On The Brink with Castle Island Guy Young (Ethena) on Digital Financial Markets (EP.737)
Sep 2, 2026
Guy Young, founder of Ethena and creator of the yield-generating digital dollar USDe, returns to discuss the future of onchain finance. They explore durable growth, the spectrum of dollar yield assets, tokenized treasuries and private credit, evolving market structure, and crypto’s shift toward financial infrastructure. Young also outlines Ethena’s global savings, licensing, and neobanking ambitions.
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DeFi Composability Clashes With Real-World Friction
- Traditional assets remain difficult to use in DeFi because KYC, regulated access, and redemption delays conflict with composability.
- A seven-day withdrawal period becomes 70 days when users loop the asset ten times.
Tokenized Yield Makes Crypto Capital Stickier
- Tokenized assets may not bring substantial new traditional capital on-chain yet, but they make crypto capital stickier.
- Stablecoin supply fell only roughly 5–10% recently versus 30–40% in the prior bear market, as users retained on-chain savings access.
Crypto Adoption May Benefit Equities More Than Tokens
- Regulatory progress and institutional adoption have not necessarily lifted crypto-native token prices.
- Guy Young sees a growing possibility that value accrues to equities such as BlackRock, Robinhood, and Coinbase rather than to on-chain tokens.