The Architecture of Stablecoin Issuers with Galaxy’s Thomas Cowan

Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock'n'Roll

A four-layer architecture for stablecoin businesses to survive institutional scrutiny.

In this episode of Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll, we take you inside the organizational blueprint of the world’s most influential stablecoin issuers.

Co-host Michael Blaschke is joined by Thomas Cowan, Head of Tokenization at Galaxy Digital, whose background spans Paxos, PayPal’s stablecoin infrastructure, and CBDC projects at Ripple and the Boston Fed. Together, they dissect how stablecoin businesses are truly built — far beyond the blockchain layer.

While markets obsess over market cap rankings and regulatory headlines, this conversation goes deeper:

What distinguishes a financial enterprise from a mere tech project in the stablecoin world?

How do business models, applications, data architectures, and technology stacks interact to create institutional-grade resilience?

Why does trust, not code alone, determine which stablecoin becomes “the on-chain dollar” the world actually uses?

Thomas and Michael map out a four-layer framework — from business model to infrastructure — showing how design choices cascade through every layer of a stablecoin issuer. They explore the new competitive landscape shaped by MiCA, the Genius Act, and institutional demand, and they outline three emerging archetypes: white-label platforms, payment rails, and on-chain shadow banks.

If you want to understand how the next generation of digital money infrastructure will be architected, operated, and trusted, this episode is a must-listen.

👉 Listen now and explore detailed show notes at bfrr.com

Shownotes Thomas Cowan on LinkedIn Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock'n'Roll Website

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Kapitel

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Architecture as a differentiator? (00:02:46)

3. Where in the infrastructure is trust the biggest factor? (00:12:59)

4. The Framework (00:14:59)

5. Operating Model (00:25:29)

6. The Applications (00:34:35)

7. The Data Layer (00:41:51)

8. Reconciliation (00:44:30)

9. Technology Infrastructure (00:45:37)

10. Wrap-up (00:49:20)