In this episode, Lex speaks with Michael Egorov [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-egorov/?originalSubdomain=ch] - Founder of Curve Finance and YieldBasis. Kicking things off about his journey from experimental physicist to founder of Curve Finance and YieldBasis, highlighting how theoretical physics concepts influenced his creation of financial invariants in DeFi protocols.

Curve pioneered fully automated concentrated liquidity for stablecoins and introduced veTokenomics, a governance model rewarding long-term commitment with voting power and protocol fees. Egorov defends veTokenomics against criticisms of unlock-driven volatility, citing that most CRV locks average over 3 years and behave like permanent commitments. YieldBasis expands Curve’s approach by offering impermanent gain strategies to counter impermanent loss in volatile markets like Bitcoin, aiming to scale toward a $50B market ceiling.

The discussion closes with reflections on DeFi token market structure challenges and Egorov’s call for protocols to connect token value to real economic flows by activating fee-sharing mechanisms.

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. veTokenomics Drives Long-Term Alignment and Token Sink Efficiency
    Michael Egorov introduced veTokenomics in Curve to address short-termism in token governance by requiring users to lock CRV tokens for up to 4 years to gain voting power and protocol rewards. This mechanism has proven effective in practice, with the average CRV lock time exceeding 3 years, effectively removing tokens from circulation. Egorov notes that veTokenomics removed 3x more tokens from supply than buybacks would have, highlighting its material impact on protocol stability and investor alignment.
 2. YieldBasis Aims to Neutralize Impermanent Loss via Engineered Impermanent Gain
    YieldBasis builds on Curve’s AMM infrastructure by combining two layers: a Curve pool experiencing impermanent loss, and a complementary structure engineered to capture “impermanent gain”. This dual-layer approach statistically delivers net profit in volatile assets like Bitcoin, assuming mean-reverting price movements. Egorov estimates the market ceiling for this strategy at $50 billion, positioning YieldBasis as a scalable solution for volatility-based yield generation.
 3. DeFi’s Market Structure Issues Stem from Uncertain Token-Economics Linkages
    Egorov critiques much of DeFi for failing to connect protocol economics to token value. While Curve distributes fees directly to CRV lockers, most protocols (like Uniswap) have not activated fee-sharing mechanisms (”fee switches”), creating valuation uncertainty. Egorov argues that unless projects “turn the switch on” and reduce economic ambiguity, token pricing will remain volatile and fragile, hindering broader adoption and investment confidence.

TOPICS

Curve Finance, YieldBasis, Uniswap, MakerDAO, Convex, StakeDAO, Threshold Network, NuCypher, AladdinDAO, Athena, Yearn, DeFi, veTokenomics, AMM, Stablecoin, Tokenomics, Governance, CRV Token, Ethereum, ETH, Bitcoin, BTC

 

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TIMESTAMPS

1’17: From Laser Cooling to Stablecoin Swaps: Michael Egorov on Physics-Inspired DeFi and Writing the “Laws” of Money

9’12: On-Chain Macro Labs: Designing Economies at Speed

14’58: Lockups vs. Liquidity Wrappers: When “

Building DeFi's $25B Liquidity Engine, with Curve Founder Michael Egorov

In this episode, Lex speaks with Gracy Chen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracychen/] - Bitget’s CEO, who transitioned from a fintech entrepreneur to leading one of the top five global crypto exchanges. Bitget processes $10–20 billion in daily trading volume and serves 120 million users across centralized and decentralized platforms. Its geographic base is mostly in Asia, but it’s expanding into Europe through regulatory compliance and new products like tokenized US stocks, which have already surpassed $20 billion in trading volume.

Bitget differentiates through security features, including a $600 million protection fund, and user acquisition via both brand campaigns (e.g. Messi sponsorship) and local affiliate (KOL) marketing. Looking ahead, Bitget aims to move beyond crypto-native assets toward mass adoption, focusing on product-market fit and offering tokenized real-world assets and enterprise services.

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. Bitget Is Transitioning Toward Regulatory Compliance and Tokenized Assets
    Bitget, historically an offshore crypto exchange, is shifting to a compliance-first strategy in key markets like Europe (e.g., under MiCA). It’s also diversifying its product offering beyond altcoins, including tokenized US stocks and forex, which have already generated $20B in trading volume. This reflects a broader industry trend where crypto platforms aim to integrate with traditional finance and support real-world assets (RWAs).
 2. Bitget’s User Acquisition Combines Web2 Financial Discipline with Web3 Community Tactics
    Bitget uses a hybrid marketing approach: brand partnerships like the Leo Messi campaign and grassroots affiliate marketing via KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) who earn volume-based rebates. Additionally, local teams are given budget control and tailor acquisition strategies per market. This decentralized yet data-informed model mimics Web2 CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) analysis while leveraging crypto-native community dynamics.
 3. Exchanges Are Struggling with Unsustainable Token Launch Models
    Gracy Chen criticizes the crypto industry’s overreliance on speculative “narrative-driven” token launches, noting that even well-funded tokens often fail without real product-market fit. Bitget is responding by requiring more tangible utility and sustainability from listed projects and aims to balance value across users, exchanges, and project teams through mechanisms like airdrop campaigns and launch pools with <1% token supply allocated.

TOPICS

Bitget, Bitget Wallet, Bitkeep, Coinbase, Binance, FTX, MetaMask, MicroStrategy, BlackRock, crypto, crypto exchange, token, altcoins, digital assets, tokenized assets, tokenization

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TIMESTAMPS

1’03: A $300 Revelation: The Unlikely Path to Running a Global Crypto Exchange

4’00: From Offshore to Onshore: Scaling a Global Exchange for 120 Million Users

10’09: Chasing Real Value: How Product Market Fit Outlasts Hype

15’39: Market Structure in Flux: How Speculators Gave Way to Institutions

19’14: Inside the Exchange: How Marketing and Trust Drive User Growth

26’20: Balancing the Books: Navigating User Acquisition in Web3 vs Web2

30’38: Speculation and Signal: How Culture and KOLs Dri

Building a Top 5 Global Crypto Exchange with 120M Users, with Bitget CEO Gracy Chen

In this episode, Lex speaks Friederike Ernst [https://www.linkedin.com/in/friederikeernst/], co-founder of Gnosis. Together, they explore the evolution of Gnosis from an Ethereum-based prediction market project into a major infrastructure provider powering over $100 billion in DAO treasuries and $10–15 billion in monthly DEX trading via CowSwap. Tracing the company’s journey from a 2017 ICO raising $12.5 million in ETH (now worth ~$450 million) to spinning out critical tools like Safe, CowSwap, and Zodiac, all originally built for internal use.

Despite their success, Gnosis recognizes that the crypto-native user base is limited and has now pivoted to building user-centric, mainstream products like the upcoming Gnosis App targeting Gen Z with real-world financial utility. The company emphasizes its founding mission of democratizing financial ownership and warns against complacency as incumbents like Stripe and Robinhood enter the space. Lastly, Gnosis sees a near-term opportunity in AI-agent driven commerce, especially through reverse advertising models that could unlock trillion-dollar markets.

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. The $12.5M ICO That Became a $450M Treasury: Gnosis raised $12.5 million in ETH during their 2017 ICO when ETH was trading at $40. Through conservative treasury management and holding their ETH position, that initial raise has sustained the company for nearly a decade and grown to approximately $450 million today. Friederike attributes this to “conservative treasury management and sheer luck” — a remarkable case study in long-term crypto treasury stewardship.
 2. Polymarket Runs on Gnosis Infrastructure: Despite Polymarket’s $10B+ valuation and mainstream recognition, it still uses Gnosis’s conditional token framework that was written years ago. Friederike acknowledges being “a little salty” that infrastructure they built powers such a significant share of the on-chain prediction market economy without Gnosis directly benefiting financially. It’s a stark illustration of the “first up the mountain” dynamic where pioneers clear the path but don’t always capture the value.
 3. The 19th Century German Banking Parallel: Friederike draws a compelling historical analogy: impoverished German farmers in the 1800s faced predatory moneylenders charging 25-40% interest. They responded by forming collective community banks, lending to each other at 4-6%. Within decades, tens of thousands existed, and one-third of Germans remain members today. She positions crypto’s ownership model as the modern equivalent — a cooperative financial revolution for a generation economically disenfranchised by incumbent systems.

TOPICS

Gnosis, Gnosis Safe, CowSwap, Zodiac, CPK, Polymarket, Kalshi, ConsenSys, Ethereum, ETH, AI, AI Agents, ICO, Onchain, Governance, Crypto Treasury, Web3, Blockchain, Finance, Banking, Payments, Custody, Wallets

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

 

TIMESTAMPS

1’25: From Prediction Markets to On-Chain Governance: The Gnosis Journey with Friederike Ernst

6’09: Early ICO Bets and Lasting Impact: How Treasury Design and Tooling Shaped On-Chain Governance

14’10: Owning the Problem: Turning Internal Crypto Tools into Customer-Facing Products

18’08: Beyond Crypto Natives: Building User-Friendly Blockchain Finance for the Next Billion

From $12.5M ICO to $100B+ in On-Chain Infrastructure, with Gnosis Co-Founder Friederike Ernst

In this episode, Lex speaks with David Namdar [https://www.linkedin.com/in/namdar/?originalSubdomain=pr] - CEO of the BNB Network Company, kicking off with his journey from early Bitcoin adoption in 2012 to co-founding Galaxy Digital and now leading the BNB Network Company. Namdar explains the evolution of public markets’ engagement with crypto, highlighting how regulatory hurdles and speculative cycles shaped market participation. He outlines the rise of Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies, crediting Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy for pioneering the model by converting $400 million in cash to Bitcoin - now holding over $75 billion in BTC. We examine how Binance, with 290 million users and 40% of global crypto volume, supports BNB as a deflationary asset, burning up to $2 billion per quarter. Finally, Namdar shares why BNB, not Bitcoin, is the focus of his new DAT initiative, offering U.S. investors exposure to an underrepresented but powerful asset.

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. Digital Asset Treasuries Are Emerging as Crypto ETFs in Disguise: Public companies like MicroStrategy and MetaPlanet are turning their balance sheets into crypto holdings, offering indirect exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. This model is attracting billions and creating a new on-ramp for investors -especially where ETFs or direct access are limited.
 2. BNB Is Massively Used Yet Underrepresented in U.S. Markets: With 290 million users and up to $2B in quarterly token burns, BNB is one of the most used tokens globally. Yet it’s largely inaccessible to U.S. investors, creating a major disconnect and a potential opportunity for BNB-focused public vehicles.
 3. Crypto Booms Often Rely on Misunderstood, Unsustainable Incentives: Namdar highlights how past cycles inflated demand through staking rewards and nominal yields, not real value. A lack of economic literacy continues to fuel hype over fundamentals, risking long-term sustainability.

 

TOPICS

BNB Network Company, Binance, BNB, Galaxy Digital, SolidX Partners, MicroStrategy, Bitcoin, Bitcoin treasury, Ethereum, Digital Asset Treasury, DAT, treasury, crypto, convertible debt, tokenomics, crypto treasury, capital markets

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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TIMESTAMPS

1’09: Building the Crypto Investment Bank: Taking Digital Assets to Public Markets

4’43: Why Going Public Matters: Crypto Firms, Capital Access, and Market Credibility

7’28: From Fintech to DeFi: How U.S. Markets Mispriced the Crypto Transition

11’07: Real Yield vs. Hype: Why Crypto Markets Keep Getting It Wrong

14’36: The Rise of Digital Asset Treasuries: How Crypto Became a Corporate Balance Sheet Strategy

18’28: Financial Engineering in Crypto Treasuries: How Convertible Debt Fueled Massive Bitcoin Accumulation

22’23: Boom, Hype, Exhaustion: The Capital Cycle Behind Crypto Treasuries

28’52: From Foundations to Public Markets: Why BNB Is the Next Big Treasury Bet

33’25: BNB by the Numbers: Inside the Tokenomics of the World’s Largest Crypto Exchange

39’18: Premiums, Discounts, and Buybacks: Managing Value in Crypto Treasury Stocks

44’41: The channels u

Building the $500MM+ Binance-based Digital Asset Treasury, with BNB Network CEO David Namdar

In this episode, Lex speaks with Jess Houlgrave [https://www.linkedin.com/in/houlgrave/], CEO of WalletConnect. In this episode Jess explains how WalletConnect bridges wallets and decentralized applications (dApps), simplifying secure blockchain interactions for millions of users.

Together, Lex and Jess discuss the platform’s origins, technical innovations, and massive scale - supporting over 700 wallets and 70,000 projects. The conversation covers challenges in integrating traditional finance with Web3, regulatory compliance, and WalletConnect’s decentralized, token-incentivized network. Jess also shares insights on the future of on-chain commerce, global adoption trends, and the evolving relationship between fintech and blockchain infrastructure.

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. WalletConnect Becomes Web3’s Financial Backbone: Once a simple UX fix, WalletConnect now connects 700+ wallets and 70,000+ apps, moving $400B annually. It’s evolving into the universal connectivity layer for on-chain finance - a “Visa for Web3.”
 2. Fintechs Are Forcing Crypto to Grow Up: As players like Stripe and Shopify enter Web3, they demand frictionless UX and regulatory-grade compliance, not crypto-native clunkiness. This wave will make crypto invisible but usable through embedded fintech experiences.
 3. Stablecoins Will Power On-Chain Commerce and Dollarization: Jess predicts commerce, not trading, will drive the next cycle. As stablecoins become spendable everywhere, users won’t need to off-ramp - accelerating global dollarization via open financial rails.

 

TOPICS

WalletConnect, ReOWN, Circle, Stripe, Checkout.com, MetaMask, Solana, blockchain, decentralized finance, DeFi, crypto, wallet, Web3, web2, UX, wallet infrastructure, stablecoins, tokens, token economy

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

 

TIMESTAMPS

1’03: WalletConnect’s Financial Connectivity Layer: CEO Jess Houlgrave on Helping Build The New Internet

4’42: Universal Wallet Interoperability: How a Single Integration Connects Every App to Every Wallet

9’06: Building Trust in Web3: How Seamless Wallet Connections Create the ‘Visa Moment’ for Crypto

11’51: Scaling Web3 Connectivity: Inside the 50 Million Users and $400 Billion Powered by Wallet Infrastructure

14’02: The Next Wave of Adoption: How Better UX and Fintech Integration Are Bringing Millions On-Chain

16’53: Beyond Ethereum: How Multi-Chain Support and Compliance Are Driving the Next Phase of Web3 Growth

19’41: When Web2 Meets Web3: How Fintechs Are Redefining Crypto UX and Compliance Standards

22’34: Bridging the Knowledge Gap: Helping Fintechs Understand the Complexities of Web3 Integration

26’37: The New Chain Race: Why Fintechs Are Repeating Banks’ Playbook and Competing for Value Capture in Web3

30’05: Decentralizing the Network: How Wallet Infrastructure Is Building a Sustainable Token Economy

35’44: The Future of On-Chain Commerce: How Stablecoins and UX Advances Will Drive Real-World Payments

39’46: The Rise of Digital Dollarization: How Open Financial Systems Are Reshaping Global Currencies

40’57: The channels used to conn

How WalletConnect Became the $400B Web3 Connectivity Layer, with CEO Jess Houlgrave

In this episode, Lex speaks  Mike Sha [https://www.linkedin.com/in/miketsha/] - the CEO and co-founder of Tandems (formerly SigFig), a leading provider of AI-powered software for wealth management firms and financial institutions. Together, Lex and Mike discuss the evolution of wealth technology through the lens of Mike’s entrepreneurial journey from founding Wikinvest in 2006 to building Tandems. Wikinvest pivoted to portfolio tracking and then to a B2B model, powering major portals like Yahoo Finance and managing over $500 billion in tracked assets. The team’s insights into poor retail investment behavior led to building SigFig, a B2B robo-advisor, eventually serving banks like UBS and Wells Fargo.

Today, rebranded as Tandems, the firm offers AI-powered tools for advisors across three key areas: meetings, asset gathering, and investment management, with AI integrated via a modular “wealth OS” platform. Tandems uses an open architecture for AI, prioritizing trust, configurability, and high accuracy tailored to the specific workflows of financial advisors.

 

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. The Realization That Most Investors Struggle on Their Own Sparked the Robo-Advisory Movement - Mike Sha’s early data from tracking $400–500 billion in retail portfolios across Yahoo!, CNN, and other finance portals revealed that most individuals consistently underperform when managing their own investments. This insight directly led to the creation of SigFig, one of the first robo-advisors, designed to make high-quality investment advice affordable and automated. It shows how data-driven observation of user behavior can uncover market inefficiencies and spark new product categories.
 2. Distribution and Integration Trumps Pure Innovation in Fintech Partnerships - Tandem’s evolution from a consumer-facing platform to a B2B software provider for major banks underscored a critical lesson: distribution and trust are the hardest parts of scaling in financial services. Rather than trying to replace institutions, Sha’s team embedded within them - learning that success requires deep integration with legacy systems and respect for the bank’s compliance and operational frameworks. The “secret” to working with large financial institutions, Sha notes, is understanding their old infrastructure and designing around it - not fighting it.
 3. AI’s Real Impact in Wealth Management Will Begin with Eliminating Repetitive Work - Tandem’s current strategy focuses on AI automation for financial advisors, not as a replacement but as an assistant. Sha highlights that over 90% of an advisor’s day involves repetitive administrative work - meeting prep, paperwork, compliance, follow-ups. Tandem’s “Wealth OS” connects legacy systems and uses AI to automate these tasks first, freeing advisors to focus on human relationship-building and advice. It’s a practical and near-term vision of AI in finance: efficiency before intelligence.

 

TOPICS

Tandems, SigFig, Wikinvest, wealthtech, wealth management, fintech, ai, artificial intelligence, investment, roboadvisors, finance, financial management, banking, bank partnerships

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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TIMESTAMPS

1’31: From Wikis to Wealth Tech: Mike Sha on How 401(k)s and “Investing-as-a-Chore” Shaped Tandems

7’05: Building a Fintech from the First Do

How Tandems/SigFig became a $60B Wealth AI platform, with CEO Mike Sha

In this episode, Lex speaks with Marcelo Ruiz de Olano [https://www.linkedin.com/in/marceloruizdeolano/], Co-Founder of KPK (Karpatkey), an on-chain asset management firm born out of Gnosis DAO. Marcelo recounts KPK’s evolution from stewarding Gnosis’s $1B treasury to advising on more than $2B for leading protocols like ENS, Balancer, and the Ethereum Foundation. The discussion dives into the mechanics of non-custodial treasury management - balancing governance, security, and risk - along with strategies across lending, liquidity provision, and stablecoin yields. Marcelo also shares why the rise of large Ethereum treasury companies could be a turning point for DeFi, injecting institutional-scale liquidity and potentially making ETH more liquid than Bitcoin.

 

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. Origins and Scale of On-Chain Treasury Management
    KPK spun out of Gnosis DAO, which had one of the earliest and largest on-chain treasuries (~$1B). From there, KPK evolved into an independent manager now advising on over $2B of DAO and foundation treasuries (ENS, Balancer, Ethereum Foundation, etc.), pioneering non-custodial, fully on-chain asset management practices.
 2. Conservative, Mission-Driven Approach vs. Yield-Chasing
    Unlike many DeFi actors during “DeFi Summer,” KPK deliberately rejected risky high-yield strategies. Instead, they prioritized capital preservation and mission alignment—for example, ensuring ENS’s treasury only supports Ethereum-strengthening initiatives (like minority client staking or avoiding centralization risks). This contrarian, values-driven approach built trust and positioned them as long-term stewards of DeFi treasuries.
 3. Transformative Potential of Ethereum Treasury Companies
    Marcelo highlights that emerging Ethereum treasury firms (similar to MicroStrategy’s BTC play) could deploy $10B+ in ETH treasuries. A single such “mega whale” could inject unprecedented liquidity into DeFi—making ETH potentially more liquid than BTC, bootstrapping entire verticals (DEX liquidity, lending, insurance), and creating a flywheel where treasury strategies directly accelerate Ethereum’s adoption and price stability.

 

TOPICS

KPK, Gnosis, Gnosis Safe, Balancer, Aave, Maker, Sky, Uniswap, Morpho, Ethereum Foundation, on-chain asset management, DAO, decentralized autonomous organization, treasury management, DeFi, tokenization, ETH, Ether, stablecoin, USDC

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

 

TIMESTAMPS

1’08: From Gnosis to KPK: Building the Infrastructure for On Chain Treasury Management

8’00: Playing It Safe: How KPK Built Long Term DeFi Strategies in a Risk Obsessed Market

11’50: DeFi Lending Unlocked: How KPK Assesses Risk and Builds Yield Strategies with Stablecoins and Leverage

17’11: Treasury Playbooks: Matching DeFi Investment Strategies to Risk Profiles and DAO Values

20’32: Stablecoin Farming and DAO Drama: Navigating Risk, Governance, and Community Conflicts

23’18: From Impermanent Loss to Long Term Gain: Liquidity Provision and the Case for OG DeFi Protocols

26’33: Behind the Smart Contracts: Why Human Ops and Governance Still Run On Chain Asset Management

30’11: The Rise of Ethereum Treasury Companies: How On Chain Giants Will Super

Managing $2B+ in On Chain Assets, with KPK Co-Founder Marcelo Ruiz de Olano

In this episode, Lex speaks with Ravi Adusumilli [https://www.linkedin.com/in/raviadusumilli/overlay/about-this-profile/] - President and GM of the Americas at Airwallex. Ravi and Lex discuss how Airwallex has evolved into a global financial platform by offering businesses an integrated suite of cross-border payments, treasury, and banking services. Founded in 2015, Airwallex now supports 150,000 customers, processes $130 billion in annualized volume (up 73% YoY), and projects a $1 billion revenue run rate by year-end.

The company’s success stems from its end-to-end infrastructure, homegrown payment rails, and multi-product strategy, with 80% of revenue now coming from customers using more than one product. Airwallex differentiates itself by focusing on global-first B2B use cases and building regional autonomy alongside centralized infrastructure. While not prioritizing stablecoins today, the company is exploring AI-driven financial operations and aims to reach $1 trillion in transaction volume by 2030.

 

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 1. Airwallex’s Infrastructure: Proprietary Global Payment Network
    Airwallex operates a proprietary global payment infrastructure that processes 95% of its $130 billion in annualized transaction volume. The company has developed its own technology and regulatory framework in partnership with over 60 banks worldwide. This approach reduces dependence on legacy systems such as SWIFT and supports greater control over transaction speed, cost, and compliance.
 2. Expansion Through Multi-Product Offering
    Airwallex has expanded its services beyond cross-border payments to include card issuance, spend management, treasury functions, and merchant acquiring. According to company data, 80% of revenue is generated from customers using multiple products. Payments now account for 70% of net revenue and are growing at three times the rate year over year.
 3. Decentralized Go-To-Market Structure
    Airwallex employs a regional management model, with General Managers responsible for performance and operations in specific geographies. This structure is supported by centralized functions such as product development, compliance, and engineering. With 1,700 employees in 26 offices, the company uses this hybrid model to manage growth and adapt to local regulatory environments across multiple regions, including Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

 

TOPICS

Airwallex, Stripe, Brex, Rippling, Shopify, Pinterest, Visa, fintech, global payments, e-commerce, cross-border transactions, paytech, embedded payments, CFO stack, stablecoins, AI

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

 

TIMESTAMPS

1’02: Building Through Partnerships: The Platform Strategy Behind a $130B Fintech

7’24: Why It’s Working: Scaling B2B Payments in a Crowded Fintech Market

12’21: From Coffee Beans to Global Rails: How Cross-Border Payments Became the Wedge for Platform Expansion

19’02: Sticky by Design: How Regional Autonomy and Multi-Product Depth Drove Global Expansion

25’31: From Credibility to Scale: When Partnerships Start Driving Growth

29’33: Beyond Point Solutions: Why Global Platforms Are Replacing Fragmented Payment Stacks

34’47: Solving the CFO Stack: A Unified Approach to Global Money Movement

38’14: Resilient by Design: How Airwallex Manages Multi-Bank, Mu

Building the $130B global payments platform, with Airwallex’s Ravi Adusumilli

Lex chats with Matthew Le Merle [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewlemerle/] - CEO of Blockchain Coinvestors, a leading blockchain and AI fund-of-funds. He reflects on the limitations of large institutions in adopting disruptive technologies and why he chose to back innovators over incumbents, using stablecoins as an example of asymmetric value creation. Le Merle explains his evolution from angel investor to institutional LP, highlighting the benefits of leveraging top-tier venture capitalists’ expertise in inefficient early-stage markets. He outlines the psychological challenges of venture investing, where failures appear early and outsized wins often take a decade, contrasting this with the faster liquidity but higher existential risk in token markets. Finally, he critiques institutional allocators for over-relying on efficient markets, under-allocating to venture despite its role in driving future value, and positions his strategy as fully committed to early-stage blockchain and AI as the highest-returning segments.

 

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

1. Innovation Threatens Incumbents, Benefits Disruptors: Major technological shifts, from the internet to blockchain and AI, create winners and losers. Incumbents often resist disruptive change because it threatens existing revenue models, while nimble startups and tech-first companies can rapidly capture new market opportunities.

2. Venture Success Requires Navigating High Failure Rates: In early-stage investing, most portfolio companies will fail, often within the first 3–4 years. Returns are driven by a small number of outsized successes, usually via acquisitions rather than IPOs, requiring patience, resilience, and a disciplined investment strategy.

3. Inefficient Markets Offer the Greatest Asymmetric Upside: Early-stage venture and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI are inefficient markets where superior access, insight, and execution can generate returns far above those available in traditional, efficient markets like public equities or bonds.

 

TOPICS

Blockchain Coinvestors, Band of Angels, AngelList, Blockchain Capital, Pantera, Sequoia, Andreessen, BlackRock, Fidelity, Blockchain, DeFi, Decentralized Finance, Investment, Venture Capital, Angel Investment, Fund of Funds

 

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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TIMESTAMPS

1’33: From Consulting to Disruption: Matthew Le Merle on Pivoting from Advising Incumbents to Backing the Innovators

9’56: From Angel Checks to Global Funds: Building One of the World’s Largest Blockchain Co-Investment Platforms

16’50: Leveraging Top Venture Funds to Capture Blockchain and AI’s Biggest Winners: Evolving from Direct Deals to an LP Strategy

24’50: The Emotional Reality of Venture Investing: Coping with Early Failures, Long Timelines, and Rare Big Wins

32’13: Early Liquidity, Higher Risk: Why Most Token Projects Fail Without Ever Delivering Software

35’20: Backing Winners in Inefficient Markets: What Makes a Venture Fund Worth Investing In

42’59: Why Institutional Portfolios Miss the Future: The Case for Shifting Capital from Efficient to Inefficient Markets

51’08: The channels used to connect with Matthew & learn more about Blockchain Coinvestors

 

Disclaimer here [https://www.fintechblueprint.com/disclaimer] — this

How to Invest in the best Crypto Funds, with Matthew Le Merle CEO of Blockchain Coinvestors

Lex chats with Harish Natarajan - Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation at the World Bank, and Carlos Brandt - The Senior Advisor for Pix at the Central Bank of Brazil. Together they discuss the remarkable success of Pix, Brazil's real-time payment system, which now sees over 6 billion transactions per month and is used by more than 90% of the adult population and 80% of companies. Lex explores how Pix was created by the Central Bank of Brazil with strong public-private collaboration, backed by regulatory authority and supported by a co-creation model with stakeholders. Key to its adoption were a low-cost centralized infrastructure, clear branding, mandatory participation by large banks, and a robust national communication strategy. Globally, Pix is seen as a leading example of fast payment system deployment, driven by the central bank acting as a neutral coordinator and scheme owner. Lex also examines the technical architecture, built in-house by a surprisingly small team of 55–65 people, and how scalable infrastructure and extensibility have enabled rapid growth and innovation.

 

NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:

 

1. Pix achieved mass adoption through public-private co-creation and legal mandate:

Pix now processes over 6 billion transactions per month, with 90% of Brazil’s adult population and 80% of businesses actively using it. Its success stems from a strategic legal mandate in 2013 granting the Central Bank regulatory and operational authority over retail payments. The Central Bank then led a co-creation process involving both public and private stakeholders through the Pix Forum, fostering alignment, inclusivity, and strong network effects.

2. A lean but powerful team built a nation-scale real-time payments system:

The Pix infrastructure was built entirely in-house by a relatively small team, 30-40 people for the technical infrastructure layer and around 25 for the payment scheme layer. It operates 24/7 with real-time settlement and uses centralized infrastructure separate from Brazil’s traditional large-value payment rails. This centralized, purpose-built architecture dramatically lowered costs and enabled rapid rollout.

3. Strategic communication and mandated participation drove adoption at scale:

The Central Bank led a national communication campaign to build trust, establish a strong brand identity, and educate the public. Simultaneously, it mandated major banks (with over 500,000 active accounts) to join Pix, triggering widespread voluntary adoption from smaller PSPs. The rollout included a restricted pilot phase and emphasized user-friendly features like QR codes and aliases to boost convenience and usage from day one.

 

TOPICS

 

Pix, Central Bank of Brazil, World Bank, Visa, Citibank, M-Pesa, Alipay, SPI, fintech, payments, PSP, API, Fast Payments, Payments Infrastructure, PayTech

 

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TIMESTAMPS

 

1’19: Building Pix from the Ground Up: Carlos Brandt on Modernizing Brazil’s Payment Infrastructure

 

3’03: Fast Payments for Financial Inclusion: Harish Natarajan on the World Bank’s Role in Modern Payment Infrastructure

 

4’29: From Cash to 5 Billion Transactions a Month: How Pix Transformed Brazil’s Payment Ecosystem Through Public-Private Collaboration

 

10’41: Why Pix Succeeded Where Others Struggled: The Power of Neutral Coordination and Public-Private Synergy

 

12’40: Inside the Pix Forum: How Brazil Built a Collaborative Process for Payment Innovation

 

15’07: Fast Payments at Scale:

How the Central Bank of Brazil built Pix, powering 6 billion monthly transactions

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