Yesterday, with SVB imploding, I couldn't help but reminisce about my time working in fiat banking. I spent 15 years at multiple institutions before joining Unchained, but there's one that is most relevant here.

In one role, I sat on the capital markets trading floor, doing daily analysis of risk and P&L for the trading books. I focused mostly on cash instruments like bonds, stocks, convertible debt, etc.

Most of the time, things are pretty quiet. But every once in a while, as the fiat world is inclined to do, there is some episode of chaos that pops up. Things like the repo spike in 2019 or March 2020 covid stuff.

When these types of events happen, senior management and regulators like the Fed and FDIC submit urgent requests for information. What follows is a flurry of activity from everyone: traders, risk management folks, finance, liquidity management, etc. We were all working furiously, late into the late, multiple days in a row, to provide insight into the risk that may be hiding under the surface.

To what extent are we exposed? What is our counterparty risk to SVB? What is their counterparty risk that is one step removed? How did the volatility in rates affect our P&L? How accurate are the marks on our positions relative to other players in the market? etc, etc

So yesterday I was thinking back to my days on the trading floor, imagining my former colleagues were probably in the middle of that shitstorm. And I'm lucky enough to work in bitcoin, which fixes so many of these problems. I spend my days and nights orange-pilling and helping people take control of their wealth.

Pura vida. 🤙