Gold holds a special place among financial assets. It is often seen as the ultimate store of value, a hedge against inflation and economic turmoil. Yet its price history over centuries tells a different story. This article argues that gold has shown dramatic volatility, much like modern cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Supply shocks, geopolitical changes, and shifts in trust have driven this. Using 760 years of inflation-adjusted data, we trace gold's role as a currency and medium of exchang...

Gold holds a special place among financial assets. It is often seen as the ultimate store of value, a hedge against inflation and economic turmoil. Yet its price history over centuries tells a different story. This article argues that gold has shown dramatic volatility, much like modern cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Supply shocks, geopolitical changes, and shifts in trust have driven this. Using 760 years of inflation-adjusted data, we trace gold's role as a currency and medium of exchang...

This week's SEC roundtable made it clear: Chairman Paul Atkins is exploring an "innovation exemption" that could fundamentally change how DeFi operates in the United States. While some might see this as loosening oversight, we see it for what it really is, validation that endless document uploads and passport selfies aren't real compliance.The End of Passport Selfie TheaterTo understand why this SEC shift matters, we need to remember where DeFi was just months ago. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 ne...

This week's SEC roundtable made it clear: Chairman Paul Atkins is exploring an "innovation exemption" that could fundamentally change how DeFi operates in the United States. While some might see this as loosening oversight, we see it for what it really is, validation that endless document uploads and passport selfies aren't real compliance.The End of Passport Selfie TheaterTo understand why this SEC shift matters, we need to remember where DeFi was just months ago. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 ne...

At its core, the emerging DeFi lending market is built around a simple but powerful mechanism:Depositors in DeFi provide USD liquidity.Borrowers use that liquidity to fund leveraged crypto basis trades — typically the difference between perpetual swaps and spot prices across exchanges.This means that DeFi borrow rates are determined by two supply/demand dynamics:The demand for crypto leverage (e.g. via perps), andThe availability of capital from DeFi depositors.Compliance and InsuranceFor DeF...

At its core, the emerging DeFi lending market is built around a simple but powerful mechanism:Depositors in DeFi provide USD liquidity.Borrowers use that liquidity to fund leveraged crypto basis trades — typically the difference between perpetual swaps and spot prices across exchanges.This means that DeFi borrow rates are determined by two supply/demand dynamics:The demand for crypto leverage (e.g. via perps), andThe availability of capital from DeFi depositors.Compliance and InsuranceFor DeF...