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Scott Melker · Oct 21, 2026 · 37 min

Bitcoin Went From $60K to $84K. Why Does It Feel Stuck?

Scott Melker interviews Nicola White of Robinhood about crypto infrastructure and regulation. They cover the OCC's rule implementing the Genius Act, the SEC innovation exemption for tokenized stocks, stablecoin adoption, Robinhood Chain, perpetual futures and prediction markets. The tone is constructive: Melker says Bitcoin looks fine in context after moving from the 60s to the 80s, and White argues clearer rules are pulling activity back onshore.

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Where they stand

Crypto

Very bullish

Regulatory clarity, stablecoin payments and tokenization are building real infrastructure and adoption, even though the process is slow and Bitcoin price action is stuck near $84K.

Medium conviction · years

Markets

Neutral

Markets swung on a fake US-Iran peace deal announcement and then reversed, reflecting a geopolitically noisy backdrop.

Low conviction · days

Key takeaways

  1. Bitcoin is stuck near $84K with heavy liquidations, but Melker says it looks strong in context after moving from the 60s to the 80s. 1:48
  2. The OCC finalized the first federal rule implementing the Genius Act, and customers are building behind the scenes to use the new guidance. 2:27
  3. Stablecoins cut cross-border payment costs versus roughly 6% wire fees, and offshore and mid-sized clients are moving to them. The OCC guidance should speed this up. 3:49
  4. Tokenized stocks under the innovation exemption will take a long time to work out, with open issues around voting, 24/7 trading and layered guidance. The bigger opportunity is giving non-US customers access to US equities. 6:33
  5. Robinhood is bringing institutional and retail liquidity together via Bitstamp's roughly 50 licenses and Smart Exchange Routing, and sees institutional adoption widening beyond hedge funds as regulators give clearer permission. 9:46
  6. Robinhood enabled US perpetual futures trading, now at 5% rollout, and the CME and CFTC are in a dispute over them. 14:29
  7. Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum-built Ethereum L2 launched in July, holds over $1B, about half in yield vaults. White says the premise is that everything moves on chain, with tokenized private-market access as a goal. 27:35
  8. Clearer onshore rules are pulling innovation and money back from offshore venues. 35:43

Calls and positions

  • The OCC guidance will likely accelerate stablecoin adoption beyond its current trend.
    “we think the OCC guidance will only only probably leapfrog the adoption of stable coins”
    Very bullishPrediction: faster stablecoin adoptionNicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 20:12#Stablecoins
  • Tokenized stock trading is coming, but the full market-structure buildout on tokenized rails will be slower than people expect.
    “But like everything on tokenized rails is not as fast as people are thinking.”
    NeutralPrediction: slow tokenized rails rolloutScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 5:54#Tokenized stocks
  • Tokenized stock rollout and voting-rights issues will be an iterative process over roughly the next year.
    “this is going to be a process that iterates over, you know, the next year or so”
    BullishPrediction: iterative tokenized equity rollout (next year or so)Nicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 5:54#Tokenized stocks

Views expressed

  • Bitcoin looks strong in context, having moved from the 60s to the 80s despite failing at $84K.
    “I think Bitcoin looks great in context of everything that's been happening in the world.”
    BullishScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 1:48#Bitcoin
  • Markets rose sharply on a false announcement of a US-Iran peace deal, then fell back when it proved untrue.
    “markets actually went up massively on a fake announcement that there was a peace deal between the United States and Iran”
    BearishScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 0:00
  • Stablecoins can move money internationally at a fraction of the roughly 6% average wire cost.
    “We can do that for a fraction of the cost of stable coins.”
    Very bullishNicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 3:49#Stablecoins
  • The Clarity Act failed and is probably dead, so regulators are stepping in to supply what it would have provided.
    “the Clarity Act, which we know failed and is probably dead in the water”
    BearishScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 3:49#Crypto regulation
  • Non-US customers mainly want price exposure to US equities, so tokenized stocks are a bigger story outside the US than inside it.
    “you literally have no access to U.S. capital markets”
    BullishScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 7:18#Tokenized stocks
  • Clearer regulation is giving institutions permission to build with blockchain, widening institutional adoption beyond hedge funds.
    “People or institutions now feel like they have the permission to go and build in the space.”
    Very bullishNicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 11:15
  • Everything will move on chain, and blockchain needs to be the infrastructure powering finance generally.
    “I think blockchain needs to be the infrastructure that powers, you know, finance generally.”
    Very bullishNicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 26:10#Ethereum
  • Lack of clear onshore rules pushed business offshore, and now that rules are arriving, innovation and money are flowing back onshore.
    “We've pushed so much business offshore by not having clear rules of the road onshore.”
    BullishNicola White, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 35:43#Crypto regulation
  • New technologies like crypto start with speculation and gambling before mature use cases emerge, as the internet did.
    “they find a way to, like, gamble and speculate at first. And then you kind of see the real use cases.”
    BullishScott Melker, Oct 21, 2026Watch at 34:18

Companies, projects and topics mentioned

More from Scott Melker

Summary generated by AI from the episode audio (machine transcription)and checked against it; quotes are verbatim. Processed Oct 28, 2026.

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