Arthur Firstov, Chief Business Officer at Mercuryo, joined Alex Richardson at Paris Blockchain Week 2026 to challenge the dominant DeFi narrative.

The future isn't DeFi platforms beating banks — it's DeFi primitives living as backend infrastructure inside Revolut, neobanks, and traditional banks with polished UX and millions of users. Plus crypto cards as the consumer gateway, the 2026 fintech-pivot M&A wave, and Mercuryo's Mastercard crypto credentials product.

We cover:

- DeFi's actual adoption path: white-label inside banks

- Crypto cards as the mainstream stablecoin gateway

- The fintech-pivot driving crypto M&A in 2026

- Mercuryo + Mastercard's crypto credentials product

- What MiCA actually changed for an early-stage compliant firm👇

Chapters:

00:11 - Welcome and Introduction of Arthur Firstov

01:01 - Overview of Mercurio

01:29 - The Role of Stablecoins

03:06 - Stablecoin Payments in Consumer Platforms

05:12 - The Future of Crypto Cards

06:25 - Peer-to-Peer Payments and Agents

09:26 - Changes in DeFi and UX

11:41 - Impact of Micah Regulation

15:34 - Expansion to the US and Regulatory Challenges

18:05 - Trends in Payments and FinTech

23:21 - Future Trends in FinTech and AI

Drop your take in the comments — are banks winning, or just adapting?

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