In this insightful episode of the Crypto Trailblazers series hosted by theCUBE, Mike Cagney of Figure Markets sits down with analysts from theCUBE Research to discuss groundbreaking advancements in blockchain technology and their implications for the finance sector. This video is part of the NYSE Wired digital event, aimed at bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and Wall Street by integrating technology and finance.
Cagney, an eminent figure in fintech, shares expertise on the transformative role of blockchain in financial markets during this interview. Conducted by seasoned analysts at theCUBE, the discussion delves into Figure’s innovative contributions, including their blockchain-native loan origination and securitization process. He outlines how Figure leverages blockchain to achieve cost reductions, enhanced security and improved liquidity in financial transactions.
Key takeaways from the interview highlight insights on the evolution of the Web3 ecosystem, such as the emergence of stablecoins as pivotal to transaction processes and the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi). Oltsik states these developments signify a shift towards democratizing finance, wherein truth and transparency are foundational. The conversation concludes with a look at Figure’s pioneering efforts in creating a new financial marketplace utilizing blockchain technology.
#CryptoTrailblazers #FigureMarkets #BlockchainInnovation #Web3 #NYEWired #BlockchainFinance #DecentralizedFinance #Fintech #Stablecoins
Find more SiliconANGLE news and analysis https://siliconangle.com/.
Follow theCUBE's wall-to-wall event coverage https://siliconangle.com/events/
Learn about the latest theCUBE events https://www.thecube.net/
00:00 - Intro
00:05 - Emerging Innovations in Financial Technology and Market Dynamics
02:45 - Key Elements in Financial Ecosystem Dynamics
06:20 - Blockchain: Truth and Transformation
09:39 - Shaping the Future: Innovations in Financial Markets and Stablecoin Integration
13:15 - Enabling the Future: Navigating Disruptions in Banking and Lending
16:51 - Exploring Opportunities and Building Confidence in the Blockchain Ecosystem
Forgot Password
Almost there!
We just sent you a verification email. Please verify your account to gain access to
theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers. If you don’t think you received an email check your
spam folder.
Sign in to theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers.
In order to sign in, enter the email address you used to registered for the event. Once completed, you will receive an email with a verification link. Open this link to automatically sign into the site.
Register For theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers
Please fill out the information below. You will recieve an email with a verification link confirming your registration. Click the link to automatically sign into the site.
You’re almost there!
We just sent you a verification email. Please click the verification button in the email. Once your email address is verified, you will have full access to all event content for theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers.
I want my badge and interests to be visible to all attendees.
Checking this box will display your presense on the attendees list, view your profile and allow other attendees to contact you via 1-1 chat. Read the Privacy Policy. At any time, you can choose to disable this preference.
Select your Interests!
add
Upload your photo
Uploading..
OR
Connect via Twitter
Connect via Linkedin
EDIT PASSWORD
Share
Forgot Password
Almost there!
We just sent you a verification email. Please verify your account to gain access to
theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers. If you don’t think you received an email check your
spam folder.
Sign in to theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers.
In order to sign in, enter the email address you used to registered for the event. Once completed, you will receive an email with a verification link. Open this link to automatically sign into the site.
Sign in to gain access to theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers
Please sign in with LinkedIn to continue to theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers. Signing in with LinkedIn ensures a professional environment.
Are you sure you want to remove access rights for this user?
Details
Manage Access
email address
Community Invitation
Nate Pola, Franklin Templeton
In this insightful episode of the Crypto Trailblazers series hosted by theCUBE, Mike Cagney of Figure Markets sits down with analysts from theCUBE Research to discuss groundbreaking advancements in blockchain technology and their implications for the finance sector. This video is part of the NYSE Wired digital event, aimed at bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and Wall Street by integrating technology and finance.
Cagney, an eminent figure in fintech, shares expertise on the transformative role of blockchain in financial markets during this interview. Conducted by seasoned analysts at theCUBE, the discussion delves into Figure’s innovative contributions, including their blockchain-native loan origination and securitization process. He outlines how Figure leverages blockchain to achieve cost reductions, enhanced security and improved liquidity in financial transactions.
Key takeaways from the interview highlight insights on the evolution of the Web3 ecosystem, such as the emergence of stablecoins as pivotal to transaction processes and the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi). Oltsik states these developments signify a shift towards democratizing finance, wherein truth and transparency are foundational. The conversation concludes with a look at Figure’s pioneering efforts in creating a new financial marketplace utilizing blockchain technology.
#CryptoTrailblazers #FigureMarkets #BlockchainInnovation #Web3 #NYEWired #BlockchainFinance #DecentralizedFinance #Fintech #Stablecoins
Find more SiliconANGLE news and analysis https://siliconangle.com/.
Follow theCUBE's wall-to-wall event coverage https://siliconangle.com/events/
Learn about the latest theCUBE events https://www.thecube.net/
00:00 - Intro
00:05 - Emerging Innovations in Financial Technology and Market Dynamics
02:45 - Key Elements in Financial Ecosystem Dynamics
06:20 - Blockchain: Truth and Transformation
09:39 - Shaping the Future: Innovations in Financial Markets and Stablecoin Integration
13:15 - Enabling the Future: Navigating Disruptions in Banking and Lending
16:51 - Exploring Opportunities and Building Confidence in the Blockchain Ecosystem
play_circle_outlineExploring Digital Assets and Market Trends: Insights from Nate Pola on Legislative Developments Impacting Crypto Growth
replyShare Clip
play_circle_outlineUnlocking Financial Freedom: How DeFi and Tokenization Are Creating New Investment Opportunities for Traditional Investors
replyShare Clip
play_circle_outlineExploring the Hybrid Intersection of Traditional Finance and Crypto: Trends Shaping Investor Perspectives and Solutions for Greater Efficiency
replyShare Clip
play_circle_outlineBuilding Strong Communities: Franklin Templeton's Philosophy on Ecosystems and Compliance in Crypto and Blockchain Networks
>> Welcome back around, I'm John Furrier, host of theCUBE here at our NYSE studio. Welcome to the trading floor, of course. We have our Palo Alto Studio connecting Silicon Valley and Wall Street, Tech and Money, money and tech converged. This is part of our Crypto Trailblazers series with the NYSE Wired programming community. And this is where we interview the leaders making things happen, people who are shaping the trends, setting the table for the next generation of digital assets and also the future of money and how we all interact with crypto. Nate Pola is here with Franklin Templeton in the digital asset side. Thanks for coming on, Nate. Appreciate you coming on. We just had breakfast with the Solana office. Good to see you.
Nate Pola
>> Thanks John group for having me. It's good to be here.>> So you guys are leaning in. We had your colleague on five months ago. I'm very positive the sea change happening in the market. Obviously the stablecoins, great tailwind there. Get the GENIUS Act, the Clarity Act, really setting the table for the big institutions to come in and do their business and digital assets on chain is one of the top conversations. You're involved in the tech stack side, some of the market trends. What are you looking at? Because you guys have to skate with the puck, but also skate the where the puck's going to be and know, connect the dots. What are you guys looking at? What are you excited about? What's your view on the market right now?
Nate Pola
>> Absolutely. So back when I got started in the space in 2018, 2019, I dreamt of a world where users just could interact with the blockchain technology without knowing they're doing so. And ultimately, I knew that if that were the case, we'd be at the point where the tech was so well integrated that we could remove a lot of these moats and wouldn't have to worry about a lot of these series barriers to entry that are pretty common with blockchain technology and with crypto in general. And so as of the past year or so, we've seen a lot of these trends develop over time and ultimately, what we've seen is that outside of the US, a lot of the, and thanks for being with me here. A lot of this enthusiasm and energy and also ability to execute on these ideas has been true. We've seen this, but it's largely been opened up a lot more as the new administration has developed and brought and helped remove a lot of these as headwinds here.>> It's so hard because when you have, we've covered IT transformation projects in the past, we've seen IT go from here to there. It's always been digital transformation was the buzzword. Now we're kind of in the business model transformation because money is involved, top line money, operational systems. These are hard problems to solve because it's hard to just transfer everything over. So the chains are getting better, and as you guys look at this, it's like, "Okay, now real world is adopting blockchain." But the business model cannot be compromised. It's got to be extended and you got to build out the systems. And one of the trends is that the technology builders inside enterprises, and you guys are an enterprise in that class, have to come into the chains. What are some of the things you guys work with? What's important to you guys? What are the things that you guys care about?
Nate Pola
>> Well, part of what's exciting about the technology itself is that there are a lot of opportunities for a wide assortment of yield and investment opportunities for traditional investors to get involved with. And now it's easier than ever to get involved with a lot of these. Some examples too, we're seeing the democratization of DeFi opportunities and seeing how the traditional investor can start to get access to a lot of these higher yields and provide new pieces to their portfolios. And at Franklin Templeton, we are in the portfolio business and now, incorporating tokens and wallets and a lot of these new tools enabled by blockchain are aspects that we're excited about including and starting to adapt our business practice around.>> Yeah, one of the things that your colleague mentioned on theCUBE here was is that digital is here, we all have bank statements that show our bank balances, but there's no dollars in that account. There's dollars in the account, but it's pledged against the dollar. Stablecoins brings that stability where you can actually have tokens and have assets, with stablecoins has opened up some clarity around what to do on the regulatory side, which is great for us. And then she then said, "Hey, we just look at it as just digital."
So you got digital and physical coming together and this morning, we were at the breakfast at the Solana office where it was the State of Crypto, that was the name of the session, A View from Washington. So you were there, we met. What was your take on that breakfast? Watching it and thinking, seeing all the players in the room, very curated group, mix of people, leaders. What was your vibe there? What was your takeaway from that at breakfast?
Nate Pola
>> What excites me is how there are a lot of these larger conversations on government, on an institutional level. If you look at a few years back, there was this mixed messaging around consensus on if blockchain is here to stay, if this technology, if these currencies will prevail, and now it's becoming pretty widely known that this will be the case. Even next week, we're going to see that the Senate is holding conversations around taxation of crypto and as they start to revise these bills, when you get Uncle Sam involved, you know that it's something that the government wants a part of. And even that in itself, understanding that there needs to be a revised conversation and take on how cryptocurrency should be taxed, that's something that speaks to the validity of it.>> What I walked away, it was one that the tech market is hot obviously in this area, but I was surprised to see how positive people were. And I know it's got a good regime there now, but what surprised me was this blocker is still in the way. So I hope that they do their job because the tech scene is booming and if you look at cloud computing, what that did to the data center and the enterprise, that was great. Now you get the same impact happening in the finance. So the question is that as a builder you have to figure out what's the best way to get the chains on, satisfy all the stakeholders. So the question to you is what do you do every day? Because you're at a big firm with a lot on the line, you guys are leaning in at Franklin Templeton. What's the scope of your job? You don't have to give any product information away, but what do you do every day? How do you optimize? What are the things you work on?
Nate Pola
>> So one of the things I love about my role at Franklin is that I get to be in the forefront of exploring disruptive and emerging technology. And this is a trend that Franklin Templeton has seriously adopted as a core previous practice, whether it's across different AI efforts with a variety of different tax loss harvesting, quantitative portfolio tools and with digital assets. These are all components that, as you mentioned, we're adopting as a firm to not identify where the puck is, but where the puck is going and how can we best establish our tools that provide what people will be looking for in a few years out.>> What's the coolest thing you're working on right now? Or maybe easier question, without giving away anything. What excites you right now in the market? What tech as you look at these disruptive enablements, because it's disruption but it's enabling, right? You guys are enabled by this, you're going to build around it. It's a systems play too. So it's not just building an app, it's just like you got to integrate in. What's the most exciting thing that you're looking at that you like?
Nate Pola
>> So there's a lot of conversation around, there's the institutional world and then there's maybe a more crypto native world. And a lot of what I've heard is that people describe this, these two worlds that need to either compromise or come together in some way. But the way I see it, I believe that there's more of a third hybrid intersection and this middle ground is where we're seeing users from both sides. You have more of your traditional investors as well as your more of your digital and crypto users who are meeting in the middle and working together to solve a lot of the shortcomings that you may have had just with one side. So an example of this that stands out is we're looking at different solutions where you might have a variety of investors along the cashflow waterfall or along the capital stack that can incorporate different risk tolerances based off of what may be more standard for let's say a fixed income or equity market versus a highly levered or looped crypto market. And so you can fill in a lot of these pieces and this middle intersection is what's exciting to me.>> You know what I love Nate, about what you just said is that this comes up a lot in the AI world we cover. We cover the NVIDIAs, the world of Dells, AI factory worlds. The tech stack has always been, "Oh, there's the tech stack." Infrastructure platform apps. You start to see with AI, there's an AI stack emerging. You're kind of teasing out the finance stack. It's not so much FinTech, I guess some say FinTech stack, but you're getting at the tech, more builder technology enablement stack because one of the common themes from the young founders is they have to interact with the existing world, young and old coming together because the things like compliance, data, there's known things that have to be in the system. So it's not just, "Hey, I wrote some great algorithms, I got amazing decentralized protocols, but they got to work in the real world. This is the real world assets on chain." How would you describe it? We were at a party or at a dinner and say, "Hey, what's the tech stack for finance?" How would you describe that?
Nate Pola
>> Well, something you said that brings up a great point, which was something that I wasn't expecting as much, but I was surprised by the level and the perspective that a lot of people in the crypto space have on the financial world and how they have their own financial systems that are a different flavor of what we might currently have that are pre-existing, but they're ways that solve for exactly what they're looking for. They can provide exactly what they want as an investor, as a lender, whatever their role may be. And I think that having this perspective, that is a large signal in itself. It's a great way to find your product market fit. It's a way to identify exactly what investors are looking for, and so a lot of what I like to do is listen to these types of conversations and see what are those ideas that are even a little bit out there that do seem wild, are extreme in some fashion.>> By the way, that's a form of an entrepreneur. The weird idea is the ones that probably do work.
Nate Pola
>> It's the ones that do.>> They probably end up changing the world. Okay, so when you're on your listening tour and you're leaning in, get the ear to the ground, what do you look for? Because one of the things that you just mentioned, it's interesting is that when you look at what you bring to the table to the market is that you have the data but the cross connection of the young to the old, they want to fit into your world too. There's an intersection, the hardcore crypto folks, we're going to do it ourselves, on the hardcore on the other side. Now, we can own it all, but I think that you're right, there's a centrist position of intersection and efficiencies are huge right now. So what we're hearing a lot in the crypto trailblazers is that it's the same game, just a little bit different because of this efficiency, because like I said, bank statements, there's probably a lot going behind the scenes that's maybe legacy or modern legacy, but there's new ways to craft the same thing because of transparency maybe because of protocols. There's tech here. What's your view on that? What does your ear of the ground tell you? Where do you see efficiencies that's either white spaces for entrepreneurs where there's opportunity?
Nate Pola
>> Well that's exactly it is, that's one of the aspects that doesn't excite me about this technology. It is a tool that can come and provide a more efficient, it can work in harmony with what we currently have with a lot of systems that are currently in play and integrate in a way that does provide more efficiency. And so the ways that I do see this are, these are some of the more common ones that people talk about, but your settlement, you can see a much faster, instant or near instant settlement in ways that doesn't always rely on your market hours and can work around the clock, can work internationally. Think in terms of your transfer to payments and funds and even denominations as well. Space that does really excite me is how you can start to offer new products to investors in new denominators and new denominations using tokenization.>> Yeah, there's two things I love in this market, settlements are hard. Payment rails, they're out there, we see that all the time, but settlements are hard. You guys cracked that code already. So like that's check, that's good, bring that to the table. You're seeing that to be a big part. And then also how do you build new products? It's funny because there's actually a product opportunity here to layer in new products. You're seeing a lot more staking, creative entrepreneurial thinking around, "Well we could actually, something new could come from this. There's always some new stuff." Any thoughts or observations around that product manager role that might emerge or, I'm not saying that someone emerge, but product thinking because now it's a product opportunity. All enablement creates opportunity.
Nate Pola
>> Well, it's funny you mentioned that. I was thinking back to I would say 2019 to 2020. There was at the point where when I saw was working more in the venture space and was working with these smaller stage startups and you would have a handful of groups that would just tack a blockchain onto their business plan. They had no product, but can raise a lot of money. And you were seeing this as a trend and it reminded me a lot of the trends that you saw in the early 2000s with the dot-com. You become a dot-com company and you raised a handful.>> And you went public too.
Nate Pola
>> And you went public from there. And so I think that that all goes to say we're still at the point where the market is much more developed than it was a few years back, but there is tons of space for growth and for new entrants and for new angles and we're seeing new technologies and even just combinations. It's the intersectionality of these new technologies. It's how we can use a combination of what's already out there, but apply it to a new vertical, apply it to a new ecosystem. And that is ultimately what excites me is because that's what will provide the most value to people and build a community around the ecosystems.>> Well Nate, I really am psyched to interview, you guys are in the ecosystem, you're in the community. Thanks for being part of the WIRED. I'm sure I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this question because I know the entrepreneurs out there watching are like, "How do I sell something to Franklin Templeton?" Not that you're in the buyer mode, but you guys are participating and you're going to add to the system. When people approach you with emotion to engage, what's the bar? Is there a filter? Things you'd like to see? Speed, latency, good culture, compliance. Compliance comes up a lot. I'm sure that's a table stake. Is there a filter or is there a way you guys lean? Because you guys are very leaning into this. What's the engagement philosophy at Franklin Templeton?
Nate Pola
>> Well, what resonates with me on a personal level is the community and ecosystem. And so the way I like to think about tokens themselves, they are a representation of the amount of value that a community or a network or a blockchain or protocol, however you want to describe, it all has on its users. And so if you can create a system or environment where you have users that want to come together, they want to transact, they want to build, they want to share their content, whatever it may be, and that's just a small subset. The world is your oyster in that capacity. If you can build a community where people want to bring their experience, their knowledge, and what they have to this and ultimately continue to develop and create new things in this community, that is where the flywheel begins, that's where this is going to skyrocket.>> Well, you guys are doing great. Love the philosophy. More people are touching crypto enabled value at the user level. That's over 20% of the population estimated. The proliferation of chains is another great metric, private and public. That's another great trend. Those things are going great. Well, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it.
Nate Pola
>> Cheers. Thanks so much.>> All right, Nate. All right, Franklin Templeton here in theCUBE. Again, everyone is leaning in. When you start to see end users and developers and chains come together, you see the formation of a market. This is the Crypto Trailblazers series where we interview the leaders, making it happen, moving the needle. I'm John Furrier, your host of theCUBE. Thanks for watching.
>> Welcome back around, I'm John Furrier, host of theCUBE here at our NYSE studio. Welcome to the trading floor, of course. We have our Palo Alto Studio connecting Silicon Valley and Wall Street, Tech and Money, money and tech converged. This is part of our Crypto Trailblazers series with the NYSE Wired programming community. And this is where we interview the leaders making things happen, people who are shaping the trends, setting the table for the next generation of digital assets and also the future of money and how we all interact with crypto. Nate Pola is here with Franklin Templeton in the digital asset side. Thanks for coming on, Nate. Appreciate you coming on. We just had breakfast with the Solana office. Good to see you.
Nate Pola
>> Thanks John group for having me. It's good to be here.>> So you guys are leaning in. We had your colleague on five months ago. I'm very positive the sea change happening in the market. Obviously the stablecoins, great tailwind there. Get the GENIUS Act, the Clarity Act, really setting the table for the big institutions to come in and do their business and digital assets on chain is one of the top conversations. You're involved in the tech stack side, some of the market trends. What are you looking at? Because you guys have to skate with the puck, but also skate the where the puck's going to be and know, connect the dots. What are you guys looking at? What are you excited about? What's your view on the market right now?
Nate Pola
>> Absolutely. So back when I got started in the space in 2018, 2019, I dreamt of a world where users just could interact with the blockchain technology without knowing they're doing so. And ultimately, I knew that if that were the case, we'd be at the point where the tech was so well integrated that we could remove a lot of these moats and wouldn't have to worry about a lot of these series barriers to entry that are pretty common with blockchain technology and with crypto in general. And so as of the past year or so, we've seen a lot of these trends develop over time and ultimately, what we've seen is that outside of the US, a lot of the, and thanks for being with me here. A lot of this enthusiasm and energy and also ability to execute on these ideas has been true. We've seen this, but it's largely been opened up a lot more as the new administration has developed and brought and helped remove a lot of these as headwinds here.>> It's so hard because when you have, we've covered IT transformation projects in the past, we've seen IT go from here to there. It's always been digital transformation was the buzzword. Now we're kind of in the business model transformation because money is involved, top line money, operational systems. These are hard problems to solve because it's hard to just transfer everything over. So the chains are getting better, and as you guys look at this, it's like, "Okay, now real world is adopting blockchain." But the business model cannot be compromised. It's got to be extended and you got to build out the systems. And one of the trends is that the technology builders inside enterprises, and you guys are an enterprise in that class, have to come into the chains. What are some of the things you guys work with? What's important to you guys? What are the things that you guys care about?
Nate Pola
>> Well, part of what's exciting about the technology itself is that there are a lot of opportunities for a wide assortment of yield and investment opportunities for traditional investors to get involved with. And now it's easier than ever to get involved with a lot of these. Some examples too, we're seeing the democratization of DeFi opportunities and seeing how the traditional investor can start to get access to a lot of these higher yields and provide new pieces to their portfolios. And at Franklin Templeton, we are in the portfolio business and now, incorporating tokens and wallets and a lot of these new tools enabled by blockchain are aspects that we're excited about including and starting to adapt our business practice around.>> Yeah, one of the things that your colleague mentioned on theCUBE here was is that digital is here, we all have bank statements that show our bank balances, but there's no dollars in that account. There's dollars in the account, but it's pledged against the dollar. Stablecoins brings that stability where you can actually have tokens and have assets, with stablecoins has opened up some clarity around what to do on the regulatory side, which is great for us. And then she then said, "Hey, we just look at it as just digital."
So you got digital and physical coming together and this morning, we were at the breakfast at the Solana office where it was the State of Crypto, that was the name of the session, A View from Washington. So you were there, we met. What was your take on that breakfast? Watching it and thinking, seeing all the players in the room, very curated group, mix of people, leaders. What was your vibe there? What was your takeaway from that at breakfast?
Nate Pola
>> What excites me is how there are a lot of these larger conversations on government, on an institutional level. If you look at a few years back, there was this mixed messaging around consensus on if blockchain is here to stay, if this technology, if these currencies will prevail, and now it's becoming pretty widely known that this will be the case. Even next week, we're going to see that the Senate is holding conversations around taxation of crypto and as they start to revise these bills, when you get Uncle Sam involved, you know that it's something that the government wants a part of. And even that in itself, understanding that there needs to be a revised conversation and take on how cryptocurrency should be taxed, that's something that speaks to the validity of it.>> What I walked away, it was one that the tech market is hot obviously in this area, but I was surprised to see how positive people were. And I know it's got a good regime there now, but what surprised me was this blocker is still in the way. So I hope that they do their job because the tech scene is booming and if you look at cloud computing, what that did to the data center and the enterprise, that was great. Now you get the same impact happening in the finance. So the question is that as a builder you have to figure out what's the best way to get the chains on, satisfy all the stakeholders. So the question to you is what do you do every day? Because you're at a big firm with a lot on the line, you guys are leaning in at Franklin Templeton. What's the scope of your job? You don't have to give any product information away, but what do you do every day? How do you optimize? What are the things you work on?
Nate Pola
>> So one of the things I love about my role at Franklin is that I get to be in the forefront of exploring disruptive and emerging technology. And this is a trend that Franklin Templeton has seriously adopted as a core previous practice, whether it's across different AI efforts with a variety of different tax loss harvesting, quantitative portfolio tools and with digital assets. These are all components that, as you mentioned, we're adopting as a firm to not identify where the puck is, but where the puck is going and how can we best establish our tools that provide what people will be looking for in a few years out.>> What's the coolest thing you're working on right now? Or maybe easier question, without giving away anything. What excites you right now in the market? What tech as you look at these disruptive enablements, because it's disruption but it's enabling, right? You guys are enabled by this, you're going to build around it. It's a systems play too. So it's not just building an app, it's just like you got to integrate in. What's the most exciting thing that you're looking at that you like?
Nate Pola
>> So there's a lot of conversation around, there's the institutional world and then there's maybe a more crypto native world. And a lot of what I've heard is that people describe this, these two worlds that need to either compromise or come together in some way. But the way I see it, I believe that there's more of a third hybrid intersection and this middle ground is where we're seeing users from both sides. You have more of your traditional investors as well as your more of your digital and crypto users who are meeting in the middle and working together to solve a lot of the shortcomings that you may have had just with one side. So an example of this that stands out is we're looking at different solutions where you might have a variety of investors along the cashflow waterfall or along the capital stack that can incorporate different risk tolerances based off of what may be more standard for let's say a fixed income or equity market versus a highly levered or looped crypto market. And so you can fill in a lot of these pieces and this middle intersection is what's exciting to me.>> You know what I love Nate, about what you just said is that this comes up a lot in the AI world we cover. We cover the NVIDIAs, the world of Dells, AI factory worlds. The tech stack has always been, "Oh, there's the tech stack." Infrastructure platform apps. You start to see with AI, there's an AI stack emerging. You're kind of teasing out the finance stack. It's not so much FinTech, I guess some say FinTech stack, but you're getting at the tech, more builder technology enablement stack because one of the common themes from the young founders is they have to interact with the existing world, young and old coming together because the things like compliance, data, there's known things that have to be in the system. So it's not just, "Hey, I wrote some great algorithms, I got amazing decentralized protocols, but they got to work in the real world. This is the real world assets on chain." How would you describe it? We were at a party or at a dinner and say, "Hey, what's the tech stack for finance?" How would you describe that?
Nate Pola
>> Well, something you said that brings up a great point, which was something that I wasn't expecting as much, but I was surprised by the level and the perspective that a lot of people in the crypto space have on the financial world and how they have their own financial systems that are a different flavor of what we might currently have that are pre-existing, but they're ways that solve for exactly what they're looking for. They can provide exactly what they want as an investor, as a lender, whatever their role may be. And I think that having this perspective, that is a large signal in itself. It's a great way to find your product market fit. It's a way to identify exactly what investors are looking for, and so a lot of what I like to do is listen to these types of conversations and see what are those ideas that are even a little bit out there that do seem wild, are extreme in some fashion.>> By the way, that's a form of an entrepreneur. The weird idea is the ones that probably do work.
Nate Pola
>> It's the ones that do.>> They probably end up changing the world. Okay, so when you're on your listening tour and you're leaning in, get the ear to the ground, what do you look for? Because one of the things that you just mentioned, it's interesting is that when you look at what you bring to the table to the market is that you have the data but the cross connection of the young to the old, they want to fit into your world too. There's an intersection, the hardcore crypto folks, we're going to do it ourselves, on the hardcore on the other side. Now, we can own it all, but I think that you're right, there's a centrist position of intersection and efficiencies are huge right now. So what we're hearing a lot in the crypto trailblazers is that it's the same game, just a little bit different because of this efficiency, because like I said, bank statements, there's probably a lot going behind the scenes that's maybe legacy or modern legacy, but there's new ways to craft the same thing because of transparency maybe because of protocols. There's tech here. What's your view on that? What does your ear of the ground tell you? Where do you see efficiencies that's either white spaces for entrepreneurs where there's opportunity?
Nate Pola
>> Well that's exactly it is, that's one of the aspects that doesn't excite me about this technology. It is a tool that can come and provide a more efficient, it can work in harmony with what we currently have with a lot of systems that are currently in play and integrate in a way that does provide more efficiency. And so the ways that I do see this are, these are some of the more common ones that people talk about, but your settlement, you can see a much faster, instant or near instant settlement in ways that doesn't always rely on your market hours and can work around the clock, can work internationally. Think in terms of your transfer to payments and funds and even denominations as well. Space that does really excite me is how you can start to offer new products to investors in new denominators and new denominations using tokenization.>> Yeah, there's two things I love in this market, settlements are hard. Payment rails, they're out there, we see that all the time, but settlements are hard. You guys cracked that code already. So like that's check, that's good, bring that to the table. You're seeing that to be a big part. And then also how do you build new products? It's funny because there's actually a product opportunity here to layer in new products. You're seeing a lot more staking, creative entrepreneurial thinking around, "Well we could actually, something new could come from this. There's always some new stuff." Any thoughts or observations around that product manager role that might emerge or, I'm not saying that someone emerge, but product thinking because now it's a product opportunity. All enablement creates opportunity.
Nate Pola
>> Well, it's funny you mentioned that. I was thinking back to I would say 2019 to 2020. There was at the point where when I saw was working more in the venture space and was working with these smaller stage startups and you would have a handful of groups that would just tack a blockchain onto their business plan. They had no product, but can raise a lot of money. And you were seeing this as a trend and it reminded me a lot of the trends that you saw in the early 2000s with the dot-com. You become a dot-com company and you raised a handful.>> And you went public too.
Nate Pola
>> And you went public from there. And so I think that that all goes to say we're still at the point where the market is much more developed than it was a few years back, but there is tons of space for growth and for new entrants and for new angles and we're seeing new technologies and even just combinations. It's the intersectionality of these new technologies. It's how we can use a combination of what's already out there, but apply it to a new vertical, apply it to a new ecosystem. And that is ultimately what excites me is because that's what will provide the most value to people and build a community around the ecosystems.>> Well Nate, I really am psyched to interview, you guys are in the ecosystem, you're in the community. Thanks for being part of the WIRED. I'm sure I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this question because I know the entrepreneurs out there watching are like, "How do I sell something to Franklin Templeton?" Not that you're in the buyer mode, but you guys are participating and you're going to add to the system. When people approach you with emotion to engage, what's the bar? Is there a filter? Things you'd like to see? Speed, latency, good culture, compliance. Compliance comes up a lot. I'm sure that's a table stake. Is there a filter or is there a way you guys lean? Because you guys are very leaning into this. What's the engagement philosophy at Franklin Templeton?
Nate Pola
>> Well, what resonates with me on a personal level is the community and ecosystem. And so the way I like to think about tokens themselves, they are a representation of the amount of value that a community or a network or a blockchain or protocol, however you want to describe, it all has on its users. And so if you can create a system or environment where you have users that want to come together, they want to transact, they want to build, they want to share their content, whatever it may be, and that's just a small subset. The world is your oyster in that capacity. If you can build a community where people want to bring their experience, their knowledge, and what they have to this and ultimately continue to develop and create new things in this community, that is where the flywheel begins, that's where this is going to skyrocket.>> Well, you guys are doing great. Love the philosophy. More people are touching crypto enabled value at the user level. That's over 20% of the population estimated. The proliferation of chains is another great metric, private and public. That's another great trend. Those things are going great. Well, thanks for coming on. Appreciate it.
Nate Pola
>> Cheers. Thanks so much.>> All right, Nate. All right, Franklin Templeton here in theCUBE. Again, everyone is leaning in. When you start to see end users and developers and chains come together, you see the formation of a market. This is the Crypto Trailblazers series where we interview the leaders, making it happen, moving the needle. I'm John Furrier, your host of theCUBE. Thanks for watching.
