Agentic Payments Are the Wild West

Agentic Payments Are the Wild West

On the next episode of Stable Pulse: Policy Beat, host Justin Friedman sits down with Dr. Christian Catalini, MIT research scientist, founder of the Cryptoeconomics Lab, and co-creator of Diem (Libra), to unpack the collision between stablecoins entering the mainstream and AI agents beginning to execute real commerce on our behalf. Drawing on his experience building Diem and working with regulators around the world, Christian explains how the US Genius Act could finally make programmable money scalable through stronger reserve standards, redemption rights, and interoperability between stablecoins. But as payments become faster and more autonomous, a bigger challenge is emerging: verification. Justin and Christian explore the rise of agentic commerce, where AI systems can shop, negotiate, and move money faster than humans can realistically monitor. They discuss why traditional compliance frameworks like KYC and AML were built for human actors, what “know your agent” standards could look like, and why the next generation of fintech infrastructure may center on guardrails, anomaly detection, provenance, and liability management. The conversation also dives into consumer protection, fraud, trust, concentration risk, and the growing tension between automation and accountability as AI agents begin operating at machine speed across global payment networks. Subscribe for more conversations on stablecoin regulation, programmable payments, AI agents, and the future of digital identity, trust, and financial infrastructure. Want to go deeper? Check out more and connect with our guest and host: “How Banks Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Stablecoins” by Christian Catalini https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/12/17/how-banks-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-stablecoins/ [https://www.forbes.com/sites/christiancatalini/2025/12/17/how-banks-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-stablecoins/] “Some Simple Economics of AGI” by Christian Catalini, et al https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6298838 [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6298838] “The Machine at Checkout” by Justin Friedman https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/balance-machine-checkout-justin-friedman-h0rme/ [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/balance-machine-checkout-justin-friedman-h0rme/] Justin Friedman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingfriedman/ Christian Catalini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccatalini/

The State of Stables, Q2-2026

Stablecoins are rapidly becoming core financial infrastructure, reshaping how payments, commerce, and digital value move across the internet. The conversation is no longer just about faster settlement. It is about distribution, compliance, and how programmable money integrates into global commerce. In the second edition of The State of Stables, Justin Friedman, Andrew Van Aken, and Dennis Sem break down the biggest trends shaping the stablecoin ecosystem in Q2 2026. The discussion explores reports of Mastercard pursuing a potential acquisition of BVNK, what it signals for stablecoin infrastructure, and why traditional payment companies are increasingly moving on-chain. They unpack the latest market data, including stablecoin supply surpassing $310B, the continued dominance of Ethereum and Tron, and growing momentum around tokenized treasuries, RLUSD, USDG, and USYC. The episode dives into the rise of agentic finance, from Stripe and Tempo’s machine payments protocol to X402 entering the Linux Foundation, and examines the growing questions around AI-driven payments, liability, and customer ownership in digital commerce. Access the report at: https://content.stablecon.com/state-of-stables-report?utm_source=StablePulse&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=StateOfStablesQ2 [https://content.stablecon.com/state-of-stables-report?utm_source=StablePulse&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=StateOfStablesQ2]

Seismic on What It Really Takes to Scale Stablecoin Payments

Host Dante Reminick sits down with Lyron Co Ting Keh, CEO and founder of Seismic, to unpack what it really takes to move stablecoins from hype to real financial infrastructure. They explore Seismic’s approach to private stablecoin accounts on a purpose-built Layer 1, including fiat on/off ramps, liquidity, and embedded compliance tools like AML and KYT. The conversation digs into why stablecoin-first infrastructure differs from general-purpose chains, and how privacy, screening, and usability need to work together for real-world adoption. From there, they break down what fintechs and neobanks actually want from stablecoin rails, and why outcomes like cross-border payments, virtual accounts, and local banking details matter more than raw blockchain performance. The episode also covers the tension between privacy and compliance in real financial flows. Finally, they get into stablecoin yield, regulatory constraints, and why Seismic is taking a deliberate, infrastructure-first, no-token approach to building the stack for global money movement. Subscribe to Stable Pulse for more conversations on the future of stablecoins, payments infrastructure, and what’s next in fintech. Connect with the Hosts & Guest Dante Reminik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dante-reminick / https://x.com/DanteReminick Lyron Co Ting Keh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyronctk/ / https://x.com/lyronctk About Stable Pulse Stable Pulse is a fast-paced, news-driven podcast covering the most important developments shaping the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem. Each episode dives into timely conversations with industry leaders, operators, and policymakers, offering sharp insights and real-world perspectives on where the market is heading. With a focus on clarity and relevance, Stable Pulse breaks down complex topics into accessible, actionable takeaways for anyone building in or exploring the future of finance.

How Privy Is Fixing Crypto’s Onboarding Problem

Host Bam Azizi sits down with Henry Stern, co-founder of Privy, to unpack one of crypto’s biggest adoption problems: onboarding that still feels far too hard for everyday users. They explore why the assumption that users should “want crypto” is flawed, and how embedded wallets, seamless authentication, and invisible blockchain rails are changing the way products get built. From Henry’s founder journey and the lessons behind building Privy, the conversation expands into where the market is heading now — stablecoins driving real usage, enterprises entering with practical use cases, regulatory momentum around the GENIUS Act, and what changed after Privy became part of Stripe. They also dive into the future of digital asset accounts, agentic wallets, AI-driven security, and the bigger question facing the industry: should crypto stay visible to users, or disappear completely into the background? Connect with the Hosts & Guest Bam Azizi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bam-azizi-54117310a/ Henri Stern: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henri-stern/ About Stable Pulse Stable Pulse is a fast-paced, news-driven podcast covering the most important developments shaping the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem. Each episode dives into timely conversations with industry leaders, operators, and policymakers, offering sharp insights and real-world perspectives on where the market is heading. With a focus on clarity and relevance, Stable Pulse breaks down complex topics into accessible, actionable takeaways for anyone building in or exploring the future of finance.

How Tenity Transformed Their Institutional Offering with Stablecoins

On this episode of Stable Pulse, host Dante Reminick is joined by Brigitta Gyoerfi, Zurich Hub Director at Tenity, a global innovation powerhouse working with more than 65 financial institutions and over 1,600 startups across Europe and Asia to help shape the future of finance.  Together, they dig into why stablecoins have suddenly gone from a niche crypto talking point to one of the most serious infrastructure conversations happening inside banks, fintechs, and payment companies today. From the very real pain of slow and expensive cross-border payments to the promise of programmable money, Brigitta explains where institutions are seeing immediate opportunity, where they are still hesitant, and why everyone keeps running into the same frustrating issue: legacy banking systems that were never built for this kind of innovation. Dante and Brigitta also get into compliant on-chain yield, tokenized finance, the race to build better institutional rails, and why the next chapter of stablecoin adoption will be won not by the flashiest crypto products, but by the teams solving the boring last-mile plumbing that actually makes money move. Subscribe to Stable Pulse for more conversations on the future of stablecoins, payments infrastructure, and what’s next in fintech. Connect with the Hosts & Guest Dante Reminik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dante-reminick / https://x.com/DanteReminick Brigitta Gyoerfi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigittagyoerfi/ About Stable Pulse Stable Pulse is a fast-paced, news-driven podcast covering the most important developments shaping the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem. Each episode dives into timely conversations with industry leaders, operators, and policymakers, offering sharp insights and real-world perspectives on where the market is heading. With a focus on clarity and relevance, Stable Pulse breaks down complex topics into accessible, actionable takeaways for anyone building in or exploring the future of finance.