00:00With a question about you setting shop in Abu Dhabi. You're here. You came here yesterday. You've got the FSP from the ADGM where we are
00:07today. Talk to me a little bit about that and why you decided now is the right time to set up presence in Abu Dhabi. Yeah.
00:15You know Abu Dhabi actually in ADGM has been at the forefront of establishing policy in this area of digital assets. In fact in
00:242018 they were the first regulator to acknowledge and permit USDC for use by financial firms in the ADGM. So we've had a chance to
00:35engage with with with the regulators here for some time. And it's a it's a tremendous milestone for us today to be able to go
00:43operational and launch. This is after a year where stable coins have become one of the most important themes in the changing
00:51financial architecture and really importantly cross border transactions as one of the killer apps of stable coins. And what we see with
01:01UAE in particular and then obviously with ADGM as a regulatory regime is this is becoming a central hub in cross border finance in cross border
01:12transactions. And so in some ways we can't think of a better place for not just this region but increasingly even facing more and more
01:19parts of the world to be able to get this infrastructure up and running. So before we talk a little bit about the wider crypto
01:26industry I just want to press on a point about the regulatory environment in the wider UAE. It's not just Abu Dhabi because Dubai also
01:33has a regulatory environment that is favorable to investors and a company has such as yourself. Can you talk to us a little bit
01:40about what the regulatory environment looks like here versus other places in Europe or the U.S.? Yeah. You know one of the things that's
01:48happening right now is sort of major jurisdictions everywhere are putting in place regulations for stable coins which is really the
01:56core of what we do but also digital assets more broadly. And UAE has has been at the forefront of trying to create clear rules
02:04pragmatic rules rules that will work for industry but also deal with the core risks that are there. And I think continues to be in a
02:12leadership position. And so a very strong presence and kind of strategy coming out of the region here. And look we're in the early days of this. And so
02:24there's there's more novelty more new technology. And I think you know UAE regulators have demonstrated that they can be agile in responding to these new technology
02:36developments. And so that's broadly what we see. Sure. And then you know we obviously need to bring up Bitcoin and the crash that
02:43happened in crypto assets earlier in November. So it's weighed down on the stock of your company but also some other companies that share the same
02:52sphere. Can you talk to us a little bit about where you see Bitcoin now. You've been pretty optimistic on it in the past. Do you think it's just a
03:00cyclical correction or is this you know a typical boom and bust cycle. What what do you what are your thoughts. Yeah. So I'm I'm
03:07personally less focused on like what's the price of of a crypto asset. I'm much more interested in you know how are we progressing as a
03:15technology. And that's that's really what matters. You know there was the dot com movement bust and there were all these different
03:20phases. But fundamentally blockchain networks regulatory frameworks and the innovation on the technology is just constantly moving
03:30forward right now. And I'm I'm more optimistic than I've ever been about how this is going to continue to penetrate our
03:36global economic and financial system. So I think we're we're we're we're in a very very strong position right now both circle
03:44specifically but then more broadly this entire industry. And so I would I wouldn't pay much attention to short term de
03:51leveraging or price movements. I don't think it's a very good indicator of where we are with the progress of this technology. Sure. So on
03:58stable coins specifically do you still think that long term and in a consistent manner they still provide a safe haven for
04:06investors. Yeah I mean look the genius act in the United States puts in place a very clear set of strict rules around
04:16stable coins and their backing and their safety and their and their kind of supervision. And with that which you know circle is
04:25designed in line with those new rigorous federal laws that creates a model where these dollar digital
04:32currencies really are a a safer form of money than even commercial bank money and a very very safe full
04:40reserve kind of dollar money. And we think that with these regulations it strengthens that that further and
04:47will that will lead to even even further kind of promulgation and adoption of technologies like USDC.
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