Pantera Capital investor on USDH, Paradigm's Tempo, and the massive potential of stablecoins

Episode 44 of The Crypto Beat was recorded with The Block's Co-Hosts Kelvin Sparks and Tim Copeland, who were joined by Pantera Capital Junior Partner Mason Nystrom.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Crypto Beat on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Twitch, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to [email protected]

In this episode of the Crypto Beat, Tim Copeland and Kelvin Sparks were joined by Mason Nystrom, Junior Partner at Pantera Capital, to discuss how stablecoins could be the tech that transforms fintech rails to be more internet blockchain native, what the Hyperliquid USDH bidding war signals for capturing payment flow, and the tokenization of real-world assets, including collectibles like Pokémon cards.

OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
01:44 - Mason's origin in crypto
03:35 - Research vs. VC investing
04:46 - The $1T stablecoin thesis
06:31 - Tempo: Stripe/Paradigm's payments L1
08:55 - Retail upside & neutrality questions
14:18 - Why Stripe self-disrupts
20:12 - Hyperliquid's USDH bidding war
23:43 - RWAs: tokenized collectibles
28:48 - Launchpads & DeFi platformization
33:08 - SocFi: Pump.fun vs. FriendTech
43:59 - Prediction markets & regulation

The Block Newsletters
The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newsletters

Guest links:
Mason Nystrom - x.com/masonnystrom
Pantera - x.com/PanteraCapital

Are you hiring in crypto?
Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test.
Faster hiring, stronger teams.