The Edge Podcast

DeFi Dad × Lito

Ethena Pay pairs a non-custodial, chain-abstracted global neobank with USDe’s yield engine, targeting balance monetization as net interest margins contribute 37% of Robinhood’s revenue and about 25% of Revolut’s.Equity-basis trading is expected in “literally a few days,” while ENA’s remaining investor vesting was accelerated to October 5 as described at recording; over 10,000 awaited access and a US launch was targeted in three to four weeks.

DeFi Dad × Chris Kim

Prime is an early-stage RFQ platform aggregating cross-asset liquidity for fintechs without pre-funding every exchange.Its balance-as-a-service model targets persistent price discrepancies across fragmented venues while reducing capital held for conversions and customer liquidity.With one unnamed leading exchange and fintech discussions underway, reserve verification, strategy protection, and execution risk remain key watchpoints.

DeFi Dad × Nick Forster

Derive V3 collapses execution and settlement into one ZK application, with testnet live and launch expected within the next month to month and a half.Few-lines-of-code integration, correlated Bitcoin-and-ETH margin, and verifiable collateral target institutions in a 15 billion-contract U.S. options market.Ethereum L1 remains undecided, while qualified custody and regulatory fit are key adoption milestones.

Karn Saroya

Re has moved beyond experiment, with 51 treaties, roughly 30 insurance-company clients, and “half a billion in business, going on a billion.”Its 12-person platform writes $30M of premium per head, while $80M of first-loss equity, gated tranches, and predictable collateral release address duration risk; broker adoption, RE governance, and possible underpricing in data-center insurance remain key watchpoints.

DeFi Dad × Paul Frambot

Morpho’s infrastructure-first bet is scaling through Coinbase, Robinhood Earn, and other fintech distributors.Immutable code gives partners control over risk, compliance, and fees while a neutral lender network improves rates through competition.Midnight targets institutional leverage with fixed rates, while its small launch reflects hack-related caution; Frambot calls a multi-billion-dollar onchain business in less than 6 months.

DeFi Dad × Jai Bhavnani

Royco’s pivot from collapsed incentive spending to RWA tranching targets “net new deposits,” turning 7–12% assets into roughly 6% senior and high-yield junior exposure.APYUSD’s stress test kept senior value flat while juniors absorbed 15% losses, with coverage at 31% versus a 5% break-glass threshold.Royco Dusk could improve RWA liquidity, but oracle scope and DeFi security remain pool-specific risks.

DeFi Dad × Robert Leshner

Tokenized securities could expand DeFi toward $700 trillion, a shift Leshner calls inevitable.USTB has about $900M in assets and second-by-second interest, while Invesco ($2.3T AUM) becomes manager in a couple of days.CLARITY, hoped for in July or by year-end, may catalyze institutional entry, but growth could compound gradually rather than arrive as a hockey stick.

DeFi Dad × Kash Dhanda

Jupiter has shifted from a perps monoculture to more than 18 products, generating $514M gross revenue on $1.16T of 2025 volume, with perps still 50-55%.With 50% of on-chain revenue funding JUP buybacks and 78% DAO support for net-zero emissions, the near-term catalysts are Lend DEX, JupUSD pairing, and prediction markets, while Offer Book remains more speculative.

David Reising

Lotus targets DeFi’s missing middle by pricing market risk across 8-9 liquidation-threshold tranches on BTC and ETH, rather than stacking tail-risk collateral.Uniswap V3-like ranges, cascading liquidity, Credora ratings, and a 3.5% LotusUSD yield floor underpin a 20x leverage target versus 7.1x on Morpho and 4.3x on Aave, but June launch depends on security work and a public audit.

DeFi Dad × Daniele Ugolini

Rysk has reached $60M TVL by packaging cash-secured puts and covered calls into a one-click DeFi venue, with 90% of returning funds from existing users rolling over.Users choose strikes and collect premiums—about 45% in a HYPE demo and 44% annualized—while HIP-4 and tokenized assets could broaden distribution; options’ negative bias remains an adoption risk.