In this talk, Robert Hackett (@rhackett) sits down with Sean Neville (@psneville), cofounder of Circle and co-creator of the USDC stablecoin, and Zach Abrams (@zcabrams), founder of Bridge (now part of Stripe), for a deep dive into the real story behind stablecoins, finding product-market fit, and the future of payments infrastructure. They explore the earliest days of USDC — when stablecoins were far from obvious and regulatory frameworks didn’t exist. Sean shares how his conviction in “money running at internet speed” helped shape a multibillion-dollar asset. Zach recounts Bridge’s pivot from NFTs to stablecoin infrastructure — and how his business has changed since joining Stripe. Together, they break down: - Why stablecoins are having their moment now - What counts as product-market fit (and why founders rarely “feel” it) - The challenges of building crypto and AI products within heavily regulated environments - Why new base-layer chains like Arc, Tempo, and others may be needed - How decentralization, liquidity moats, and interoperability will define the next decade of blockchain adoption - What the future of programmable money and AI-driven financial workflows looks like Whether you’re a founder, a crypto-curious builder, or someone trying to understand where global payments are headed, this conversation — originally recorded live at our recent a16z crypto Founders Summit — offers insights from two operators at the center of an industry-defining transformation. Here's a snippet from the conversation.(a16z crypto)