Where the people who move capital come to talk

What gets discussed

• 01

  Institutional Allocators

  How sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and family offices are integrating digital assets into traditional portfolios - and what it means for custody, risk, and long-term allocation strategy.

• 02

  The Tokenization of Real-World Assets

  The migration of traditional financial instruments - from T-bills and private equity to real estate - onto blockchain rails, and what it means for liquidity and settlement efficiency.

• 03

  Onchain Credit & Capital Markets

  The evolution of institutional-grade DeFi - including under-collateralized lending, automated credit scoring, and the infrastructure required for global on-chain debt markets.

• 04

  Stablecoin Architecture & Global Liquidity

  The strategic role of stablecoins in global trade and cross-border payments - covering reserve transparency, yield-bearing variants, and their impact on settlement efficiency.

• 05

  Post-Trade Infrastructure & Prime Brokerage

  The shift from fragmented crypto exchanges to unified institutional stacks -covering MPC custody, tri-party collateral management, and on-chain settlement finality.

• 06

  Macro Trends & The Sovereign Finance Shift

  How nation-state adoption, shifting monetary policy, and the rise of CBDCs are reshaping the digital asset landscape - and how agentic payments are transforming the future of settlement.

What Moved the
Conversation

Matt Hougan

Chief Investment Officer for Bitwise Asset Management

This month's contribution

Matt Hougan oversees over $11 billion in client assets across a diverse suite of crypto ETFs, staking solutions, and active onchain strategies. An ETF pioneer, he brings the council unparalleled expertise in financial product structuring and institutional capital deployment. This month on the Expert Council podcast, Matt explained why Bitcoin’s drop to $70,000 could be a shallower and shorter downturn than previous cycles, outlining the clear road back to $100k per coin.

• 

  Michael Walsh

  Independent Non-Executive Director & Chair

  This month's contribution

  Michael Walsh holds multiple Central Bank PCF approvals as Chair of Zodia Markets (backed by Standard Chartered) and a Kraken entity, backed by 30 years of elite financial governance spanning global hubs like London and New York. He provides the council with the vital operational maturity and regulatory blueprints needed to scale institutional finance onchain. This month on the Expert Council podcast, Michael explained how smart traders can use market volatility as a "Fear Index" to spot prime entry points for Bitcoin at its current price.

• 

  Arthur Hayes

  Co-Founder of BitMEX & Managing Partner at Maelstrom

  This month's contribution

  Arthur Hayes is a digital asset pioneer who revolutionized global trading by co-founding BitMEX and inventing the crypto perpetual swap. Now directing Maelstrom, a venture fund backing early-stage decentralized infrastructure, he injects deep macroeconomic analysis and raw trading reality into the council's framework. This month on the Expert Council podcast, Arthur revealed why Hyperliquid (HYPE token) remains his largest altcoin position, how decentralized perps present an existential threat to centralized giants like Binance and Coinbase, and why Hyperliquid's weekend trading is now making headlines in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.