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
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