#22 | Lane Kasselman: AI Agents Will Pay in Crypto

"This isn't a 5-year thing. This is a 2 or 3 months from now thing." Lane Kasselman thinks AI agents are about to start settling in crypto.More on Lane Kasselman and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/lane-kasselmanThe argument is mechanical rather than ideological: when a machine pays another machine, it will use whatever rail is cheapest and fastest, and that is not the banking system. He explains atomic settlement, what it changes about how money actually moves, and why the store-of-value case is clearest in Argentina rather than on Wall Street.Kasselman is president and chief business officer of Blockchain.com, which turned 13 during this recording, founded the same year as Coinbase. The company holds 90 million wallets and 42 million verified users across 190 countries, offers more than 800 assets, and runs the world's largest non-custodial brokerage. He has led it through seven acquisitions and a partnership with the Dallas Cowboys, after earlier stints at AT&T and a very early Uber.He is also useful on the operating side: what non-custodial security means at 90 million accounts, why he wants a permanent regulatory framework rather than case-by-case enforcement, the three rules he took from Uber, why the company moved to Dallas for reasons he insists were not the tax rate, and how he reversed remote work without going back to nine to five.Lane Kasselman is the president and chief business officer of Blockchain.com, one of the oldest companies in crypto, with 90 million wallets and 42 million verified users across 190 countries. He previously held senior roles at AT&T and at Uber in its early years, and is the founder of Kestrel Financial.KEY MOMENTS00:00 90 million wallets, 190 countries04:00 From "fake internet money" to believer09:08 Argentina and the store of value case14:05 "It's 2 or 3 months from now"19:45 Atomic settlement against the old rails25:15 Non-custodial at 90 million accounts27:47 Wanting a permanent rulebook33:34 The three rules he learned at Uber44:45 Seven acquisitions, three strategies54:27 Reversing remote workNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectBlockchain.com: blockchain.com/Lane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWFollow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, XThe Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.Sponsored by Capital Southwest and Vela Wood.