In this episode, we sit down with Lex Sokolin, a fintech veteran and founder of Generative Ventures, to unpack the latest in tokenized assets, crypto infrastructure, and the future of payments. Lex shares his insights on Robinhood's controversial OpenAI token launch, the evolution of security tokens, and why fintech giants like Stripe and Coinbase are racing to build AI-native payment systems. We dive into the regulatory hurdles, the shift from old financial factories to blockchain-powered rails, and how stablecoins could enable seamless commerce for AI agents. Lex also discusses the messy realities of public vs. private markets, the power of self-custody, and his new fund focused on the machine economy.

Lex Sokolin: linkedin.com/in/alexeysokolin

00:00:00 - OpenAI Tokens on Robinhood: What Happened?

00:00:50 - Inside Robinhood's Arbitrum-Based Platform

00:01:35 - Why Security Tokens Failed in 2018

00:02:38 - From ICOs to Enterprise Blockchain Attempts

00:03:53 - How Robinhood's Product Is Really a Derivative

00:05:13 - Eurodollars & Stablecoins: Regulatory Parallels

00:06:21 - Launching Meme Coins vs. Tokenized Equity

00:07:21 - Why Exchanges Build Their Own Chains

00:08:30 - Who Controls Trading Rights for Private Equity?

00:09:48 - Public Markets: Now Just for Cashing Out?

00:11:06 - Why Exclude Private Equity from Financialization?

00:12:19 - Rent Control for Assets? Markets Want to Flow

00:13:37 - Fintech's Shift to Crypto-Native Products

00:15:15 - How Commerce Drives Payment Processor Changes

00:16:36 - Stripe vs. Coinbase: Battle for AI Agent Payments

00:18:11 - Web2's Original Sin: No Native Payments

00:19:27 - Stablecoins as Internet-Native Dollars

00:20:57 - APIs for AI Agents: Machine-Speed Transactions

00:22:17 - Where Are We in the Internet Payments Journey?

00:24:07 - From Bitcoin to Stablecoins: What Changed?

00:26:01 - Better Dispute Resolution with 402 Protocol

00:27:42 - Why Blockchain Software Is Profoundly Better

00:29:02 - Custody Risks: Lessons from Lehman & Hyperinflation

00:30:24 - Self-Custody as an Option, Not a Requirement

00:31:40 - Inside Generative Ventures & Machine Economy

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