Stablecoins, RWAs, and the Crypto Industry’s Midlife Crisis

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As the world fixates on regulatory drama and tokenization’s slow march toward relevance, the real work of digitizing assets unfolds like a quiet tragedy in the wings of a grand opera. No applause, no standing ovations-just code, compliance, and the occasional existential crisis.

Dave Hendricks, Vertalo’s CEO, has spent years building the scaffolding for this digital renaissance. A man with a resume that reads like a LinkedIn carousel of “ex-Oracle, ex-Oracle,” he now channels his energy into tokenizing real-world assets with the grace of a man who’s seen it all-and probably owns a boat to escape it all.

In this Q&A, he dissects crypto’s latest obsession with stablecoins, explains why 2025 is the year of “stable” chaos, and offers a side-eye to the industry’s collective amnesia. Spoiler: It’s all about money, but with more jargon.

When we first spoke in 2023, you offered a reaction to PayPal’s launch of a new stablecoin built on the Ethereum blockchain. Fast-forward to this month, and Visa is launching a stablecoin advisory. What’s your take on how far we’ve come when it comes to RWAs, tokenized securities, stablecoins etc.? 

Hendricks: Ah, 2023. A time when the very idea of stablecoins was as stable as a house of cards in a hurricane. Now, in 2025, we’ve reached the pinnacle of progress: stablecoins are the hot topic, thanks to the Genius Act-a law so clever it banned banks from paying interest on them. 🤯

RWAs? They’ve made strides, but let’s not pretend they’re the main event. Institutional players are hoarding Treasuries and REPOs like squirrels stockpiling acorns, while the Marginal crowd fiddles with tokens that exist solely to make wallets cry. Most of this is locked behind private gates, accessible only to those with the right password and a therapist’s number. As for the Marginal stuff? It’s like crypto’s answer to a toaster oven-useful if you ignore the smoke alarm.

Tokenized equities? They’ll bloom in 2026, thanks to the SEC’s love letter to clarity (read: confusion). But stablecoins? They’re crypto’s golden child this year, a bridge for banks to dip their toes in the digital pool without getting wet. Too bad the Genius Act turned that bridge into a moat. Irony, thy name is regulation. 🏰

Vertalo maintains a store of ETH for paying fees related to the creation of tokenized share ledgers on Ethereum. What’s changed for the firm over the past year?

Hendricks: Vertalo remains the rare creature in this ecosystem: a software company that doesn’t trade against its clients. We’re not here to profit from your transactions or sell you a “silver bullet” solution. We’re here to solve problems that consultants charge $300/hour to ignore. Our clients, bless their souls, come to us when third-party websites and “experts” have left them stranded in a desert of buzzwords. And unlike our competitors, we don’t feast on basis points like vultures at a feast. It’s a humble life, but someone has to do it. 🦉

We haven’t wavered from this path since 2022. Why? Because consistency is the only virtue left in a world of crypto bros. 🚫

What current trends interest you heading into 2026?

Hendricks: Ah, private equity tokenization! The dream of turning illiquid investments into tradable, fractionalized wonders. It’s the crypto equivalent of turning lead into gold-if you ignore the alchemist’s likely death by mercury poisoning. 🪙

We’ve been whispering this truth for a decade: DLT isn’t just a tool-it’s a revolution. But now, the market is finally catching up. Or perhaps it’s just desperate for anything that sounds futuristic. Either way, we’re here to help. 🤝

This year, the White House’s crypto-related announcements -a federal Bitcoin reserve (that went nowhere), an end to SEC oversight of crypto, digital assets in 401(k)s-have nothing to do with the core mission of Bitcoin or other blockchain networks. Has the sector lost its way?

Hendricks: Every few years, the crypto industry throws a party where everyone forgets the original purpose of blockchain. The guests arrive, the champagne flows, and by morning, someone’s investing in NFTs of toast. 🥐 This cycle is no different. The administration’s moves normalize the chaos, but the sketchy players? They’ll always rise and fall like the tides. Nothing new under the sun-or on the blockchain. ☀️

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2025-12-31 21:51