# Fireside Chat with Robbie Mitchnick (BlackRock) and Matt Sheffield (SharpLink) at ETHConf

- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2026-07-09
- Duration: 24:34
- Topics: BlackRock, Robbie Mitchnick, SharpLink, Matt Sheffield, ETHCom, IBIT, ETHA, ETHB, Bitcoin, Ethereum, ETFs, BUIDL, tokenization, money market funds, stablecoins, US Treasury yield, liquidity, network effects, institutional adoption, RWAs, tokenized equities, stock loans, custody, exchanges, regulation, iShares, Linea, LRT, Galaxy, staking, agentic finance, AI agents, agentic payments, immutability, machine native money, onchain, DeFi, balance sheet
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-3qnmVWCLQVM
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qnmVWCLQVM

## Description

In this fireside chat, Matt Sheffield, CIO of SharpLink, sits down with Robbie Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, to discuss institutional Ethereum adoption, ETFs, tokenization, and the future of finance. Matt opens by describing SharpLink's strategy of putting roughly $3 billion of Ethereum onto a public company balance sheet last year and progressively moving it onchain. Robbie explains BlackRock's deliberate approach to crypto ETFs, with IBIT for Bitcoin and ETHA for Ethereum, noting the high bar that includes asset maturity, market cap, liquidity, product market fit, and the conviction that an asset belongs in client portfolios on a long term fundamental basis. He emphasizes that Bitcoin sits in category one, Bitcoin plus ETH sits in category two, and there is a meaningful breakpoint after that.

The conversation digs into why TradFi firms prefer Ethereum over newer programmable L1s, citing time tested maturity, network effects, and Ethereum's incumbency. Matt argues that Ethereum gets chosen on merit rather than economic incentives, which builds trust with the community. Robbie details BlackRock's launch of ETHB as a staking focused product alongside ETHA for liquidity sensitive investors, reaching half a billion in AUM out of the gate. They discuss why tokenized money market funds have been the breakthrough tokenization category at over 10 billion dollars (including BUIDL), since they break the historical tradeoff between full US Treasury yield and perfect liquidity when paired with stablecoins. Matt outlines SharpLink's onchain allocations including a $200 million LRT deployment, bridging to Linea, and a $125 million private fund with Galaxy. Robbie shares BlackRock's four pillar tokenization framework around asset class focus, custody, regulation, and exchange listing. They close by discussing agentic finance and the intersection of AI and digital assets as the most exciting theme for the next 5 to 10 years.

00:00 Introductions
01:21 Why BlackRock Launched IBIT and ETHA but Paused After
02:23 The High Bar for an iShares Crypto Product
02:57 Bitcoin Category One, Bitcoin and ETH Category Two
03:22 Why TradFi Prefers Mature, Battle Tested Assets
04:24 Network Effects and Ethereum's Incumbency Advantage
05:12 SharpLink's Inflection Point: Stability Over Headline Chasing
06:25 Picking Ethereum on Merit, Not Economics
07:02 Utilization Without Economic Incentive as a Signal
07:42 Why BlackRock Created ETHB Separately for Staking
08:49 Catering to Liquidity Sensitive vs Yield Focused Investors
09:32 No Switching Between ETHA and ETHB
09:53 The Impact of Crypto ETFs on Industry Access
10:14 Why Tokenized Money Market Funds Came First
11:02 Breaking the Yield vs Liquidity Tradeoff
12:00 BUIDL and the 10 Billion Dollar Tokenized MMF Category
13:06 What Needs to Happen for Ethereum to Stay the Tokenization Hub
13:50 Liquidity Begets Liquidity: Ethereum's Pole Position
14:10 RWAs Need to Become More Valuable Onchain Than Off
14:55 Tokenized Stock Loans and the GameStop Example
15:35 Only 0.1% of Global Assets Are Tokenized
15:57 SharpLink's Onchain Deployments and Regulatory Process
17:02 Building Infrastructure While Pioneering Each Deployment
17:51 BlackRock's Four Pillar Tokenization Framework
18:46 Why Money Market Funds Became the Coalescence Point
19:14 The Race Between TradFi and Crypto Exchanges
20:04 Custody Hurdles for Institutional Adoption
20:58 Regulatory Clarity vs Tokenization Specific Rules
21:23 The iShares Tokenization Opportunity
21:46 Looking Ahead: Agentic Finance That Adds Value
22:16 The AI as Guardian Angel for Onchain Transactions
23:31 Ethereum's Immutability and Agentic Payments
23:58 AI Plus Digital Assets as the Defining Intersection
24:22 Closing

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