Sam Kazemian is the founder of Frax, the fractional-algorithmic stablecoin protocol. After co-founding the decentralized Wikipedia startup Everipedia, Sam set out to pioneer the algorithmic stablecoin space. The FRAX stablecoin now has a market cap of over $2.6 billion, and the protocol’s FXS governance token is up 300% in the last year. 

In this episode, we explore the Stablecoin Wars, in which different protocols compete for liquidity and composability in DeFi. Sam brings a 1st-person perspective into the developments surrounding UST and the recently launched 4pool on Curve, which consists of stablecoins UST, FRAX, USDT, and USDC.

A highlight of this conversation is Sam’s parable of an archetypal central bank, in which he cruises through a number of salient takes on money markets and macroeconomics. There is a lot to learn about this Cambrian explosion of financial technology, and Sam is a great teacher. Stick around to find out why walked away from this conversation bullish on Frax.

------ 📣 M·A·C: NFT | Keith Haring Collection for a Good Cause https://bankless.cc/MAC 

------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER:          https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/   🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST:                 http://podcast.banklesshq.com/  

------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 

⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALED ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum 

❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across 

🏦 ALTO IRA | TAX-FREE CRYPTO https://bankless.cc/AltoIRA 

👻 AAVE V3 | LEND & BORROW CRYPTO https://bankless.cc/aave 

⚡️ MAKER DAO | THE DAI STABLECOIN  https://bankless.cc/MakerDAO  

🦁 BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave 

------ Topics Covered:

0:00 Intro 3:30 Sam from Frax 7:50 The Stablecoin Narrative 13:45 The Central Bank Parable 24:45 Backing an Exchange Rate

28:10 Frax Analytics | What is Frax? 37:34 Frax Analytics | The Peg 42:30 Frax Analytics | Comparing 45:03 RSA Gets Frax-Pilled

49:42 MIM vs UST 53:16 The LUNA Token 56:41 Frax Roadmap | FPI

1:04:36 The 4pool 1:14:00 The Stablecoin Wars 1:18:35 What Happens Next? 1:23:20 Closing & Disclaimers

------ Resources:

Sam on Twitter https://twitter.com/samkazemian 

Frax Finance https://app.frax.finance/ 

Decentralized Finance and the Debt Cycles swan.io/blog/decentralized-finance-and-the-debt-cycles"> https://academy.blue-swan.io/blog/decentralized-finance-and-the-debt-cycles 

Market Share Chart https://www.theblockcrypto.com/data/decentralized-finance/stablecoins/total-crypto-backed-and-algorithmic-stablecoin-supply 

Do Kwon’s 4pool Tweet https://twitter.com/stablekwon/status/1510021707377287170 

----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.

Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures