In this episode, I had the exclusive chance to chat with Current’s CEO Stuart Sopp and CTO Trevor Marshall on the company’s $80 million Series E, led by Springcoast Partners, announced earlier today. We also discussed:

* Current’s expanded product suite and impressive 70% growth for the third year in a row

* The role AI has played across the company’s business and how Stu and Trevor think about cost discipline and “return on tokens”

* Current’s expanded financing facility with bank partner Cross River and General Catalyst

* How Stu and Trevor think about the latest wave of foreign fintechs entering the U.S.

* How the “K-shaped” economy and renewed inflation are impacting everyday American consumers

* And on building a sustainable business that’s ready for the public markets

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* Why seemingly every bank, crypto, and stablecoin company wants to become a bank (and what it could mean for their valuations)

* A return to BaaS Island: CFSB’s consent order, and how it compares to those of other fintech partner banks

* President Trump’s fintech- and banking-related executive orders

* And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Edward Woodford, the founder and CEO of crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization infrastructure platform zerohash. Edward and I had the chance to talk about:

* Why zerohash is applying for a national trust bank charter

* How the CLARITY Act (crypto market structure legislation) may impact the U.S. crypto industry

* What Edward is hearing from non-financial industry execs about crypto, stablecoins, tokenization, and blockchain

* Thinking about crypto as an “asset class” vs. crypto as “software”

* The potential synergies between crypto/stablecoins and AI agents

* What keeps Edward up at night and what he’s most excited about

* And much more!

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with merchant connectivity platform Knot’s cofounder and CEO Rory O’Reilly. Rory and I had the chance to discuss:

* Rory dropping out of Harvard to start his first company

* How Knot became the industry’s go-to solution for card switching

* Expanding from its initial card switching product to building the merchant connnectivity layer, and how Knot complements other core fintech infrastructure

* Hitting a 100 million API call per month milestone

* Knot’s international expansion to Canada and Latin America

* And much more!

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* If there’s one idea fintech founders can’t quit, it’s solving personal financial management. There’s a new wave of AI-powered tools. But can they solve some of the fundamental challenges that have prevented a breakout company from emerging in the category?

* Bolt, the one-click checkout turned financial “super app,” is in headlines, again, with further layoffs and as it struggles to pay its vendors. Why Americans don’t really want a “super app.”

* Congress actually tries to legislate: the bipartisan PACE Act could offer a pathway for non-banks to have direct access to payment rails. But, even if it were to become law (a big if), as a layer on top of existing requirements and at a time when getting a bank charter seems easier than ever, is the PACE Act fit for purpose?

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* Rent rewards and neighborhood loyalty startup Bilt’s rocky transition from Wells Fargo to Column and Cardless

* The “graduation problem” in banking-as-a-service

* The New York legislature’s decision to

* And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Tyler Allen, the chief operating offier at Unit21. We had the chance to discuss:

* How fintech, financial crimes compliance, and software engineering have evolved since Tyler joined Unit21 back in 2019

* The limitations of addressing compliance challenges by throwing bodies at them

* How regulators are thinking about agentic AI

* What an AI-first approach to compliance looks like

* And much more!

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with S.P. “Wije” Wijegoonaratna, the cofounder and CEO of Aliya Financial Technologies. We had the chance to discuss:

* The challenges different segments of consumer lenders are facing today

* How AI-powered infrastructure is fundamentally reshaping how financial institutions think about making decisions

* How Aliya is thinking about its go-to-market approach

* How Aliya can help banks improve their returns

* What folks who have never worked in lending through a true credit cycle/recession should know

* And much more!

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* Block’s plan to sell access to its proprietary Cash App credit score

* So-called “no KYC” crypto cards

* Stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge’s apparent derisking

* The brewing internecine fights over regulating prediction markets

* And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Modern Treasury cofounder and CEO Matt Marcus, as well as the company’s recently joined lead counsel, Matt Janiga. We had the chance to discuss:

* Modern Treasury’s newly launched payment service provider offering

* What kinds of companies can benefit from payment orchestration

* Use cases driving the explosive growth of stablecoins

* How Modern Treasury thinks about building in the rapidly evolving stablecoin space

* And much more!

Those wanting to learn more about the payments orchestration space, including stablecoins, can find the Modern Treasury Journal, which Matt Janiga mentions in the episode, here.