CoinDesk Podcast Network

Tesla Roadster unveiling lifts tokenized TSLA.

Elon Musk unveiled a flying version of the Tesla Roadster, and with U.S. stock markets closed, traders piled into Hyperliquid's TSLA perpetual, sending hourly volume up roughly 1,580%. It's a sign of how round-the-clock crypto markets are becoming the first place investors react to news about traditional companies. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

-
This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.
-
Digital asset vaults are growing rapidly, but understanding the risks behind them requires more than on-chain data. S&P Global Ratings' Vault Risk Assessment (VRA) delivers independent, forward-looking insight into vault credit quality, governance, and risk management, helping bring institutional-grade risk transparency to digital asset markets. Learn more at https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/products/vault-risk-assessments.
-

This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.

CoinDesk’s The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti open on two hot topics: the CFTC’s interim final rule carving casino-style gambling out of the “swap” definition and the OCC’s “bombshell” report finding that America’s largest banks systematically debanked lawful businesses, based on a review of over 100,000 complaints from 2020–2025.

Then they sit down with Michael Passalacqua, Senior Advisor to CFTC Chair Mike Selig and head of the agency’s Innovation Task Force, who walks through the Reg CM proposal creating a federal opt-in framework for retail crypto exchanges that offer leverage, previews the October 28th Frontier Forum on “super intelligence” and the thorny liability questions around agentic finance. Plus, Passalacqua lays out why he’s most excited about operationalizing the CFTC’s post-CLARITY rulemaking roadmap over the next six to twelve months.

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

Digital asset vaults are growing rapidly, but understanding the risks behind them requires more than on-chain data. S&P Global Ratings' Vault Risk Assessment (VRA) delivers independent, forward-looking insight into vault credit quality, governance, and risk management, helping bring institutional-grade risk transparency to digital asset markets. Learn more at https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/products/vault-risk-assessments.

-

Learn more about CoinDesk Data & Indices at coindesk.com/institutions.

-

Chapters/Timecodes:

00:00 Welcome to The Policy Protocol

01:54 Renato at the Chicago Fed Payments Symposium

02:19 Hot Topic: CFTC Says Sportsbook Bets Aren't Swaps

03:51 Hot Topic: The OCC Debanking 'Bombshell' Report

06:02 Michael Passalacqua of the CFTC Joins

06:44 Reg CM: A Federal Path for Crypto Exchanges

10:24 Inside the CFTC Innovation Task Force

10:56 Super Intelligence and the Frontier Forum

12:04 The Phantom No-Action Letter and Industry-Wide IB Relief

14:47 Agentic Finance and Autonomous Trading

16:20 Defining 'Onchain Finance'

16:45 The Post-CLARITY Rulemaking Roadmap

RealFi Chief Business Officer Seny Orlov joins CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie to break down the protocol’s Cardano mainnet launch, which followed a public testnet with more than 3,000 verified wallets. He explains how staked USDr earns yield from real-world assets and why that portfolio is producing an annualized yield of over 12% right now. Orlov also covers why family offices and trading firms want a dollar that’s both durable and usable in DeFi, describes integrations with SundaeSwap and Strike Finance, and outlines the Ethereum mainnet launch planned for next month.

-

Timecodes:

00:00 - RealFi’s Seny Orlov Joins CoinDesk

01:04 - Inside RealFi’s Cardano Mainnet Launch

02:40 - How USDr and sUSDr Work

04:06 - Where the 12% Yield Comes From

05:43 - Why Institutions Want Yield-Bearing Stablecoins

07:35 - Building Out RealFi’s Cardano DeFi Ecosystem

09:11 - What the Ethereum Mainnet Launch Unlocks

11:08 - What Will Drive Institutions to DeFi

-

This episode is brought to you by RealFi, a smarter stablecoin, backed by real-world assets. Join the mainnet now at app.realfi.co.

Juan Otero, CEO of Travala, joins CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie on Markets Outlook to explain how the company’s new AI travel agent lets you book any of 2.2 million hotels in more than 230 countries just by chatting. Otero walks through how Travala uses BNB Chain’s machine payment protocol for gasless transactions and Binance Pay for settlement. Plus, he lays out the bigger plan: a future where agents anywhere can book hotels, flights, activities and car rentals on crypto rails.

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

Digital asset vaults are growing rapidly, but understanding the risks behind them requires more than on-chain data. S&P Global Ratings' Vault Risk Assessment (VRA) delivers independent, forward-looking insight into vault credit quality, governance, and risk management, helping bring institutional-grade risk transparency to digital asset markets. Learn more at https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/products/vault-risk-assessments.

-

Learn more about CoinDesk Data & Indices at coindesk.com/institutions.

-

Timecodes:

00:00 - Travala’s Juan Otero Joins Markets Outlook

01:51 - Travala’s AI Travel Agent

02:25 - How AI Agents Pay With BNB Chain’s Machine Payment Protocol

03:16 - Why BNB Chain and Binance Pay?

04:17 - Booking a Hotel by Chatting With an Agent

07:05 - Can You Trust an AI Agent With Your Wallet?

08:00 - Crypto Rewards vs. Credit Card Points

09:29 - Who Is Travala’s AI Agent For?

11:12 - The Future of Agentic Travel on Crypto Rails

Larry Finks warns the data center halt would lead to a recession.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says halting the U.S. data center buildout would tip the economy into recession, pointing to the trillions in AI capital spending now driving growth. He also flagged a national debt that has climbed from $8 trillion in 2000 to $40 trillion today. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

-

This episode is brought to you by Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset-focused investment platform. Grayscale's mission is to make digital asset investing simple and open to every investor. Learn more at grayscale.com.

-

Digital markets move fast. Move forward with clarity from S&P Global Ratings’ risk analysis spanning stablecoins, tokenized funds, digital bonds, DeFi protocols, and more. Explore digital asset solutions with S&P Global Ratings at https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/products/solutions/digital-assets?utm_campaign=Global-DA-Vaults&utm_source=digital-ads&utm_medium=link&utm_content=CoinDesk1

-

This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie. “CoinDesk Daily” is produced by Jennifer Sanasie and edited by Victor Chen.