Head of GTM @PlumeNetwork | Previously @Axelar @TIME @Bloomberg

Joined April 2011
26 Photos and videos
James Friel | Plume retweeted
EtherFi is deploying $100M into Plume to power their institutional earn product. $6B in @ether_Fi customer deposits now have access to the Open Finance platform providing institutional-grade access to RWA yield opportunities. Exclusive bonus for early depositors into the RWA Vault ↓
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
Replying to @plumenetwork
The growth of onchain finance is inevitable. We cringe at the setbacks but the evolution of financial markets is a certainty. The @BermudaMonetary agrees. Through regulated onchain vaults, we take a major step forward in our ability to service sophisticated onchain markets.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
When PE backed companies get in trouble with lenders, they have a few options: 1. Negotiate PIK interest meaning they pay the interest in equity in lieu of cash. This lessens the cash burden on the company and pushes the issue down the line 2. Refinance the debt with a friendlier lender or terms 3. Put in an equity cure from the fund. This can tank IRR and piss off LPs 4. Write off the investment and hand control over to the lenders For all lenders to refuse a PIK deal means they don’t have confidence in the equity being worth enough to replace their cash interest with. Generally not a good sign. The public will never know until much later as these are privately held companies. This is how a “private credit problem” becomes a private equity problem. This opacity is precisely what makes underwriting private loans difficult and how TradFi contagion can spread faster than you think. Know what you are investing in. A lot of RWA folks on here shilling big institutional brand names and can’t explain the first thing about how these funds work. Big name does not equal safe. Tokenization doesn’t change the risk factors. Get smart with @plumenetwork’s RWA Academy.
NEWS: Private credit lenders including by Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR refused to extend another PIK lifeline to Thoma Bravo-owned software company Medallia Thoma Bravo is facing rising pressure to inject more equity or cede control in a restructuring A restructuring could involve a debt-for-equity swap that would result in a ~$5B hit for Thoma Bravo and co-investors
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
Mar 23
A new Nest experience is now live. Real-world yield should feel as transparent as the assets behind it. We rebuilt Nest from the ground up: clearer strategies, in-app verification, and integrated lending, so you can earn with confidence. All from one place. Yield shouldn’t just sit; it should move.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
Most people don’t realize that ETFs are a relatively new phenomenon. In the early 2000s and then again in the 2010s, asset managers fought an uphill battle selling the product. It all started with education. RWAs are following a similar trajectory. Slowly, then all at once.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
U.S. capital markets are at a pivotal moment, and Plume's General Counsel @banamlas is shaping the conversation in Washington D.C. Tomorrow at 10 AM ET, Salman testifies at the "Tokenization and the Future of Securities: Modernizing Our Capital Markets" hearing. Don't miss it.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted

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James Friel | Plume retweeted
We have a habit of oversimplifying things in this space. "Private credit" is not an asset class. It's a capital structure. Historical returns by credit stack: - 1st lien senior secured: SOFR 475–550bps → ~9–11% all-in - 2nd lien: SOFR 700–800bps → ~12–14% all-in - Mezzanine: historically 14–18%, often w/ equity kickers - Sub/junior: 16–20% Same "private credit" label. Wildly different risk profiles. First lien has a hard collateral claim. Sub debt gets paid if there's anything left. That gap in recovery risk is why the yield spread exists — and why grouping them into one category is intellectually lazy (and risky). Banks issue all of these too. Senior, sub, mezz — none of this is exclusive to private credit. The "private" just means it wasn't bank-syndicated. The RWA space needs to get better at this. Any vault offering "private credit yield" should tell you exactly where in the stack it sits.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
Nest is expanding on Solana. Powering real-world yield inside @Perena’s stablebank. This gives Solana users access to real-world yield directly inside their digital dollar.
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Tokenization by itself is not particularly interesting. What becomes interesting is when real-world assets can actually live inside DeFi venues where capital already moves. Products like this start to move RWAs from a narrative to an actual market.
Mar 5
Introducing the @NestCredit Vault - a USDC vault with exposure to real-world assets, private credit, and U.S. T-Bills via @plumenetwork. Get RWA exposure today through Perena. The best yields on one platform, now live.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted

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James Friel | Plume retweeted
Plume has signed a strategic MOU with @EXIO_HK Together, we’re aligning our RWA infrastructure with EX.IO’s platform to meet the custody and security standards required by the SFC, enabling compliant listing and institutional access in Hong Kong 🇭🇰
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James Friel | Plume retweeted

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James Friel | Plume retweeted

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Updated take since this interview: In time, I still believe that a range of savings type yield products will find adoption onchain. But at the moment, it seems like US Treasury linked products may satisfy that audience today. The shift up the risk curve isn't worth the incremental yield. And for the degens, 8-10% for access to a private credit fund doesn't exactly electrify CT. Certainly not unless you give them an opportunity to loop these products and wet the beak. There is no such thing as low risk midteens credit with instant liquidity. That's why DeFi composability for RWAs is essential. When you can offer structured leverage on RWAs, the game changes.
The opportunity for RWAs goes beyond tokenization. It’s giving real assets a place to move, compose, and deploy capital at scale while earning real yield onchain. Great conversation with our Head of GTM @James__Friel on where onchain capital markets are headed 👇
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
30 Dec 2025
ICYMI: Our Head of GTM @James__Friel shared the alpha on Plume's collaboration with @multisig last week in @raikucom's Solana Circuit.
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James Friel | Plume retweeted
17 Dec 2025
it’s been an incredible two years since embarking on the @plumenetwork journey with @chriseyin—the legend himself during this “tokenization boom,” we’ve seen tremendous positive change and real progress toward RWA adoption, driven by more open regulation and strong tailwinds from some of the largest financial institutions in the world i’ve recently been constantly asked for my thoughts on the RWA space while on the conference circuit across NYC, Asia, and the UAE -- pockets of the world where Plume is building a strong foothold. the honest answer: it’s still early, but all the signs for growth are there and after all my insane travel, it’s become clear to me that @plumenetwork is the only truly global RWA player capitalizing on the high velocity of tokenization worldwide grateful that @nytimes picked up on our story and journey -- the RWA vertical is early and just starting to hit escape velocity oh, and if you haven’t already, give @banamlas a follow to stay up to date on how one of the true legends in the space, and our GC, is navigating the evolution of tokenization today nytimes.com/2025/12/17/techn…
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Everyone is talking about RWAs high-level, but under the surface both sophisticated crypto investors and retail are slow to deploy capital. The problem is largely due to lack of education, transparency, and trust.
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