99Bitcoins Exclusive: Zodia Markets Co-founder Nick Philpott States, “If you rely on the regulator, you’ll experience no innovation whatsoever”
Nick Philpott, the Co-founder of Zodia Markets – a digital asset trading enterprise that enjoys significant price floor from established financial institutions such as the British Bank and Standard Chartered Bank – offers a polarizing perspective on the necessity for regulatory clarity. During his remarks at the Nordic Distributed database Association on 17 June 2025, he stated that the essence of most regulations essentially boils down to don’t lie, don’t cheat, and don’t steal.
“When you say you have to wait for regulators to give the green light for what can be done, it inhibits all innovation,” asserted Philpott.
Focusing on stablecoins, he mentioned, “Stablecoins are inherently cross-border.” Nonetheless, he expressed his worries regarding Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), stating, “One of my major concerns regarding MiCA is the clear hints of protectionism that seem to emerge, attempting to erect barriers while promoting the uptake of Euro stablecoins. I understand the intent. However, the issue arises when you impose restrictions in an increasingly globalized landscape, particularly with a tool that is inherently global, as this will limit your access to many opportunities.”
“When I consider assets like USDC or Tether, I view them as Eurodollars. Eurodollars have existed since the 1950s. Tether is issued by a company based in El Salvador, not the US. Thus, it is internationally oriented by design.”
“The EU is Nearly a Victim of Its Own Success,” Claims Zodia Markets Co-founder
“Originating from an institutional backdrop like ours, there exists a substantial amount of regulations you can utilize to operate a business effectively. You do not need to hodl off for regulators to establish a licensing framework. Being a UK-based firm, we still lack regulatory oversight as the necessary regulations have not been formulated yet.”
Regarding payments in the EU, he remarked that they function reasonably well. “SEPA is beneficial, Target 2 works efficiently, and instant payments are quite effective. The banks are satisfactory.”
However, he believes the EU suffers from its own achievements. “For instance,” he explained, “Zodia Markets primarily deals with US dollar stablecoins as our leading form of stablecoin trade. The Turkish Lira takes the second spot. We serve significantly more volume in the Turkish Lira stablecoin than in all Euro stablecoins combined, multiplying by 100. This is due to the complexities surrounding the settlement of Turkish Lira. Acquiring a Turkish Lira bank account offshore isn’t straightforward. However, Turkish Lira stablecoins can be held virtually anywhere.”
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Cash is “Inefficient, Unreliable, and Costly”
Promoting interoperability, he remarked that it is likely to be the most crucial aspect in the short term. “For a crypto business like ours, the foremost challenge is managing cash. It is slow, fairly unpredictable, and undoubtedly costly. It ceases to function on weekends and halts in the evenings. If we operated email as sluggishly as we handle cross-border payments, you wouldn’t be able to send an email post-5 pm. If I use Hotmail and the other party uses Gmail, communication is impossible. We don’t manage email this way because it would be absurd,” he emphasized.
“If we can transition cash and varied assets onto the open internet, it opens up interoperability opportunities. One of the simplest applications we observe, as we engage in wholesale markets instead of retail card payments, is cross-border trade. If you’re just moving a shipping container from point A to point B, it cannot interact with cash,” he further explained.
“In terms of cross-border trade, it’s not as if you’re trying to pull finance from the 19th and 20th centuries into the 21st century. With trade, it’s a leap from the 17th century straight into the 21st. The shift is tremendous.”
Use Cases of Stablecoins “Astonish the Mind”
“Stablecoins are especially valuable for the 20% of instances that inflict 80% of the anxiety, distress, and trouble.”
Latest episode of The New Money Podcast featuring Nick Philpott, Co-Founder & Head of Partnerships at @zodiamarkets
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the transformative role of stablecoins…
— Ferdinand Dabitz (@FerdiDabitz) June 19, 2025
“I don’t notice a significant level of programmability yet since the incremental enhancements from using cash for various applications are already so impactful that many participants are still grappling with their ramifications. We have two clients functioning in the remittance sector, and for them, it’s a balance sheet strategy. So, if you are a taxi driver here sending money home to Nigeria, the remittance firms create an illusion of instant payouts by holding substantial amounts of Nigerian Naira in Nigerian banks. These banks come with considerable risk. Last year, the Nigerian Naira lost 80% of its value. It’s a rather costly approach. Additionally, accessing dollar banking in Nigeria is quite challenging. Therefore, utilizing stablecoins to send money to Nigeria is significantly quicker.”
“In the realm of cross-border shipping, we’re collaborating with a very prominent port operator alongside our sister firm, Zodia Custody. They already possess a platform allowing supply chain visibility, so you can track the location of your shipping container. The issue arises when interfacing with banks, understanding where your funds are, the logistics of paying for the truck, and settling the 120 million dollars for the crude oil aboard the tanker. Communicating with the banks is problematic, and coordinating with the central banks is nearly impossible.”
Standard Chartered has Witnessed the Digital Shift in Payments
I have a feeling that certain US banks, in particular, may not be under the same pressure. I recently visited the US and noticed people using paper checks for transactions. It felt as if I had stepped back into the ’90s. Such practices are still regarded as acceptable in the US, indicating they’re not feeling the same urgency.
Discussing technology, he shared, “Back in 2018, I was part of the electronic trading team at Standard Chartered. We conducted a Bitcoin test transaction, which was like sending a wrecking ball through the systems. It disrupted every system it encountered, including the general database. We had never experienced a breakdown before that. At that moment, we realized that integrating crypto within traditional banking systems would not be feasible. Hence, we established Zodia Custody and subsequently Zodia Markets.”
“I Doubt CBDCs Have a Cross-Border Utility”
“I remain skeptical that central bank digital currencies will function effectively across borders, as it would require networking all distinct currencies,” he stated. “That amounts to 180 currencies, resulting in roughly 16,000 bilateral combinations.”
“CLS, a system designed to mitigate settlement risk in foreign trading platform, has been attempting to network central bank systems since 2002. So far, it has successfully operated with 18 currencies. At this rate, they will complete the remaining 172 in approximately 200 years. It’s not realistic.”
“Does the planet genuinely require 180 currencies? Would we even notice if we lost currencies like the Tigrinya, Guarani, Panga, Manat, or the Tenge? People might be searching online, thinking I’m fabricating these names. They are all legitimate currencies. I believe the general populace wouldn’t notice if they vanished.”
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The post 99Bitcoins Exclusive: Zodia Markets Co-founder Nick Philpott Says, “If you wait for the regulator, you’ll have no innovation at all” appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
