
Framework Ventures Is Deploying $2.5 Billion Into Institutional-Grade Yield | Parker Edwards
In this episode of Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Parker Edwards, partner at Framework Ventures, about deploying a $2.5 billion mandate to bring institutional-grade yield onchain through Obex, a Sky-focused incubator. Parker announces the first cohort where it’s deploying $1 billion across eight companies including Maple, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, and Better Home & Finance, spanning areas like structured credit, mortgages, energy, and AI infrastructure. He explains why real-world assets are finally reaching institutional scale, with players like Apollo and BlackRock actively participating. The conversation covers why established companies with deep domain expertise are better positioned to scale with Obex than early-stage startups, how Sky grew to $11.5 billion in USDS stablecoin supply, and the plan to hit $20 billion by 2026.This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Intro with Parker Edwards, partner at Framework Ventures (00:25) What is Obex and its $2.5 billion mandate to deploy capital into Sky ecosystem (01:09) Sky's growth to $11.5 billion in stablecoin supply as third largest stablecoin (02:06) Why Framework Ventures is administering the Obex incubator (02:52) First cohort: Maple, USD.ai, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, Better, and others deploying $1 billion (04:12) Why it chose more established players over early-stage startups for day-one scale (06:06) State of RWAs: institutional-grade founders with deep domain expertise entering the space (08:03) Asset manager mandates: structured credit, private credit, energy, and AI infrastructure (10:05) Why Better Home & Finance chose to build on Sky for mortgage tokenization (13:33) Real cash-flowing assets onchain without artificial yield incentives (15:15) How DeFi is competing with banks and credit funds on quality assets (17:13) Apollo and BlackRock participating onchain (20:16) Sky's recent $435 million revenue and $20 billion stablecoin target by end of 2026 (22:20) Why USDS won't replace USDC or USDT but serves different institutional roles (27:26) Final advice
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.
Framework Ventures Is Deploying $2.5 Billion Into Institutional-Grade Yield | Parker Edwards
Subscribe & Listen
More from Talking Tokens

How Hedge Funds and Family Offices Are Investing in Crypto
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Catherine Chen, Head of VIP & Institutional at Binance, to explore how hedge funds, family offices, asset managers, and sophisticated investors are approaching cryptocurrency and digital assets. Drawing on her 16 years in traditional finance, including at Morgan Stanley, Catherine explains how institutional crypto investing is evolving, why Bitcoin ETFs have helped investors become more comfortable with digital assets, and how Binance is expanding its institutional offerings. They discuss institutional crypto adoption, portfolio allocation, Binance Capital Connect, hedge fund strategies, and the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets. Catherine explains why verified performance data, transparency, and due diligence matter for institutional investors, how Binance is evolving beyond crypto trading into a broader financial ecosystem, and why tokenized stocks and other real-world assets could unlock new opportunities for collateral, lending, and investing.Timestamps00:00 — Introduction: Catherine Chen, Binance00:52 — From Morgan Stanley to Binance03:02 — Bridging Traditional Finance and Crypto04:42 — Binance's Institutional Investor Business05:39 — How Binance's VIP Program Works06:46 — Hedge Funds, Market Makers, and Family Offices07:35 — How Institutional Crypto Investing Is Changing09:27 — How Much Are Institutions Allocating to Crypto?10:16 — What's Holding Back Larger Crypto Allocations?10:59 — Why Institutional Investors Need Better Data11:57 — The Challenge of Verifying Crypto Fund Performance13:15 — How Binance Is Addressing Institutional Due Diligence14:58 — Binance Capital Connect Explained15:42 — Why Smaller Hedge Funds Can Be Attractive17:32 — Trust, Transparency, and Performance Verification19:21 — Portfolio Accounts and Institutional Infrastructure21:42 — What Data Do Institutional Investors Look For?22:24 — Growth of Capital Connect Strategies23:48 — How Crypto Trading Firms Are Evolving24:38 — Binance's Vision for a Financial Super App25:48 — Expanding Into Traditional Financial Products26:13 — Wealth Management and Investment Strategies28:02 — Diversifying Beyond Crypto Assets29:42 — The Next 12–24 Months of Institutional Crypto31:21 — The Growth of Tokenized Assets32:07 — Using Tokenized Assets as Collateral33:08 — The Need for Tokenization Standards34:05 — What a Mature Digital Asset Ecosystem Looks Like34:48 — Making Stablecoins and Tokenization Invisible to Users36:56 — Catherine's Advice for Investors🔔 New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141🌐 Follow Jacquelyn Melinekhttps://x.com/jacqmelinek?lang=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynmelinek➡️ Follow Catherine Chenhttps://ae.linkedin.com/in/catherine-c-binanceThis 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 sponsored by Binance, the world’s number-one crypto exchange, trusted by over 300 million people. Discover more at: https://binance.onelink.me/y874/talkingtokens . NOTE: Binance is not available in certain countries, including the U.S.; check its Terms for more information: https://www.binance.com/en/terms #TalkingTokens #Binance #InstitutionalCrypto #DigitalAssets #Tokenization

Why Grayscale Thinks the Crypto ETF Boom Isn't Over
In today's episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Krista Lynch, Managing Director, Head of Trading and Capital Markets at Grayscale, to discuss the evolution of crypto ETFs, the growth of digital asset investing, and Grayscale's plans for tokenization. Drawing on her experience at Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Grayscale, Krista shares the behind-the-scenes story of the US spot Bitcoin ETF approval process and explains how the crypto ETF market is expanding beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. They explore why crypto native investors are moving assets into regulated ETF structures, how Grayscale evaluates new investment products such as Zcash, and how ETF shares can potentially be used as collateral. Krista also discusses the future of tokenized investment funds, the growing demand for 24/7 trading, and why the convergence of traditional finance and crypto could reshape global capital markets. Timestamps 00:42 — From Traditional Finance to Crypto ETFs 02:42 — Grayscale's Battle for Spot Bitcoin ETFs 03:48 — Inside Grayscale's ETF War Room 06:27 — How Crypto ETFs Differ From Traditional ETFs 07:13 — Why Crypto Investors Are Moving Assets Into ETFs 08:25 — Using Bitcoin ETF Shares as Collateral 10:23 — What Makes a Successful Crypto ETF? 11:23 — Bitcoin ETF Demand and Market Growth 12:28 — Zcash and Grayscale's New Crypto Products 13:13 — How Grayscale Selects Assets for ETFs 15:12 — Why Crypto ETF Momentum Could Continue 16:34 — Grayscale's Tokenization Plans 17:57 — Tokenization and 24/7 Trading 20:46 — Staking and Yield in Crypto ETFs 22:26 — How Crypto and Traditional Finance Are Converging 25:59 — Crypto Trading Trends and Market Structure 28:01 — Tokenization and Global Market Access 30:02 — The Future of Tokenized Finance 30:39 — Krista Advice for Investors 🔔 New episodes every week https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 🌐 Follow Jacquelyn Melinek https://x.com/jacqmelinek?lang=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynmelinek ➡️ Follow Krista Lynch https://www.linkedin.com/in/krista-lynch-836a453a This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io #TalkingTokens #Grayscale #CryptoETFs #BitcoinETF #Tokenization

Why Institutions Can't Move Onchain Without Privacy
Public blockchains make transactions transparent, but that transparency can become a major obstacle for institutional adoption. Financial institutions need to protect sensitive transactions, trading positions, and investment strategies without giving up the benefits of blockchain. As more capital moves onchain, privacy is becoming a critical part of the infrastructure needed to support institutional finance. In this edition of Strata Media Research, Jacquelyn Melinek sits down with Alexander Beaudry from the institutional research team to explore why onchain privacy matters and which technologies could help institutions operate privately. Alex breaks down shielded pools like Zcash, Monero, and Railgun, trusted execution environments (TEEs), permissioned networks like Canton, and emerging institutional privacy solutions from Zama. They also discuss how institutions can use DeFi without exposing their strategies to competitors, why fragmented liquidity and interoperability remain major challenges, and Alex's prediction that shielded liquidity could grow at least 5X over the next few years as institutional adoption accelerates. Timestamps 00:00 Why Onchain Privacy Matters for Institutions 01:34 Is Crypto Privacy Just for Criminals? 02:15 Why Institutions Need Onchain Privacy 03:57 How Blockchain Privacy Technologies Work 05:00 Shielded Pools, TEEs, and Permissioned Ledgers 06:25 Which Privacy Architecture Works Best for Institutions? 06:39 Why Permissioned Blockchains Appeal to Institutions 07:20 Private DeFi and Institutional Privacy Solutions 08:42 The Biggest Challenges Facing Onchain Privacy 09:22 The Problem With Privacy Interoperability 09:54 What's Next for Onchain Privacy? 10:11 How Mature Is Blockchain Privacy Technology? 10:40 Why Shielded Liquidity Could Grow 5X 11:39 Making Financial Privacy More Accessible ▫️Check out the report: site: https://stratamedia.co/token-relations/article?slug=why-crypto-should-care-about-privacy X: https://x.com/TokenRelations/status/2117681044564398422?a=DJPqRL3xwQJVqSFI4sQ&s=20 linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-crypto-should-care-privacy-stratamedia-m5tte ➡️ Follow Talking Tokens https://x.com/_TalkingTokens?lang=en https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens-crypto-onchain-finance-investing/id1743669141 https://talkingtokens.beehiiv.com/ ➡️ Follow Jacquelyn https://x.com/jacqmelinek #Robinhood #StockTokens #Tokenization #MarketStructure #TalkingTokens