Bits + Bips: What Could Spark the Next Crypto Bull Cycle? - Ep. 980

Thank you to our sponsors, Mantle!On this episode of Bits + Bips, hosts Ram Ahluwalia, Austin Campbell, and Chris Perkins are joined by Elisabeth Kirby, Head of Market Structure at Tradeweb, for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of crypto markets — and who will control them.

They unpack why US market structure legislation stalled, how the SEC’s enforcement-first approach shaped the last cycle, and what it signals that JPMorgan, BlackRock, and others are moving forward with tokenization. 

The group debates whether Ethereum’s institutional edge is durable, whether Canton can scale beyond early adopters, and why Solana’s “decentralized Nasdaq” vision still faces hard questions.

The episode closes with a sober look at macro conditions, risk appetite, and why crypto may be stuck waiting, even as the long-term institutional thesis quietly strengthens.

Hosts:

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Austin Campbell, NYU Stern professor and founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting

Christopher Perkins, Managing Partner and President of CoinFund

Guest:
Elisabeth Kirby, Head of Market Structure at Tradeweb

Links:

The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

🗳️ 1:56 Impact of crypto market structure legislation getting pushed into 2026

📰 12:55 Howthe New York Times articleof the SEC’s regulation of crypto missed crucial context 

🏦 22:12 How JPMorgan’s tokenized money market fund on Ethereum changes the tone for TradFi onchain

🏛️ 32:18 Whether Canton can become the real institutional chain and what could derail it

🧑‍💻 45:10 What Solana’s “decentralized Nasdaq” pitch gets right and where it still looks shaky

🌍 49:58 How macro, Fed expectations, and a rotation into “boring” assets are squeezing crypto risk-taking

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