Kristin Smith is President of the Solana Policy Institute. She joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss why the Clarity Act stalled in the US Senate.

Kristin explains how the politics around President Trump, opposition from the banking lobby and a shifting Democratic electorate derailed the bill, and why she believes the industry still came out ahead as the SEC and CFTC move to write rules on their own. They also discuss the risk of a political backlash and crypto's shift toward financial infrastructure.

You can connect with Kristin Smith on LinkedIn

For editorial and sponsorship enquiries: aaron@promenadeadvisory.comSubscribe to Bits and Borders:

Bits and Borders is presented by Sumsub

Sumsub recently released its fourth annual State of the Crypto Industry report. The new research reveals how digital asset companies are balancing fraud prevention, regulatory pressure, and user experience as they scale in 2026. This report draws on Sumsub's internal data from 2024–2025 and insights from 300 crypto companies surveyed outside Sumsub's customer base.

Read the full report here:

Marcos Allende is CEO and co-founder of Blerify. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss why AI is making passwords, selfie checks and passport scans obsolete as a way to prove identity online.

Marcos explains how Blerify's identity wallets and blockchain-based trust registry allow digital IDs to be verified across borders, and why companies and governments need to adopt post-quantum cryptography now.

The conversation also covers where quantum computing stands in 2026 and what it could unlock beyond breaking encryption.You can connect with Marcos on LinkedIn

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Bits and Borders is presented by SumsubSumsub recently released its fourth annual State of the Crypto Industry report. The new research reveals how digital asset companies are balancing fraud prevention, regulatory pressure, and user experience as they scale in 2026. This report draws on Sumsub's internal data from 2024–2025 and insights from 300 crypto companies surveyed outside Sumsub's customer base.Read the full report here: Connect with Aaron Stanley on LinkedIn: Follow Bits and Borders on LinkedIn: Follow Bits and Borders on X

For editorial and sponsorship enquiries: aaron@promenadeadvisory.com

Didier Lavallée is the CEO of Tetra Digital Group, the Canadian trust company behind CAD Digital (CADD), a Canadian dollar stablecoin that launched in May.

He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss why Canada went so long without a usable domestic stablecoin, and how Tetra grew out of the QuadrigaCX collapse into the country's first qualified digital asset custodian.

They get into the early demand for CADD in remittances, US trade flows and domestic settlement, and why the lack of real-time rails in Canada is pushing treasury desks toward programmatic payments.

Didier also makes the case for non-USD stablecoins and for Canadian-owned financial infrastructure at a tense moment with Washington.

Connect with Didier on LinkedIn

Connect with Aaron on Linkedin

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Bits and Borders is presented by Sumsub

Sumsub recently released its fourth annual State of the Crypto Industry report. The new research reveals how digital asset companies are balancing fraud prevention, regulatory pressure, and user experience as they scale in 2026. This report draws on Sumsub's internal data from 2024–2025 and insights from 300 crypto companies surveyed outside Sumsub's customer base.

Read the full report here