In this episode, Sunny Ray sits down with Michael Nasser, co-founder of the Canadian bitcoin brokerage SatStreet, to trace his path from traditional finance to becoming a trusted name in bitcoin trading. Nasser shares how a sales job at Fidelity Investments led him to Coinsquare in 2017, where he built out a high volume trading desk right as the market ran up, and where he first connected with Sunny as a client. He reflects on growing up money motivated, discovering bitcoin's importance only after the 2018 crash through Andreas Antonopoulos's book The Internet of Money, and reacts to the GameStop and Robinhood trading halt as a sign of retail frustration that could benefit bitcoin. Nasser explains why he and co-founder John Lester named their company SatStreet, details a new bitcoin payroll product, and discusses the surprisingly smooth but demanding early months of scaling the business past 110 million dollars traded. He closes with a contrarian take on self custody and its risks for newcomers.
From Fidelity and Coinsquare to co-founding SatStreet, Michael Nasser opens up on bitcoin conviction, trust, and building fast.
Can you share your story of how you got into crypto and bitcoin?
I came from traditional finance, working at Fidelity Investments, and wanted to get into tech. In late 2017 I joined Coinsquare, a startup exchange, to help build their high volume trading desk, later called Coinsquare Wealth. I was thrown into the fire right as the market ran up, and became one of the only people people called to get real bitcoin size. That's actually how Sunny and I first connected, he was assigned to me as an early client.
What was your relationship with money growing up, before bitcoin?
I always wanted to make a lot of money. My dad instilled that early by giving me monetary rewards for grades in school, plus allowances, so money was always important to me. I always had a job growing up. When I moved into sales after university, I loved that you get out what you put in, the harder you work the more you make. That mindset shaped how I approached money before bitcoin taught me its history.
How did you personally discover bitcoin, and was there a distinct aha moment?
I had bitcoin and litecoin on my radar back in 2011-2012 through friends, but never bought in and didn't understand the principles behind it. It wasn't really one aha moment, it happened after the 2018 crash when my career slowed down and I finally went down the rabbit hole. I read The Internet of Money by Andreas Antonopoulos twice, the second time taking notes like I was studying, and that's when it really sank in.
What's your take on the GameStop and Robinhood situation happening right now?
It's mental. Robinhood shut down trading on GameStop, AMC and other stocks that Reddit's WallStreetBets pushed up. I've held dogecoin since 2017 and it was up 200 percent that morning because people are fed up with being pushed around. It's a shame these platforms bend over instead of letting retail have the same pull as hedge funds, but I think we'll see a positive impact on bitcoin and crypto because of it, since no one can control it.
When people buy bitcoin through platforms like Robinhood, PayPal or Wealthsimple, are they actually buying bitcoin?
You're not really buying the underlying asset, you're getting exposure through a kind of derivative on these platforms. That's actually valuable because it opens easy access for retail, and taking self custody is one of the higher, harder steps down the rabbit hole for most people. Platforms and funds like Grayscale still benefit the broader market because the bitcoin gets purchased and locked away. Ideally users eventually learn that not your keys, not your coins.
Why the name SatStreet, and what are you building there?
We called it SatStreet because one objection we hear from new entrants is that bitcoin is too expensive, so they flow into cheaper altcoins instead. The name shows we're forward thinking and reinforces that you can buy less than one bitcoin. We're building products we think matter, like an automated payroll style program linked to bill pay, so employees can route part of their paycheck straight into a SatStreet account and have it converted into bitcoin daily or weekly.
What have been some unexpected challenges building SatStreet?
Honestly it's been pretty smooth sailing, we've only been around seven months and we're coming up on 110 million traded with significant assets under custody. Banking was a real challenge to crack, and regulation is something we pay close attention to. Our trading process is still very manual, so there are a lot of late nights and early mornings because we never want to miss a trade, since crypto trades 24 7 and we want to deliver premium service.
What's one thing you believe that most bitcoiners would disagree with?
I don't fully agree that self custody is always the best way to go. My co-founder John and I have stopped multiple new clients from getting scammed by phishing emails that look like they're from Ledger or Trezor. If someone is new and still learning to secure their own wealth, leaving coins on a regulated platform or with a qualified custodian like Coinbase Custody or Gemini Trust in the interim isn't necessarily a bad solution.
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