On-Chain Finance: The New Convergence Era of TradFi and DeFi

FINTECHTALK

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On-Chain Finance: The New Convergence Era of TradFi and DeFi

How Telcoin’s digital asset bank and $300B in stablecoins mark Act I of the new financial fabric.

FInTECHTALK

Dec 08, 2025

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS!

In this episode, I sat down with Patrick Gerhart, President of Banking Operations at Telcoin, to explore how a crypto-era startup just made US banking history.

Telcoin recently received approval to launch a fully regulated digital asset bank under Nebraska’s Financial Innovation Act — the first of its kind in the United States. Patrick shares how traditional banking meets blockchain through Telcoin’s new charter, the vision behind its dollar-backed stablecoin EUSD, and what it means for consumers, fintechs, and community banks.

We also unpack the broader shift in financial infrastructure — from legacy cores and card rails to programmable, real-time settlement, where money moves as fast as data. Patrick explains why regulation is not a burden but an adoption catalyst, how state innovation is shaping federal policy, and why stablecoins could be the “credit card moment” of the 2020s.

According to DeFiLlama, there are roughly $308B in stablecoins outstanding today—an increase of nearly 50% over the past year. Consider this Act I, Scene I of on-chain finance: the opening move in a world where TradFi and DeFi are starting to converge.

If you’ve been watching the stablecoin and banking worlds converge, this conversation is your front-row seat to how on-chain infrastructure becomes the new financial fabric.

If you’re building any piece of this on-chain financial fabric—stablecoins, RWA rails, prediction markets, treasury tools, or AI-native infrastructure—FINTECHTALK works with founders and innovators to turn your thesis into a category story, not just a pitch deck.

Through our Narrative Blueprint collaborations, over 4–6 weeks we help you:

Run founder interviews and a positioning workshop

Craft a 60–90 minute flagship episode

Publish a 3–5k word Substack deep-dive

Produce an executive 2-pager and an “where you fit in the new financial fabric” infographic

Ship a social pack of posts and clips your team can use across channels

We also partner with PR/creative agencies via an affiliate model, and with VC & corporate innovation teams through a VC + Corporate Innovation Blueprint that links your fund thesis to an Insight Lab for your portfolio and strategic partners.

If you see your company in what follows—or want to be on the 2026 watchlist—Schedule a scoping call today or email us at fintechtalk at substack dot com

Banking & Capital Markets: What We’ll Be Watching in 2026 on Blockchain

Our thesis from our piece earlier (link here) - “We’re moving from “features on legacy rails” to programmable, money on increasingly on-chain infrastructure. Tokenization is a means; infrastructure is the story. Eventually, programmable money can think and choose with Agents.”

Market Structure & Politics
How the Market Structure Clarity Act and Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA) actually land—and the politics between Congress and regulators (SEC, CFTC, Fed, OCC, FDIC) and large incumbents and crypto natives (JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, Coinbase, Ripple, SIFMA, Blockchain Association) - Is AML/OFAC policy—and the control it enables in D.C.—becoming the ultimate “WMD” that secures just enough bipartisan support to stall financial innovation and block real market-structure reform? And if so, what levers does the industry still have to educate lawmakers and the administration?

On-Chain Issuance & RWA Tokenization (Capital Markets Infrastructure)

Issuance & primary markets (on-chain):
Platforms turning equity, credit, funds, and money markets into tokenized instruments: Securitize, Figure, Digital Asset, Blockstream, Ripple, Ondo, Tokeny, Polymesh.
Buy-side infrastructure:
Asset managers and allocators building product on top of these rails—tokenized funds, on-chain share classes, and 24/7 liquidity from BlackRock (BUIDL), Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, Hashnote, Ondo, family offices, and crypto-native funds.
Sell-side & market infrastructure:
Trading, prime, and collateral plumbing that connects institutions to tokenized markets: FalconX, Coinbase Institutional, Anchorage Digital, Copper, BitGo, exchanges and ATS venues, as well as custody and collateral management stacks.

Applications Across the Stack (Banking + Markets)

Cross-border payments & liquidity:
Faster, cheaper flows using stablecoins and tokenized deposits via Wise, Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, SWIFT gpi banks, Thunes.
Corporate & institutional treasury (“Treasury 3.0”):
Moving from siloed bank accounts to programmable liquidity on shared ledgers—Bitcoin on the balance sheet (e.g., MicroStrategy, Coinbase), then USDC/PYUSD/JPM Coin for payments and pooling, and ultimately AI-driven treasury playbooks executed via SAP, Oracle, Kyriba plus cloud/AI platforms (Microsoft, Google, OpenAI) and bank labs.
Buy-side use cases:
Portfolio construction and risk management using tokenized funds, RWAs, and on-chain money markets, with integrated data and collateral workflows for asset managers, hedge funds, and corporate treasuries. The endgame is to deliver Wall Street–grade capabilities to corporates and Main Street—without the Wall Street overhead.
Sell-side services:
Prime brokerage, financing, and structured products are being rebuilt on tokenized collateral and always-on markets (FalconX, Galaxy, Anchorage Digital, Coinbase Institutional, Copper, BitGo, bank desks). On-chain finance may blur the old lines—could corporates and Main Street one day operate as “sell side” liquidity and product providers themselves?

Prediction & event markets as a new primitive:
Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket offering markets on macro, regulatory, and geopolitical outcomes—both as speculative venues and as signal feeds into AI-driven treasury, risk, and portfolio strategies.

Regulation, Compliance & Market Integrity
Tooling and rules for a converged TradFi–DeFi structure that now includes stablecoins, RWAs, DeFi protocols, and prediction markets—driven by SEC, CFTC, ESMA, FCA, FINRA and surveillance/compliance vendors (Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Elliptic, Eventus, Solidus Labs) plus in-house regtech stacks at major banks and broker-dealers.

Timestamp Table

0:00 – 1:00 – Welcome to the New Financial Fabric
Setting the stage for programmable money and regulated blockchain infrastructure.

1:01 – 2:20 – Meet Patrick Gerhart
From traditional banker and policymaker to president of America’s first digital asset bank.

2:21 – 5:50 – The Nebraska Innovation Story
How local legislation and Congressman Mike Flood shaped the US digital asset framework.

5:51 – 8:00 – From Telco Token to Bank Charter
The evolution of Telcoin — from crypto wallet to chartered financial institution.

8:01 – 10:50 – Why Regulation Is a Growth Strategy
How embracing compliance and regulators builds trust and accelerates crypto adoption.

10:51 – 14:30 – The Future Banking Stack
Combining legacy safety with blockchain speed and programmability.

14:31 – 18:00 – Washington Gets Onboard
Inside the Genius and Clarity Acts — how D.C. is enabling innovation.

18:01 – 21:20 – Main Street Banking Reinvented
How community banks can access blockchain rails through Telcoin partnerships.

21:21 – 26:00 – EUSD: The Digital Cash Product
How Telcoin’s stablecoin works — minting, reserves, and redemption explained.

26:01 – 31:00 – Real-World Use Cases
From cross-border transfers to merchant payments — cheaper, faster, safer.

31:01 – 35:00 – De-Risking for Community Banks
Helping smaller institutions onboard to blockchain rails without heavy lifts.

35:01 – 40:00 – AI + Blockchain: The Convergence
How AI will transform compliance, KYC, and transaction monitoring.

40:01 – 45:00 – Stablecoins as Payment Rails
Why stablecoins are the new ACH — programmable, self-clearing, and instant.

45:01 – 50:00 – Building a Digital Asset Bank from Scratch
Lessons from the charter process — regulation, risk, and reinvention.

50:01 – 54:00 – Future Vision: The Stablecoin Era
How stablecoins will become as common as debit cards within a decade.

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