Global Policy Podcast

Stablecoins are more than a technology story and misunderstanding them could be dangerous.

In this episode, host Ife Osakuade speaks with Svetlana Kardan, Head of Balance Sheet Management and ALM at Monzo Bank, about what tokenized money really means and the banking risks behind the buzz.

Svetlana explains why stablecoins emerged to address real-world payment challenges, how they differ from tokenized deposits, and why 24/7 on-chain settlement can create liquidity mismatches.

They also explore what the SVB collapse revealed about stablecoin reserves and why real-time monitoring matters in a programmable-money world.

If you work in banking, treasury, payments, fintech, or regulation, this episode offers a grounded look at what could reshape and strain the financial system.

This episode covers the evolution of AI in banking, risk governance in digital banking, agentic banking and independent risk management, and the future of banking and the role of humans. It explores the use of AIs in banking, the comparison between digital and traditional banks, the role of agents in banking decisions, and the potential impact of AI and automation on the future of banking.

Takeaways

• Banking has evolved with technology
• Customer focus is essential in banking AI accuracy in banking is a critical concern
• Digital banks have a unique risk governance culture
• The future of banking may see increased automation and AI usage

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Banking Career
• 01:41 Evolution of Banking
• 03:01 Customer Focus in Banking
• 06:22 Impact of Textbook on Banking
• 07:17 Writing and Impact of Banking Textbook
• 09:13 Writing Process and Impact of Textbook
• 13:12 Innovation in Banking
• 14:13 Tokenization and Digital Asset Innovation
• 18:26 Impact of Banking Failures on Economy
• 21:30 The Accuracy of AI in Banking
• 24:54 Risk Governance in Digital Banking
• 28:12 Agentic Banking and Independent Risk Management
• 35:10 The Future of Banking and the Role of Humans

On this episode, Mercy Emmanuel, Stablecoin & Blockchain Commercial Vertical Lead at Flutterwave shares her journey from studying law to working in growth marketing, blockchain, and stable coin infrastructure.

She discusses the relevance of legal training in her current role and the evolution of payments in emerging markets, particularly Africa. The conversation delves into the impact of stable coins in solving economic pain points and the concerns around stablecoin dollarization and settlement.

The future of multi-rail payment systems and the role of local alternatives are also explored. The conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities of stablecoin adoption in Africa, focusing on institutional trust, differentiation between markets, and the role of AI and agent payments. It also addresses the need for identity, authority, and accountability in programmable money.

Chapters

• 00:00 Journey from Law to Fintech
• 03:06 Evolution of Payments in Emerging Markets
• 06:07 Impact of Stable Coins in Emerging Markets
• 10:58 The Future of Multi-Rail Payment Systems
• 15:05 Concerns and Local Alternatives
• 19:41 Institutional Trust and Barriers to Adoption
• 20:43 Differentiation Between Markets
• 29:43 AI and Agent Payments in Africa
• 32:15 Programmable Money and Identity, Authority, and Accountability

Will the digital euro deliver a victory for Europe over dollar‑denominated stablecoins? Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn3styQ1jiA

In this episode of the Global Policy Podcast, we unpack how the digital euro could reshape monetary sovereignty, cross‑border payments and the future of agentic finance and what it means for businesses, consumers and global stablecoin competition.

Special thanks to Anne-Sophie Kappel, Executive Director Digital Euro Association for this insightful episode. I absolutely enjoyed it. 💯

Takeaways

• Digital Euro's dual function as a payment instrument and innovation platform
• Strategic policy choices and implications for European monetary sovereignty

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to the Digital Euro Space
• 01:23 The Role of the Digital Euro Association
• 03:13 Regulation and Innovation in the Digital Euro Space
• 06:01 Impact of Global Stablecoin Market Dominance
• 12:26 Sovereignty and Infrastructure in the Euro Zone
• 18:25 Agentic Payments and Programmable Payments
• 21:49 Strategic Policy Choices and Implications
• 31:08 Consumer and Business Perspectives on the Digital Euro

Today, I'm joined by one of the sharpest emerging voices in capital markets policy, — Phoebe Chan is a Capital Markets Policy researcher at the CFA Institute's Research and Policy Center, one of the most influential bodies shaping investment standards and market governance globally.

At the Research and Policy Center, Phoebe works at the frontier of the questions that matter most for the future of markets — digital finance, tokenisation, private market access, and the investor-protection frameworks that have to evolve alongside them.

Today, we're unpacking one of the most consequential questions in modern markets — what happens when the gates to private markets and tokenised assets open to retail investors, and whether the rules protecting those investors are keeping pace with the technology transforming how markets work.

For decades, every payment, trade, and transfer ultimately passed a human checkpoint someone who could pause, question, or pull the brake.

Autonomous AI agents remove that checkpoint. They can initiate, approve and settle transactions in milliseconds, at a scale and speed no risk team can manually supervise.

Joshua Rosenberg spent 22 years at the New York Fed, leading its second line of defence as Chief Risk Officer through the financial crisis.

A three-time CRO, he's since carried that playbook from regulation into community banking and now into building a stablecoin bank from the ground up.

The financial services industry has lived through multiple waves of transformation — internet banking, mobile, cloud, and now tokenization and agentic AI. Each time, the promise was revolution. Each time, most banks barely moved.

But something feels different now.

Stablecoins are no longer a crypto story. They are fast becoming the settlement infrastructure that the global financial system cannot avoid — and the policy frameworks designed to govern them are not keeping pace.

Today we are asking the question that defines the next chapter of global banking:

Will the stablecoin transformation actually land or are we watching the same story repeat itself one more time?


Today I am joined by someone who has spent 22 years inside the engine room of global banking and has seen every promise of transformation up close.

Namit Khanna is Executive Director of Strategic Accounts at Thought Machine — the cloud-native core banking platform trusted by some of the world's most innovative financial institutions, Fedwire-certified by the US Federal Reserve, and now part of the Mastercard Crypto Partner Programme.

Namit began his career as a software engineer in the early 2000s, building front-end interfaces on top of core banking systems. He went on to work with Finastra, Oracle, DXC, Finacle, and SAS — helping financial institutions across Asia, Europe, and now the United States modernise their technology stacks and transform how they use data.