Rebank: Fintech Analysis

Steven Venino is a Partner at Strobe, an early-stage, crypto-native venture firm focused on backing founders building long-term, sustainable businesses on blockchain rails. Formerly BlockTower Venture Capital, Strobe was spun out by Steven and his partners in 2024, bringing with it the same fund, portfolio, and investor base — and a renewed focus on disciplined venture investing in digital assets. Steven began his career in traditional finance, with experience across hedge funds and public markets, before moving into crypto during its early institutionalization. At BlockTower, he helped build and deploy a multi-year venture strategy spanning DeFi, real-world assets, consumer crypto, and on-chain financial infrastructure, with an emphasis on ownership, thoughtful token design, and long-term value creation. At Strobe, Steven focuses on leading and co-leading seed investments in companies that often look more like Web2 startups on the surface, but use blockchain infrastructure to unlock new capabilities under the hood. His work centers on applying proven venture frameworks — from portfolio construction to founder support — to a market that has historically been driven by short time horizons and speculative incentives. Operating at the intersection of traditional venture discipline and crypto-native innovation, Steven brings a pragmatic, long-term perspective on token design, capital formation, and what it will take for crypto businesses to mature beyond hype into enduring companies. Please enjoy the following insights from Steven Venino of Strobe.

Nick Cherney, Head of Innovation at Janus Henderson Investors, shares over 20 years of experience in ETFs and asset management. He explores the parallels between early ETF culture and today’s tokenization trends, emphasizing the importance of delivering immediate value in blockchain adoption. Nick outlines three approaches to tokenization, discusses the efficiency of using blockchain in traditional finance, and highlights how it can empower unbanked populations. He also reflects on the potential for tokenization to evolve similarly to ETFs amid varying global regulations.

Niklas Kunkel is the Founder and CEO of Chronicle Labs, a leading oracle infrastructure provider securing both decentralized finance and the rapidly growing market for tokenized real-world assets. Formerly a core contributor at MakerDAO, Niklas helped architect the original DAI stablecoin system — designing the first generation of Ethereum oracles and building foundational infrastructure long before DeFi existed as an industry. Today at Chronicle, Niklas focuses on the critical problem of connecting off-chain financial data to on-chain markets with the reliability, security, and transparency required by institutions. His team provides oracle infrastructure for tokenized money market funds, private credit, stablecoins, and next-generation financial products issued by firms like BlackRock, Apollo, Janus Henderson, and Superstate. Operating at the intersection of blockchain, data security, and institutional asset management, Niklas brings a rare perspective across both crypto-native and traditional financial systems. His work is helping define how tokenized assets are priced, monitored, and integrated into automated on-chain markets — and why robust oracle infrastructure is becoming core to the future of tokenized finance. Please enjoy the following insights from Niklas Kunkel of Chronicle Labs.

Thomas Cowan, Head of Tokenization at Galaxy, dives into the evolving world of tokenization in finance. He discusses how tokenization has transitioned from experimental technology to vital market infrastructure. Thomas identifies three key trends—technological maturity, regulatory clarity, and the influx of traditional finance capital—as crucial factors driving this shift. He outlines the benefits of on-chain structures, including real-time transparency and improved settlement. The conversation also touches on potential risks and the future of institutional adoption in areas like money market funds and CLOs.

Tanner Taddeo, Co-founder and CEO of Stable Sea, shares his expertise in on-chain payments and stablecoin infrastructures. He explains how Stable Sea facilitates faster, cheaper cross-border payments for U.S. businesses, highlighting the importance of instant settlement and currency coverage in emerging markets. Tanner contrasts traditional finance with stablecoin advantages and discusses the implications of recent mergers in the fintech space. His insights reveal the potential of tokenized products and the balance between decentralization and regulatory compliance.

Nikhil Raghuveera is the Co-Founder and CEO of Predicate, a company building on-chain policy infrastructure that enables organizations to set programmable, enforceable rules for transactions within blockchain-based financial systems. Predicate's technology underpins compliance and policy enforcement for next-generation stablecoins, privacy protocols, and real-world asset tokenization platforms. Before founding Predicate, Nikhil was Head of Strategy and Innovation at Celo, where he led many of the blockchain's early Web3 deployments and helped shape its evolution from a Layer 1 to Layer 2 network. He has also been a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, focused on digital asset policy and the future of global financial systems. Earlier in his career, Nikhil worked in economic and management consulting, including at BCG, advising on securities, antitrust, and financial innovation. Bridging deep technical expertise with a sophisticated understanding of regulation and markets, Nikhil is helping define how institutions and fintechs operate on-chain as blockchain becomes a global financial settlement layer. Please enjoy the following insights from Nikhil Raghuveera.

In this discussion, Matt Homer, founder of The Venture Dept. and former regulator at FDIC and NYDFS, shares his journey from public service to fintech investing. He highlights the shifting dynamics of stablecoins, emphasizing institutional momentum and key players like BlackRock and GENIUS. Matt dives into the importance of regulatory clarity for mainstream adoption and the dual-charter model's implications. He also explores how competitive state regulations shape the stablecoin market, offering insights into the future of digital assets.

Will Peck is the Head of Digital Assets at WisdomTree, a $130 billion asset manager and ETF sponsor and a pioneer in tokenized assets. Over his 11-year tenure at WisdomTree, Will has helped the firm navigate the evolution from ETFs to tokenized assets, stablecoins, and on-chain investment infrastructure. WisdomTree is at the forefront of innovation, applying lessons from ETFs—transparency, liquidity, tax efficiency, and standardization—to build scalable, accessible tokenized products for both institutional and retail investors. With ongoing regulatory developments and growing adoption of digital assets, WisdomTree is well positioned to expand its tokenized ecosystem.

Raghu Yarlagadda is the Co-founder and CEO of FalconX, the leading institutional digital asset prime brokerage. In the last year, FalconX has done $1 trillion in trading volume across spot and derivatives. FalconX is an incredible success story, starting early and growing alongside broader institutional adoption of crypto and digital assets. With current regulatory tailwinds, the company is extremely well positioned to accelerate growth even further. FalconX has raised nearly $500m, most recently at an $8 billion valuation, from investors including Accel, GIC, B Capital, Altimeter, Thoma Bravo, Tiger Global, Lightspeed, Wellington and many more. Please enjoy today's conversation with Raghu Yarlagadda.

Today we're joined by Bhaji Illuminati and Jürgen Blumberg. Bhaji is CEO of Centrifuge, one of the original players in the RWA space. Jürgen is a former Goldman ETF exec and, as of recently, COO of Centrifuge and CIO of Anemoy, it's asset management arm. In this conversation, Bhaji, Jürgen and Will Beeson dive into the evolution of investment management toward an on-chain markets future. We discuss the early growth of the tokenized financial asset market, similarities with the early days of ETFs, current on-chain investment capital pools and investor demands, the interplay between stablecoin growth and tokenized assets, use cases and distribution strategies for assets across the risk curve, the relationship between DeFi and TradFi, future market expectations, and much more.