Stablecoins + fintech, open banking + crypto

Plus: Thailand's government token, markets, macro, regulation and more

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” - Anon ||

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well! I now declare San Isidro (May 15th) my favourite Madrid public holiday – yesterday was decorated with people in traditional costume, street music, crafts fairs and more… I spent a blissful morning watching old cars and buses trundle by while nibbling on sweet pastries.

I had a great chat with Maggie Lake on Wednesday – we covered yields, crypto and the huge opportunity before us to rethink assumptions and ask big-picture questions. You can see the replay here.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• Stablecoins and fintech

• Open banking and crypto

• Thailand’s government crypto token

• Macro-Crypto Bits: markets, macro, crypto regulation and more…

If you’re not a premium subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one! You get ~daily commentary on markets, tokenization, regulation and other signs that crypto IS impacting the macro landscape. As well as relevant links and music recommendations ‘cos why not.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

Stablecoins and fintech

What does “stablecoins going mainstream” mean? Everyone no doubt has their own benchmark, but for me it’s when traditional payments platforms have incorporated stablecoins into their service suite to offer a better transfer solution to their users, who don’t need to care at all about blockchain technology.

We’re pretty much there.

Just so far this month, I’ve seen several big-name announcements in this direction: