From the team that produces Modern Money SmartBrief -- and more than 40 other newsletters for some of the most influential organizations in Finance -- it's the Modern Money SmartPod. This podcast features insights from key policymakers and C-suite executives from leading financial services firms. If you're looking for a fun and informative podcast that focuses specifically on the people, technologies and trends that are driving the future of financial services … this is it!
Listen to episodes
60 recent
November 13, 20268 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Julie Winkler from CME Group
After our jam-packed schedules caused us to miss our connection last week at FIA Expo in Chicago, CME Group Chief Commercial Officer Julie Winkler made time for us to link up after the show had ended. In this episode, Julie shares her takeaways from Expo and discusses innovative ways CME Group is working to expand its footprint across multiple markets. Julie also shares details about the role she is playing, along with David Martin from G.H. Financials, in leading this year’s Kilt Challenge to benefit Futures for Kids .
November 4, 20265 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Dorothy DeWitt from Tolt Strategies
In this interview from the floor of FIA Expo, Tölt Strategies founder and CEO Dorothy DeWitt shares an insider's perspective on how firms can "future-proof" innovative products amid shifting administrations and unprecedented regulatory dynamics. DeWitt discusses the unique litigation and rescission risks facing current regulatory interpretations, the surge in GPU compute contracts, tokenized funds, and what CME's 60-day regulatory extension reveals about economic and national security scrutiny in compute markets. Key Topics Covered: 00:41 – Future-proofing frontier markets: Thriving through administration changes 01:22 – Navigating single-commissioner dynamics, litigation risks, and staff guidance rescission 02:52 – Frontier products in motion: GPU compute indices, DEX onshoring, perpetuals, and tokenized funds 03:46 – Compute futures - the 60-day extension: Rule 40.3 filings, public comment analysis, and national security considerations 05:36 – Final takeaways on principles-based regulation and market integrity
November 4, 20269 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Andy Ross from Kalshi
Fresh off a mid-term election watch party, Andy Ross , Head of Institutional Business at Kalshi , breaks down the exchange’s 98% prediction accuracy for elections around the US and explains why continuous market pricing provides vastly superior data compared to static polling. He also pushes back on common misconceptions about prediction markets – firmly distinguishing them from gambling and sportsbooks – and details how Kalshi operates as a federally regulated DCM/DCO under the CFTC. Plus, Andy discusses onshoring perpetual futures, real-world hedging use cases for everyday small businesses – like snow plow companies hedging warm winters. Key Topics Covered: 00:44 – 98% Accuracy: Why prediction market data outpaced traditional polling on election night 02:29 – Why prediction markets are exchange infrastructure, not casinos or sportsbooks 03:18 – Onshore compliance: CFTC oversight, segregated bank deposits, and listing ethics 04:41 – The rise of compliant perpetuals: Bringing offshore volume into regulated US order books 06:09 – Real-economy hedging: Enabling small businesses to manage weather and operational risks 08:05 – Looking ahead to 2027: Surpassing $1 trillion in trade volume and overnight index trading
November 4, 202611 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Trabue Bland from Intercontinental Exchange
In this episode from FIA Expo, Trabue Bland , Senior Vice President of Futures Exchanges at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) , discusses the surge of activity across the futures industry – from macro reactions to the midterm elections and CFTC single-stock perp developments to ICE’s headline-making partnership with Trade[XYZ] and the Hyperliquid protocol. Bland explains how ICE is bringing institutional, regulatory-compliant infrastructure to decentralized perpetuals, why ICE is directly challenging CME with new livestock contracts (COW, MOO, SOW and STK), and how ICE is expanding its precious metals footprint to meet demand driven by global compute infrastructure. Key Topics Covered: 01:12 – Midterm election buzz & CFTC sentiment on single-stock perpetual futures 02:18 – Behind the Hyperliquid & Trade[XYZ] deal: Tracking down pseudonymous builders to bridge DeFi with US regulation 04:40 – Social buzz: How Stan Druckenmiller and Elon Musk reacted to ICE's perpetual moves 06:01 – Regulatory mechanics: ICE's new clearinghouse model for on-chain protocols 06:51 – Old-school competition with CME: Launching cattle and hog futures (COW, MOO, SOW, and upcoming STK) 08:48 – Metals & London Gold: Arbitrage dynamics, Asia pricing, and critical minerals powering AI compute 11:05 – Fun wrap-up: Trabue’s call sign: "T-Bone"
November 4, 20265 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: FutureSports Co-Founder and CEO Leigh Taylforth
At FIA Expo in Chicago, host Sean McMahon welcomes Leigh Taylforth , Co-Founder and CEO of FutureSports , to the Modern Money SmartPod . FutureSports is building broad-based sports index benchmarks designed for institutional financial markets. Partnering with CME Group – who has also joined FutureSports’ cap table – the platform licenses official league data to power tradable futures contracts based on cumulative statistical team performance. Leigh explains how their indices track MLB and NHL data, how corporate sponsors and media partners can use these products to hedge capital risk, and the roadmap for expanding to soccer and major global leagues. Key Topics Covered: 00:49 – FutureSport’s role: League partnerships, index administration, and the CME relationship 01:13 – How the index works: MLB statistical accumulation, weighting, and win-loss correlation 02:18 – Adapting methodologies across sports: Baseball vs. Hockey vs. Soccer 03:11 – Live on the CME: Launching MLB World Series futures and adding new sports leagues 03:50 – Why CME Group-backed FutureSports and joined the cap table 04:40 – Hedging sports risk: Enabling sponsors, broadcasters, and commercial partners to manage exposure
November 4, 20268 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Sapphire Technology Group Chairman Keith Todd
At the FIA Expo in Chicago, host Sean McMahon welcomes Sapphire Technology Group Chairman Keith Todd on the Modern Money SmartPod . As a fintech industry legend, Keith shares his perspective on why AI should be treated as a catalyst for change rather than just a technology, and cautions leaders against repeating past SaaS mistakes by attempting to build everything in-house. Keith also breaks down the core principles of the "Sapphire Doctrine" – from building win-win stakeholder models to decentralizing decision-making – and gives an inside look at Sapphire's exclusive annual leadership summit in Boulder. Key Topics Covered: 01:09 – AI as a catalyst for change: Focusing talent on revenue generation 02:18 – Why you should stop leading with "AI" in marketing statements 02:36 – The SaaS trap: Why building internal AI tools carries hidden operational risks 04:07 – The Sapphire Doctrine: How to drive sustainable, profitable technology growth 05:23 – Leadership philosophy: Empowering front-line teams over top-down escalation 06:07 – Innovation judging at FIA Expo: Identifying a company's 10-year "North Star" 06:33 – Sapphire's Boulder summit: Collaborative masterclasses for C-suite executives
November 3, 20267 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: JB Mackenzie from Robinhood
At the Futures Industry Association’s Expo event in Chicago, host Sean McMahon welcomes repeat guest JB Mackenzie , VP and GM of Futures and Prediction Markets at Robinhood , to the Modern Money SmartPod . Two years after launching prediction markets around the presidential election, event contracts have surged to become Robinhood’s second-largest quarterly revenue source. On Election Day 2026, JB dives into how event contracts are being integrated into everyday portfolios. JB also outlines the launch of Robinhood’s Election Hub, which compares market probabilities against polling data. JB also discusses the rapid expansion into 15-minute crypto/commodity contracts and company KPI markets. Key Topics Covered: 00:00 – Welcome back to the Modern Money Smart Pod live from FIA Expo 00:51 – Prediction markets evolve from niche experiment to Robinhood’s #2 revenue source 03:02 – Prediction markets vs. traditional polling on Election Day 04:09 – Market integrity, contract design, and guarding against manipulation 05:17 – Economic data drivers and watching the closing flurry of election trading 06:10 – Fun prediction: JB, A proud alum of the University of Notre Dame, predicts the outcome of this Saturday’s college football game between the Fighting Irish and the Miami Hurricanes
November 3, 20266 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: IncubeEx Co-Founder and CEO Dan Scarbrough
At the Futures Industry Association’s Expo gathering in Chicago, host Sean McMahon welcomes repeat guest Dan Scarbrough, Co-Founder and CEO of IncubEx, to the Modern Money Smart Pod . Despite political headwinds and counterintuitive headlines, environmental markets are setting records across open interest, traded volume, and exchange revenues. Dan breaks down the primary asset classes driving this momentum – carbon, renewable fuels, and renewable energy certificates (RECs) – and explains how IncubEx is standardizing OTC bilateral trades into clear, regulated futures and options. Plus, they explore innovative new contracts like Massachusetts Clean Peak and discuss the future intersection of AI data centers and environmental trading: "Green Compute" futures. Key Topics Covered: 00:00 – Welcome back from FIA Expo in Chicago 00:33 – Record-breaking growth: Open interest and volume across North American environmental markets 01:23 – The power drivers: State-level mechanisms, RPS standards, and federal incentives 01:46 – Product development: Carbon, RECs, and renewable fuels moving from OTC to exchange-traded futures 02:40 – Innovation spotlight: Massachusetts Clean Peak contracts trading out the curve 03:39 – The next frontier: AI data centers, power/water resource strain, and the feasibility of "Green Compute" contracts 05:48 – First innings: Why compute futures and energy markets are intrinsically linked
November 3, 20265 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Tomo Tokuyama and Alun Green from Trading Technologies
At the Futures Industry Association’s Expo gathering in Chicago, Sean McMahon welcomes Tomo Tokuyama and Alun Green from Trading Technologies (TT) to the Modern Money Smart Pod . In this episode, Tomo and Alun break down TT’s latest announcements and platform evolutions: Digital Assets Relaunch: How TT’s new partnerships with Robinhood and Bitstamp bring institutional clients direct market access using familiar front-to-back TT workflows. A True Multi-Asset Strategy: Why buy-side clients are shifting away from rigid asset-class silos and how TT is connecting traders to fragmented liquidity pools. TT FX & Dynamic Hedger: Why FX is often treated as a "nuisance asset class" and how TT's new dynamic hedger inside the Autospreader allows cross-currency basis traders to eliminate contract lag and hedge in real time. Prediction Markets Go Institutional: How customer demand shifted TT from skepticism to actively supporting trading and clearing access for prediction markets. Key Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome from FIA Expo in Chicago 00:26 – TT’s digital assets rannouncement with Robinhood & Bitstamp 01:13 – Breaking down TT’s multi-asset & multi-execution strategy 02:15 – FX as a "nuisance" asset class & launching the Dynamic Hedger 04:14 – Why prediction markets are becoming a true institutional play 05:05 – Wrap-up and future outlook
November 3, 20266 min
Road Trip to FIA Expo: Eventus CEO Cameron Routh
At FIA Expo in Chicago, Modern Money SmartPod host Sean McMahon sits down with Eventus CEO Cameron Routh to discuss the firm’s new partnership with Synova Global to provide surveillance for market-as-a-service offerings – including upcoming compute futures contracts driven by rapid AI growth. Routh also shares his perspective on the regulatory landscape for prediction markets, why surveillance is about building trust rather than checking a box and the hidden costs of failed compliance programs. Key Topics Covered: 00:00 – Welcome from FIA Expo in Chicago 00:45 – Eventus & Synova Global partnership: Surveillance for market-as-a-service & compute contracts 01:54 – Navigating compliance & regulation in prediction markets 03:04 – Beyond the checklist: Reputational risk, trust, and the real cost of surveillance failures 04:07 – Stepping into the CEO role: Client-facing team investments and global expansion 05:47 – Looking ahead: Tokenization, AI, and the evolution of market integrity
Is this your show?
Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.
