Market Cap w/ Sam MacPherson from Spark

Show Notes

🎥 Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38NdaGwj8Hs

On this Market Cap episode our Director of Institutional Services, Stefano Sanabria, speaks with Sam MacPherson, CEO and Co-founder at Phoenix Labs, the core development team behind Spark.

Spark is the lending protocol within the Sky ecosystem that enables users to supply assets, borrow the USDS stablecoin, and access onchain liquidity markets.

It functions as the capital markets layer of Sky, directing stablecoin liquidity across DeFi while aligning borrowing demand, yield generation, and protocol revenue.

On Market Cap we feature firms and funds to explore the thinking that guides them, the patterns they observe, and other forces moving the markets.

Chapters
00:20 Introduction: Spark, Sky, and Phoenix Labs
01:16 Sam's Background and Entry into Crypto
04:14 Lessons from MakerDAO and DAO Governance
07:28 The Sky Sub-DAO Model Explained
10:27 What Spark Does in the Ecosystem
13:26 Institutional Lending and DeFi Borrowers
17:25 Spark Prime and the Funding Rate Opportunity
23:10 Risk Frameworks and DAO Governance
28:26 Misleading Metrics in DeFi
33:07 A Decade in Crypto: Lessons from the Cycles
41:32 Macro Outlook and the Future of Stablecoins
44:38 What’s Next for Spark and Closing

Links
https://spark.fi/
https://sky.money/
https://x.com/sparkdotfi
https://x.com/hexonaut

What is Market Cap?

Market Cap is the show for serious capital in crypto. Stefano hosts allocators, market makers, and institutional operators to unpack the flows, structures, and mechanics shaping the asset class. Conversations focus on market structure, liquidity, the bridge between TradFi and crypto, and the questions allocators are actually asking. Built for professionals who treat crypto as a market, not a meme.