SH
Sam Hallene is a Partner at CMT Digital, the Chicago-based crypto venture capital firm, where he has worked since its venture group began in 2017.
Earlier in his career he worked at Prairie Capital, a Chicago middle-market private equity firm, and Promus Capital, a Chicago multi-asset wealth manager. He graduated from the University of Michigan with majors in Economics and Spanish. At CMT Digital his work covers thesis formation, sourcing investments, due diligence, portfolio composition and investor relations. He has been a public voice for the firm, speaking to Fortune about its $136 million Fund IV in November 2025 and appearing on CNBC in 2024.
In February 2026 he was quoted as a CMT Digital partner on the firm's investments in STS Digital, NEWITY and TBD. His current focus includes stablecoins, tokenization, prediction markets and onchain infrastructure for institutional finance.
40:23
Latest interview · Mar 27, 2026CMT Digital on stablecoins and tokenization reshaping capital markets in 2026Watch the episode →
Key points
- CMT Digital's 2026 thesis focuses on crypto becoming infrastructure-driven rather than narrative-driven, with stablecoins, tokenization, and institutional onchain settlement as primary adoption vectors.
- Regulatory clarity from the SEC, CFTC, and pending legislation like the Genius Act and market structure bill are enabling capital markets to move onchain at scale.
- Cost savings from unified ledger settlement create competitive advantages that force industry-wide adoption, as demonstrated by Figure's reduction of loan origination costs from 25-26 basis points to 150 basis points.
- CMT Digital has deployed capital into over 100 companies including Circle, Coinbase, and ConsenSys, with the venture arm becoming the primary focus since 2017.
- Onchain capital markets enable new financial instruments and cross-collateralization possibilities unavailable in traditional systems, particularly benefiting emerging markets with limited capital access.
In their own words
“I think 2026 is the year crypto becomes boring.”
“Stablecoins at this point are the marginal buyer of US Treasuries.”
