This episode of The New Money Podcast features Sanja Kon, Vice President for EMEA at Circle, the company behind USDC and EURC stablecoins. Sanja shares how witnessing the collapse of financial systems during her early years sparked her curiosity about money and technology, leading her to work at PayPal, co-found a crypto-to-fiat payments startup, and ultimately scale stablecoin infrastructure at Circle. The discussion dives into Circle Payments Network, how its OFI/BFI model unlocks near-instant, transparent cross-border settlement, and why the network doesn’t require bilateral partner builds. Sanja also introduces Arc, Circle’s Layer 1 for stablecoin-native finance with predictable USDC gas fees and enterprise-grade functionality. They wrap up with insights on Circle’s partnership with Ivy, MiCA-driven adoption in Europe, and the growing role of EURC in global payments.

Key Chapters

01:34 Sanja Kon shares her origin story

04:53 Early payments faced hurdles, and early adopters emerged

06:40 Circle broadens use cases beyond checkout

08:06 Circle Payments Network streamlines cross-border settlements

10:45 A stablecoin sandwich powers near-instant settlement

12:48 One integration unlocks many payout corridors

14:10 Arc as a new ‘Economic OS’ for the Internet

16:23 Ivy partnership enables seamless bank to USDC

18:43 MiCA fuels European adoption and new use cases

23:08 Quickfire Insights on Fintech and Crypto Trends

This is NOT financial, tax, or legal advice

Music by Marcelo Cataldo - http://www.marcelocataldo.com