Before a trading app reaches a user, there is an entire system underneath it doing the real heavy lifting.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca, for a sharp and wide-ranging conversation on brokerage infrastructure, on-chain finance, market access, and what it really takes to build financial products at global scale.

It is a grounded look at how trading has shifted from web to mobile to on-chain, why financial access still needs to be designed around culture and local behaviour, and what happens when traditional markets and digital assets begin moving closer together.

From tokenised stocks and stablecoins to prediction markets and infrastructure complexity, this conversation explores the less visible layer of finance, the one powering the apps, products, and experiences users see on the surface.

They also discuss why infrastructure should behave like a utility, what responsibilities licensed platforms carry around investor protection and market integrity, and why the long-term shift toward on-chain finance may be less about ideology and more about real product-market fit.

🎙️ In this episode:

• What Alpaca actually does and why brokerage infrastructure matters now
• How trading behaviour has evolved from desktop to mobile-first experiences
• Why financial products cannot be copied globally without cultural context
• The difference between building apps and building the infrastructure beneath them
• Why Yoshi believes everything will eventually move on-chain
• Stablecoins, tokenised stocks, and where real adoption is already happening
• Why bridging fiat and on-chain systems is harder than it looks
• The role of infrastructure in investor protection, compliance, and market safety
• Whether finance is heading toward super apps or continued specialisation
• Why Yoshi thinks access matters more than the language of “democratisation”
• Building globally across 45 countries and operating financial infrastructure at scale
• Yoshi’s view on Japanese founders, risk-taking, and what may change next

If you are trying to understand where financial infrastructure is heading, and how brokerage, stablecoins, tokenisation, and digital assets are starting to connect, this episode gives you a practical lens into the layer most people never see.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Why infrastructure matters more than people think
01:00 Meet Yoshi Yokokawa and what Alpaca does
02:14 Why this is a big moment for brokerage infrastructure
04:54 How trading behaviour has changed over time
07:28 Why financial products need cultural context
09:30 Trading, gambling, and the role of infrastructure
12:19 Why Yoshi believes everything will move on-chain
15:14 Investor protection, fraud, and market integrity
18:05 Tokenised stocks and infrastructure complexity
20:51 Bridging fiat and on-chain finance
23:46 Bundling, unbundling, and where finance is going
27:04 A

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Money is no longer just held. It is moving, earning, and quietly reshaping the system around it.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Anton Golub, Founding Member of RWA Labs, for a sharp, grounded conversation on what is actually happening beneath the surface of crypto, stablecoins, and tokenization.

It is a clear breakdown of how liquidity, leverage, and market structure are shaping Bitcoin cycles, why stablecoins are becoming impossible to ignore, and what happens when financial systems built for control collide with technologies built for movement.

From retail dominance in crypto markets to the real risks behind products like Strategy, and from yield-bearing stablecoins to the tension they create with traditional banks, this conversation stays rooted in what actually matters.

They also explore tokenization beyond the buzz, why most real-world asset experiments are still early, and how infrastructure gaps like liquidity, regulation, and market access continue to limit adoption.

🎙️ In this episode:

• What really caused recent Bitcoin volatility and liquidity drops
• Why retail still dominates crypto ownership more than we think
• Strategy, leverage, and the idea of “too big to fail” in crypto
• The reality behind stablecoin yield and why regulators are cautious
• How stablecoins could pressure smaller economies and currencies
• Tokenized deposits vs stablecoins and where each fits
• Why most tokenization use cases are still early or incomplete
• Real estate tokenization, liquidity gaps, and market readiness
• The future of Layer 1 blockchains and why many won’t survive
• Where crypto infrastructure still falls short today

If you are trying to understand where crypto meets real financial systems, and what actually drives adoption beyond narratives, this episode gives you a practical lens to think through it.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Bitcoin, yield, and why stablecoins are everywhere
03:00 What broke the crypto market and liquidity after October
07:00 Who really owns Bitcoin today
11:00 Strategy, leverage, and systemic risk
14:00 Stablecoin yield and regulatory pressure
20:00 Stablecoins vs monetary policy in emerging markets
23:00 Tokenized deposits vs stablecoins explained
29:00 Cross-border payments and real-world use cases
33:00 Tokenization of real-world assets, reality vs hype
40:00 Layer 1 blockchains and future consolidation

SOCIAL LINKS

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PARTNERS

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Our website 👉 https://bit.ly/3jk7UH0

Find us on our social media platforms:

• Arjun's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunvirsingh/
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Fraud is not new. But the scale, speed, and sophistication have changed.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Navin Gupta, CEO of Crystal Intelligence, and Nick Smart, Chief Intelligence Officer at Crystal Intelligence, to unpack the evolving world of crypto-related fraud, institutional risk, and the uncomfortable truth about financial crime in a 24/7 digital economy.

From the Lazarus Group and the Bybit hack to scam compounds operating at industrial scale, this conversation moves beyond headlines and into how crypto crime actually works, why velocity of money matters, and whether regulation is finally catching up.

They explore the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets, stablecoins, tokenization, AI-driven fraud, and the systemic risks emerging as crypto integrates deeper into the global financial system.

🎙️ In this episode:

• Why crypto fraud is industrialized, not amateur
• The Lazarus Group and lessons from the Bybit incident
• How blockchain transparency changes crime investigation
• AI as a multiplier for scams and financial crime
• Why 24/7 markets clash with 9–5 regulatory systems
• Stablecoins, velocity of money, and systemic risk
• Tokenization: real utility vs liquidity illusion
• Regulatory arbitrage and geopolitical blind spots
• Financial inclusion vs vulnerability in emerging markets
• Scam Alert and how reporting fraud protects the ecosystem

If you care about the future of finance, financial inclusion, stablecoins, or institutional crypto adoption, this episode offers a clear-eyed view of where risk really sits.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 Fraud in the digital era and why crypto attracts it
01:00 What Crystal Intelligence actually does
05:00 Is crypto more opaque than traditional finance?
12:00 Industrial-scale scam compounds and modern fraud
16:30 The Lazarus Group and the Bybit hack
21:00 Velocity of money vs cost of fraud
26:00 Regulation catching up to digital assets
30:00 Stablecoins, custody, and institutional adoption
35:00 Exchanges, compliance, and global licensing gaps
38:00 Layer 1s, liquidity, and criminal behavior
44:00 AI, 24/7 markets, and systemic vulnerabilities
49:00 Tokenization, real world assets, and risk
52:00 Informal value transfer systems and financial inclusion
56:00 Scam Alert and collective responsibility

SOCIAL LINKS

Arjun’s LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunvirsingh/

Couchonomics LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/couchonomics-with-arjun-singh/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/couchonomics/

Twitter (X) → https://twitter.com/Arjun_Vir_Singh

TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@couchonomics

Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3WI4A6E

PARTNERS

Couchonomics with Arjun Season 04 is brought to you by:

Adyen → https://www.adyen.com/

Thunes → https://thunes.com/

Mastercard → https://mastercard.com/

Our website 👉 https://bit.ly/3jk7UH0

Find us on our social media platforms:

• Arjun's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunvirsingh/
• CCN LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/couchonomics-with-arjun-singh/
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/couchonomics/
• Twitter https://twitter.com/Arjun_Vir_Singh?s=20
• TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@couchonomics

Subscribe to Arjun's LinkedIn newsletter, Couchonomics Crunch: https://bit.ly/3WI4A6E