About this episode
Connect with Early Riders // Connect with OnrampPresented collaboratively by Early Riders & Onramp Media…Final Settlement is a weekly podcast covering capital markets, dealmaking, early-stage venture, bitcoin applications and protocol development.00:00 – Cold open: Friday/Sunday pump banter; “the banks are here” kickoff02:11 – JPMorgan to accept BTC/ETH as collateral by year-end11:41 – Fortress/Prime Trust fallout: single-custodian risk and insolvency lessons16:19 – Notable deals of the week25:31 – FalconX to buy 21Shares: ETFs as on-ramp; options liquidity migration26:41 – Crypto M&A surges; Q3 deal value and what 2026 might look like32:08 – Coinbase buys Echo (and UpOnly)38:56 – Tether roundup: AI ambitions, USAT, and the Rumble token (RUM)46:54 – Convergence of AI and digital assets53:53 – ETH dev flight to Tempo; centralization tradeoffs and incentive-driven pivots58:15 – The state of the greater digital assets industry1:08:28 – Macro week previewIf you found this valuable, please subscribe to Early Riders Insights for access to the best content in the ecosystem weekly.Links discussed:https://www.theblock.co/post/376038/jpmorgan-to-let-institutional-clients-pledge-btc-eth-loan-collateralhttps://x.com/pmarca/status/1982524567072669929https://www.theblock.co/post/375102/ledger-nano-device-wallet-apphttps://www.theblock.co/post/375791/coinbase-unveils-tool-ai-agents-claude-gemini-access-crypto-walletshttps://www.theblock.co/post/375102/ledger-nano-device-wallet-apphttps://www.theblock.co/post/376037/tether-ai-open-dataset-local-app