Quadrillions: The New Wall Street | Nick Shalek & Mathew McDermott
Speakers
Summary
- Fintechs > Banks for Crypto Adoption: Fintechs (Robinhood, Coinbase, Nubank) are 10-15 years old with "innovation DNA" and modern stacks, making them the primary drivers of on-chain financial services compared to risk-averse legacy banks.
- The "Symbiotic" Thesis: The future is not purely decentralized (permissionless). It will be a hybrid of private permissioned chains (like Canton) and public chains. Critical legacy infrastructure (ICE, Markit, Visa) will remain dominant by integrating, not disappearing.
- Institutional Grade Infrastructure: Goldman Sachs and Broadridge are actively building on the Canton Network to solve for privacy and data controls, which are prerequisites for moving trillions of dollars of collateral and repo markets on-chain.
- Regulatory Clarity: The regulatory environment in the US has shifted significantly in the last 12-18 months, moving from "blockchain is a bad word" to active engagement, signaling a green light for institutional capital.
Trade Ideas
Shalek argues that one would have to be a "zealot or ideologue" to believe that centralized entities like ICE (Intercontinental Exchange), Markit (owned by S&P Global), or card networks (Visa/Mastercard) will disappear. He calls them "critical infrastructure." The crypto narrative often assumes total disruption of intermediaries. Shalek's "Symbiotic" thesis suggests these incumbents will adapt and coexist with decentralized rails. Betting on their demise is a mistake; they are likely to integrate stablecoins/blockchain to reinforce their moats. LONG. A contrarian "safety" play against the "crypto kills everything" narrative. Rapid adoption of purely peer-to-peer payment rails (stablecoins) bypassing card networks entirely.
Shalek notes that fintechs like Robinhood, Coinbase, and Nubank have "innovation in their DNA" and are "risk-seeking" compared to 200-year-old banks. He highlights Robinhood's frustration with T+2 settlement (GameStop saga) as a driver to move to real-time, on-chain settlement. While traditional banks (JPM, BAC) move slowly due to regulatory fear and legacy tech, these "mid-age" fintechs (10-15 years old) are aggressively integrating stablecoins and blockchain rails to expand globally. They will capture the initial market share of retail on-chain finance before incumbents catch up. LONG. These are the pure-play proxies for the "Fintech x Crypto" convergence. Regulatory crackdowns on non-bank issuers; failure to monetize on-chain features.
McDermott confirms Goldman Sachs is building its "Digital Asset Platform" on the Canton Network. He explicitly mentions Broadridge (BR) as an extensive user for collateral mobility and repo operations. Institutional adoption isn't happening on public Ethereum mainnet due to privacy requirements. It is happening on permissioned networks like Canton. Goldman and Broadridge are the first movers building the actual "plumbing" for institutional blockchain (collateral mobility, repo), positioning them to reduce back-office costs and increase liquidity efficiency. LONG. These are the infrastructure winners in the "Permissioned/Institutional" blockchain thesis. Adoption of permissioned chains stalls in favor of public chains (L2s); regulatory reversal.
Mathew McDermott
Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs
McDermott highlights that the buy-side (specifically naming BlackRock) operates under different regulatory frameworks than banks, allowing them to move faster in digital assets. While banks are constrained by balance sheet rules (SAB 121), asset managers like BlackRock are aggressively tokenizing funds (BUIDL) and launching ETFs. They are effectively front-running the banks in the asset tokenization race. LONG. BlackRock is the premier vehicle for institutional RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization. ETF fee compression; regulatory scrutiny on asset managers holding crypto.
Up Next
This Empire video, published February 18, 2026, features Nick Shalek, Mathew McDermott discussing ICE, SPGI, V, MA, HOOD, COIN, NU, GS, BR, BLK. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers: Nick Shalek, Mathew McDermott · Tickers: ICE, SPGI, V, MA, HOOD, COIN, NU, GS, BR, BLK