Digital assets are no longer just a niche trade — they're becoming core infrastructure for global capital. Few people see that shift more clearly than the market makers moving liquidity every single day. Joining me is Paul Howard, Senior Director at Wincent, a firm built on technology-driven trading and institutional-grade liquidity across thousands of digital assets. Paul, welcome back to the show.
Johnny, great. Thank you.
It feels like digital assets have entered a new era of institutional adoption. From where you sit as one of the largest market makers, what has fundamentally changed over the past two years?
I believe it's the merge of crypto and macro. Five years ago, crypto conferences were hoodie-and-t-shirt events. These days the room is full of suited institutional family offices. Five years ago we had our own catalysts, our own rhythms — press releases would drive momentum and price movement. That world is gone. Now when the Fed speaks or tech numbers disappoint, we see it reflected in crypto pricing. That's where institutional adoption is really showing up — not in press releases, but in crypto price action reflecting what's happening in global macro. On our desk, the conversations are no longer about what is Bitcoin or how do we get involved. They're directly about how do we settle, where do we settle, who are you banking with. That shift in the questions being asked is what has fundamentally changed.
You see liquidity flow across the world's leading digital asset exchanges every day. What market signals are you seeing that most investors may be missing?
A lot of things don't hit the headlines. Pricing reflects just one aspect of the marketplace. Look at what's been happening in South Korea over the last six months — the KOSPI has been on an absolute tear and Bitcoin has been trading at a discount in Korea, because there are big outflows from crypto as people rotate into AI. Then look at stablecoin infrastructure — a $300 billion market where you can see the active interest in using stablecoins to trade and move money. The flows from institutions, rather than retail exchanges, show a significant change in how liquidity is showing up. It's no longer driven by retail platforms. Large institutions trading ETFs and conducting stablecoin transactions are driving the narrative now.
How is AI changing Wincent's trading operation and where do you see its greatest potential?
As a computer scientist, AI has become something of a byword for machine learning, and machine learning is nothing new to fintech and crypto — quantitative firms like ours have been using it for years. What has genuinely changed is the scale. We now crunch massive data sets across digital assets and macro markets, using machine learning to parse that information and adjust our spreads and liquidity in real time. At moments when we might previously have wanted a manual trader to intervene, we can quickly scan an entire data set and make minute adjustments. It also plays a big role in risk management — understanding large historical data sets helps us know where we need to be with counterparty risk. But the greatest potential going forward is actually on the client side — for people spreading orders across the day, analysing different protocols, and making investment decisions using AI to process large data sets. That's where the game-changing application lies.
For investors across the Americas and MENA watching today, what's the one trend that will define the next decade and what's the next major catalyst for growth?
I'm going to call this invisible crypto. Over the last 7 or 8 years we've had two phases. First, institutional spot — companies getting familiar with trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana. Then the ETF phase, where institutions became more sophisticated about accessing digital asset products. The third wave — which will be critical for the Americas and MENA — is putting credit on-chain. We're already seeing it with commodities and stablecoins. The next big thing will be repo collateralised lending — the ability to do instant settlement with digital assets and pool real-time collateral concentration. That's the major indicator for where this goes. And for geography, the Middle East has put so much regulation in place and is such a centre of activity for commodities, stablecoin, and FX trading that alongside Asia and New York, I think MENA is genuinely the third capital of the world for crypto over the next 3 to 5 years.
It's exciting to see how much this space changes year to year. Thank you so much for joining us and for breaking down what you're seeing. Thanks, Paul.
