Who actually holds power in the global financial system, and how is digital money quietly rewiring it? To find out, Stefan sits down with Marieke Flament, an independent board director, strategic advisor and co-author of Currency of Power, who has had a front-row seat to almost every chapter of money's transformation.
She was Managing Director for Europe at Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, ran the digital bank Mettle and led the NEAR Foundation, and today serves as an independent board director, including on the euro-stablecoin venture Qivalis. With her co-author Nicolas Colin she writes Currency of Power, some of the sharpest analysis anywhere on the geopolitics of money.
The through-line is her thesis that money is power, and that power is shifting. Marieke explains what she means by a great monetary reset: how the dollar became the world's reserve currency and why that role is now being questioned, from the 2008 break in trust and the 2014 turn to sanctions to the birth of Bitcoin.
She shows why the US is leaning into dollar stablecoins as a way to create fresh, retail-driven demand for its Treasuries, and why that is a different instrument from a tokenized bank deposit: stablecoin issuers behave like narrow banks that hold one dollar of safe assets for every token, while banks run fractional reserves. Along the way she makes plain why long-term US yields at a nineteen-year high, and Japan and Norway rattling the sabre over selling Treasuries, actually matter.
From there the conversation opens out to the other great powers and to Europe. Marieke unpacks China's full-stack strategy and its gold-backed rails, why de-dollarization is far less simple than it sounds when the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the greenback, and why Europe is caught in between.
She argues that a well-designed euro stablecoin is a must-have rather than a nice-to-have, driven by agentic AI commerce and the tokenization of financial markets, and explains what the 37-bank Qivalis consortium is really for: cross-border flows, corporate treasuries and the network effects Europe cannot afford to cede.
The episode closes on how wholesale central-bank money, tokenized deposits and stablecoins might stack like layers of a cake, and on Marieke's hope that the shift now underway stays a peaceful one. A big-picture, plain-language conversation about money as power. Enjoy the episode.
Guest: Marieke Flament, Independent Board Director, Strategic Advisor & Co-Author, Currency of Power Marieke Flament on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mariekeflament Currency of Power (Marieke Flament & Nicolas Colin): currencyofpower.co Qivalis, the regulated euro stablecoin backed by European banks: qivalis.eu Ray Dalio, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order (referenced in the episode)
Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock'n'Roll:
Website: bfrr.de Telegram: t.me/+jA3nMkERPtc5YjQ0 X: twitter.com/bfrr_podcast LinkedIn: Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock'n'Roll YouTube: channel Fountain: fountain.fm Buy Bitcoin on Relai, directly or as a savings plan: click here *
Relai*: Buy Bitcoin with Relai—you can do a one-time purchase or savings plan: Click here. Use the referral code "ROCK" to reduce transaction fees by 0.1% while supporting Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll.
Value4Value Podcast Streaming: Support our podcast by listening to our episodes on the Fountain Podcast App. This way, if you wish, you can support us "Value4Value" while listening to the podcast. You can find us on the Fountain Podcast App here: Click here
Disclaimer: The content of this podcast reflects the private opinions of the hosts, serves exclusively for general information purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Always remember: Do your own research—inform yourself before making any investment decisions, such as buying Bitcoin. First try to understand what Bitcoin is and how to store it. This podcast does not provide financial advice. Note that the co-hosts might be invested in crypto assets. Read more on our website: Click here
All links marked with "*" are affiliate links. If you use these links for purchase, the podcast receives a small share of the revenue without any additional costs to you. On the contrary, affiliate links often include discount promotions, so you can even save money. We would appreciate it if you use these links to support us. Thank you very much!