Borrowing With Bitcoin, Paying With AI: Money’s Next Big Shift | Benefit Street Partners Anant Kuma
Anant Kumar discusses the current state and future potential of blockchain in finance, exploring how institutions are beginning to adopt the technology and where it could have the greatest impact: collateral, settlement and tokenisation
.Drawing on real-world examples, including Benefit Street Partners’ Bitcoin-backed loan and Galaxy Digital’s tokenised commercial paper transaction on Solana, Anant explains how blockchain is being applied to traditional financial processes, and what needs to happen for adoption to scale.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
• Why institutional blockchain adoption is likely to begin with collateral, followed by settlement.
• How Galaxy Digital’s tokenised commercial paper transaction demonstrates the potential of on-chain finance.
• Why traditional processes, such as leveraged loan settlement, can take up to two weeks, and how blockchain could help.
• The role of regulation and regulatory clarity in enabling institutional adoption.
• The technical infrastructure required to support on-chain collateral and settlement.
• How tokenisation could extend across asset classes, including equities, bonds, real estate and aircraft.
• Why atomic settlement presents both opportunities and challenges for financial institutions.
• How digital assets could intersect with emerging areas such as AI infrastructure and GPU financing.
• What institutions should consider now as they prepare for tokenisation, including security and operational readiness.
If you’re working in financial services, private credit or digital assets, this conversation offers a practical look at blockchain’s evolving role in traditional finance and the opportunities and challenges shaping its adoption.
Chapters
01:04 Introduction: blockchain’s role in institutional finance
03:16 Why collateral comes before settlement
06:41 Bitcoin-backed lending and the Galaxy Digital deal
08:04 What institutions need to bring assets on-chain
10:40 Inside Galaxy Digital’s tokenised commercial paper transaction
12:19 Atomic settlement and stablecoin repayment
13:17 What comes next for tokenised commercial paper
13:39 Choosing a blockchain network
14:21 Why leveraged loan settlement takes up to two weeks
17:12 The move towards atomic settlement
18:15 Swift’s shared ledger and interbank transfers
18:47 Managing volatility in Bitcoin-backed lending
22:34 Aircraft as collateral
23:30 Tokenising equities and other traditional assets
24:45 How far along is institutional blockchain adoption?
26:15 Blockchain’s role in Benefit Street Partners’ strategy
26:39 Tokenised funds and GPU financing
28:44 How on-chain capital can finance AI infrastructure
30:01 Smart contracts, execution risk and bridge loans
31:41 AI’s impact on private credit
33:03 Preparing financial institutions for tokenisation
34:37 Practical steps for getting ready
35:36 Building blockchain expertise at Franklin Templeton
36:42 What could come next for digital assets
38:12 Advice for navigating change