Mike Silagadze is the CoFounder and CEO of ether.fi.

Ether.fi is building crypto's own Revolut, a fully integrated banking experience that's self-custodial, with lower fees and higher rewards than traditional fintech. In Q4 2025, ether.fi Cash hit $126M in card spending, up 160% quarter over quarter, making it the largest non-custodial crypto card.

Mike breaks down the business model (Stake, Liquid, Cash), how they survived October 10th with zero liquidations, and why 2026 is the year they go mainstream.

In this episode, we cover:
+ How Cash revenue is diversifying the business beyond ETH exposure
+ Why they're not another DeFi casino
+ $50M revenue in 2025, forecasting $100M+ in 2026
+ Token holder rights and why value accrual must be enshrined
+ Tokenized stocks and gold coming in March 2026

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💎 THIS EPISODE'S PARTNERS

🔒 KPK | Best risk-adjusted yield through automated vaults

🏙 MAINSTREET | Bringing proven TradFi yield strategies to DeFi markets

🌅 NEUTRL | The next generation of crypto-native yield

🛡️ ACCOUNTABLE | Real-time financial verification

🕛 NOON | The highest and safest stablecoin yield, built for the long term

⚔️ KATANA | Deep liquidity & real yield

🏦 MANTLE | MNT is now live on Solana

🐡 PUFFER INSTITUTIONAL | ETH staking solutions for scale

⚙️ GEARBOX PROTOCOL | Onchain lending reimagined

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro
1:25 - ether.fi's business model: Stake, Liquid, Cash
2:30 - TVL vs revenue, what ether.fi optimizes for
6:22 - How Cash is tripling revenue share and diversifying the business
8:51 - How ETH price affects ether.fi's revenue
10:25 - Digital asset treasury partnerships
11:47 - How ether.fi survived Oct 10th with zero liquidations
17:22 - ether.fi Cash hit $126M in spending Q4 (160% QoQ growth)
19:35 - Why ether.fi is the largest non-custodial crypto card
22:54 - Customer acquisition costs
25:33 - Is the card business profitable on its own?
26:29 - The $100B corporate card opportunity
30:39 - Team of 38 employees, staying lean
32:07 - 2025 revenue: $50M (up from $25M in 2024)
34:31 - Token holder rights: Why value accrual must be enshrined
41:03 - The buyback debate, why ether.fi does them anyway
44:28 - What if BlackRock ever acquired ether.fi?
48:47 - Going mainstream beyond DeFi (millions of users)
50:18 - Vaults as essential infrastructure for a DeFi bank
52:58 - Mr. Beast's neofinance app, competition or rising tide?
54:17 - Tokenized stocks and gold coming in March 2026
57:10 - Closing

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🔗 GUEST LINKS

► ether.fi website: https://ether.fi/
► Token Terminal ether.fi Q4 2025 Report: https://x.com/tokenterminal/status/2019121507331604772?s=20
► ether.fi on X: https://x.com/ether_fi
► Mike on X: https://x.com/mikesilagadze

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► Learn DeFi: http://defidad.com/

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DISCLAIMER: Nothing said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed by hosts or guests on the show are solely their opinions. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this podcast. DeFi Dad invested in the seed round for ether.fi.

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