Crypto is creeping back into the startup conversation, but at ETH Denver last week, the buzz was as much about Washington as it was about tokens. Policy shifts are rippling through the market as Tether and stablecoins face scrutiny, players like Stripe re-enter the conversation, and startups either find traction or flame out. The hype cycle is over, or at least taking a break. So what comes next?

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Jacquelyn Melinek, CEO of Token_Relations and host of the Talking Tokens and Crypto in America podcasts, to make sense of how the market has changed and what in the world of crypto is built to last.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:12 ETHDenver recap
03:25 Patrick Witt on the GENIUS stablecoin law
05:14 Not everything is a security anymore
06:40 Robinhood launches its own chain
09:10 Stripe’s vertical integration play
10:38 Simplifying crypto’s user experience
12:20 Stablecoins: Safe haven or payment rails?
17:03 Stablecoin infrastructure startups
18:59 Tether’s risky portfolio shift
27:02 Where funding is still flowing
28:31 Bitcoin’s price crash a sign of consumer winter or enterprise spring?
30:33 What happens if MicroStrategy liquidates?
31:08 Outro

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.