched or how far it can go often depends on guesswork. Everyone hopes that a clear set of rules will bring this uncertainty to an end.
It has taken up quite a few headlines and revealed industry divisions that many had not seen before: Coinbase and most other players in the industry have publicly split; conflicts between the crypto industry and the banking system, as well as traditional Wall Street interests, have surfaced. Meanwhile, an alternative route has emerged within Congress—the Senate Agriculture Committee (Senate Ag) is preparing to push forward its own market structure draft, and their announced timeline is moving very quickly.
What is the Clarity Act and its key development milestones
First, let’s talk about what the CLARITY Act itself is. In a nutshell: it is a comprehensive framework for the digital asset market structure. It seeks to answer: should a token be considered a security or a commodity? Should it be regulated by the SEC or the CFTC? How will obligations such as brokerage, custody, disclosure, and investor protection on trading platforms be implemented?
The industry has been looking forward to it for a long time because, for many years, U.S. regulation has largely relied on enforcement actions. For both startups and public companies, whether a new product can be launched or how far it can go often depends on guesswork. Everyone hopes that a clear set of rules will bring this uncertainty to an end.
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Today, let's talk about a very eye-catching financing news from last week: Rain just closed a $250 million Series C round, with a valuation reaching $1.95 billion, led by ICONIQ.
One particularly interesting aspect of this news to me is that the partner leading the investment from ICONIQ, Kamran Zaki, was my first boss at Adyen. At that time, he was the head of Adyen’s U.S. market and later became the global COO.
Another connection with Rain is that Rain recently announced a partnership with Lithic, a card issuance technology service provider, and Lithic’s Chief Product Officer (CPO), Robin Gandhi, who was also my second boss at Adyen.
This is very interesting because although Adyen is not a company involved in stablecoin payments — in the payment field, Stripe has fully embraced stablecoins, while Adyen hasn't made any moves yet — these former core executives of Adyen have actually developed connections and relationships with stablecoins at various levels.
01｜Why this round of financing is 'more important': It’s not just about card issuance, it’s not just about payments
Then this round of...
One particularly interesting aspect of this news to me is that the partner leading the investment from ICONIQ, Kamran Zaki, was my first boss at Adyen. At that time, he was the head of Adyen’s U.S. market and later became the global COO.
Another connection with Rain is that Rain recently announced a partnership with Lithic, a card issuance technology service provider, and Lithic’s Chief Product Officer (CPO), Robin Gandhi, who was also my second boss at Adyen.
This is very interesting because although Adyen is not a company involved in stablecoin payments — in the payment field, Stripe has fully embraced stablecoins, while Adyen hasn't made any moves yet — these former core executives of Adyen have actually developed connections and relationships with stablecoins at various levels.
01｜Why this round of financing is 'more important': It’s not just about card issuance, it’s not just about payments
Then this round of...
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This article is a reprint of Techub News' interview with Charlie.
Interviewer: Alma, Founder of Techub News
Interviewee: Charlie, former macro investor at Franklin Templeton, Adyen global payments, Strike cryptocurrency payments, and currently Venture Partner at Generative Ventures.
In the lobby of Franklin Templeton in Silicon Valley, we had an in-depth conversation with veteran investor Charlie. He previously served as Vice President of Global Payments at Adyen and Vice President of Cryptocurrency Payments at Strike, and is now a Venture Partner at Generative Ventures. As a seasoned practitioner spanning traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector, Charlie also holds multiple roles as a content creator and startup advisor. During the conversation, he shared unique insights from the perspective of institutional investors on U.S. regulatory policies, the competitive landscape of stablecoins, and the development trends of RWA (Real-World Asset Tokenization), providing valuable firsthand industry observations to the Chinese-speaking community.
1. Cross-Border Experience: A Global Exploration from Traditional Finance to the Crypto Field
Alma: Your career spans Franklin...
Interviewer: Alma, Founder of Techub News
Interviewee: Charlie, former macro investor at Franklin Templeton, Adyen global payments, Strike cryptocurrency payments, and currently Venture Partner at Generative Ventures.
In the lobby of Franklin Templeton in Silicon Valley, we had an in-depth conversation with veteran investor Charlie. He previously served as Vice President of Global Payments at Adyen and Vice President of Cryptocurrency Payments at Strike, and is now a Venture Partner at Generative Ventures. As a seasoned practitioner spanning traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector, Charlie also holds multiple roles as a content creator and startup advisor. During the conversation, he shared unique insights from the perspective of institutional investors on U.S. regulatory policies, the competitive landscape of stablecoins, and the development trends of RWA (Real-World Asset Tokenization), providing valuable firsthand industry observations to the Chinese-speaking community.
1. Cross-Border Experience: A Global Exploration from Traditional Finance to the Crypto Field
Alma: Your career spans Franklin...
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The author of this article, Charlie, is the former Vice President of Strike, a cryptocurrency unicorn (involved in El Salvador's Bitcoin bill and responsible for Bitcoin and stablecoin payment businesses in Latin America), a macro analyst at Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar fund, and an early member of Adyen North America, a global payment giant. He currently serves as a cryptocurrency strategic advisor to multiple listed companies, startups, and investment institutions.
This is a verbatim transcript of a podcast recorded on January 5th, US time. Interested friends can click ['View Original'] to listen.
Hello everyone, welcome to 2026. It’s been a long time since our last update, and we’re finally back communicating with you all.
For the new year, our plan is to better integrate this podcast with our official WeChat account. Over the past year, our WeChat posts mainly focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency content, and we’ll continue that direction in the coming year as well.
The new year has started with a very interesting beginning.
A highly shocking emergency occurred over the weekend. This event is extremely related to my previous professional experience. The event, which many of you may already know about, is that Venezuela's president was unexpectedly captured by U.S. special forces in a blitz-like operation and then brought to the United States. Today, Monday, US time, it has also entered the courtroom for trial.
The entire event is about the whole 拉...
This is a verbatim transcript of a podcast recorded on January 5th, US time. Interested friends can click ['View Original'] to listen.
Hello everyone, welcome to 2026. It’s been a long time since our last update, and we’re finally back communicating with you all.
For the new year, our plan is to better integrate this podcast with our official WeChat account. Over the past year, our WeChat posts mainly focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency content, and we’ll continue that direction in the coming year as well.
The new year has started with a very interesting beginning.
A highly shocking emergency occurred over the weekend. This event is extremely related to my previous professional experience. The event, which many of you may already know about, is that Venezuela's president was unexpectedly captured by U.S. special forces in a blitz-like operation and then brought to the United States. Today, Monday, US time, it has also entered the courtroom for trial.
The entire event is about the whole 拉...
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The author of this article, Charlie, is the former Vice President of Strike, a cryptocurrency unicorn (involved in El Salvador's Bitcoin bill and responsible for Bitcoin and stablecoin payment businesses in Latin America), a macro analyst at Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar fund, and an early member of Adyen North America, a global payment giant. He currently serves as a cryptocurrency strategic advisor to multiple listed companies, startups, and investment institutions.
I hadn’t planned to write another piece before the end of the year, but there were so many highlights in Coinbase’s “System Update” event yesterday that I decided to put pen to paper once more.
This year, I wrote about Robinhood vs Coinbase: Differentiated Competition, Building the Wall Street for the Next Generation, and also discussed in-depth on a friend’s podcast E55. Robinhood vs Coinbase, In the New Wave of Crypto-Equity Integration, Who Will Be the Winner of the Next-Gen Fintech? ft. Charlie. Both are Gen-Z’s favorite financial apps, but this battle is becoming more complex.
Image
The launch event unveiled a series of new product features: stocks, prediction markets, perpetual contracts, integrating the long-tail assets from Base and Solana directly into Coinbase’s main app through DEX functionality...
I hadn’t planned to write another piece before the end of the year, but there were so many highlights in Coinbase’s “System Update” event yesterday that I decided to put pen to paper once more.
This year, I wrote about Robinhood vs Coinbase: Differentiated Competition, Building the Wall Street for the Next Generation, and also discussed in-depth on a friend’s podcast E55. Robinhood vs Coinbase, In the New Wave of Crypto-Equity Integration, Who Will Be the Winner of the Next-Gen Fintech? ft. Charlie. Both are Gen-Z’s favorite financial apps, but this battle is becoming more complex.
Image
The launch event unveiled a series of new product features: stocks, prediction markets, perpetual contracts, integrating the long-tail assets from Base and Solana directly into Coinbase’s main app through DEX functionality...
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The author of this article, Charlie, is the former Vice President of Strike, a cryptocurrency unicorn (involved in El Salvador's Bitcoin bill and responsible for Bitcoin and stablecoin payment businesses in Latin America), a macro analyst at Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar fund, and an early member of Adyen North America, a global payment giant. He currently serves as a cryptocurrency strategic advisor to multiple listed companies, startups, and investment institutions.
In 2025, when we look back on human history, it may be regarded as the watershed year for crypto going mainstream.
This year, we not only have new narratives to tell but also mature business models that can be scaled up, and recognized laws and regulations that legitimize us in the mainstream market.
There are structured ETFs and DATs, regulated US dollars (stablecoins, tokenized deposits), regulated institutions (Wall Street), secondary markets themselves (Nasdaq), and even the White House and Capitol Hill – all making a forward-looking judgment: the benefits of moving traditional finance and commerce onto the crypto track are worth bearing the operational and compliance risks we previously worried about.
If 2024 was the 'Return of the Crypto King' year (arguably a 'king-maker,' to some extent a key factor in Trump's election), then 2025 will undoubtedly be the year of 'Crypto Going Mainstream.'
Below, I’ll discuss what I consider to be the top...
In 2025, when we look back on human history, it may be regarded as the watershed year for crypto going mainstream.
This year, we not only have new narratives to tell but also mature business models that can be scaled up, and recognized laws and regulations that legitimize us in the mainstream market.
There are structured ETFs and DATs, regulated US dollars (stablecoins, tokenized deposits), regulated institutions (Wall Street), secondary markets themselves (Nasdaq), and even the White House and Capitol Hill – all making a forward-looking judgment: the benefits of moving traditional finance and commerce onto the crypto track are worth bearing the operational and compliance risks we previously worried about.
If 2024 was the 'Return of the Crypto King' year (arguably a 'king-maker,' to some extent a key factor in Trump's election), then 2025 will undoubtedly be the year of 'Crypto Going Mainstream.'
Below, I’ll discuss what I consider to be the top...
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