It was another jam-packed episode of The CoinRock Show as host Matthias Mazur tackled the pre-market chaos before diving into a double-header guest session with Nick Cote and Omar Shakeeb, co-founders of SecondLane — a rising platform transforming liquidity in crypto’s private markets.
Matthias kicked off the show with a sweeping review of the current market mood, noting how crypto markets remain trapped in a “chop zone,” with Bitcoin stuck between $82K and $95K. Despite a few flashes of bullishness earlier in the week, he warned that “this is not the breakout everyone’s expecting” — macro uncertainty is still the name of the game.
The day’s backdrop included a mix of optimism and skepticism: Metaplanet, dubbed “Japan’s MicroStrategy,” announced an ambitious goal of accumulating 10,000 BTC by year-end, further reinforcing the corporate Bitcoin accumulation trend. Meanwhile, the Trump administration — with Trump now firmly the President — continued to shape a pro-crypto narrative, as insiders like Lutnick from Cantor Fitzgerald moved to inject billions into the space via partnerships with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex.
On the meme coin front, Matthias chuckled over the TrumpCoin frenzy, noting how top holders would earn a spot at a Trump gala dinner. “Memes are the new NFTs,” he quipped, likening today’s meme coins to the utility and community-driven NFTs of the previous cycle.
However, Matthias didn’t hold back when highlighting structural flaws still haunting the industry. He dissected a viral example from Zora, a project that raised $50 million at a $600 million valuation but crashed to under $80 million in market cap at launch. He described the situation bluntly:
“There is no buyer for this product. You are exit liquidity for this. Let’s say you buy, you’re one of these buyers, right? Green here. So you buy at what? You buy at 120 million valuation, drops down to like 20, 30, back up to 80.”
Matthias criticized the outdated VC model that had pumped huge valuations into questionable projects during the last bull run, arguing that today’s investors are “far more sophisticated” and wary of being dumped on.
“Good luck to you guys, but I would never touch this,” Matthias said, reinforcing the need for investors to focus on solid fundamentals rather than flashy token launches.
Despite pockets of optimism — like Ethereum rebounding 30% in two weeks and the appointment of crypto-friendly SEC leadership under Paul Atkins — Matthias cautioned that overall market conditions remain fragile.
“So crypto is like a small boat on a very wild sea. So if anything happens, crypto either spikes higher or drops harder,” he said, emphasizing that interest rates, tariffs, and inflation, not crypto-native events, would dictate whether the next true breakout arrives.
Introducing Nick Cote and Omar Shakeeb: Unlocking Private Markets
The conversation quickly transitioned into the heart of the episode with the arrival of Nick and Omar. Both founders of SecondLane, they bring decades of combined experience across digital asset trading, secondary markets, venture investing, and bridging traditional finance with Web3 innovation.
Nick set the stage by explaining the emerging role of secondary markets in crypto:
“And if we continue to see this freeze in IPO market and public markets, which I think we will, private markets are just going to get even more robust, more sophisticated, and more liquid.”
He outlined how private sales of SAFEs, locked tokens, and startup equity have historically operated through fragmented OTC deals — but that’s rapidly changing as demand for regulated, transparent private market access explodes.
Omar emphasized the institutional angle:
“They [Institutions] are not going to come to see your perspective and change their rules, right? Their rules are put in place for a reason based on 75, 100 years of understanding market and human behavior. And they’re trying to minimize a detrimental impact to a wide variety and large base of people, not just a small segment of it.”
According to the duo, platforms like SecondLane aim to solve this by creating a more regulated, transparent marketplace for secondary sales — something that can help unlock billions in dormant value sitting in locked token allocations and early-stage startup equity.
From there, Omar dove headfirst into secondary markets, building networks and facilitating deals long before projects like Solana ever hit major exchanges.
Reflecting on those early days, Omar added:
“Just to give you an idea how far our reach goes back — when Solana wasn’t trading on any exchanges, we were doing OTC transactions at 10, 20 cents.”
Together, Nick and Omar painted a vivid picture of how the secondary markets offer a behind-the-scenes look at real capital flows—often ahead of retail narratives.
Nick summarized it best:
“If you have six of these funds or six of these investors that you have respect for, you should probably be looking where they’re looking too.”
They explained that platforms like SecondLane are designed to structure regulated secondary deals — covering everything from SAFEs and locked tokens to traditional startup equity — providing institutions with a secure, compliant path to liquidity in a market increasingly hungry for it.
Why Secondary Markets Matter More Than Ever
As the conversation deepened, Nick and Omar painted a clear picture of why secondary markets are not just important — they are critical for the future of the industry.
Nick explained:
“The alpha of private markets Is that you get to see a lot of the capital flows and what a lot of these smarter people than us are looking at. And from there, there’s a really good signal. So I think that’s kind of why secondary markets are really attractive.”
Without healthy exit opportunities through IPOs or acquisitions, early investors and founders are looking to secondary sales to realize liquidity without waiting for a distant, uncertain public listing.
Omar expanded on the regulatory gap:
“People want a general crypto framework bill to get passed adjacent to the stablecoin stuff. You see some resistance from some entities. Coinbase wants to just put a pause on that and do just one integrated bill. The fear there being that, well, if we pass one thing this year, what’s the odds that they’re going to pass another?”
The lack of standardized secondary markets has historically limited broader institutional participation. By bridging that gap, firms like SecondLane can become critical infrastructure players for the next wave of crypto maturity.
Nick also warned about the mismatch between valuations and reality:
“If you are a retail and you see all these movements, VC’s invested like 10 million, 20 million, whatever, then at that point, you’re like, what kind of valuations do these guys get? And am I getting the bad side of it?”
Secondary markets not only provide liquidity but also a real-time repricing mechanism — a needed correction as the speculative froth from 2021 still lingers.
Future of Private Markets: Tokenization, AI, and Transparency
The conversation closed by looking ahead.
Both Nick and Omar are bullish on the convergence of blockchain, AI, and finance to streamline secondary market operations. Tokenized shares, better regulatory compliance, and AI-driven deal verification will make private market access smoother and safer for everyone involved.
Omar noted:
“I think we’re actually about to enter a prolific era of this transition from human labor to digital labor, using more and more of these tools. They’re just getting better every day. The intelligence is doubling every six to nine months there as well.”
From venture equity to locked token allocations, a more dynamic secondary market could free up capital that would otherwise remain trapped — fueling more innovation without relying on an IPO exit fantasy.
Nick summed up their vision:
“With these new rules that are in place and having a compliant infrastructure below it, we can offer really amazing products and services to a very wide base of clients.”
Where You Can Find Nick Cote and Omar-Shakeeb
You can follow Nick and Omar and explore more about their work at SecondLane through their official profiles and project links:
Nick Cote:
- X (Twitter): @mBTCPiz
- LinkedIn: Nick Cote
- SecondLane Website: secondlane.io
Omar-Shakeeb:
- X (Twitter): @Omar_Shakeeb
- Crunchbase: Omar Shakeeb
- SecondLane Website: secondlane.io
