a16z crypto show

A hot paper — "Some Simple Economics of AGI" — has been making the rounds, so we sat down with the author, covering: 

Automation vs. verification: the key economic split 

Why AI agents now feel like coworkers - What's happening to junior roles and the “codifier’s curse” 

The “AI sandwich” structure for firms 

The value of "meaning-makers," consensus, and status economies 

Why crypto may become essential infrastructure for identity, provenance, and trust 

Two possible futures: a hollow vs. augmented economy 

Featuring Christian Catalini (founder of MIT Crypto Economics Lab) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO of a16z crypto) in conversation with Robert Hackett, our discussion dives deep into how automation is reshaping labor markets, as well as the nature of intelligence. 

What do these changes mean for startups, the future of work, and your career? 

Highlights 

00:00 Introduction 

01:47 AGI economics optimism and playbook 

05:39 Agents as coworkers 

07:39 Software work becomes verification 

10:47 Automation versus verification 

12:03 "Unknown unknowns" and taste 

16:27 Human augmentation and intent 

17:55 The "AI Sandwich" and "Codifier's Curse" 

21:54 "Meaning-makers" and the human touch 

23:48 Crypto for identity and trust? 

27:10 Measurability: How to think about it 

33:23 Machine coordination and art after automation 

35:46 Trojan horse risks 

37:47 Liability and insurance 

41:08 Crypto and verification 

44:31 A hollow vs. augmented economy 

49:45 Career advice in the AI era 

51:26 The one-person billion-dollar startup 

57:15 Open-source as antibodies 

58:42 Blockchains for coordination 

01:01:49 Closing thoughts 

Follow a16z crypto for more... 

X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto 

📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/ 

*** 

As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does it actually mean to bring assets onchain — and why should investors care? 

In this episode, Cynthia Lo Bessette, Head of Digital Asset Management at Fidelity Investments, breaks down Fidelity’s roadmap for digital market adoption — from Bitcoin ETPs to tokenized money market funds — and explains why tokenization is about far more than just putting assets on a blockchain. 

We cover: 

The three phases of digital asset adoption: Hold, Use, Build 

Why tokenizing an asset must start with utility 

How tokenized money market funds bridge payments and yield 

The rapid rise of real-world assets (RWAs) onchain 

The impact of the regional bank crisis and stablecoin depegging 

Staking yield inside traditional wrappers 

Institutional adoption of DeFi infrastructure 

Build vs. partner decisions inside a major asset manager 

Cynthia also shares insight into Fidelity’s early Bitcoin mining experiments, how they evaluate crypto founders, and why authenticity is the smallest hill she’ll always die on. 

If you're interested in tokenization, real-world assets, crypto ETFs, DeFi infrastructure, or the future of asset management — this conversation is for you.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when AI becomes the primary economic actor? 

In this conversation, Sean Neville (cofounder of Circle, architect of USDC, and now cofounder of Catena Labs) shares his vision for the next phase of the internet: an agent-native economy powered by programmable dollars and AI banks. 

As stablecoins put dollars on internet rails, a new question emerges: what happens when AI agents start earning, spending, lending, investing — and even managing our assets — on our behalf? 

From KYA (“Know Your Agent”) to programmable spending policies to secure agent communication standards, this conversation explores the foundational layers that must be built before AI can safely participate in the global economy. 

Sean breaks down: 

Why he believes AI agents could become the dominant economic participants

What an “AI-native bank” actually is (and why we’ll need one)

The missing infrastructure required for safe agent-to-agent payments

How cryptography can encode trust directly into software

Why current financial risk systems are designed to block bots — and what needs to change

The fragmented race to define standards for agent identity, payments, and communication-

Lessons from building Circle and launching USDC

Why he doesn’t love the term “stablecoin”

Follow a16z crypto for more... 

X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto

📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/

*** 

As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Restaurants generated more than a trillion dollars in sales last year — but they don’t control the payment rails those dollars flow through.
In this episode, Ben Leventhal (founder of Eater, Resy, and now Blackbird) joins Robert Hackett to explain why that’s a problem, how loyalty and payments have failed independent restaurants, and where crypto fits into fixing it.
Ben breaks down:
Why most restaurant tech misses the point
How Blackbird uses crypto without making restaurants think about crypto
What “restaurant-first” really means in payments and loyalty
Why decentralization only makes sense at scale
Lessons from building multiple companies in hospitality
Why we’re living in the golden age of restaurants
Plus: favorite NYC spots, founder productivity hacks, and the smallest hill he’ll die on.
This is a grounded conversation about technology, ownership, and the future of restaurants — from someone who’s been building in the space for over a decade.
 
Follow a16z crypto for more...
X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pMZvsNXEnb0CYcPiDQywE
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/web3-with-a16z-crypto/id1622312549
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto
📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/
🎙️ Like, subscribe, comment, share the show: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/
***
As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

with @zcabrams @rhackett
What happens when money moves 10x — or 100x — faster than it does today?
In this episode, Zach Abrams, cofounder and CEO of Bridge (now part of Stripe), lays out a bold vision for the future of money: a world where stablecoins become the dominant payment rail, most transactions happen between non-human agents, and entirely new financial infrastructure is required to keep up.
Zach explains why stablecoins are the next evolution of fintech, much like credit cards were decades ago — and why we’re still in the very early innings. We dig into agentic payments, AI-to-AI commerce, micro-transactions on the open internet, and what Stripe is building by assembling stablecoin infrastructure across the stack.
Along the way, we cover:
Why cards succeeded — and what stablecoins must learn from them
How AI agents could drive the majority of future payments
What breaks when the velocity of money increases 10x
Stripe’s long-term strategy behind Bridge, Privy, and Tempo
The case for open, decentralized payment infrastructure
Zach’s unconventional views on management, productivity, and product-market fit
If you’re curious about the future of payments, fintech, crypto, AI agents, or the economic foundations of the next internet, this conversation offers a look several steps ahead.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Stablecoins: The next platform for money
01:38 Credit cards had a moral panic too
03:29 What stablecoin infrastructure still needs to be built
05:22 The use cases no one predicted
11:11 Why Stripe is building with crypto
13:08 Why payments infrastructure must stay open
15:12 Lightning round: Bad advice, great books, and deep work
Follow a16z crypto for more...
X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pMZvsNXEnb0CYcPiDQywE
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/web3-with-a16z-crypto/id1622312549
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto
📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/
🎙️ Like, subscribe, comment, share the show: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/
***
As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.