Not Fintech Investment Advice: EtherFi, Lunos AI, Circuit & Chisel, & Figure

Oct 15, 2025

Simon Taylor, a fintech commentator and author of Fintech Brain Food, dives into groundbreaking innovations. He introduces EtherFi Cash, a DeFi-native credit card that allows users to earn interest while borrowing. Lunos AI automates accounts receivable with smart negotiation capabilities, foreshadowing a future of self-driving finances. Circuit & Chisel’s XTP protocol enables AI agents to pay each other, revolutionizing software use. Finally, Taylor discusses Figure's blockchain lending, driving tokenization momentum in the finance industry.

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INSIGHT

DeFi Card That Inverts Net Interest

EtherFi Cash flips banking math by letting users earn yield on collateralized stablecoins while borrowing at lower rates.
The product is non-custodial and requires users to manage their own keys, increasing both control and responsibility.

INSIGHT

Stablecoin Yield Is Private Credit In Practice

Stablecoin yields reflect private-credit economics: depositors are effectively funding lending and earning investment-like returns.
The protocol stack separates balance-sheet roles, creating different risk and return dynamics than banks.

ADVICE

Treat On-Chain Lending Like Regulated Lending

If you build or use on-chain lending, ensure consumer-protection and lending laws are followed.
Do not assume technical novelty exempts you from UDAP, TILA or other regulations.

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Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we’re absolutely not giving investment advice on.

First up is EtherFi Cash, a DeFi-native credit card (from Ether.fi) that flips banking math. You load stablecoins onto the card as collateral. From there, you can either spend them directly or lock them up to borrow cash against them (earning interest on the coins you park, while borrowing at a lower rate). It’s non-custodial, meaning you’re fully responsible for your crypto, and the card itself runs on Visa through a partner. It’s over-collateralized lending dressed up as a card, and maybe regulators will end up treating it that way.

Next up is Lunos AI, an AI agent that collects invoices like a polite but relentless coworker. It reads emails, remembers context, negotiates, and learns. Today it automates AR (accounts receivable); tomorrow, it’ll be talking to AP (accounts payable) bots on the other side. Think of it as the first step toward self-driving cash flow.

Then, there’s the evocatively named Circuit & Chisel. Their XTP protocol lets AI agents pay each other per use instead of signing up for endless subscriptions. Imagine a digital assistant renting a data tool for ten seconds. It’s built by ex-Stripe and Chainlink folks who see where this is going: a future where software pays software.

Finally, there’s Figure. Mike Cagney (of SoFi fame) successfully took his blockchain lending company public. Figure started with home-equity loans and now runs one of the largest on-chain real-world asset markets (outside of U.S. Treasuries). Its innovation lies in using blockchain to automate the costly back-office work of loan origination and trading. It’s faster, cheaper, and fully traceable (and it’s rated by the same agencies that review traditional securities).

Plus, some closing manifestations: whoever builds the MCP or the protocol that lets AR and AP AI agents talk to each other is sitting on a billion-dollar startup. Banks should treat stablecoin yield as the next interchange moment, and as for anyone touching DeFi lending … remember, the same consumer-protection laws still apply.

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Follow Simon:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/

Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com

Follow Alex:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

Companies featured:

https://www.ether.fi/

https://www.lunos.aI

https://circuitandchisel.com/

https://www.figure.com/