Empire Introducing: Inflection Point | The Crypto-TradFi Convergence
Mar 5, 2026
Michael Mark Antonio, Head of DeFi at Galaxy Digital, builds DeFi for institutions. Matt Hogan, CIO at Bitwise, runs large crypto ETF efforts. David Lawant, Head of Research at Anchorage Digital, focuses on institutional crypto infrastructure. They discuss TradFi and crypto converging, the ETF watershed moment, institutional moves into DeFi, market structure shifts like 24/7 trading and derivatives, and evolving credit, yield, and onchain finance.
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Institutions Are Building Onchain In Production
- Institutional adoption has moved from hypothetical to real as major firms build production systems on-chain.
- Michael Mark Antonio cites BlackRock tokenizing treasuries, JPMorgan intraday repos, and Apollo partnering with Morpho as proof points.
Spot ETFs Remade Bitcoin Price Formation
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs were a watershed that materially shifted price formation and brought TradFi into the driver’s seat.
- David Lawant found ETF trading reached 30–50% of Bitcoin spot volume, changing derivatives and options dynamics.
Regulatory And Big-Player Signals Accelerate Adoption
- Public signals from regulators and large asset managers accelerate onchain adoption faster than skeptics expect.
- Matt Hogan points to Project Crypto, BlackRock statements, and Apollo/ Morph o moves as evidence of rapid acceleration.