The Pomp Podcast
Philippe Bekhazi, CEO of XBTO Group: The Yellow Vest Protests and the Global Financial Crisis' Impact on Crypto
- Philippe Bekhazi's background in Paris, experience at SAC Capital hedge fund, and observations of the 2008 global financial crisis and its impact on crypto adoption demographics.
- XBTO Group's business model: algorithmic trading across 35+ exchanges using hundreds of concurrent algorithms focused on price, volume, and volatility signals, plus index and VC funds and mining operations.
- Stablehouse: a clearinghouse model for multiple stablecoins (Tether, Paxos, Gemini, Circle) that enables cross-stablecoin swaps at par with minimal counterparty risk and efficient liquidity.
- Investment in Deribit and the importance of Bitcoin derivatives markets; options strips and risk management engines that capital-efficiently serve market makers.
- Regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions as a barrier to crypto development; banking relationships remain critical friction points despite growing industry credibility.
- Market sentiment and adoption trends suggest the crypto winter (as of April 2019) is ending or nearly ended, driven by psychological recovery and sustained belief despite the 85% drawdown.