Which Types of Crypto Assets Make for Good Treasury Companies? - Ep. 885

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Subscribe to the new Bits + Bips channels! 📺 YouTube 🎧 Podcast → Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Fountain🐦 X / Twitter In this episode of Unchained, Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, and Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly, unpack the emerging wave of Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) and why altcoins may be the next to follow Bitcoin and Ethereum onto public markets. They explain why StablecoinX, a new infrastructure company within the Ethena ecosystem, is merging with a SPAC to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker “USDE,” anchoring its treasury with Ethena’s ENA token. With $360 million in backing from investors like Dragonfly, Ribbit, Galaxy, and Polychain, the deal is testing whether public equity markets are ready for altcoin-native treasuries. Guy and Rob also discuss why some crypto wrapper stocks are trading at massive premiums, how capital gets misallocated in crypto, and whether ETH staking rewards represent real yield or just inflation. They debate whether this trend is creating lasting infrastructure or just new packaging for old narratives. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Mantle Re Guests: Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🧠 3:29 Why Ethena worked with a team launching an ENA corporate treasury company 💰 10:38 Ways to structure public crypto treasury vehicles 🕵️‍♂️ 16:53 Whether treasury vehicles are just a flashy wrapper for vaporware 📉 22:28 Why Guy says there’s way more VC capital than good ideas in crypto right now 📈 31:20 How some DATs are trading at eye-popping premiums 🤔 37:15 Why Dragonfly backed TLGY but skipped other Bitcoin, ETH, or SOL plays 🏗️ 40:24 How the structure of these public vehicles shapes their value 🔄 47:39 What makes convertible debt different from SPACs or PIPEs 🧾 49:20 How investors should think about these new crypto treasury companies 📊 55:43 How Wall Street is being pitched on Ethena and USDE 💥 59:16 Whether this trend is legit or just another bubble waiting to pop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Putting vaporware in an equity wrapper doesn't disguise the fact that it's still vaporware that sitting underneath there.
0:05.4	And like an equity wrapper doesn't change the fact that it's a bad business model or doesn't generate revenue or any of these different pieces.
0:11.5	And I think what this is going to be the catalyst for is actually identifying what is that Mag 7 within crypto,
0:16.3	where these are the real businesses that are generating real revenues and continues to sort of compound as winners going forward.
0:22.2	In crypto, what has happened is you've had a lot of traders masquerading as VCs.
0:27.7	We're not playing the premium denab game.
0:29.8	That is not what I think is the long-term sustainability of this type of vehicle.
0:35.2	What this type of vehicle exists for is it's an access vehicle,
0:38.8	and it's a, you know, a distribution vehicle. And so that's what we were really excited about.
0:47.6	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained. You're no hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host,
0:52.3	Laura Shin. This is the August 12th,
0:54.4	2025 episode of Unchained. Mantle is pioneering blockchain for banking of revolutionary new category
1:01.4	at the intersection of Tramphi and Web3. Follow Mantle underscore official to learn more.
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1:22.0	Deposit USDC, USDT, or die to start earning stable yield and points today at re.xy Z, re.xy Z.
1:30.4	R.E. dot XYZ.
1:32.7	Hands up, everyone. We've got exciting news.
1:35.5	Bits and Bips, our Macro Meets Crypto show, is officially spinning off into its own podcast
1:40.2	feed, YouTube channel, and X account.
1:43.2	If you've been enjoying the deep dives into interest rates, monetary policy, and how they intersect with the crypto markets, make sure to follow bits and bips wherever you get your podcasts on YouTube and on X.
	...

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