Robinson Burkey, co-founder of Wormhole Foundation, reveals how their blockchain interoperability protocol has facilitated over $60 billion in cross-chain asset transfers and become the infrastructure powering major institutional players like BlackRock's BUIDL, Apollo's private credit fund, and VanEck's money market fund.
In this deep dive, Robinson explains how Wormhole solved the critical problem of moving assets seamlessly between different blockchains like the XRP Ledger, Ethereum and Solana, creating what he calls "an accounting system for everything on chain." The protocol now connects multiple networks and processes hundreds of millions in transfers on a regular basis.
Key insights from this conversation include how institutional adoption is actually happening now with real on-chain transactions, the differences between Wormhole and competitors like Chainlink's CCIP and Axelar, and why the company chose a proof-of-authority network with 19 fully doxxed validators including Google Cloud.
Robinson also discusses Wormhole's role in powering major Oracle providers like Pyth and Redstone, their upcoming partnerships with major banks, and how they're building the infrastructure for real-world asset tokenization at scale. The conversation covers their W token economics, revenue generation strategies, and why they believe blockchain interoperability will become as essential as SWIFT is for traditional banking.
This is essential viewing for anyone interested in blockchain infrastructure, institutional crypto adoption, cross-chain technology, and the future of decentralized finance. Robinson provides rare insights into what's actually working in crypto right now versus the marketing hype.
VIDEO CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Robinson Berkkey and Wormhole Foundation
00:00:30 - How Wormhole Connects Blockchains for Seamless Asset Transfers
00:01:30 - The Importance of Interoperability in Crypto and Real-World Examples
00:02:50 - Wormhole vs Competitors: Chainlink CCIP, Axelar, and Others
00:04:10 - Institutional Adoption and Real World Asset Tokenization
00:05:32 - How Wormhole Handles Stablecoins and Cross-Chain Payments
00:08:32 - Wormhole Token (W): Security, Governance, and Utility Explained
00:11:27 - Burn and Mint Mechanism for Secure Cross-Chain Transfers
00:14:21 - Wormhole’s Role in Oracle Infrastructure and Price Feeds
00:17:04 - Upcoming Features: Staking, Faster Transactions, and Partnerships
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