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Agora’s Nick van Eck Is All-In on Stablecoins

Published

5 месяцев ago

7 января, 2025

Having travelled extensively through many emerging markets, Nick van Eck, the CEO and co-founder of stablecoin issuer Agora, is keenly aware of the problems that currency debasement and a lack of sound financial systems can create for citizens of these countries.

With AUSD, Agora’s flagship stablecoin product, van Eck is focused on solving the unique challenges these nations face. “With stablecoins, people in places like Argentina or India can save money without worrying about inflation or capital controls,” van Eck said in a recent interview with CoinDesk. “It’s a simple yet revolutionary tool that can change lives, especially when and where traditional banking systems fall short.”

Van Eck has extensive experience as a tech investor and a family background in the gold sector — vanEck, the fund company founded by his grandfather, manages one of the world’s largest gold mining funds. Early on, Nick van Eck recognized BTC’s potential as a store of value and aligned himself with the principles of early Bitcoiners.

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Fresh off a two-week trip with his family to South America’s Patagonia region, van Eck spoke about the evolving role of stablecoins in emerging markets, the catalysts driving stablecoin adoption and the unique dynamics of the Asian market. In addition, he described Agora’s approach to building blockchain-based payment infrastructure and the importance of what he calls “credible neutrality.” What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our discussion.

What’s been your journey from a technology investor to starting Agora? What sparked your interest in blockchain-based payments?

I started my career investing at the private equity firm JMI Equity and knew I wanted to be an investor from an early age. I was working at a hedge fund in 2016 when I first got exposed to Bitcoin. The concept of Bitcoin as “digital gold” resonated with me, and I shared many beliefs with early Bitcoiners. That’s when I first got involved, but I continued to work as a tech investor for many years.

During the DeFi summer of 2020, I was drawn back into crypto as applications like Uniswap and Aave made the idea of an open financial system tangible. For many globally, these tools were better than their existing financial systems. Blockchain enables people to save and earn money in ways that weren’t possible before, and it felt like the start of a revolution. So, about a year ago, I left VC firm General Catalyst to start Agora.

How have your travels, including your latest trip to Patagonia, influenced your vision for Agora?

I feel very fortunate to have traveled to parts of the world where access to financial services and opportunities is far more limited than what Americans often take for granted. Spending time in places like Argentina or India has made it clear to me just how diverse the world is in terms of opportunities and challenges. The idea of providing a financial instrument that allows someone to save money without worrying about inflation is incredibly valuable in places like Patagonia and Argentina. My grandmother was an immigrant who had a difficult childhood, growing up in conditions shaped by hyperinflation, capital controls and other financial challenges. I’ve seen similar situations in my travels, and while I didn’t live through them myself, those experiences made the realities of financial instability very real to me in a way that goes beyond intellectual understanding.

What sets Agora and AUSD apart from other stablecoins like USDT or PYUSD?

Firstly, we are credibly neutral. USDC, for example, shares half its income with Coinbase. Tether doesn’t have any partners, and PYUSD is essentially a PayPal subsidiary designed to compete with various remittance companies. We’re like a vanilla fiat coin. We take in a dollar, mint one AUSD, and that dollar is in a bank account somewhere. Our focus from day one has been to stay credibly neutral and concentrate on building the best digital dollar network without competing with our customers. We believe in an open model where we share revenue with the underlying applications or businesses using AUSD.

Why are stablecoins so critical to the crypto ecosystem, especially in Asia?

Stablecoins are the lifeblood of the crypto economy, just as money is for any economy. In Asia and Southeast Asia, they provide a stable unit of account in regions where access to financial services is limited and local currencies often face volatility. What’s often misunderstood is that stablecoins aren’t just about trading — they enable wealth preservation, lending and other financial services. For many people in emerging markets, they offer opportunities that traditional systems cannot.

What challenges do stablecoins face in achieving widespread adoption?

Regulation is the main hurdle. Businesses are keen to use stablecoins due to their cost efficiency and speed, but they need clarity on legal and compliance frameworks, like knowing who the licensed providers are. Stablecoins have gained traction in crypto-native spaces, but there’s still untapped potential in traditional markets like cross-border payments and B2B transactions. I think this is just the beginning of what’s going to be a twenty-year journey of mass adoption.

How do you see the Asian market shaping global trends for stablecoins?

Asia is uniquely positioned to drive stablecoin adoption due to its high demand for cross-border payments and latent dollar demand, a strong but unmet need for access to U.S. dollars in trade, savings or transactions. There are a lot of different countries in Asia, many of which are really wealthy but have a lot of high dollar demand rates. Southeast Asia, in particular, has a younger, underbanked population always on the lookout for more competitive financial services. With a smartphone, these people can access pretty attractive dollar-denominated opportunities like Aave and similar DeFi protocols without needing a bank account.

How is Asia different from regions like the U.S. or Europe?

The key difference is access to U.S. banks. In the U.S., financial services are readily available. Stablecoins fill a significant gap in Asia, however, offering a dollar-based financial tool for those without access to traditional banking. That’s why our focus is entirely on markets outside the U.S. In Hong Kong, you have a pretty good financial ecosystem, but outside of that developed market, there’s a lot of opportunity to provide better financial products.

How do you see blockchain-based payments evolving over the next decade?

I think you’ll see the majority of cross-border payments transition to stablecoins as opposed to the banking system using Swift today. You’ll also see a lot of foreign exchange trading settle on-chain. We’re excited to play very significant roles in both parts of those growth markets.

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VivoPower Raises $121M to Launch XRP Treasury Strategy With Saudi Royal Backing

Published

1 час ago

28 мая, 2025

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VivoPower International (VVPR), a Nasdaq-listed energy company, said on Wednesday it has secured $121 million in a private share placement to fund its pivot to digital asset treasury focusing on XRP XRP, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

The raise was led by Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud, investing $100 million, a spokesperson to the company told CoinDesk. The company sold 20 million ordinary shares priced at $6.05 per share.

Adam Traidman, a former Ripple executive who led the SBI Ripple Asia, is joining the company as chairman of the board of advisors, according to the press release. Ripple is an enterprise-focused blockchain service provider closely related to the XRP Ledger.

VivoPower shares surged as much as 26% on the news before giving back some of the gains. Recently, they were up over 11%, trading around $6.75.

The move is the latest example of public firms raising money to purchase and add digital assets to their treasuries, a playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) that has become the largest corporate holder of bitcoin BTC. While BTC has been the most sought-after asset among these firms, recent newcomers like DeFi Development and SharpLink Gaming directed their focus to Solana’s SOL SOL and Ethereum’s ether ETH, respectively.

VivoPower, founded in 2014, aims to be the first publicly traded company with a crypto treasury strategy centered around XRP. It also plans to spin off its legacy business.

«After reviewing a number of listed vehicles seeking to embrace a digital asset treasury model, we selected VivoPower given its strategic focus on XRP and its objective to contribute to building out of the XRPL ecosystem,» Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement. «We have been investors in the digital asset sector for a decade and have been long-term holders of XRP.»

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls For the End of NYDFS’ BitLicense, Proposes ‘BitBond’

Published

2 часа ago

28 мая, 2025

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, called for the end of the BitLicense in a speech at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

During his speech, Adams encouraged crypto businesses to return to the U.S. and set up shop in New York, echoing comments he made last week at the city’s first-ever crypto summit held at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official home in Manhattan.

«New York is the Empire State. We don’t break empires. We build empires. We’re saying to you, come back home,» Adams said. «[I’m] the Bitcoin mayor, and I want you back in the City of New York, where you won’t be attacked and criminalized. Let’s get rid of the [Bit]License and allow us to have the free flow of bitcoin in our city.»

Adams has previously criticized the BitLicense, the notoriously difficult-to-obtain license issued by New York’s top financial regulator, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). However, when asked about the impact of the BitLicense and NYDFS’s reputation as a tough regulator during a press conference earlier this month, Adams hedged, saying it was «good to know the city is going to have safe regulations in place for those who are investing and there’s not going to be any abuses, but at the same time, we can over regulate.»

Adams also promised to fight for the creation of a so-called BitBond, probably referring to a municipal bond backed by bitcoin.

Such a bond could potentially allow residents of New York to gain exposure to the top cryptocurrency in a tax-advantaged way. The instrument would also enable the city to raise capital.

Adams did not provide details about the city’s potential BitBond. However, the Bitcoin Policy Institute released a policy brief in March advocating for BitBonds that would use 90% of their proceeds to fund government and 10% to purchase bitcoin.

Holders of the bond would receive 1% interest annually for 10 years. Upon maturity of the bond, they would also receive 100% of bitcoin’s upside up to 4.5% compounded return, then 50% of all remaining upside. Any remaining bitcoin gains would be used to constitute the government’s bitcoin reserve.

Adams, who was first elected as a Democrat, is currently running for re-election as an independent.

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JD Vance Calls Crypto Market Structure Bill a ‘Priority’ for Trump Administration

Published

2 часа ago

28 мая, 2025

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Establishing a clear and pro-innovation regulatory framework for the crypto industry via a market structure bill is a priority for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday.

Speaking to a massive crowd at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, Vance said that a regulatory framework is necessary to fully incorporate cryptocurrency into the mainstream U.S. economy, as well as to prevent future governments from rolling back the Trump administration’s crypto-friendly policies.

“I hope that our party is in charge for a long time, but nothing is ever guaranteed in politics. So the best way to ensure that crypto is part of the mainstream economy is through a market structure bill that champions and doesn’t restrict the extraordinary value that bitcoin and other digital assets represent,” Vance said at the event, which organizers said drew about 35,000 attendees. “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unleash innovation and use it to improve the lives of countless American citizens, but if we fail to create regulatory clarity now, we risk chasing this $3 trillion industry offshore in search of a friendlier jurisdiction, and President Trump is going to fight to fight to make sure that does not happen.”

Vance said the Trump administration is hopeful that the GENIUS Act, the Senate’s stablecoin bill, will hit the president’s desk soon, allowing Congress to turn its attention to a market structure bill.

He also said that the administration continues to work to “clean up the wreckage that the [Biden] administration left us,” including the so-called “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto practiced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under then-Chair Gary Gensler, and the widespread debanking of crypto companies, dubbed by the industry as Operation Chokepoint 2.0.

“Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is dead and it’s not coming back under the Trump administration,” Vance said. “We reject the Biden administration’s legacy of death by a thousand enforcement actions… We fired Gary Gensler, and we’re gonna fire everybody like him,» he added, though Gensler resigned the day Trump was sworn in

Vance thanked the crypto industry, including Gemini’s Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and Coinbase, for their early support of Trump’s campaign, attributing some of its success — as well as the successful elections of other crypto-friendly politicians like Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) — to the crypto industry’s political support.

“Take the momentum of your political involvement in 2024 and carry it forward into 2026 and beyond,” Vance said.

In addition to urging the industry to stay involved in U.S. politics, Vance asked bitcoiners to stay abreast of developments in artificial intelligence (AI).

“Remember that what happens in AI is very much going to affect, in good and bad ways, what happens to bitcoin and, of course, what happens to bitcoin is very much going to affect what happens in AI,” Vance said, adding:

“Make sure you’re keeping tabs on and staying involved in what’s happening in artificial intelligence. I don’t want America to be negatively affected by what’s happening in AI, and the best way to ensure that smart people are at the AI conversation is to ensure that Bitcoin is part of the artificial intelligence conversation.”