Building in Public

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Mahesh and John Wu, President of Ava Labs, are joined by J. Paul Meyer, founder of Collar Network, to explore innovative solutions in decentralized finance (DeFi). J. Paul shares how Collar Network, a smart contract-based lending protocol, helps crypto investors borrow against their holdings in a hedged, non-liquidatable manner—addressing challenges like tax implications and liquidity. Drawing from his Goldman Sachs background, J. Paul discusses the need for financial services tailored to crypto's emerging wealthy class and the risks of replicating traditional finance's mistakes. They also touch on regulation, market behavior, and the future of Bitcoin, AI in finance, and Web3 value capture.

Check out Collar's beta platform at beta.collarprotocol.xyz 

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:16 - The Role of ETFs in Tokenization
03:10 - Discussion on Goldman Sachs and Its Relevance
06:35 - The Impact of Technology on Financial Services
08:51 - The Consolidation of the Banking Sector
10:19 - Competing with Large Financial Institutions
13:27 - Weaknesses of Large Financial Institutions
17:02 - Overview of Collar Networks and Its Mission
20:32 - Comparison with Traditional Margin-Based Borrowing
22:44 - User Experience in Financial Products
24:51 - Future Product Development at Collar
26:20 - Finding Liquidity in DeFi Markets
28:10 - Working with Major Financial Institutions
30:57 - Concerns About Repeating Past Financial Mistakes
33:02 - Future Strategies for Collar Network
36:54 - Political and Regulatory Considerations
38:27 - Lightning Round: Quickfire Questions
41:02 - Closing Remarks 

Disclaimer: The hosts and the firms they represent may hold stakes in the companies mentioned in this podcast. None of this is financial advice.