How Collateralized Cards Replace Credit Scores

Mike explains EtherFi’s fully collateralized credit-card model and how on-chain assets serve as loan collateral without credit checks.

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Neobanks changed how fintech thinks about money. Now, crypto builders want to do the same, without custody.

In this episode, Itamar Lesuisse, CEO of Ready, and Mike Silagadze, CEO of EtherFi, argue the real shift isn't about "crypto cards," it's about who controls your assets. EtherFi’s and Ready’s self-custodial apps merge saving, spending, and investing. The result: faster settlement, lower fees, and more transparency, but also new challenges around compliance, credit, and security.

Itamar Lesuisse and Mike Silagadze explain how layer 2 networks made crypto cards economically viable after years of failed attempts and how Africa’s FX markets could become the breakthrough use case for crypto banking.

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