Zach Abrams, CEO and Co-Founder of Bridge, discusses the explosion of stablecoin volume and how Bridge is building critical infrastructure. Topics covered include Zach's origin story, Bridge's core products and APIs, future issuance of stablecoins, global use cases for stablecoins, the evolution of the stablecoin market, and building a crypto company in a bear market.
Bridge aims to enable the movement of value using stablecoins, providing APIs for orchestration and issuance.
Bridge envisions a future with dominant branded stablecoins and thousands of stablecoins serving specific use cases.
Deep dives
Building Infrastructure for Stablecoin Movement
Bridge is a stablecoin infrastructure company that aims to enable the movement of value using stablecoins. They provide APIs for orchestration and issuance, allowing users to convert different types of dollars into stablecoins and vice versa. This low-level infrastructure can be embedded in various fintech products, such as cards or banking systems, to facilitate seamless transactions and settlements. Bridge believes that stablecoins will become a core payment rail for dollar-based assets globally, expanding access and generating economic benefits. However, for this vision to materialize, regulatory frameworks and protections are needed to create trust and understanding in the market.
The Barbell Distribution of Stablecoins
Bridge envisions a future where there will be a handful of dominant branded stablecoins, like USDC and Tether, which will be widely adopted due to their network effects. At the other end, thousands of stablecoins will emerge, primarily serving as settlement assets or internal currencies for specific use cases. These stablecoins can be used by entities like banks or companies, allowing them to settle transactions and hold reserves transparently while gaining economic benefits from the stability and yield of their own stablecoin. Additionally, there is potential for branded stablecoins to be adopted by companies like Starbucks, similar to prepaid cards, expanding the variety of stablecoin options.
Unlocking Benefits and Easier Development with Stablecoins
Stablecoins offer several advantages compared to traditional financial rails. They provide faster and 24/7 access to value transfer, as well as the ability to have transactional assets that generate economic interest. Stablecoins also simplify infrastructure development for fintech companies, as building on top of stablecoins and blockchains is significantly easier and cost-effective. Zach Abrams, the CEO of Bridge, believes that stablecoins will gain broader acceptance and usage as more regulated entities participate in the space, thereby changing the dynamics of the market and inspiring further infrastructure developments.
Bridge CEO and Co-Founder Zach Abrams joins us for an episode chronicling the explosion of stablecoin volume and how Bridge is building critical infrastructure. In this episode:
Zach’s origin story and how he arrived at building Bridge
Bridge’s core products today and how clients use their APIs