CryptoNews Podcast #512: Austin Campbell, Founder of Zero Knowledge, on Stablecoins, The Incentives of Financial Systems, Tokenization, and Economic Realignment
Jan 26, 2026
Austin Campbell, finance and risk management leader and founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting, brings decades in trading, risk, and academia. He discusses stablecoins and how they can decouple payments from risky bank lending. He explores tokenization and composable blockchains unlocking open markets. He covers smart regulation and an economic realignment that aims to return power to Main Street.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Crypto As Market-Structure Fix
- Crypto attracted Austin Campbell because it can solve long-standing market-structure problems in global capital markets.
- He sees blockchains as tools to fix bond settlement, derivatives collateral, and correspondent banking inefficiencies.
Decouple Payments From Levered Banking
- Stablecoins can decouple payments from levered bank lending and real-estate financing incentives.
- That decoupling aligns payment-system incentives with everyday users and reduces systemic risk when banks fail.
Design Stablecoins Backed By Safe Assets
- Use stablecoins backed by safe assets like Treasury bills to offer users lower fees and possible yield.
- Aim to return economic power to Main Street by reducing rent extraction from incumbent banks.