Money Code

Going Global Means Going Local w/ Irina Chuchkina (Wallet in Telegram)

Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK. In this episode of Money Code, host Chuk Okpalugo sits down with Irina Chuchkina, Chief Growth Officer at Wallet in Telegram, the only wallet natively integrated into a billion-user messenger, and a 20-year payments veteran who launched GrabPay across eight countries in Southeast Asia. They unpack why "distribution is an outcome, not a strategy" when scaling crypto products globally, how running custodial and self-custodial wallets simultaneously works as a coverage strategy for 150 million users, and why the winner of the stablecoin race won't be the next issuer but the infrastructure that makes hundreds of national stablecoins interoperable. Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN Chapters 00:00 Why distribution is an outcome, not a strategy 03:44 Connecting the dots: a user in Thailand and a user in Mexico 05:30 Telegram isn't a messenger, it's an economy 10:31 "People wake up with it and go to bed with it" 13:54 From simple bot to financial platform: tokenized stocks from $1 21:38 Maslow's hierarchy of financial needs 24:35 Two wallets, one app: custodial vs. self-custodial as a go-to-market decision 30:10 The Gift Fest playbook: 2M daily players, 1M new wallet users 33:38 Tether partnerships and watching what Binance does 38:44 Non-USD stablecoins: "every country will have a national stablecoin" 41:24 The real winner won't be an issuer 43:38 Where to find Irina and Wallet in Telegram Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chukxyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Irina Chuchkina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irinachuchkina/ | https://x.com/pogodasuper | https://x.com/wallettg About Stablecon Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens. About BVNK BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.

It's Not Stablecoins vs. Banks. It's Stablecoins With Banks. w/ Kirill Gertman (Conduit)

Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK. In this episode of Money Code, host Chuk Okpalugo sits down with Kirill Gertman, co-founder and CEO of Conduit, the cross-border payments orchestrator building stablecoin infrastructure across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. They unpack why the stablecoin sandwich is actually a "spaghetti-filled taco" — where chain selection, local rail access, and geography-specific liquidity make cross-border payments far messier than the narrative suggests — how non-USD stablecoins only work when "designed to move, not to hold," and why the winners won't be banks or crypto companies alone, but the T-shaped players who specialize deeply and stay open to everyone else. Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN Chapters 00:00 The stablecoin sandwich is actually a spaghetti-filled taco 03:21 "Within 10 years, vast majority of cross-border will be blockchain-based" 08:58 What Conduit actually does: orchestration across LatAm, Africa, and SE Asia 12:05 Bottom-up adoption: individuals hedging, then SMEs, then enterprise 18:52 The K-shaped market: enterprise buyers on one end, vibe coders on the other 20:26 "The UI is super nice… but the money doesn't move": compliance as the real bottleneck 27:28 Three unsolved problems: trade finance, identity, and AI deepfake fraud 37:20 Why a stablecoin skeptic changed his mind on non-USD stablecoins 42:00 The BBRL walkthrough: fiat → mint → on-chain swap → off-ramp in seconds 49:12 Don't build your own chain: why banks should be T-shaped, not vertically integrated Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chukxyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Kirill Gertman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirillgertman/ | https://x.com/kirillgertman | https://conduitpay.com About Stablecon Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens. About BVNK BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.

Crypto Payments Won't Scale Without Convenience w/ Davi Strazza (Lightspark)

Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK. In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with Davi Strazza, Chief Business Officer at Lightspark, an 11-year Adyen veteran who helped grow the company from $30B to over $1.3T in payments volume before joining a 50-person startup building on Bitcoin rails. They unpack why Davi believes the moment to rebuild payments infrastructure from first principles is now, how Lightspark uses Bitcoin as an invisible transport layer to move money across 65 countries, and why crypto will never reach the scale it deserves unless it becomes as easy as tapping a card. Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN Chapters 00:00 Why leave $1.3T in payments for a 50-person startup? 02:44 Three problem spaces, one infrastructure play 05:55 The Bitcoin sandwich: fiat in, crypto transport, fiat out 09:41 "Bitcoin is volatile" — why sub-second settlement changes the math 12:39 The import-exporter who flies cash on planes 17:02 B2B is the bigger prize: treasury, payroll, creator payouts 21:39 "The plumbing is necessary — it's just not sufficient" 26:47 Are we innovating in the right place? 30:38 Adyen lessons: education is the go-to-market bottleneck 34:35 The Frankenstein problem: why global expansion is cultural 38:37 Agentic payments: infrastructure is ahead of product 44:40 Fintech is 1% built — where does all the money go? Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chuk_xyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Davi Strazza: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davistrazza/ | https://x.com/davistrazza About Stablecon Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens. About BVNK BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.

Why x402 Captures Zero Value w/ Erik Reppel (Coinbase)

Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK. In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with Erik Reppel, Head of Engineering for Coinbase's Developer Platform and the creator of x402 — the open payment protocol that just joined the Linux Foundation with Google, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, AWS, and Cloudflare as founding members. They unpack why Erik designed x402 to capture zero value, how "the wallet is a universal API key" that eliminates sign-up friction for a new class of non-technical builders, and what the "agentic premium" means for companies leaving money on the table with free tiers. Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN Chapters 00:00 The Foundation: "phase two of three of our secret master plan" 02:03 What x402 actually does: "a standard way of telling a computer how to pay you" 03:36 The mechanism: how declaration is decoupled from the rail 06:03 Inside the stack: facilitators, SDKs, and 13 live implementations 09:09 Why agents can't be on both sides of every payment integration 16:50 The ad model is breaking — how publishers monetize agent traffic 20:38 The Claude cowork class: "the people who find x402 most valuable are not developers" 24:51 "The wallet is a universal API key" 30:44 The agentic premium: charging more per request than subscriptions 32:54 Where to build: Solana at 65% of volume and why it's hard to measure 39:59 Value creation, not value capture: why one open standard is the goal 44:41 VHS vs Betamax: simplicity as the path to critical mass 48:17 Where to find Erik and x402 Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chuk_xyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Erik Reppel: https://x.com/programmer | https://x402.org | https://cdp.coinbase.com About Stablecon Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens. About BVNK BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.

Stablecoins Need a Clearing Layer w/ Sam Broner (Better Money Company)

Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK. In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with Sam Broner, co-founder and CEO of the Better Money Company and former investment partner at a16z crypto. They unpack why swapping one stablecoin for another today is like "selling Wells Fargo dollars to buy Bank of America dollars," why fungibility is the missing layer that turns stablecoins into real money, and what changes when AI agents show up needing to pay without a credit history. Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN Chapters 00:00 The stablecoin clearinghouse: BMC's 30-second pitch 01:24 "Selling Wells Fargo dollars to buy Bank of America dollars" 04:41 M&A merry-go-round: who builds vs. who buys 07:24 "We sell trust" — what payments companies actually need 10:05 Tourists in the Bazaar: why agents can't use credit rails 14:07 From ChatGPT to Cisco: how agent payment terms evolve 16:03 Protocol wars and intelligence at the edge 18:30 The incentive puzzle: why interchange fees exist 22:10 Emerging vs. developed markets: two different products 24:32 The innovator's dilemma: incumbents won't cannibalize 26:53 Five Bells Tavern: 200 years of clearing history in 5 minutes 29:15 Custom stablecoins, treasury management, and the partner list 35:49 No slippage vs. no fee: how BMC makes money 40:59 The endgame: "just see your dollar balance" Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chuk_xyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Sam Broner: https://x.com/SamBroner | https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambroner/ | https://bettermoney.com About Stablecon Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens. About BVNK BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.