Dispatches from the frontiers of finance

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Latest stories

Repo, On-chain

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DeFi protocols are rebuilding repo and securities lending on-chain, looping tokenized T-Bills to multiply exposure on real-world assets.

This post compares the on-chain version to its traditional equivalent across multiple dimensions and draw a few conclusions on the scalability of this phenomenon.

Fractional Reserve Banking onchain

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Stablecoins are, in essence, the first large-scale experiment in narrow banking. Every USDC or USDT is (or supposed to be) fully backed by reserves – cash or short-term Treasuries – sitting safely off-chain. This architecture is what makes these tokens stable, but it also sterilizes capital: every dollar deposited creates no new credit, no new economic activity. In contrast, the...