How Sky Is Building the Future of Stablecoin Yield With USDS | Rune Christensen
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Rune Christensen, founder of Sky (formerly MakerDAO), about how the protocol is connecting hundreds of billions in idle stablecoins to institutional-grade yield through its Sky Agent Network. Rune explains why Sky evolved from MakerDAO, how USDS offers a native 3.75% savings rate with no lock-ups or fees, and why the protocol generated $338 million in annualized revenue with $158 million in net profit during recent market volatility. He walks through the Sky Agent Network enabling decentralized capital allocation across players like Spark, BlackRock, and Janus Henderson, why Sky deployed $1 billion into the first tokenized CLO, and how the protocol's seven-year track record makes it the only project institutions trust at scale. The conversation covers Sky's 74% USDS supply growth, why DeFi and TradFi will merge into one system, and how AI agents will drive the next phase of financial automation through blockchain-native stablecoins. TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Intro 02:08 – Why Sky evolved from MakerDAO: rethinking DeFi for real-world scale 04:00 – Sky as infrastructure for global capital markets and capital formation 05:34 – How Sky Savings Rate works with 3.75% yield 07:06 – Sky Agent Network: decentralized businesses competing for best risk-adjusted returns 08:16 – Why Sky is different from Ethena and other yield-bearing stablecoins 11:49 – Spark protocol reaching $3 billion TVL as it grows in the lending market 14:03 – How real cash-flowing assets are coming onchain for the first time 18:32 – Why institutions like BlackRock and Janus Henderson work with Sky 27:18 – Sky’s Grove deploying $1 billion into first tokenized CLO by Janus Henderson and Centrifuge 30:10 – When DeFi and TradFi merge: stablecoins can act as super capital 34:13 – AI agents driving blockchain-native financial automation 37:35 – Sky's revenue: $338M annualized with $158M net profit during market volatility 39:05 – Growing stablecoin supply as the main opportunity ahead 50:18 – Rune's endgame: fully automating Sky through AI to finally step away
ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.
How Sky Is Building the Future of Stablecoin Yield With USDS | Rune Christensen
Subscribe & Listen
More from Talking Tokens
Why Robinhood Is Betting on Tokenized Assets | Nicola White
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Nicola White, VP of Institutional at Robinhood, to discuss how Robinhood is expanding its institutional crypto business and why tokenized assets could reshape the way traditional financial markets operate. Nicola breaks down how Robinhood's acquisition of Bitstamp plays a role in expansion, the evolution of institutional demand from crypto pilots to real-world use cases, and the growing role of stock tokens, perpetual futures, collateral and capital efficiency. They also explore how Robinhood's stock tokens work, the path toward issuer-led tokenization, and why assets ranging from equities and private markets to money market funds, credit and FX could eventually move onchain. Timestamps: 00:10 Nicola White's path from TradFi to crypto 03:11 Building Robinhood's institutional business 04:23 How Bitstamp expanded Robinhood's global footprint 05:57 Connecting retail and institutional markets 07:12 What TradFi professionals need to understand about crypto 08:38 What traditional finance still gets wrong 09:44 Are institutions moving beyond crypto pilots? 10:41 What's working for Robinhood 12:34 What are stock tokens? 13:51 Wrapped vs. issuer-led tokenization 14:55 Are stock tokens a bridge? 15:47 Robinhood's biggest tokenization opportunities 16:57 What does an institutional Robinhood look like? 17:48 What institutions are asking for now 18:34 Why capital efficiency matters 19:34 What could unlock the next phase of U.S. institutional adoption This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com This episode is brought to you by GSR, crypto’s capital markets partner, learn more at https://www.gsr.io/ New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Nicola White https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-white-b691003 https://x.com/NicolaWhite444
How Stablecoins Could Double Margins for Businesses
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Sam Broner, CEO of The Better Money Company, to unpack what stablecoins need to become everyday payment infrastructure and why interoperability could matter more than which stablecoin ultimately wins. Drawing on his experience across Microsoft, the Federal Reserve, a16z and now building stablecoin infrastructure, Sam explains why today's payment system still has significant room for improvement. They discuss why companies are launching their own stablecoins, how a stablecoin clearinghouse could connect an increasingly fragmented market, and why consumers may eventually use stablecoins without even realizing it. Sam also breaks down the economics of card fees for merchants, whether stablecoins threaten Visa and Mastercard, and why AI agents could increasingly use stablecoins as a default way to transact online. Timestamps 00:00 — Meet Sam Broner 00:44 — From Microsoft and the Fed to stablecoins 02:21 — Why Sam saw the stablecoin opportunity early 04:54 — Is today's money system actually working? 05:23 — What is a stablecoin clearinghouse? 07:17 — Why stablecoin issuers need interoperability 10:10 — Why companies want their own stablecoins 12:25 — Why Better Money doesn't issue a stablecoin 13:40 — What happens if there are thousands of stablecoins? 17:13 — When stablecoins become everyday money 18:56 — What needs to happen for mainstream payments? 21:05 — How quickly could stablecoin payments become normal? 22:53 — The economics of credit card fees 24:41 — Do stablecoins threaten Visa and Mastercard? 26:42 — Stablecoins vs. banks and existing payment rails 28:05 — Why AI agents could pay with stablecoins 30:23 — Your AI agent may use stablecoins without you knowing 31:41 — How much money should you trust an AI agent with? 33:54 — When consumers stop thinking about stablecoins 36:43 — Sam's vision for the future of money 37:10 — Sam's career advice This episode is sponsored by Forgd, visit its Market Maker Leaderboard on Token Relations here: www.stratamedia.co/token-relations/leaderboard Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Sam Broner https://x.com/SamBroner?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambroner
Crypto Grew Despite Bad UX | What Happens When We Fix It?
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Edward Woodford, founder and CEO of zerohash, to explore how crypto infrastructure is becoming embedded inside some of the world’s largest banks, brokers, fintechs and payment companies. Zerohash powers digital asset and stablecoin capabilities for companies including Morgan Stanley, Interactive Brokers, Stripe and Visa, helping traditional financial institutions move from crypto trading toward a broader onchain financial stack. Edward Woodford explains why he believes banks will enter onchain finance through wealth and crypto before expanding into stablecoins, tokenized deposits, money market funds and tokenized stocks. They discuss why blockchain usability remains a major obstacle to mass adoption, the importance of abstracting away from chain complexity, how stablecoins could increase the velocity of global money movement, and why Edward has become increasingly bullish on onchain lending and vaults as financial markets move toward faster and more atomic settlement. Timestamps 00:10 Zerohash and the Evolution of Onchain Infrastructure 01:01 From Crypto Trading to Onchain Finance 02:50 How Zerohash Has Changed Since 2017 05:43 Why Blockchain Fragmentation Still Matters 07:44 Solving Crypto’s Usability Problem 08:32 Building Infrastructure for Major Financial Institutions 11:20 How Banks Expand From Crypto Into Onchain Assets 14:26 Why Trust Matters More Than Innovation 17:39 Why Zerohash Says No to Certain Business 20:51 Why Zerohash Stayed Independent 23:47 Building Through Crypto Market Cycles 25:40 How Zerohash Makes Its Biggest Bets 27:27 The Road to Mass Onchain Adoption 30:55 Where Stablecoins Still Have Untapped Potential 33:20 Why Onchain Lending Could Be Next 35:10 Edward’s Advice for Crypto Builders New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens Follow Edward Woodford https://x.com/e_woodford https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardwoodford Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.