On The Margin

About ten years ago I ran a property management company in the Caribbean. Airbnb was new, getting paid in those markets was hard, and one of the few options that always worked was Payoneer.A lot has changed since then. Stablecoins arrived, and every week in San Francisco I meet someone launching a neobank on stablecoin rails. So I asked John Caplan, Payoneer’s CEO, how a company that has been doing cross-border payments for over two decades thinks about all this.A few things that stood out:* The last mile is the killer app. “You can’t buy orange juice in Pakistan with USDC.” For John, moving money quickly is the easy part. What matters is turning it into local currency someone can actually spend.* Certainty beats price. Cross-border customers care about certainty and trust more than shaving a few basis points. John’s view is that too-good-to-be-true pricing usually isn’t worth the risk.* Slow and steady on stablecoins. Payoneer partnered with Bridge rather than building its own, opened a waitlist that about 17,000 businesses applied to, and has applied for a stablecoin bank charter.* Where the growth is. John thinks the next century of innovation comes from places like Jakarta, Bangalore and Hangzhou. Payoneer’s customers are the businesses below the threshold that multinational banks will serve.* Resilience. After the 2025 tariffs, his customers diversified their supply chains and distribution. “I’m on offense,” as one BPO owner in the Philippines told him.We also get into John’s path from Starbucks and Alibaba to Payoneer, why analysts should talk less about price and more about net revenue retention, and what he expects from consolidation in payments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

$5.9 trillion a year is wagered on unregulated online gambling.Ismail Vali says that makes it the third-largest economic flow on the planet, after the US and Chinese economies.I sat down in Las Vegas with Ismail, President of Gaming Compliance International (GCI) and founder of Yield Sec. He ran Ladbrokes e-gaming and Sportingbet, and later Paradise Poker and PokerStars, which he took to 94% international market share. He calls himself a “poacher turned gamekeeper,” and today he helps regulators, governments and licensed operators track the illegal iGaming market.What we covered:The black market isn’t 5%, it’s the majority. The industry used to estimate offshore gambling by adding a guessed percentage to regulated revenue. Yield Sec measured it top-down from traffic, ads and affiliates. The result: about 78% of the average online gambling market is unlicensed. That’s roughly $100B a year lost in the US (about $25B of it tax) and €91.6B in the EU.One marketplace, two industries. Licensed sportsbooks and online casinos pay license fees, gaming taxes, compliance costs and responsible gambling costs. Offshore operators put that money into $1,000 sign-up bonuses. Players can’t tell the difference when both appear in their TikTok, Instagram or ChatGPT results.Crypto casinos and stablecoins. We covered how crypto, stablecoins and grey-market payment processing let anyone launch a white-label casino for about $50K in four days. That includes Stake.com handing back its UK Gambling Commission license, BC.Game calling Curaçao’s regulator “hostile,” and the Curaçao data leak.Prediction markets are gambling. Kalshi and Polymarket meet the test of stake, uncertainty and reward. About 80% of their volume is sports betting, Betfair already ran this model, and Flutter makes money taking the other side. New users change their position about 15 times in their first 24 hours.AI and bots. AI-generated affiliate marketing, ripped-off celebrity endorsements, streamer and influencer promotions, and trading bots are changing how sports betting and prediction markets work.Enforcement works, bans don’t. The Philippines went from 92% illegal to over 65% legal, with tax up from under $1M to more than $100M a month. Brazil’s decision to re-ban online betting a year after legalizing it hands that market straight to organized crime. Ismail’s framework is Monitor, Police, Enforce, Optimize (MPEO).It’s bigger than gambling. The same model now sells counterfeit GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, predatory loans and other regulated products online. Regulators are still enforcing with brick-and-mortar tools in a digital economy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

He applied for the wrong regulatory license and had to redo the entire application from scratch. Now his company moves billions of dollars a day between fiat and crypto.Sami Start co-founded Transak in 2019 to solve a simple problem: making it easy to convert between fiat currency and crypto or stablecoins directly inside third-party apps like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Phantom. The company has grown to serve over 10 million users through hundreds of integrated applications, holds licenses across the UK, EU, US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and beyond, and now operates in roughly 90 countries worldwide, the notable exceptions being sanctioned nations like China, Iran, and North Korea.Sami sits down with Boaz Sobrado to talk about the financial crime that comes with moving millions of dollars a day, the vulnerable people scammers specifically target, and why, years after crypto promised to end KYC hassles, you still have to verify your identity again every single time.We cover:Why Transak turned down building a prediction-market wallet integrationThe wrong regulatory license that cost months of wasted paperworkWhy China, Iran, and North Korea are off the table, regardless of GDPHow Binance quietly relies on competitors like Transak for local payment railsThe UK's FinProm rules making it harder to onboard new usersWhy "it hasn't been solved yet" is the honest answer on reusable KYCThe vulnerable customers scammers specifically target, and why Sami takes it personallyWhere your passport data actually goes after you upload it for KYCWash trading and the fake user numbers of the early DApp eraWhy crypto's "casino and speculation" era might finally be fadingWhether Transak wants to become the one company that owns all your financial dataThe Binance, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet integrations behind the scenesBillions of dollars processed, and the exact number Transak won't confirmGetting an FCA license for anti-money laundering and consumer protectionWhy spinning up a new crypto wallet to dodge fraud detection is trivially easyThe "stablecoin sandwich" and where global stablecoin demand really comes fromRESOURCES & LINKS:https://transak.comMORE OF SAMI START:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samistartMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Inside the fiat-to-crypto rails powering MetaMask and Trust Wallet.01:34 - Ten million users, hundreds of integrated apps.02:21 - Where the biggest flows and stablecoin volumes come from.09:21 - The apps quietly growing fastest on stablecoins.10:47 - Why Binance relies on competitors for local payment rails.12:29 - Ninety countries, and the licenses behind each one.13:13 - Why Transak won't touch prediction markets or gambling.18:39 - China, Iran, North Korea: off the table regardless of GDP.20:08 - Sami's path into fintech and crypto.23:33 - A "controversial statement" from the earliest DApp days.23:53 - Wash trading and fake user numbers in early crypto.25:41 - Has reusable KYC across platforms finally been solved?26:42 - Does Transak want to own all your financial data?27:19 - Where your passport data actually goes after KYC.28:29 - The wrong license, and months of wasted paperwork.30:38 - The vulnerable victims of financial crime.33:36 - How easy is it to dodge fraud detection with a new wallet?34:38 - Billions processed, and the number Transak won't confirm.35:31 - Is crypto's casino era finally fading?Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

He turned 37 ETH into a Shiba Inu position that peaked at $5.7 billion, then walked away from his early Bitcoin rather than hand over his identity to a KYC form.Shibtoshi is the masked crypto billionaire behind Squid Grow and Silent Swap. He first heard about Bitcoin in 2010, bought his first coins in a Vegas OTC deal to fund an online poker game (and got wiped out), and was buying Litecoin and Namecoin back when Bitcoin traded in single digits. In 2013 he walked away from his Paxful and LocalBitcoins accounts rather than KYC, and did not come back for that Bitcoin until 2019.Ivan Patriki sits down with him to talk luck, privacy as a human right, the tax game of collateralizing crypto instead of selling, and why he will never take the mask off on camera.We cover:37 ETH into Shiba Inu, and a portfolio that touched $5.7 billionThe Vegas poker night that pulled him down the Bitcoin rabbit hole (he lost it all)Buying Bitcoin at $10 with MoneyGram, Western Union, and cash in the mailWhy he walked away from his accounts rather than KYC in 2013The exchanges that shut down right after he pulled his coins out"There is a difference between a crypto billionaire and a fiat billionaire"Would you have actually held Bitcoin from $10 to $100K?If he had to start over today: pour everything into AIThe arrogant-rich-guy phase, and why nobody likes itSilent Swap: $2.5 billion in volume and cross chain private swapsWhy Monero is great until the second you leave its network"There's nothing we could give anybody" (why records don't exist)The Ledger co founder kidnapping and the three severed fingersCollateralize your Bitcoin at $250K instead of paying 40% capital gainsDoes anyone actually know who runs the financial system?RESOURCES & LINKS:Silent Swap: https://www.silentswap.com/Squid Grow: https://www.squidgrow.com/MORE OF SHIBTOSHI:Twitter: https://x.com/Shibtoshi_SGInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shibtoshi_sg/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - The masked crypto billionaire.00:34 - Crypto billionaire vs fiat billionaire, and the 5.7 billion screenshot.01:22 - Vegas 2011: the poker night that started it all.03:06 - Buying Bitcoin with Western Union and cash in the mail.05:44 - Who were the real early Bitcoin adopters?07:34 - Would you have actually held from $10 to $100K?09:18 - Walking away rather than KYC in 2013.10:19 - Luck, the 2008 crash, and self custody as freedom.12:52 - If he had to start over: all in on AI.15:43 - Logging back in and seeing the balance in 2019.19:14 - Namecoin, Litecoin, and Charlie Lee.22:02 - NFTs, staking phases, and why privacy is next.25:44 - Building Squid Grow for friends and family.26:08 - Bubble Maps, wallet tracking, and the birth of Silent Swap.30:04 - The business model and why crypto is not actually private.31:45 - Why not just use Monero?34:55 - Trafficking, compliance, and the Tornado Cash overturn.37:51 - Does the government have an Apple backdoor?38:34 - St. Lucia, non custodial, and "there's nothing to give".43:19 - The blingy gold mask persona.44:05 - The billionaires among us that nobody knows.48:00 - The Ledger co founder kidnapping and three severed fingers.50:12 - Going to conferences masked and staying anonymous.51:07 - Four year cycles and why crypto is not dead.53:28 - Collateralizing Bitcoin at $250K instead of paying tax.54:56 - Did the mask stifle his career?58:34 - AI, privacy, and the next ten years of crypto.01:01:45 - Silent Swap, YZI Labs residency, and the BNB Chain partnership.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

He made a crypto movie called $Positions, and while it premiered at South By Southwest, scammers were busy launching meme coins in its name and rug pulling his fans.Brandon Daley is an independent filmmaker who spent 14 years selling power tools on the internet while self funding short films for $5,000 each. No Hollywood connections, no nepotism, no family money. He stayed in the Midwest, ground it out on the film festival circuit, and finally got a sub million dollar feature financed by Chicago indie investors. He paid himself $10,000 for four years of work.Brandon and Ivan Patriki get into how indie films actually get funded, the moral quandary of taking money from first time investors, why influencer follower counts now decide which movies get made, and the strange saga of scammers launching $Positions meme coins off his trailer while he stayed clear of the whole thing.We cover:How a power tool merchandising director self funded his way into feature filmWhy he purposefully stayed in the Midwest instead of moving to LAThe "arbitrage" between Chicago indie film and HollywoodWhy he refused to bring a first time investor onto his first featureRoger Corman's exploitation thesis and the "Instagram Reels playbook" for shock value"What if I released the whole movie in 30 second chunks on Instagram?"Casting strangers off the street versus working with real actors ("it's like Bang Bus but with independent film")Would he cast Andrew Tate? (and why it might hurt his Sundance chances)Why a $20M budget is actually less scary than a six figure onePaying himself $10,000 for four years of work so the crew could get paidVomiting every morning during pre production, and why the actors could never knowWhy AI aids storytellers but threatens camera teams and actorsThe $Positions meme coins, the rug pulls, and the scammer in Indonesia he felt "connected to"Why crypto is the new lottery ticket for people looking for hope out of povertyReal advice on chasing an idea before someone else grabs itRESOURCES & LINKS:Watch $Positions:Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0GXZPXD4F?ref_=atv_dp_share_cu_rApple TV: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/positions/umc.cmc.3yhlyu51vf1jdcrgoe87goidzYoutube Movies:MORE OF BRANDON DALEY:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coolbrandond/Twitter: https://x.com/CoolBrandonDMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - How do you raise money and work with movie stars?00:18 - 14 years selling power tools while self funding short films.02:44 - How Chicago investors caught wind of his script and funded it.04:37 - Meeting Eddie Linker, the "godfather of Chicago indie film."05:48 - The moral quandary of tricking someone into indie film investing.07:14 - Grinding the festival circuit from $5,000 shorts to South By.09:15 - No nepotism, no connections, and the Roger Corman shock value thesis.11:42 - The Instagram Reels playbook and releasing a movie in 30 second chunks.12:17 - The plan to scale up with name talent on a sub million dollar budget.14:29 - Would he cast Andrew Tate?15:53 - Do influencers and follower counts belong in Hollywood?16:55 - Casting strangers off the street ("it's like Bang Bus with indie film").17:54 - The worst part of working with big actors.20:08 - Why a $20M budget is less scary than a six figure one.21:51 - Paying himself $10,000 for four years of work.22:46 - Keeping a day job to keep the art pure.24:29 - Is AI going to harm the film industry?27:11 - AI aids storytellers but threatens camera crews and actors.29:02 - The last time he cried at a movie.29:59 - The $Positions meme coins and the rug pulls.33:26 - Why he refused to launch his own coin.34:56 - Crypto as a lottery ticket for people in poverty.37:33 - Future plans: theatrical, digital, and chasing Netflix.38:22 - Can you tell it's not a Hollywood movie?39:20 - Real advice on chasing a ripe idea before someone else does.41:59 - Vomiting every morning during pre production.43:14 - On luck, hard work, and getting into South By.44:07 - Smash the like button (and the meme coin bit).Make sure to like, comment, and share, and I'll see you in the next one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

Private jets are paying for fuel mid-flight in stablecoins. Watch dealers are settling five-figure deals the same way. And credit cards can't keep up with either.Will Harborne joined crypto in 2016, working at Tether back when the word "stablecoin" barely existed yet. He co-founded Ethfinex in 2017, one of the earliest Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges, which evolved through several rebrands (DeversiFi, then Rhino.fi) as the company grew from a retail cross-chain bridge that processed billions in volume and onboarded over two million users, into its current focus as B2B stablecoin infrastructure for fintechs and neobanks.Now Rhino.fi's "stablecoin activation stack" lets businesses like Wirex, Plasma One, and a growing list of neobanks send and receive stablecoins across 35+ blockchains in under ten seconds, abstracting away the chain and token complexity entirely. Will sits down with Boaz Sobrado to talk about why time-critical, high-value payments are quietly exploding, why crypto's idealists feel betrayed by its own success, and what happens now that Wall Street's biggest fintechs are eating DeFi's lunch.We cover:Why private jets are paying for fuel with stablecoins mid-flightThe $50,000+ transactions that credit cards and banks can't settle fast enoughRhino.fi's "smart deposit addresses" that work across every chain and stablecoin at onceWhy crypto casinos and gambling platforms are a massive untapped stablecoin marketThe Epic v. Apple ruling quietly opening the door for stablecoins in mobile gamingWill's path from working at Tether in 2016 to building Rhino.fiWhy he believes crypto's idealists have been alienated by its own successThe joke that "the worst thing that happened to DeFi was Gary Gensler getting fired"Why most governance tokens were doomed to fail from the startRhino.fi processing billions in volume and pivoting to enterprise B2B salesWhy non-USD stablecoins are finally taking off after years of false startsHow Rhino.fi nets transactions across clients like a Wise-style liquidity poolWhy Bitcoin still wins for the largest time-critical paymentsNeobanks growing 30% month over month, and whether the incentives are sustainableWhy watch and jewelry dealers are quietly settling deals in stablecoinsThe regulatory shift that let Revolut, Stripe, and other fintechs start eating DeFi's use casesRESOURCES & LINKS:https://rhino.fiMORE OF WILL HARBORNE:LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/will-harborneMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Why private jets pay for fuel in stablecoins.02:32 - Why big transactions get flagged and delayed by banks.03:37 - What stablecoins are actually replacing.04:46 - How Rhino.fi found this new wave of clients.07:15 - Inside Rhino.fi's stablecoin activation stack.09:26 - Smart deposit addresses: one address, every chain.12:55 - Netting and rebalancing liquidity like Wise.14:10 - Why crypto's true believers feel let down by its own success.20:59 - Rhino.fi's pivot from DeFi purism to enterprise sales.22:21 - The joke about Gary Gensler and DeFi's golden age.26:21 - Why most governance tokens were doomed to fail.27:44 - Does Bitcoin still have a place in high-value payments?30:32 - Crypto casinos, gaming, and the fastest-growing use cases.33:19 - How the Epic v. Apple ruling opens the door for gaming.37:31 - Neobanks growing 30% a month, and whether it's sustainable.39:14 - Why non-USD stablecoins are finally taking off.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

He nearly hit a trillion dollars in trades and never turned a profit on purpose.Sergej Kunz built 1inch out of a hackathon where he won just $300, enough to buy a plane ticket home to Germany. Two weeks later the site had real volume, and today 1inch has settled over $809 billion in trades across DeFi, powering partners like Coinbase along the way.In this episode, Sergej and Ivan Patriki dig into why he still refuses to "extract value" from users, how a self-taught teenager (no degree, learning to code at a library computer) ended up running a 140-person network, and why he thinks the goal was never the money.We cover:The $300 hackathon prize that became an $809B protocol.Why 1inch is named after Bruce Lee's one inch punch.Sleeping on an airbag in an office with no shower while building 1inch.Working at Porsche by day, flying to hackathons on weekends.17 hackathons in 13 months, and only one idea got adoption.Aqua: a brand new liquidity protocol that lives on your own wallet.100+ trading pairs sharing the same liquidity (SpaceX to NVIDIA to Apple).Why 85% of liquidity in traditional AMMs sits idle.Cross-chain swaps with no bridge you have to trust.How to actually pick a co-founder (and the "70/30" trap)."We were never profitable, I would say" and why that's the point.Why tokenized stocks (RWAs) move differently than crypto.Robinhood, RWAs, and institutions arriving as DeFi's gatekeepers.Kidnappings, cut-off fingers, and why crypto still needs privacy.Can you rebuild 1inch's Python in two weeks with AI now?The one piece of advice: experiment 50 times, expect to fail 49.RESOURCES & LINKS:1inch: https://1inch.ioMORE OF SERGEJ KUNZ:Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deacix0/LinkedIn: https://x.com/deacixMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - The $300 hackathon that became 1inch.02:46 - Cross-chain swaps with no bridge to trust.04:00 - Launching Aqua: liquidity that lives on your wallet.07:33 - Almost a trillion dollars settled through 1inch.09:01 - Why the protocol is named after Bruce Lee.10:27 - From an airbag in an office to VC backing.13:19 - No ChatGPT in 2019: learning to code at a library.16:36 - How to actually find a co-founder (the 70/30 trap).21:16 - "We were never profitable" and why that's on purpose.26:00 - Robinhood, RWAs, and institutions entering DeFi.29:15 - How the average person can get in on this.30:55 - Kidnappings, privacy, and why crypto still needs it.32:26 - How much of 1inch is now AI.37:37 - Move fast or "halt and catch fire."39:56 - The advice: experiment 50 times, fail 49.42:49 - Why the only thing that stays is yourself.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

Buying Bitcoin with a card used to cost 17% in fees. This is the founder who thought that was insane, bootstrapped a fix on 365% annual loans, and built it into a $5B company.Ivan Soto-Wright is the co-founder and CEO of MoonPay, the on-ramp plugged into MetaMask, Phantom, and just about every major crypto wallet you have used. Over 35 million people have run crypto through it. He started with zero payments background, got kicked off Stripe for touching crypto, and turned the lights on with a single acquirer that said yes.In this one, Ivan and Ivan Patriki get into how MoonPay went from a card-to-crypto ramp to an "operating system for global value movement," and the wild new frontier: letting an AI agent hold a wallet and spend your money for you.We cover:Why buying Bitcoin with a card cost 17% (and why "your margin is my opportunity")The Stripe ban that almost killed MoonPay before it startedBootstrapping on loans at 1% a day (that is 365% a year, and yes it was legal enough)Vitamin businesses vs painkiller businesses (and why his first startup failed)$27 trillion moved over stablecoin rails last yearWhy USDC is banned in CanadaPay Box: giving Claude or ChatGPT a non-custodial wallet without handing over your private keyBooking an EasyJet flight inside Claude by sending USDC to an X402 endpoint"Can I tell Claude to find me a girlfriend?"Why an AI agent may manage your yield better than you doGetting "interesting letters from three-letter agencies" under the last administrationWhy banks like Chase still reject crypto card transactions (and why that is changing)16 acquisitions in two and a half years, mostly aqua-hires for entrepreneurial DNAInnovate or die: how MoonPay avoids becoming a stagnant PayPalGrit, poker, and eating glass: the founder mindsetTaking over the X Games to make crypto part of cultureRESOURCES & LINKS:Check out MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.comMORE OF IVAN SOTO-WRIGHT:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isotowright/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Two Ivans and the vision for global value movement.01:00 - No payments background: pension funds, portfolio construction, and a first failed startup.03:00 - The MoonPay insight: buy crypto directly inside your wallet.04:10 - Kicked off Stripe, the first live transaction, and the 17% card fee.06:20 - How MoonPay grew to $5B in seven years.09:20 - Bootstrapped on 365% loans while VCs said no.10:40 - Bull case for crypto and stablecoins as the better money rail.12:40 - Vitamin vs painkiller: lessons from the lemonade stand up.15:00 - Fastest crypto in your wallet and the Canada stablecoin ban.17:00 - The 15-year vision: fund, tokenize, trade, spend.20:30 - Where MoonPay users actually come from (and why not North Korea).22:40 - Pay Box: a secure wallet inside Claude and ChatGPT.27:00 - Booking flights with USDC over X402, and agentic commerce that actually works.30:00 - Why agents may run your finances better than you.32:50 - The biggest mistakes, three-letter agencies, and Silicon Valley Bank.36:30 - What separates a founder: grit, poker, and shipping over perfection.40:30 - The secret: make one dollar on the internet.42:10 - Buying companies for entrepreneurial DNA and 16 acquisitions.45:10 - Innovate or die: not becoming a stagnant PayPal.47:10 - Message to the world: try Pay Box.48:20 - Why there is no MoonPay coin (yet).50:20 - Distribution, SEO, AEO, and taking over the X Games.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

Miami’s mayor, police chief, and city manager all sat down separately with Ivan Patriki and between them: a $450 million bond, a police force that (probably) didn’t chase aliens, and what it actually takes to run one of the fastest-growing cities in America.The Mayor, Eileen Higgins spent almost 20 years as an engineer in the private sector before a corporate retreat exercise, writing her own obituary convinced her something was missing. Within a year she quit to become the Peace Corps director in Belize, then served as a U.S. diplomat in Mexico and southern Africa. She joined the Miami-Dade County Commission in 2018 and, in December 2025, was sworn in as Miami’s first female mayor and first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years.James Reyes was born in Cuba, the son of a political prisoner, and grew up in Hialeah after his family fled with nothing. He spent 22 years at the Broward Sheriff’s Office, eventually managing a $1.8 billion budget and 5,600 employees, then became Miami-Dade’s Chief of Public Safety and ran unsuccessfully for County Sheriff in 2024. Higgins appointed him Miami’s city manager in early 2026.Edwin Lopez built a nearly three-decade law enforcement career from phys-ed teacher to Miami-Dade Schools’ first Hispanic police chief, then Doral’s chief, before being sworn in this June as the 44th Chief of the Miami Police Department describing himself as “a humble kid from Miami who grew up with no money.”All three sit down separately with Ivan Patriki to talk about running the Magic City from three completely different chairs.We cover:Why the mayor says climate change is real, “a hundred and ten percent”Eileen Higgins’s corporate epiphany: writing her own obituary before quitting for the Peace CorpsServing as a U.S. diplomat in Mexico and southern Africa before running for officeBuilding four thousand affordable housing units, three thousand more in the pipelineA $450 million bond for fire stations unrepaired for fifty yearsSame-day permitting: cutting an eighteen-month process down to one dayJames Reyes on being the son of a political prisoner who fled Cuba for HialeahManaging a $1.8 billion budget and 5,600 employees at the Broward Sheriff’s OfficeWhat two different officials actually think about crypto in MiamiWhether Mark Zuckerberg moved to Miami because of the city’s leadership (spoiler: no)Edwin Lopez on inheriting “the keys to the Lamborghini” from two predecessorsThe alien rumor Chief Lopez “can’t confirm or deny”Nearly 1,400 officers and 600,000 FIFA Fan Fest visitors in 23 daysWould a Ferrari doing 25 over the limit get you a warning?MORE OF MAYOR EILEEN HIGGINS:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-higgins/MORE OF CITY MANAGER JAMES REYES:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-reyes-78444116b/MORE OF POLICE CHIEF EDWIN LOPEZ:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiefedwinlopez/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Meet Miami’s city manager, police chief, and mayor.01:05 - “How are you changing the world?” James Reyes takes the mic.02:54 - Did Zuckerberg move to Miami because of him?08:49 - Does the city manager still go clubbing?11:44 - Managing a $1.8 billion budget before Miami.13:20 - Is there a secret power pulling the strings?19:19 - The most famous people he’s actually met.22:20 - “You are the mayor of Miami.” Higgins takes the reins.23:30 - How much of her week is spent clubbing?24:01 - Writing her own obituary changed everything.25:28 - Four thousand affordable housing units, more coming.26:00 - Do other mayors send hate mail?29:17 - Is climate change real? “110%.”29:28 - Is there a shadowy group telling her what to do?30:19 - Same-day permitting: 18 months down to one day.31:02 - A $450 million bond for fifty-year-old fire stations.32:09 - Her one piece of advice for the next mayor.32:22 - Nearly 1,400 officers and how policing has changed.33:25 - Did Miami police really respond to an alien sighting?33:50 - The hardest part of the job nobody understands.35:02 - Does the police force own any crypto?35:16 - FIFA Fan Fest: 600,000 visitors in 23 days.36:29 - “Keys to the Lamborghini”: inheriting Miami PD’s legacy.38:11 - Would a Ferrari doing 25 over get you a warning?Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

A JP Morgan quant trader walked away from Wall Street to build the trust layer that lets AI agents spend your money.Chandler Fung went from the JP Morgan trading floor to Onyx, the bank's blockchain and AI payments team, to years at Ripple building cross border stablecoin rails. In early 2025 he founded T54, a company solving one problem almost nobody is: how do you trust an AI agent to touch your money?Backed from day zero by Ripple, Franklin Templeton and others, Chandler and Ivan Patriki dig into what happens when 30% of your daily transactions get delegated to agents, why finance is the one sector you cannot waltz into, and what it actually takes to earn a seat check from a company worth billions.We cover:Why an AI agent booking your cheeseburger is a bigger risk problem than it soundsThe moment you ask GPT to buy something and everything that can silently go wrongHow a day zero startup lands Ripple and Franklin Templeton as seed investors"Idea is cheap" and why execution and a real moat matter moreIs trading on Elliott Waves and ICT legit, or just momentum vs sentiment fishing?What quant traders actually do (and why everyone using the same strategy breaks)Why he left a lucrative quant seat to build products for humans instead of numbersThe three pillars before you start a company: team, execution, moatWhy 90% of successful startups end up doing something other than their original ideaWhy he feels safe putting $2M in Chase but nervous moving it to a cold walletCan a startup become the "Chase-level trust" of the agentic economy?When do you stop chasing money and start chasing impact?Marathon vs sprint: the patience trap almost every young founder falls intoMORE OF CHANDLER FUNG:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/znfangTwitter: https://x.com/chandler_agiCompany (T54): https://www.t54.ai/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tvSpotify:Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps00:00 - From JP Morgan quant to building the trust layer for AI money.02:31 - Landing Ripple and Franklin Templeton from day zero.05:05 - The cheeseburger problem: what breaks when an agent spends for you.08:18 - Is quant trading better than day trading on waves and sentiment?11:26 - Momentum vs sentiment, and whether trading courses are legit.13:10 - Why he left a lucrative quant seat to build for humans.16:20 - How to build long term connections that get you funded.20:23 - Why finance is the one sector you cannot rush into.23:00 - The three pillars: team, execution, moat.26:38 - Why 90% of winning startups pivot.27:26 - The Chase Bank vision for the agentic economy.31:39 - Rich moment or not: when money stops being the point.37:01 - The advice nobody gives you: patience over the short game.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com