Beyond Cosmoverse

Florian Spiegel trained as a forester in the Austrian mountains before becoming the founder and CEO of EVIDENT, one of Hong Kong's most advanced tokenized private markets platforms. In this episode, he traces that path, from reading the Bitcoin whitepaper as a PhD student in Vienna to building a licensed platform that runs 100% of its volume on blockchain rails, and serving on the SFC's FinTech Advisory Group as Hong Kong shaped one of the world's most advanced digital asset frameworks.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Timestamps:(00:00) Tokenization is not a product(00:31) Introduction(02:12) From Austrian forester to capital markets(05:02) The shift to blockchain(06:43) Why Hong Kong(09:28) Digital assets vs tokenized securities(12:40) Why private markets lack a system of record(15:27) From a stock business to a flow business(19:29) The five-stage deal lifecycle, reimagined(23:07) Why EVIDENT doesn't talk about tokenization(24:04) Pre-IPO investing in the US and China(27:27) Regulatory clarity and the path to institutional adoption(28:29) Project Ensemble TX, EVIDENT alongside BlackRock and HSBC(31:57) What comes next: scale, identity, and AI agents(37:02) Closing

Euro-denominated stablecoins account for less than 1% of global stablecoin volume. For the world's second largest currency that is a structural problem. Erwin Voloder, Director for Research and Strategy at Blockchain for Europe and co-author of the "Reforming MiCA for Euro Stablecoins" report with former ECB Director Dr. Ulrich Bindseil, joins the show as the European Commission's MiCA consultation is open. He breaks down what MiCA got right, what is holding euro stablecoins back, and what concrete reforms could change the trajectory, from remuneration to reserve requirements to multi-issuance.Read and download the "Reforming MiCA for Euro Stablecoins" report here: https://www.blockchain4europe.eu/policywork/reforming-mica-for-euro-stablecoins/Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.orgTimestamps:(00:00) MiCA reform and what comes next(00:40) Introduction(01:24) From the ECB and European Commission to blockchain advocacy(05:07) Why the private sector moves faster(07:23) The 1% problem, euro stablecoins and dollar dominance(08:38) Why dollar stablecoins had a head start(14:19) Tether, Circle, and the MiCA compliance gap(15:41) The MiCA consultation, what is actually being reviewed(19:53) Europe vs US vs Hong Kong, three approaches to stablecoins(21:29) Is Europe being aggressive enough?(23:29) Sovereignty vs autarchy(25:45) The MiCA Reform Report, what Erwin and Dr. Bindseil proposed(29:22) Removing the 30-60% bank deposit floor(31:15) Reserve framework, central bank facilities, and multi-issuance(34:06) AI agents and the case for fractionalized micropayments(38:10) Qivalis, the crypto transaction tax, and mixed signals from Europe(39:07) The realistic MiCA reform roadmap(42:15) Closing

BCG started getting blockchain projects in 2018. By 2024, it had become a full practice. Bernhard Kronfellner, Partner and Associate Director at BCG and the firm's Web3 lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has been at the centre of that shift, advising the world's largest financial institutions, regulators in Austria and Qatar, and co-authoring reports with Ripple, IBM, Dfns, and the World Economic Forum.In this episode, he shares what the institutions actually moving fastest are doing, why the $18.9 trillion tokenization projection is built asset class by asset class, and which of BCG's four scenarios for the convergence of TradFi and crypto he personally bets on.Topics covered: the career arc from JP Morgan to leading BCG's Web3 practice; the $18.9 trillion tokenized RWA projection; why institutional adoption is in a bull market while retail crypto is not; the two-lane scenario as the most likely path for TradFi and blockchain convergence; tokenized money market funds reaching $600 billion by 2030; why 90% of enterprises are evaluating blockchain initiatives; how regulators in Austria, Qatar, UAE, and Hong Kong compare; the stablecoin framework BCG developed for banks deciding whether to issue; why AI agents will be among the primary users of stablecoins; and what the digital asset industry can learn from the metaverse.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Chapters(00:00) TradFi meets crypto(00:52) Introduction(01:38) From JP Morgan to BCG(03:41) Building BCG's blockchain practice from 2017(04:34) The $18.9 trillion tokenized RWA projection(07:21) Tokenized deposits & the institutional bull market(08:20) Crypto natives vs institutions, the merge(11:26) The Future is Onchain(15:32) Tokenized money market funds, repos, and the 90% figure(17:41) Advising regulators in Austria and Qatar(20:40) WEF global digital asset regulation framework(22:07) The stablecoin five-test framework(24:59) AI agents as the primary users of stablecoins(27:16) Learnings from the metaverse(30:22) Educating on digital assets at university(33:12) Closing

Vodafone has 187 million connected devices. David Palmer, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Pairpoint by Vodafone, has spent 25 years building the infrastructure underneath them—from 3G and 4G to enterprise blockchain, and now a live platform that gives IoT devices a cryptographic identity anchored in the SIM card.In this episode, he walks through what it actually takes to build production-grade machine payment infrastructure inside one of the world's largest telecoms companies, and why the convergence of AI agents, autonomous vehicles, and the Economy of Things is no longer a vision—it's an engineering problem.Topics covered: how Vodafone started exploring blockchain in 2017 and why IoT was the use case that stuck; the SIM card as a hardware security layer for machine identity; why 3.3 billion devices are projected to transact by 2030; the Mastercard and JPMorgan integrations and how the payment stack works; why 115 billion AI agents by 2030 will stress every authentication system we have; phone number identity as a scalable trust layer for agentic commerce; autonomous vehicles with their own P&Ls; and why the next wave of economic growth will follow AI infrastructure, not cheap labor.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(01:40) Vodafone started exploring blockchain in 2017(04:22) Pairpoint(06:12) Vodafone, Sumitomo, and the route to market(08:13) SIM card as a machine identity layer(12:04) Autonomous vehicles, liability, and digital identity(14:04) 3.3 billion devices transacting by 2030(15:31) AI agents as the new user base(17:54) The biggest friction in building this product(21:12) Mastercard and JPMorgan, how the payment stack works(23:38) 115 billion AI agents by 2030(28:43) Sovereign AI and machines with their own P&Ls(32:39) Hong Kong, APAC, and the regulatory race(36:02) Humans and AI, the optimistic case(39:40) Advice for operators navigating AI(41:28) Closing

In this special episode of Beyond Cosmoverse, Michael Cito (known as CryptoCito), the founder of Cosmoverse and co-founder of Stakecito traces the full arc: from Crypto Mondays in Shanghai to building one of the longest-running conferences in the digital asset space, and what it actually takes to survive in this industry.Topics covered: how a tweet asking "what is Cosmos?" changed the course of his career, building community before building a company, the institutional shift Cosmoverse navigated before most conferences saw it coming, why Hong Kong matters for the future of digital assets, running three interconnected companies simultaneously, the lessons learned the hard way on trust and co-founders, and what keeps him going after nearly a decade in the space.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Timestamps(00:00) Institutional bull run(00:20) Introduction(01:03) How Michael discovered Bitcoin(02:08) Why he stayed(03:57) Shanghai, Crypto Mondays, and the early community(08:33) The tweet that led to Cosmos(11:05) From community builder to founder(12:44) The first Cosmoverse (15:01) OG values meet institutional adoption(17:38) The institutional shift(20:50) Hong Kong and the APAC opportunity(22:06) Digital euro, stablecoins, and the future of money(25:51) Cosmoverse Connect Hong Kong(28:05) Running media, events, and validator infrastructure simultaneously(31:04) Navigating public criticism and trust(33:26) Advice for the next generation entering crypto(35:36) What keeps him going(38:00) Closing

Bosch started exploring distributed ledger technology in 2015, before the retail wave, before the ICO boom, before most enterprises had even heard the term. In this episode, Peter Busch, Global Product Owner DLT at Bosch and Co-Founder of the Fetch.ai Foundation, walks through what it actually took to build the case for decentralized infrastructure inside one of the world's largest engineering companies, and where that journey has led.Topics covered: the Economy of Things and what it means in practice, autonomous vehicles authenticating to city infrastructure, why decentralized identity matters more than centralized alternatives, AI agents and the trust layer they require, data sovereignty as a competitive advantage in Europe, the Fetch ai Foundation, and why the combination of decentralized trust and AI agents is the defining technology architecture of this moment.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Timestamps:(00:00) Decentralized trust meets AI agents (00:40) Introduction (01:37) Peter's journey, from JP Morgan to Bosch (04:29) Why enterprises move slower than expected (07:56) The Economy of Things explained (13:15) Autonomous vehicles and machine identity (16:04) Beyond mobility, Bosch's broader portfolio (17:35) Do users actually care about trust? (21:52) The Fetch.ai Foundation and agent ecosystems (25:03) Sovereign AI and trusted agents (29:37) Trust architecture in 2026 (33:39) Web3 meets enterprise, the transformation (38:41) Advice for the younger generation (42:30) Closing

Serbia adopted its digital asset act in 2021, three years before MiCA. In this episode, Anina Milanović, who helped build that framework at the Securities Commission of Serbia and now works at the World Bank on capital market digitalization, shares what it took, what they got wrong, and where emerging markets stand today.Topics Serbia's Digital Asset Act, how it compares to MiCA, tokenized bonds as an entry point for SME financing, the case for tokenized deposits, fragmented jurisdiction as a barrier to institutional adoption, investor protection in regulated digital asset markets, and a 3-5 year outlook for emerging markets going fully digital.Beyond Cosmoverse is the Executive Dialogue Series by Cosmoverse, the institutional digital asset summit. Hosted by Roberto Cassa, Marketing Director at Cosmoverse, each episode brings together practitioners from finance, regulation, and digital asset infrastructure. Learn more at cosmoverse.org.Timestamps:(00:00) Introduction(00:31) Serbia's Digital Asset Act(05:58) Serbia vs. MiCA(08:18) Anina's career path(13:46) Evolution, not revolution(15:33) Regulation as the main blocker(18:10) Fragmented jurisdiction(19:46) Which asset class leads first(24:12) Advice for emerging markets(27:43) 3-5 year vision(29:30) Emerging markets vs developed economies(31:30) Closing