Stripe’s Trillion-Dollar Bet: How Stablecoins Eat Global Payments | Founder of Bridge Zach Abrams
Zach Abrams—co-founder of Bridge, acquired by Stripe—joins Ryan to unpack Stripe’s stablecoin strategy and why tokenized dollars are poised to devour global payments.
We cover Bridge’s sale to Stripe, how “fiat L1 / stablecoin L2” rails unlock faster, cheaper cross-border payouts (from startups to government aid), the case for many issuer- and app-specific stablecoins with better yield sharing, and what the Tempo chain targets for payment-scale throughput, privacy, and finality.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:28 Zach’s Founder Arc
15:47 Fintech x Crypto Convergence
18:55 Founding Bridge in the Dark Times
22:42 Traditional Payment Inefficiencies
26:21 Bridge 101
42:00 Traditional Bank Pushback
42:17 Stablecoin Treasuries
50:22 Post-Genius Stablecoin Market
59:27 Fintech in 5 years
1:05:01 Tempo L1
1:13:30 Too Many Blockchains
1:17:25 Exiting TradFi
1:20:49 Getting Stablecoins to Trillions
1:25:28 Stripe x Crypto
1:29:44 AI Stablecoin Users
1:32:32 Closing & Disclaimers
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RESOURCES
Zach Abrams
https://x.com/zcabrams
Tempo
https://tempo.xyz/
Bridge
https://www.bridge.xyz/
Stripe
https://stripe.com/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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ROLLUP: ETH Hits All Time High, But Will It Stick?
In this episode, we discuss Ethereum's rise past $4,780 and co-host David Hoffman's insights from Burning Man. We explore Ethereum's treasury dynamics, the debut of the World Liberty Financial Token, and potential Bitcoin and Ethereum listings on major exchanges. The episode also covers advancements in tokenized securities, competition in prediction markets, and the quirky rise of tokenized Pokémon cards. Join us for a concise look at the latest in crypto!
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Burning Man
7:30 Markets
https://thedefiant.io/news/markets/bitcoin-august-all-time-high-above-usd124k-could-be-cycle-top-coingecko
https://www.theblock.co/post/369477/ethereums-monthly-spot-volume-tops-bitcoin-trading-on-centralized-exchanges-for-first-time-in-over-7-years
https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/1962945359988035865
https://www.theblock.co/post/369497/nasdaq-tightens-scrutiny-of-companies-raising-cash-to-buy-crypto-report
https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/1963240688146948108
https://x.com/intocryptoverse/status/1962989752455700874
32:00 WLFI Dropped
https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1962485085896323466
https://x.com/worldlibertyfi/status/1960068943562870830
https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/world-liberty-financial
https://governance.worldlibertyfinancial.com/t/proposal-use-100-of-wlfi-treasury-liquidity-fees-for-buyback-burn/41226
https://x.com/worldlibertyfi/status/1962648359681839381
https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/1962634267764166743
https://mail.blockworks.com/p/wlfi-the-token-is-the-product
https://x.com/jchervinsky/status/1962884341626773959
38:30 Tempo
https://x.com/matthuang/status/1963633379284587017
https://x.com/zcabrams/status/1963640969183859116
45:00 Tokenized Securities
https://x.com/OndoFinance/status/1886822778277351608
https://x.com/rleshner/status/1963211892438049172
49:50 Polymarket in US
https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/1963280673709625346
https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9113-25
https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/1962903170859843759
https://x.com/shayne_coplan/status/1960377824793010489
https://x.com/williamlegate/status/1963386120471003607
https://x.com/allanmaman/status/1963406022183465032
55:14 Tokenized Pokemon
https://x.com/Collector_Crypt
58:49 Credit Score
https://x.com/mattyTokenomics/status/1963009390342242327
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Debate: Is Ethereum Ready for Real World Assets? | Omid Malekan vs Austin Campbell (Crypto Professors)
Austin Campbell (NYU) and Omid Malekan (Columbia) debate a simple question: is Ethereum ready to host real-world assets?
They walk through stress tests—what if an exchange is hacked, a stablecoin breaks, or a court order targets the chain—and whether the network should ever step in.
You’ll hear where they agree and disagree, what protections are realistic today, and what still needs to be built before RWAs can scale.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
6:13 Twitter Debate Genesis
8:58 Bybit Hack
17:56 Crypto vs RWA Immutability
29:29 Ethereum Validator Intervention
33:11 Dealing with Multiple Jurisdictions
52:23 Credible Neutrality for a Multipolar World
1:00:32 Blockchain Use Cases
1:13:40 Consortium Chains
1:24:57 Closing Arguments
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RESOURCES
Omid Malekan
https://x.com/malekanoms
https://www.omidmalekan.com/
Austin Campbell
https://x.com/campbelljaustin
https://zero-in.beehiiv.com/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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From BlackRock to Ethereum: Betting It All on ETH | Joseph Chalom
What does BlackRock’s former crypto lead see in Ethereum that others still miss? Joseph Chalom joins Bankless to take us inside the IBIT/ETHA ramp, why BUIDL launched on Ethereum mainnet, and the simple—but powerful—framework he uses to value ETH as “high-octane money.” We break down staking inside ETFs, the tokenization roadmap from stablecoins to the S&P in your wallet, and the real mechanics of ETH treasury companies—mNAV premiums, ATMs, converts, and the transparency metrics that matter. Less hype, more architecture: if security, liquidity, and 24/7 settlement are the future, this is the bridge.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
3:53 Larry Fink’s arc: skeptic to champion
9:15 Joseph’s crypto journey
18:09 Aladdin × Coinbase Prime
20:55 Building IBIT
24:28 ETHA & ETH ETF staking approval
36:04 Tokenization roadmap & magnitude
44:48 SharpLink’s ETH bet
50:13 Ether as “high-octane money”
58:54 Beyond ‘buy and hold’
1:03:11 ETH vs BTC treasuries
1:06:09 Radical transparency
1:10:31 mNAV, ATMs & buybacks
1:19:10 Where’s the price impact?
1:25:32 How many treasuries win?
1:29:25 Closing thoughts
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RESOURCES
Joseph Chalom
https://x.com/joechalom
Sharplink
https://www.sharplink.com/
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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ROLLUP: ETH ATH! | U.S. Gov Onchain GDP | Google’s L1 | Hyperliquid Prints | EU Digital Euro?
On this week’s Weekly Rollup, Ryan and Haseeb debate if ETH’s new all-time high signals the top or just the start, with whales rotating from BTC into ETH and alt season heating up. Powell hints at rate cuts, ETFs keep pulling billions, and Tom Lee’s billion-dollar ETH bet takes center stage while treasury premiums sink. Meanwhile, Google teases an L1, Hyperliquid outpaces Robinhood, and Europe floats a digital euro, setting up another pivotal week in crypto.
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TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES
0:00 Intro
0:38 Big Sean Crypto
https://x.com/altcoindaily/status/1960753873376961031
3:20 Powell’s speech last week
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/powell-opens-door-potential-rate-cut-speech-jack
https://x.com/FinanceLancelot/status/1958934829082583312
https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1958907551442993491:
https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1958910251819786478
https://x.com/AnnaEconomist/status/1958923556680536487
9:10 Markets
https://x.com/JSeyff/status/1959982000804442559
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1958941150041317514
https://x.com/speculatorart/status/1960322107864141966
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/25/bitcoin-flash-crash-triggers-usd550m-in-sunday-l
https://x.com/JacobKinge/status/1959724849598718428
https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1958767845934080277
https://x.com/woonomic/status/1960442328604200987
24:53 HYPE Crushing it - competitive with major exchanges
https://x.com/cointelegraph/status/1960379396927213990
https://blockworks-research.beehiiv.com/p/is-hype-still-cheap-8541fea8eaae3e65
https://x.com/infinitybanyan/status/1960373080389304611
34:55 SOL DATs are coming - 3 of em!
https://x.com/matthew_sigel/status/1959942140500365564
https://x.com/SolanaFloor/status/1959948823280619558
https://decrypt.co/336832/pantera-capital-eyes-1-25b-raise-solana-treasury-firm
https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/dat-value-creation/
https://mcga.com/news/trump-media-group-cro-strategy-to-acquire-cro-digital-asset-treasury
https://blockworks.co/analytics/treasury-companies/market-data
42:01 Google is building its L1
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rich-widmann-a816a54b_all-this-talk-of-layer-1-blockchains-has-activity-7366124738848415744-7idA/
49:35 US GOV - will publish GDP figures onchain!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbEPqUdelFo
https://blog.chain.link/united-states-department-of-commerce-macroeconomic-data/
https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1961067983800881224
https://x.com/krakenfx/status/1961081675175149795
https://etherscan.io/address/0x36ccdf11044f60f196e981970d592a7de567ed7b#code
https://docs.chain.link/data-feeds/us-government-macroeconomic/addresses?page=1&testnetPage=1
51:41 The EU may release a Stablecoin on a public chain - Ethereum or Solana
https://x.com/DefiIgnas/status/1958754787345727712
https://app.rwa.xyz/stablecoins
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/china-considering-yuan-backed-stablecoins-boost-global-currency-usage-sources-2025-08-21/
56:45 Kanye West released $YZY
https://x.com/kanyewest/status/1958346810801697237
https://x.com/CryptoHayes/status/1958356982991401006
https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1958355708010975580
https://x.com/JamesWynnReal/status/1958383968945831940
59:43 DOJ announced that it won’t bring charges against non-custodial developers
https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1958645825732501566
1:04:51 Closing & Disclaimers
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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
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Ireland