William Quigley: Building Tether, the World’s Most Traded Cryptocurrency - [Web3 Breakdowns, EP.78]

Making Markets

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is William Quigley. William has had a fascinating career working on the frontier of technology. He co-founded one of the earliest consumer VC funds, wrote the first institutional check for PayPal, and helped build the first major stablecoin, Tether. We start with a quick tour of his career and then dive into the history of Tether, the design choices that made it the most traded cryptocurrency in the world, and how digital assets have been around a lot longer than you may have thought. From my experience working in traditional finance, I have been a bit obsessed with stablecoins and enjoyed the opportunity to dive this deep into Tether. I hope you enjoy my conversation with William Quigley.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes

(00:01:57) - (First question) - His career in VC and gaming prepared him for the world of crypto

(00:11:25) - Exploring the potential of blockchain and crypto

(00:16:04) - Blockchain's ideal applications

(00:22:43) - Tether's origin story and its role in enabling arbitrage trading

(00:30:28) - Building trust, tokenization, and Tether's reserves in stablecoin development

(00:38:09) - Tether's redeemability, trust, and market dynamics in cryptocurrency

(00:43:44) - Trust, convenience, global risks, and regulatory considerations in stablecoins

(00:48:30) - US banking dominance, Tether's struggle with banking relationships in regulation

(00:53:25) - Tether's growth reflects demand for freedom and challenges with banking

(00:57:00) - WAX's purpose-built blockchain facilitated NFT growth and trust in collectibles

(01:06:34) - What he is most excited to build over the next six months and six years

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