Ian Epstein

Head of Capital Markets @joinrepublic Co-founder @profitr | fmr ceo @enigma_sec

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

Today we're launching Money Moves, a weekly show built around a conversation that's been missing from finance: what actually happens when traditional capital markets and onchain infrastructure fully converge.

I’m joined by Samantha Lewis of Mercury Fund and Dave Sutter, previously head of network strategy at Centre, the Coinbase + Circle joint venture that governs USDC, and now co-founder and CEO of OpenTrade. Between the three of us, we're covering macro, crypto infrastructure, and early-stage investing.

We're dropping three episodes at launch. The first two set the table: why this moment in financial history is different, and why stablecoins are the killer app that made it possible. Episode 3 is where we discuss the de-dollarization narrative and arrive somewhere that will probably surprise both the dollar bulls and the dollar bears.

Youtube:
https://t.co/tDuZbhxHhn

Spotify:
https://t.co/tikKdovQVI

Apple Podcasts:
https://t.co/PsxnKttTuk

[Dave Sutter @BTC_Dave]

To our community, today we’re thrilled to announce that @opentrade_io has raised a $17M in a Strategic Round, led by Mercury Fund and Notion Capital, with participation from @a16zcrypto, @AlbionVC, and @CMCC_Global.

Over the past year, the platform has also crossed two milestones that matter even more to us: $200M+ Total Value Locked; $300M Transaction Volume already processed in 2026 with $1B transaction volume projected in 2026.

Those numbers are the result of something we set out to prove from the beginning: that fintechs, exchanges, and neobanks want to offer stablecoin yield to their users, but they shouldn’t have to build the entire financial infrastructure stack to do it.

Platforms around the world are now offering stablecoin yield products powered by @opentrade_io, reaching millions of users; many of whom live in markets where earning reliable dollar returns isn’t just a nice feature, it’s genuinely transformative.

Seeing those products live in the world, being used every day, has been one of the most rewarding parts of building this company.

The funding we’re announcing today allows us to keep building toward that vision by expanding our engineering and trading teams, scaling both our permissioned and permissionless infrastructure, and supporting more partners integrating stablecoin yield products.

If you’ve been following our journey, building with us, or supporting the ecosystem along the way - thank you.

It genuinely means a lot. We’re still early, but the direction of travel feels clearer every year. Excited for what comes next.

[Dave Sutter @BTC_Dave]

April was a month I'm genuinely proud of not just for the numbers, but for what they represent.

$200M+ in TVL. #1 and #2 on @stablewatchHQ. The launch of Curation+ and the Prime+ Vault on @avax. And the first episodes of @Money_Moves_Pod with @sjolewis and @eppy314.

Every one of these took months of hard work across our team and our partners, and seeing it all come together in a single month is a reminder of what we're building toward.

@BTC_Jeff's Cointelegraph piece captures the bigger picture well: $33 trillion in stablecoin transaction volumes in 2025 and the real question isn't supply, it's who captures the value moving through that infrastructure. We believe the answer has to include the users and platforms driving that velocity, and that's exactly what OpenTrade is built to enable.

Curation+ is a direct expression of that conviction. Bespoke vaults, actively managed, built for fintechs and neobanks that need predictable yield without the operational overhead. The Prime+ Vault is just the first.

There is a lot more to come.

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

@"Money Moves Episode 04: Wall Street Walks Into the Cantina"https://t.co/fsxIM8YgBq on @LinkedIn

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

@"Money Moves Episode 04: Wall Street Walks Into the Cantina"https://t.co/fsxIM8YgBq on @LinkedIn

[TON Battleground @TONBattleground]

3 games in. Not slowing down.

Free Skate is live on Poki 🛹

Open world skating, tricks, missions - all playable right now.

The game is completely free !

Drop in 👉 https://t.co/G0xwbG4zJk

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

#leadership

[Tali Goldsheft @TaliGoldsheft]

Amazing letter by @Cornell President rejecting the resolution. Should be read by all:

Dear Zora,

Thank you for conveying SA Resolution 61: Calling for the Termination of Cornell University’s Partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology While Preserving Cornell Tech. I reject this resolution, which fundamentally conflicts with Cornell’s principles of academic collaboration and our core commitment to academic freedom.
Cornell Tech is not a political entity. It is an academic partnership, created through shared investment by Cornell University, the Technion, and the City of New York for the benefit of the city and the state, according to a negotiated set of conditions that govern its development and the terms of its 99-year ground lease on Roosevelt Island. As one of Cornell University’s many international partnerships and collaborations, Cornell Tech deepens, enriches, and strengthens the ability of our students, faculty, and staff to pursue knowledge and advance the university’s academic mission. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the core international partnership upon which Cornell Tech is based, is an extraordinarily valuable collaboration focusing on education and research in health tech, media tech, and urban tech, and supporting the development of new startup companies.

Severing our relationship with the Technion—or with any entity affiliated with governments, institutions, or enterprises with which some of our community members disagree—as a statement of political protest, would not only hinder our research, teaching, and public engagement; it would imperil our academic principles.

Our university, like all of our peer institutions, regularly faces pressure—from across the political spectrum, from within and beyond our own community—to make academic decisions according to political priorities. The phenomenon is not a new one: universities have grappled with such pressures from governments and societies for as long as the institution of the university has existed. When we yield to these pressures and proscribe specific collaborations or collaborators on grounds other than merit, we compromise our principles of academic freedom, undermine our own institutional excellence, and damage public trust in our work.  
Moreover, this resolution inaccurately asserts that “the continued operation of Cornell Tech as a Cornell University campus does not require an ongoing partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.” Cornell Tech, while part of Cornell, is a joint effort of the university, the Technion, and the City of New York. It is no more possible for Cornell to unilaterally terminate that effort and claim full control of the campus than it would be for the Technion or the City of New York to do the same.

Finally, I am deeply troubled by the selective manner in which this resolution singles out the Technion, alone of Cornell’s many international partners, for censure. Cornell currently maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 nations and regions; all of these institutions have some government affiliation, and many conduct research with military and security applications. Cornell itself has military research contracts, conducts research with potential military applications, and has relationships with companies whose products are used in military contexts. Cornell also has relationships with institutions in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights violations—as our own has been. 
None of these publicly available facts are mentioned in the resolution; only our partnership with an Israeli institution is targeted for erasure. The political bias evident in this selective approach is deeply disturbing, and the resolution is incompatible with both the Student Assembly’s purpose and Cornell University’s core values. I reject it fully and forcefully.

Sincerely,

Michael Kotlikoff
President and Professor of Molecular Physiology
Cornell University

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

Congrats !!

[Graham @Shenanigrahams]

Well, it’s official now

I have joined @AvaLabs as the new Head of Emerging Tech with the laser focus to get blockchain tech embedded in more businesses

After a year off for baby-rearing I am thrilled to be back in the saddle, working alongside an amazing team that I’ve had the privilege of calling friends over the past years

Let’s put a nail in the coffin of “blockchain is useless” articles and start showing the world how much more efficient they can be on digital financial rails

[Shaun Maguire @shaunmmaguire]

For the last year there has been a whole lot of “just asking questions”

About Jewish Americans loyalty to 🇺🇸

Jack Hughes (Jewish) is the perfect metaphor

Taking a stick to the face to win Team USA gold against Canada

Then spouting pure patriotism 🫡

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

As proud @UCBerkeley alum I know how important our institution has been for the world and how imperative it is that this must change.

[Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath]

“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome…”

[Pawel Czech @czech_pawel]

https://t.co/xd0UAqFrdz

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

Thank you.

[Quynh Ho @Quynh__Ho]

Thanks for hosting @TheTieIO and thanks for joining me on stage @eppy314 @minhdo @pdmccaffery9 @sjaitly to discuss Exit liquidity in crypto, the state of the IPO and Token markets

[Ian Epstein @eppy314]

Let’s talk best and worst of #rwa space; best and worst
anecdotes to come……….

[KeriA @KeriA1776again]

You’re here for a reason.

[jack schwager @jackschwager]

George and I are working on last chapter now. Nice cover design from publisher. Book release scheduled for early next summer.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson's Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today.

Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives. When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right--as he usually was--he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, "I told you so." But: "welcome."

Charlie was one of the first people I called when I thought about running for senate in early 2021. I was interested but skeptical there was a pathway. We talked through everything, from the strategy to the fundraising to the grassroots of the movement he knew so well. He introduced me to some of the people who would run my campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr. "Like his dad, he's misunderstood. He's extremely smart, and very much on our wavelength." Don took a call from me because Charlie asked him too.

Long before I ever committed (even in my mind) to running, Charlie had me speak to his donors at a TPUSA event. He walked me around the room and introduced me. He gave me honest feedback on my remarks. He had no reason to do this, no expectation that I'd go anywhere. I was polling, at that point, well below 5 percent. He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.

When I became the VP nominee--something Charlie advocated for both in public and private--Charlie was there for me. I was so glad to be part of the president's team, but candidly surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our kids, especially our oldest, struggled with the attention and the constant presence of the protective detail. I felt this acute sense of guilt, that I had conscripted my kids into this life without getting their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers. Some of our most successful events were organized not by the campaign, but by TPUSA. He wasn't just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists. And after every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do. "You focus on Wisconsin," he'd tell me. "Arizona is in the bag." And it was.

Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him.

Someone else pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he'd encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak. He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.

Charlie had an uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional. I've seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate.

He was a great family man. I was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office today, and he said, "I know he was a very good friend of yours." I nodded silently, and President Trump observed that Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father. And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family.

Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other's chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life. These group chats include people at the very highest level of our government. They trusted him, loved him, and knew he'd always have their backs. And because he was a true friend ,you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we've had in this administration traces directly to Charlie's ability to organize and convene. He didn't just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.

I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those group chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him. And that's how I learned the news that my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.

God didn't answer those prayers, and that's OK. He had other plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I'll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly.

You ran a good race, my friend.

We've got it from here.

[Shawn Ryan Show @ShawnRyanShow]

You Won’t Believe What’s Hiding at the Ocean’s Floor. 🤯
@gtbgtb
@themetalsco

[gerard barron @gtbgtb]

Met a legend yesterday. #shawnryanshow