On The Margin | Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki

Bhutan Just Showed Me How the King is Building a Crypto City | Jigdrel Singay, Yu Zheng, & Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:32:06 GMT

Bhutan is going all-in on crypto, the city is called the Geluphy Mindfulness City. They mined their first Bitcoin in 2018, using clean hydropower, years before most governments knew what a blockchain was. Now the Himalayan kingdom of under a million people is building something no other country has attempted: a special administrative region roughly seven times the size of Singapore, with its own regulator, its own licensed bank, and a mandate to become the financial gateway for two billion people across South Asia.

Jigdrel Singay sits on the board of the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority (GMCA), the body building what it calls “two systems, one country” out of the Bhutanese lowlands bordering India. Yu Dong Zheng runs DK Bank, the only bank licensed to operate inside the zone, built from day one to hold fiat and crypto in the same account, something most “crypto-friendly” banks still won’t do.

We cover:

Why GMCA calls itself “two systems, one country,” and what makes it legally separate from the rest of Bhutan The “Hong Kong for China, Singapore for Southeast Asia” pitch, and why South Asia’s 2 billion people don’t have a financial hub yet Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin with hydropower since 2019, years before most sovereign states paid attention Cheap, undocumented labor built Dubai. What builds a five-story-max Buddhist mindfulness city instead? Why Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with any of the five permanent UN Security Council members “We scan the wallet”: how DK Bank monitors on-chain and off-chain flows to keep bad actors out Will there ever be a “Bhutan coin”? Yu Dong Zheng’s answer: “Anything tactically is possible” “What if Bitcoin goes down and never comes back?” A banker’s contrarian answer Won’t two billion potential visitors turn Gelephu into another Delhi or Mumbai? The digital nomad visa program, still being tested, and why it isn’t rolling out to everyone yet Rent, groceries, cheeseburgers and Starlink: what life actually costs there right now

GUESTS: Jigdrel Singay: Board Member and Digital Assets & Fintech Lead for the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority (GMCA). Previously advanced blockchain and Web3 programs at Druk Holding & Investments, Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund, and sits on the Board of the Royal Stock Exchange of Bhutan.

Yu Dong Zheng (”YD”): CEO of DK Bank, the only bank licensed to operate inside Gelephu Mindfulness City, jointly regulated with Bhutan’s Royal Monetary Authority.

RESOURCES & LINKS: Gelephu Mindfulness City: https://www.gmc.bt

DK Bank: https://www.digitalkidu.bt

MORE OF JIGDREL SINGAY: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jigdrelsingay/

GMC bio: https://gmc.bt/people/Jigdrel_Singay

MORE OF YU DONG ZHENG: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhengyudong/

DK Bank on LinkedIn: https://bt.linkedin.com/company/dkbank

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Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt

Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt

Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended

Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

00:00 - Cold open: does the world need another Dubai?.
00:54 - Meet the GMCA board member and DK Bank’s CEO, and why South Asia’s 2 billion people don’t have a financial hub yet.
03:22 - “Two systems, one country”: Buddhism, mindfulness, and how the king got Bhutan to back a crypto free zone.
07:29 - Speed without skipping oversight: inside the regulator, and Bitcoin mining since 2019.
10:44 - Cheap labor built Dubai. Citizenship, mining targets, and Bhutan’s zero diplomatic ties with the UN Security Council.
19:02 - Setting up a crypto company: compliance, licensing, and solving de-banking.
24:15 -Will there ever be a “Bhutan coin”? DK Bank’s roadmap, and what if Bitcoin never goes back up.
31:15 - What Bhutan can teach the world about mindful growth.
35:02 - Won’t two billion people turn Gelephu into another Delhi? The digital nomad program.
41:54 - The real cost of living, cheeseburgers and Starlink, and why choose Bhutan over Dubai, Bali or Miami.

All of Jigdrel’s and YD’s links will be in the description. Make sure to like, comment, and share, and I’ll see you in the next one.

SquareFi Founder: "We Have Only 6 Developers" Anton Lobintsev & Ivan Patriki On the Margin

Ivan Patriki — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:44:56 GMT

There’s a company processing over to $350 million in transactions that spends less on AI all year than most startups spend on it in a single month. Anton Lobintsev, co-founder of the stablecoin-based financial platform SquareFi, built it that way on purpose.

His company didn’t start as a fintech at all. It started as a platform to tokenize real estate in Georgia and Indonesia, until Anton and his co-founder realized nobody wanted to tokenize their buildings. They just wanted to accept stablecoin payments for them. So they rebuilt the whole business around that instead.

We cover:

The $500 million AI story that kicked off the “what are people doing with all these tokens?” running joke What SquareFi actually is: stablecoin custody, crypto-as-a-service, banking accounts, and cards, all under one platform Why 95% of SquareFi’s customers aren’t crypto-native businesses at all How a company with employees scattered across the world pays salaries in crypto when banks won’t touch the corridor Why venture capital firms use SquareFi to collect capital calls from LPs on three different continents From tokenizing buildings as NFTs to realizing the market wanted payments, not tokenization Why Canada, not Dubai or the Cayman Islands, became the regulatory home base How $50 million in transactions turned into roughly $300 million Why the company spends $5,000 to $7,000 a year on AI, not $50,000 The real reason companies claim to burn “$1 billion in tokens” (and why it’s probably marketing)

GUEST: Anton Lobintsev: Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of SquareFi, alongside co-founder and CEO Denis Spasibo. Serial entrepreneur since roughly 2007, having built and sold companies across telecom/internet, restaurants, and legal services before co-founding a real-estate tokenization platform that pivoted into SquareFi, a stablecoin-based financial platform now processing close to $300 million in transactions across 150+ countries.

RESOURCES & LINKS: SquareFi: https://squarefi.co

MORE OF ANTON LOBINTSEV: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lobintsev/

MORE OF SQUAREFI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/squarefii/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarefi/

Telegram: https://t.me/Square_Fi

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Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob

Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt

Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt

Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended

Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

00:00 - Cold open: the $500 million AI story and the tokens joke.

00:22 - What SquareFi is: stablecoin custody, crypto-as-a-service, cards, and banking accounts.

03:58 - Two business models, why most customers aren’t crypto companies, and the Bangladesh remittance problem.

08:43 - Getting licensed in Canada, the “umbrella license” model, and why offshore jurisdictions don’t work.

14:20 - The roadmap: UAE, EU, and Singapore licenses.

16:28 - The origin story: tokenizing buildings, meeting his co-founder, and where the name SquareFi comes from.

23:26 - Finding early customers, and today’s transaction volume: roughly $300 million.

26:24 - What to look for in a co-founder, and the painful history of past breakups.

29:38 - Radical honesty as the glue of the partnership, and staying disciplined on spending.

33:24 - What investors are really looking for: founder, traction, team.

37:52 - How AI changed Anton’s workflow as a self-taught technical founder.

42:40 - The goal: a 50-person unicorn, and his CTO’s job managing people and AI agents.

46:05 - The real number: $5,000 to $7,000 spent on AI this year, and why.

50:35 - Why licenses are only 10% of the work, and launching a stablecoin through Brale.

54:54 - Founder advice: find people who cover your weaknesses, hire freelancers, and stay transparent.

1:01:19 - Closing.

Make sure to like, comment, and share, and I’ll see you in the next one.

AI Is Replacing Casino Dealers & Dating? BetHog & FanDuel Founder Nigel Eccles with / Boaz Sobrado

Ivan Patriki — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:28:22 GMT

Nigel and Boaz Sobrado explore how AI is set to transform gaming—and why virtual dealers could become one of the first AI experiences millions of people interact with every day.

Nigel explains why his company believes AI dealers can outperform human dealers, how crypto and stablecoins are reshaping the online casino industry, and why AI isn’t simply replacing jobs but evolving into a social layer that helps people learn, communicate, and build stronger relationships.

The conversation also dives into the future of AI-powered avatars, personalized digital companions, and a world where AI doesn’t replace human interaction—but enhances it by acting as a bridge between people.

In this episode:

Why AI dealers could outperform human dealers in online casinos
The $15 billion live dealer market and why it’s ripe for disruption
How AI delivers a more personalized gaming experience
Why new players often prefer AI dealers over real ones
The future of AI-powered casino hosts and personalized avatars
How stablecoins are transforming online gaming payments
Why crypto has become the preferred payment rail for gaming companies
Public AI tables and the next generation of social gaming
Can AI improve the way humans communicate?
AI agents interacting with other AI agents in dating and social apps
Why AI could become one of the most effective tools for conflict resolution
What the future of AI looks like across gaming, finance, and everyday life

If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe to the channel and leave a comment with your biggest takeaway.

MORE OF NIGEL ECCLES:
X / Twitter: https://x.com/nigeleccles
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigeleccles/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigeleccles/
Bethog: https://www.bethog.com

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Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob/
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

00:00 - Cold open: Can AI improve human relationships?
00:35 - How AI is transforming the gaming industry
01:01 - Why live dealers are a $15B industry
01:52 - Replacing human dealers with AI avatars
03:22 - Why players still want a dealer
05:25 - Building an AI that knows every player
07:43 - Early results: Why AI dealers are winning
10:15 - The future of personalized AI dealers
11:23 - How stablecoins changed online casinos
13:49 - Why crypto users embrace AI faster
14:50 - What still needs to improve
16:14 - AI as a social host, not just a dealer
17:56 - Can AI help humans communicate better?
19:06 - AI agents talking to each other
20:19 - Why AI could become the perfect casino host
21:03 - Final thoughts on the future of AI

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"How I Sold My $100K Painting" | Is Fine Art Money Laundering? | Koceila Chougar & Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:11:31 GMT

Koceila Cougar and Ivan Patriki speak about some crazy secrets here...
Koceila is a Paris-based artist, musician, and cultural strategist who's sold paintings for $100,000, exhibited at Art Basel Miami, and moved through the same circles as billionaires, royalty, and people he won't name on camera. He describes himself as a "cultural spy" - someone who sees what others can't, moves between worlds most people never get access to, and uses art as a key to rooms that money alone won't open.
In this episode, Koceila pulls back the curtain on the art market most people never see - the scams, the speculation, the money laundering, the fake masterpieces sitting in museum collections, and why the richest people in the world buy art for reasons that have nothing to do with loving art. He also gets into the dark side of elite life: the drugs, the prostitution, the artists who destroy themselves after making it — and how he walked away from all of it.
Topics covered:

Why most expensive "pop art" is a scam — and how galleries know it
How art functions as a financial tool, tax vehicle, and money laundering mechanism
The $150M painting that might be a fake — and why no one can say it
What billionaires are actually buying when they buy art
The hidden art market vs. what the public sees
How self-made elites think differently than people born into money
Why charisma isn't what gets you into elite rooms — risk is
The Illuminati symbolism in his work and his journey through sacred plants and spirituality
The dark side of success: artists dying by suicide and OD, the "matrix" of Miami
How to use events like Cannes and Art Basel as leverage — not tourism
Salvador Dalí, surrealism, and the spiritual vs. chemical path to creativity

MORE OF KOCEILA CHOUGAR:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koceilachougar/
Spotify:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/koceila-chougar
Aersper: https://www.artsper.com/us/contemporary-artists/france/121239/koceila-chougar

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Substack: https://www.on-the-margin.com

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Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob/
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

00:00 - Cold open: scams, money laundering, and the $100K painting
01:24 - Koceila introduces himself: artist, musician, cultural spy
03:29 - How to tell if art is a scam vs. a real investment
05:07 - Speculation in the art market
06:51 - Why art prices explode after an artist dies
07:24 - "Do your clients buy art for money laundering?"
10:32 - What makes billionaires different from average people
13:42 - Is charisma the key to getting in the room? No.
15:10 - The Illuminati symbolism, sacred plants, and spiritual awakening
22:26 - How collectors are drawn to his art's energy
24:51 - Art Basel Miami: what it's actually like inside
27:30 - The dark side of the ultra-wealthy
30:21 - Why tech/crypto elites buy less art than old money
33:15 - Billionaires warning him not to exhibit — and why
37:14 - Work ethic: the only thing that separates artists who make it
43:03 - How to use Cannes Film Festival as a creator
46:14 - What percentage of abstract artists are on drugs when they create?
48:09 - Salvador Dalí, surrealism, and the spiritual path to creativity
50:22 - Final advice: connect with your soul, become a magnet

Subscribe & leave a review if you made it this far

The $15M Military Grants to Build the Solution to Privacy - "You are the Product" | Quant Yoon Auh & Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:30:13 GMT

Yoon Auh spent a decade building trading systems before landing on the program trading desk at Credit Suisse, becoming head trader, then VP at Goldman Sachs, then head trader at Magnetar Capital — where he accidentally invented what became an entire sub-industry on Wall Street. Then he walked away from institutional finance to solve a problem nobody else would touch: your data is Big Tech's product, and they'll never change that. He spent three years and his own money building the answer. Now he holds 14 patents.In this episode, Yoon breaks down the mechanics of quant trading that textbooks skip, the dirty truth about government grants and military contracts, and why Signal, ProtonMail, and every other privacy app is solving the wrong problem.We cover:
College grad → Credit Suisse → Goldman VP → Magnetar: the real path
Index arbitrage, basket trading, and what institutional execution actually looks like
Why quant models blow up in small caps (the bid-ask spread they never mention)
Soft dollars: the hidden Wall Street system that funds research analysts
Why the biggest money is never in trading — it's in building
Finfluencer scams then and now: the fax machine fraud that moved to the internet
"When I say I want to go to Florida — then I see an ad for flights to Florida"
Why Big Tech will never build real privacy tools (it's antithetical to their business model)
The Nut Capsule: encrypted data objects that stay protected outside the app
How BOLTS beats Signal at file sharing — and why Signal stops at messaging
US military grants: SBIR, AFWERX, In-Q-Tel, and how to actually get funded
Israeli and Canadian firms charging Americans to navigate US military grant applications
Only 25% of grant success is merit — a Navy acquisition officer said it on stage
Palantir, Google Earth, and why the CIA funded the biggest tech companies
Why you can't be the same politician you were when you started
Mentorship, relationships, and the Goldman Sachs backup that saved the department

GUEST:

Yoon Auh: Founder & CEO of NUTS Technologies and BOLTS Technologies. Former head trader at Credit Suisse, VP at Goldman Sachs, and head trader at Magnetar Capital. Holder of 14 cybersecurity patents. Building post-quantum, data-centric security infrastructure for the DoD and beyond.

RESOURCES & LINKS:
NUTS Technologies: https://www.nutstechnologies.com
BOLTS Technologies: https://www.boltstechnologies.xyz

MORE OF YOON AUH:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoonauh/

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Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com

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Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob/
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
01:09 Who Is Yoon Auh?
01:38 Columbia Grad to Coding Trading Systems for 10 Years
03:17 Landing on the Program Trading Desk at Credit Suisse
04:13 Becoming Head Trader: How He Made Them a Lot of Money
05:53 What Quants Get Wrong About Small Cap Stocks
08:13 The Difference Between Building a Model and Executing One
10:32 Is Yoon Still Trading? Life After Institutional Finance
12:35 The Gut Punch of Trading With Your Own Capital
14:59 Living With Volatility: Why Most People Can't Handle It
17:29 Why the Biggest Money Is Never in Trading
20:19 Soft Dollars: The Hidden Wall Street System Nobody Talks About
22:56 Magnetar Capital and Building the First Soft Dollar Distribution System
27:23 Should Aspiring Quants Buy Courses? The Fax Machine Scam Analogy
30:29 The Finfluencer Problem: Bugattis, Bad Advice & Survivorship Bias
36:30 Why Yoon Left Finance to Start a Company
38:00 "When I Said I Want to Go to Florida — Then I Saw an Ad for Flights"
42:00 Why Big Tech Will Never Build Real Privacy Tools
50:08 The NUTS Ecosystem: Data-Centric Security Explained
57:15 How It's Different From Signal, ProtonMail, and WhatsApp
01:02:00 The Nut Capsule: Encrypted Containers That Travel With Your Data
01:08:31 Will You Add a Government Backdoor? The Honest Answer
01:14:26 Dual Use Technology and the Ethics of Cybersecurity
01:22:00 How to Get US Military Grants as a Small Startup
01:35:40 The Dirty Secret of Government RFPs
01:43:00 Palantir, Google Earth, In-Q-Tel, and CIA-Funded Tech
01:47:00 Only 25% of Grant Success Is Merit (A Navy Officer Said It)
01:52:00 Should You Rise Through the System to Change It?
01:58:00 Power, Politics & Why Everyone Loses Something on the Way Up
02:01:02 The Best Career Advice Nobody Gives You
02:07:06 Closing Thoughts

'Your trades are public' - Ilies Larbi, Ouinex Owner Exposes Brokers - On the Margin w Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:56:31 GMT

No way Ilies Larbi actually told me this.. the crypto industry has a dirty secret and guy behind a HUGE brokerage, Ivan Patriki learns the truth about it.

He said he's building a brokerage to fix it.. I'm interviewing about it and seeing if it's actually true. I sat down with the 20-year traditional finance veteran and founder of Ouinex, to pull back the curtain on what actually happens when you trade crypto. From how exchanges legally sell your order data to hedge funds trading against you, to the VC token scheme that's draining retail money on every major listing, to why he's heard the rug pull pitch more times than he can count - this conversation goes places most people in crypto won't touch. If you're putting money into any trading platform or token right now, watch this first.

Ouinex is a multi-asset trading platform built on traditional finance infrastructure - the same systems that have protected retail traders in regulated markets for 20 years. Instead of letting institutions see and trade against your orders, they've built a wall that forces market makers to compete blindly for your trades.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:08 - Is Crypto a Scam?
00:03:02 - How Institutions Trade Against You
00:06:12 - The Chinese Wall That Protects Retail
00:08:49 - How Brokers Sell Your Data
00:10:21 - How Do We Know You're Telling the Truth?
00:12:03 - A-Book vs B-Book Explained
00:14:09 - How Ouinex Actually Makes Money
00:15:27 - Ouinex vs Hyperliquid
00:19:14 - How He Got Liquidity Providers
00:22:01 - Why He Started Ouinex
00:25:44 - What Are People Trading Right Now?
00:28:58 - Using Client Data as a Signal
00:33:17 - The Demographics of Profitable Traders
00:37:38 - Why Less Leverage Makes You More Money
00:44:48 - The Worst Part of Crypto
00:48:10 - The WIKS Token Launch
00:55:34 - No VCs — Funded Entirely by the Community
00:56:16 - How a Rug Pull Actually Works
00:58:01 - How the VC Pump and Dump Works
01:01:49 - What Stops You From Rugging?
01:06:27 - How Much Money Is Enough?
01:12:14 - Do Regulations Actually Mean Anything?
01:19:41 - Advice for New Traders
01:32:23 - How to Spot a Scam Signal Seller
01:38:23 - How to Start a Brokerage

Check out Ouinex:
https://ouinex.com/en
https://x.com/Ouinex
https://www.instagram.com/ouinexexchange/

Check out Ilies Larbi:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilieslarbi/en
https://x.com/ilies_larbi

More of On the Margin:

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Co-Founder of Tether: The Next Trillion-dollar move is STBL | Reeve Collins

Ivan Patriki — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:59:44 GMT

Reeve Collins co-founded Tether, the world's largest stablecoin powering a $180+ billion financial network. But he didn't start in crypto. He was there at the birth of the internet with a startup that went public for $6.6 billion in 1999. Then he did it again in blockchain. In this conversation, he breaks down why stablecoins are reshaping global finance, why the government won't kill Bitcoin, and what separates people who build billion-dollar companies from those who just talk about it.

We cover:

- How he went from the internet boom to riding blockchain's biggest wave
- Why Tether became the bridge between Wall Street and crypto (and keeps 1.4 billion unbanked people connected to dollars)
- The structural flaws in stablecoins (and how Stable 2.0 fixes them)
- What's backing USDC: US treasuries, yield protocols, and why that matters
- Can governments freeze your stablecoins? (Iran's $400M USDC freeze explained)
- Stablecoin 2.0: earning 5-6% yield while you spend—never possible before
- Why crypto "started on the dark web" is the wrong debate
- The real threat of CBDCs and why governments want surveillance money
- Bitcoin as insurance: why every country needs an alternative to government currencies
- How Wi-Fi (his decentralized on-chain bank) is giving the underbanked access to Wall Street tools
- The tech that actually drives adoption: porn, gambling, and then everything else
- Why young traders should stop day trading and start investing
- Conviction: the secret trait every billionaire has (and how you build it)
- The betrayals and business lessons nobody teaches you
- From college grad to running trillions: the specific life advice that works

GUEST:
Reeve Collins – Co-founder of Tether & STBL. Entrepreneur with a front-row seat to the internet boom (1997) and now building the financial infrastructure of blockchain. Handles $180B+ in daily transactions across the globe.

RESOURCES & LINKS:
Stable: https://www.stbl.com
WeFi: https://www.wefi.co
Smart Media Technologies: https://www.smartmediatech.io

MORE OF REEVE COLLINS:
Twitter: https://x.com/reeve_collins
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevecollins/
YouTube: @ReeveCollinsOfficial
Site: https://reevecollins.com/

MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:
Website: https://www.themargin.tv

Spotify:

Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com

MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:
Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob/
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki

00:00 Intro
01:06 Who Is Reeve Collins? (Co-Founder of Tether)
02:25 The Ten-Year Gap Between Successes (And Why Timing Is Everything)
04:13 What Actually Backs USDC? (US Treasuries, Yield, & Philosophy)
05:08 The First Time Anyone Could Create Money (Not Governments)
06:18 Tether: The Bridge Between Traditional Finance & Blockchain
07:02 What's Coming Next in Crypto?
10:02 How Tether Makes Money on $180B in Transactions
13:04 Has Crypto Lost Its Original Mission?
14:18 What Really Drives Technology Innovation (It's Not What You Think)
17:47 Why Tether Dominated Every Other Stablecoin
19:04 Can You Build Another Tether in 2026?
21:14 Stable 2.0: The Next Evolution of Stablecoins
23:50 Meme Coins vs. Real Investment (The XRP Debate)
29:33 Is Crypto Just Fraud? The Honest Breakdown
32:14 CBDCs, Government Control & Frozen Funds
36:08 Small Town Kid to Silicon Valley: His Origin Story
38:06 Conviction: The One Trait Every Billionaire Has
42:31 Wi-Fi: Bringing Wall Street to the Underbanked
45:47 Betrayal in Business (And What It Taught Him)
48:40 Why Successful People Don't Hold Grudges
49:12 The Real Advice That Changes Lives (Skip the Platitudes)
50:39 The Three Paths to Getting Rich
52:20 Closing: What He's Building Next

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

✓ Stablecoins are the bridge from traditional finance to blockchain—not a replacement
✓ Conviction matters more than intelligence or hard work alone
✓ Bitcoin will never die because it's the only alternative to government currency
✓ CBDCs are surveillance money—decentralized options must exist alongside them
✓ Stable 2.0 changes the game: you can earn yield and spend at the same time
✓ Young people should learn AI deeply, not day trade
✓ Tether's dominance comes from first-mover advantage + constant innovation
✓ The future is AI agents routing your money to the most profitable ecosystem
✓ WeFi represents the next evolution: true financial access for billions

Is Crypto a Scam? Why BILLIONS Are Invested Into Bitcoin | GoMining CEO Mark Zalan & Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 02:00:00 GMT

From Soviet Refugee into GoMining CEO: Mark Zalan on GoMining, Crypto Fraud & the FUTURE of Bitcoin.

GoMining is one of the top 10 Bitcoin miners in the world by hash power, and the CEO Mark Zalan sat down with me to share the unfiltered story behind his rise from Soviet Union refugee to leading a company with 5 million users.

We cover:

How his family fled the Soviet Union in 1989 with $360 and refugee documents - and what that shaped in him
Why he was late to Bitcoin (and what finally changed his mind)
How Go Mining lets anyone start mining Bitcoin for as little as $25
The difference between cloud mining scams and what Go Mining actually does
Is crypto mostly fraud? An honest breakdown
Bitcoin as financial freedom — Ukraine, Venezuela, and the Canada truckers protest
Why you need to know more than just money to succeed (the Andrew Tate debate)
Go Mining's upcoming instant Bitcoin payment protocol — Layer 1, zero user fees, 0.2% merchant fee (vs. 2.5–3.5% for card networks)
What visionary entrepreneurs actually look like up close
The imposter syndrome no one talks about at the top

Whether you're a crypto investor, entrepreneur, or just curious about how people go from nothing to building something massive - this one's worth your time.

Check out GoMining
https://gomining.com

More of Mark Zalan:
https://x.com/MarkZalan_
https://linkedin.com/in/mark-zalan
https://www.instagram.com/markzalan_gomining/

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https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

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00:00 Intro
01:04 Soviet Refugee to Silicon Valley
02:53 Why He Bet Everything on Bitcoin
03:26 How Wall Street Killed Bitcoin Mining
05:27 The $25 Bitcoin Mine
06:26 How Go Mining Actually Makes Money
09:37 The Truth About Cloud Mining Scams
12:48 Building Trust in a Trustless Space
14:50 "We're Extremely Profitable"
17:04 $360 and a One-Way Ticket Out
21:45 Did Poverty Make Him Hungrier?
23:11 Why He Joined the Marines
24:39 How He Got Into GE Capital
28:29 The Moment He Knew He'd Made It
33:19 Does Winning Get Easier?
37:11 Luck, Charisma, or Skill?
39:06 Why History Majors Win
42:18 Destroying Andrew Tate's Money Advice
45:40 What Billionaires Are Really Like
55:15 Making Payroll From His Own Pocket
01:07:37 Is Crypto Mostly a Scam?
01:13:51 Was Bitcoin Built for Crime?
01:20:29 Why Crypto Is About Freedom
01:30:27 Can the Government Freeze Your Bitcoin?
01:43:57 🚨 Instant Bitcoin Payments Announced
01:47:13 Killing Visa's 3% Fee
02:07:47 On Power, Politics & Imposing Your Will
02:15:43 Why Every Revolution Ends in Executions
02:23:46 The Blueprint for Going From Nothing to Millions

Tanner Hackett Built Billion Dollar Companies, His Next Project, AI Powered $50M Insurance Company Powered by AI. What's the Secret? - Ivan Patriki On the Margin

Ivan Patriki — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 21:42:59 GMT

Backed by the same investors who funded SpaceX, I sat down with Tanner, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Counterpart, to get an honest look at what it actually takes to build something real fraom scratch.

From cold-calling 40 people about a job offer in Malaysia and only trusting the two who said yes, to raising $50M to fix an industry everyone hates, to why working 14-hour days is his version of good mental health.

This conversation goes places most founders won't touch. If you want to understand how normal people end up doing extraordinary things, watch this first. Counterpart is building the future of small business insurance using AI and data science. Instead of human underwriters trying to assess thousands of variables, their platform synthesizes data points to instantly quote, price, and place coverage for small businesses facing risks most of them don't even know exist, from wrongful termination to wage violations.

They're backed by top-tier venture and private equity firms, and are on a mission to flip insurance from a reactive payout machine into a proactive risk prevention partner.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:02 - Best Day of His Life
00:02:04 - What Is Counterpart?
00:04:13 - The SpaceX Investor
00:06:36 - How Great Investors Help You
00:07:06 - Building Amazon for Southeast Asia
00:08:46 - 38 Out of 40 People Said No
00:10:21 - Insurance as Risk Prevention
00:11:21 - Small Businesses Getting Fined
00:13:52 - Is Insurance a Scam?
00:19:03 - US vs. Dubai: Where to Build?
00:20:44 - Stare Into the Abyss
00:24:34 - Sacrificing Your Social Life
00:26:40 - The Feedback Loop Philosophy
00:31:10 - What Is Good Mental Health?
00:33:58 - Building Counterpart for Life
00:39:32 - Why Entrepreneurs Study Philosophy
00:42:42 - Who Do You Look Up To?
00:59:30 - Advice for the Next Generation

Check out CounterPart:

https://yourcounterpart.com

More of Tanner Hackett:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerhackett
https://x.com/tan_hack

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https://www.themargin.tv

US Ambassador: "How I Sold My Company to Microsoft" | Trevor Traina w/ Ivan Patriki | On The Margin

Ivan Patriki — Tue, 19 May 2026 22:52:48 GMT

How Trump appointed him as US ambassador, how to sell companies to Microsoft and Mastercard, and his biggest project yet: Kresus, a Web3 super app.

I sat down with Trevor, a serial entrepreneur turned U.S. Ambassador to Austria and now founder of Kresus, to get an honest look at what it actually takes to reach the top.

From raising your first $100k from friends and family, to closing a Microsoft acquisition the same morning Bill Gates announced it on stage, to navigating a government full of entrenched bureaucrats, this conversation goes places most successful people won't.

If you're serious about building something real, becoming the new elite, watch someone from the elite explain everything.

His magnum opus, Kresus, is building AI directly into its wallet app. It's as a tool that helps anyone use Web3. On the trading side, the app already offers smart insights like tracking what top traders are buying in real time, which is a precursor to the fuller AI feature set.

Expanding AI integrations is listed as one of their near-term priorities alongside growing their mini-app ecosystem.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:09 - How Do You Even Get to This Level?
00:02:25 - Your First Company & the Entrepreneurial Mindset
00:05:31 - Did Going to Princeton, Oxford & Berkeley Actually Help?
00:09:04 - How Trevor Got Trump to Appoint Him Ambassador
00:10:54 - What Does an Ambassador Actually Do?
00:15:14 - Did He Make a Real Political Impact?
00:17:59 - Is the Deep State Real?
00:22:10 - Raising Millions From David Sacks, the Winklevoss Twins & Marc Benioff
00:23:17 - Why Blockchain Is the Revolution Everyone's Sleeping On
00:27:23 - What It's Really Like Selling Your Company to Microsoft
00:29:44 - What Makes the Ultra-Successful Think Differently
00:35:14 - The Opera Story: How the Universe Puts You in the Right Room
00:38:20 - Advice for Young People Who Want to Change the World

More of Trevor Traina:
https://kresus.com - Sign up to Kresus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevortraina/

More of On the Margin:
https://www.themargin.tv

'Most Prop Firms are in Debt' - Expert Stanislav Galandzovskyi | On The Margin with Ivan Patriki

On The Margin — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:55:50 GMT

Stanislav, a growth consultant for brokers and prop firms, gave me an honest look at what's really going on behind the scenes. From firms going bankrupt the moment payouts are due, to influencers faking their trading profits, to why entire countries get banned from platforms — this conversation goes places most people in finance won't touch.

If you're thinking about starting a prop firm, or putting money into a prop firm, watch this first.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:31 - Are Prop Firms a Pyramid Scheme?
00:03:22 - The Truth About Payouts & Bankruptcies
00:05:37 - Marketers Running Prop Firms With No Finance Experience
00:09:29 - Should You Trade or Sell Courses?
00:11:21 - Why Vietnam Gets Banned From Prop Firms
00:17:33 - How to Tell If a Prop Firm Is Trustworthy
00:21:50 - Do Finance Influencers Actually Make Money Trading?
00:35:06 - How Brokers Really Make Their Money
00:40:29 - Can You Actually Make Money Day Trading?

Follow Stanislav Galandzovskyi:

https://www.galandzovsky.pro

https://t.me/ads_for_fintech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/galandzovskyi/

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What is Clipping? Secret Ads Powering Polymarket & Hollywood

On The Margin — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:12:22 GMT

With Daniel Bitton of Content Rewards

AI Agents Hunt Defi Yield

On The Margin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:51:11 GMT

With MacBrennan Peet from P0

The Account Layer For Crypto Banking

On The Margin — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:31:28 GMT

With Neo Liat Beng, COO of Ur Technology.

Who Owns The Wallet Owns The Rails

On The Margin — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 02:12:41 GMT

Watch now | With Nitya Subramanian, founder and CEO of Para

Close Friends Only - With Matt Moss, founder of Locket Labs

On The Margin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:07:24 GMT

Matt founded Locket, a social media platform designed to be used with your friends

Whop Stop Shop?

On The Margin — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 02:24:21 GMT

By many accounts, Whop may be the fastest growing fintech of 2026, albeit it isn't usually thought of as a Fintech company. I discussed this and more with Steven Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of Whop.

Off-Exchange Settlement For Institutional Crypto

On The Margin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:41:36 GMT

With Nirup Ramalingam, the CEO and Founder of BridgePort.

Raj Kamal On Stablecoins in Cross-Border Payments

On The Margin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:40:46 GMT

The Rise of Non-USD Stablecoins

On The Margin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:08:40 GMT

With Gianluca Minoprio of Daimo