00:00There is a leadership question mark in the UK at the moment. Bob just passed your mind back. What does
00:04the UK feel like to you now as someone who's building a new business. Is it investable. Is it somewhere
00:08you want to be. So we're an investor in Pinmore Librem in the UK. And you know the loss of
00:15kind of dominance in the equity markets to New York to the Middle East has been real. As you and
00:22I got to see Lord Cameron on you know in a good discussion this morning leadership really matters.
00:28And you know under his time I think six years as Prime Minister. Since then it's been it's been a
00:35lot of turnover. But under Lord Cameron you know a respect for the rule of law. A focus on private
00:42enterprise. Success in the development of the economy is a positive and good. Leadership matters.
00:48And I think it really reminded me this morning of the incredible potential of London as a financial center. And
00:56the incredible potential for the UK as an economy. And I think leadership matters.
01:02You bring up the Middle East maybe resting some of that volume from the UK. You're someone who now has
01:10the perspective an interesting perspective that you think the Middle East is still just fine in terms of its economic
01:16relevance particularly in your new world. You really straddled trad fi as people would call it traditional finance and decentralized
01:22finance. Why is the Middle East going to be OK. Why is the UAE going to be OK.
01:26It's a great question. You know I was there the week after the Iran conflict started and the attitude of
01:33the United Arab Emirates the leadership that has developed over the 20 or 30 years.
01:39They're no longer economies that are dependent on oil. They are very sophisticated. The leadership is strong and the way
01:46that they have managed their economies both in the UAE and also in Qatar during this conflict is just a
01:55testament to leadership there as well.
01:57That's why they're gaining business. I think they're developing a place where people want to live. They're developing economies where
02:05people want to invest in businesses and believe that successful businesses will be rewarded. And I think they're going to
02:11see their way through this conflict.
02:13Obviously we have more to go to see how all of this turns out. But I have a lot of
02:17I probably have more confidence today in the leadership and the future of the economies like Qatar and the UAE
02:26in the Middle East than I did before the Iran conflict.
02:30And what's extraordinary is the area of growth you've focused on and talked to me about is decentralized finance.
02:36And you've had you woke up to some news of your own today because yes we introduced you as the
02:41CEO of Atlas Merchant Bank but also of Merchant Capital but also you sit as the chair of Hyperliquid strategies.
02:49Now there's been a deal announced or a relationship announced. Should we say that Coinbase is expanding its presence on
02:54Hyperliquid, one of the trading networks in crypto.
02:57Why is that important? What is Hyperliquid doing?
03:00So I am the poster child for traditional finance. What am I doing in digital? And I think we're an
03:05early investor in Circle.
03:07We tried to de-SPAC them in 2020 and 2021. Thank goodness with incredible respect for Jeremy Allaire and what
03:15they were doing in Circle and USDC.
03:17We invested in their private round through one of our funds. It was very successful.
03:22Our next investment in this space was setting up Hyperliquid Strategies Inc., which is a publicly listed, NASDAQ listed digital
03:32treasury for HYPE, the native token.
03:35I think the announcement today, you talk about first class, you have Coinbase, you have Circle and USDC, and you
03:43have Hyperliquid with what the things that Jeff and the team have been developing in terms of the quality of
03:51the blockchain.
03:52Trading real world assets, oil, silver, NASDAQ futures, S&P futures, real world assets trading on chain.
04:03And I think, you know, the dominance of the dollar is further developed here.
04:09But most importantly, the provision of liquidity when it's needed.
04:14And, you know, Carolyn, one of the things I find interesting is people say, do we actually need the markets
04:19open 24 hours, seven days a week?
04:21We're tired enough, Bob.
04:22You need those markets open when it's critical.
04:24And these Friday evenings when you've been able to risk manage your exposures in oil, you just had Ed Bastian
04:32on.
04:33Delta needs to manage their exposure to energy prices, to fuel prices if they're going to run, you know, an
04:39airline like Delta.
04:40And they've been able to do that during the Iran conflict because of what's been provided by Hyperliquid.
04:45So we're very, very excited about the infrastructure being built around blockchain, around exchanges, around the digital layer of the
04:55U.S. dollar with USDC.
04:57It's interesting.
04:57We had a story on Bloomberg this week about how the repo market has really been an era.
05:02For example, JP Morgan has managed to infiltrate with the blockchain technology.
05:06There's also been a news that we're starting to see compute as an asset class.
05:11Maybe you'll start to see that being able, it already is, something that we're going to be able to trade
05:15in the futures market with the CME.
05:17How do you see AI and the world of decentralized finance coming together?
05:21Maybe you can, you know, be able to trade compute on 24-7 all throughout the week as well if
05:27you put it on the world asset.
05:28Well, when Larry Fink says that's going to be a new asset class, you know, you have to pay attention.
05:32I think he's been out in front and talking about the tokenization of assets.
05:38I think what we're seeing in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi, is a focus on the tokenization of assets
05:45and being able to provide liquidity for those.
05:48So the excitement here, Caroline, is the technology that's being built, the underpinning that's being built in digital around blockchain.
05:58And there's just no question in my mind that as we look out two, three, four, five years, we're going
06:04to see increasing use of blockchain as the underpinning of financial services writ large.
06:10And we're seeing it, JP Morgan's doing it now in their repo business.
06:13As a former repo trader myself, perfect example of a market that's very, very prone to that deep liquidity, instantaneous
06:23settlement, cost a fraction of what it is in traditional finance.
06:29I'm so pleased because we've got breaking news aplenty, not only about companies that you're the chair of, but also
06:33CryptoLink stocks are actually having a great day more broadly.
06:36Because we do have the U.S. Senate Banking Committee saying, is meeting in Washington for the markup of the
06:41Clarity Act.
06:42How important is that?
06:43Well, I was down further.
06:45I'm also the chair of the advisory board of the U.S. Ex-Im Bank.
06:49And what John Jovanovic is doing in leading that.
06:53But while I was down in Washington, I visited Congress around the Clarity Act.
06:58I think it is going to happen.
06:59And I think when you look at the announcements today, I guess something's coming out on further progress in the
07:05Clarity Act.
07:05But also what's been announced by Coinbase, Circle and Hyperliquid.
07:10It's about very, very logical, first class organizations working together to bring the finance of the future, the blockchain of
07:20the future.
07:21Is there a sticking point for the Senate Bank?
07:22I mean, what would be the issue?
07:23There's still a contention in the bill about stablecoin.
07:25I think there was a contention about stablecoin.
07:28I think today is another example that we've gone beyond that.
07:31And I think we'll see a compromise between the banks and the digital version of the dollar, as I like
07:38to call it, USDC and dollar-based stablecoins.
07:42I could speak to you for a very long time.
07:44Bob Diamond, of course, you know him from Barclays.
07:46You know him now.
07:47In the world of hyperliquid strategies, we think about the work that he's doing with Atlas Merchant Capital.
07:51We thank you very much indeed for joining us here from the Cancelo Spark Summit on Leadership.
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