Inside PayPal’s Bet on Stablecoins | May Zabaneh
In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with May Zabaneh, SVP and GM of Crypto at PayPal, about why today’s payment systems still suffer from hidden inefficiencies and how stablecoins are emerging as the next layer of financial infrastructure. May explains that while payments today work, they remain slow, costly, and fragmented especially across borders. She breaks down how stablecoins enable faster, cheaper, and more flexible global transactions, and why their real impact may come not from user-facing products, but backend rails powering money movement. The conversation explores what “programmable money” actually means, how agent-driven commerce could automate transactions, and why simplicity and trust are the biggest barriers to adoption. Maye also shares where stablecoins are already working at scale, from peer-to-peer payments to global payouts and how businesses benefit from faster settlement and improved capital efficiency. They also discuss generational shifts in crypto adoption, the role of stablecoins in emerging markets, and why access to stable currency is becoming increasingly important globally. The episode closes with how PayPal is approaching the space differently: focusing on PYUSD distribution, real-world usage, and integrating stablecoins into everyday financial systems.
TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction (02:13) PayPal’s Hidden Advantage in Crypto (04:38) Payments Are “Easy”… But Still Messy (07:34) The Real Stablecoin Unlock: Cross-Border Efficiency (10:49) Paypal’s outlook on Stablecoins (13:21) Forgd Ad (13:46) The Inflection Point With: Programmable Money (15:54) The First Real Use Case of Agents + Payments (20:57) The Trust Barrier (And How It Breaks) (24:59) The Business Case For: Margins, Speed, and Survival (26:49) The Endgame: Invisible Financial Infrastructure (28:02) PayPal vs The Broader Stablecoin Market
ESSENTIALS You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 Follow us on X Jacquelyn: https://twitter.com/jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: https://twitter.com/_TalkingTokens Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_talkingtokens/ Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.
Inside PayPal’s Bet on Stablecoins | May Zabaneh
Subscribe & Listen
Why Crypto Token Launches Are Broken and How to Fix Them | Shane Molidor
Talking Tokenization EXCLUSIVE: BlackRock Digital Assets Director Shares Strategy for Tokenization, Bitcoin Stablecoins, and More | Max Stein
More from Talking Tokens
How Anchorage Is Becoming the Infrastructure Layer for All of TradFi | Nathan McCauley & Kevin Wysocki
On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Anchorage Digital’s CEO and Co-founder Nathan McCauley and Head of Policy Kevin Wysocki to talk about what the post-GENIUS Act world of stablecoins looks like from the inside. They think most of the market isn't paying enough attention to the banks racing to tokenize their deposits and explain why all 5,000+ US banks are eventually going to need stablecoin rails, how DC has done a near complete 180 on crypto, and why agentic banking is tracking almost exactly like the early crypto industry did in 2017. TIMESTAMPS: 02:00 The Current State of Institutional Adoption 03:55 Understanding Stablecoins and Digital Dollars 06:04 Global Perspective on Dollar Dominance 10:04 Future of Cross-Border Commerce and Global Payments 12:07 Building Infrastructure for Stablecoins 13:59 The Role of Policy in Stablecoin Adoption 20:50 Conversations Behind Closed Doors 23:01 Fed Master Accounts and Regulatory Clarity 27:23 The Rise of Tokenized Deposits 39:10 Building Trust in the Crypto Industry 41:49 The Future of Agentic Banking 49:34 Advice for the Future Today’s episode is sponsored by Anchorage Digital, America's first federally chartered digital asset bank and provider of regulated stablecoin issuance. To find out more, visit anchorage.com. You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens Follow us on X Jacquelyn: / jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: / _talkingtokens Follow us on Instagram / _talkingtokens Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.
Why Ethereum’s Institutional Supercycle Is Already Here | Joseph Chalom, Sharplink
On today's Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn sits down with Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink to talk about why he and a group of Ethereum stewards including Joe Lubin and Tom Lee decided now was the moment to go back on offense for the Ethereum ecosystem. Joseph breaks down why he thinks the Ethereum institutional supercycle is already here, how Ethereum will win even amid bad price action and why the long term holders are the ones who will win this decade. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The Evolution of Ethereum's Narrative 03:38 Ethereum’s Institutional Supercycle 05:23 Why Ethereum’s Narrative Is Changing 07:48 Building Ethereum for Institutional Adoption 09:56 The Trillion-Dollar Tokenization Opportunity 16:46 Why the Institutional Supercycle Is Already Here 23:17 From Experimentation to On-Chain Finance 30:33 Investing in Ethereum’s Long-Term Future You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens Follow us on X Jacquelyn: / jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: / _talkingtokens Follow us on Instagram / _talkingtokens Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.
Is OUSD Really Just Stripe's Stablecoin? | Alex Beaudry, Strata Research
On this edition of Strata Research, Jacquelyn sits down with our Institutional Research Analyst Alex Beaudry to dig into the OUSD announcement that resulted in Circle's stock dropping and had the crypto world convinced a new stablecoin competitor had arrived. After looking into the details, Alex argues this is just Stripe's stablecoin wrapped in a consortium for competitive cover, then he walks through why the 140 company list is largely a marketing move before getting into which of the two paths to success for OUSD he actually thinks will play out. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction to OUSD and Its Impact 02:46 The Role of Stripe in OUSD 05:33 The Consortium of 140 Companies 08:00 Market Dynamics and Competition 10:15 Investor Reactions and Market Implications 13:20 Paths to Success for OUSD Check out the associated Strata Research report for more details: https://www.token-relations.com/p/who-really-owns-ousd You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review — it really helps. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingTokens Follow us on X Jacquelyn: / jacqmelinek Talking Tokens: / _talkingtokens Follow us on Instagram / _talkingtokens Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.