PODCAST · business
Around the Coin
by Stephen Sargeant and Mike Townsend
The mission behind Around The Coin podcast is to offer entrepreneurs an alternative perspective for growing their business in and around the payment industry.
Episodes
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What's Holding Back Canada's Fintech Industry? - Michelle Beyo | ATC #633
On the Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant interviews fintech leader Michelle Beyo, CEO and Founder of Finavator, about why open banking, open finance, and open data have advanced globally while North America, particularly Canada, continues to lag behind due to a lack of consumer data...
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When Bitcoin Mining Meets AI Compute - Emma Todd | ATC #632
Host Stephen Sargeant introduces an in-person September 2025 Around The Coin podcast episode with Emma Todd, CEO/co-founder of MMH Technology and CEO of MMH Data Systems, an early Toronto crypto organizer who moved from traditional banking into crypto full time in 2016. Todd recounts her start at…
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When Crypto Policy Becomes Political - Amanda Wick | ATC #631
In this episode of Around The Coin, host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Amanda Wick, author of The Catalyst and Founder & CEO of the Association for Women in Cryptocurrency, for a wide-ranging conversation about the forces reshaping institutions, technology, and society. Amanda shares insights...
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How Stablecoins Move Money Across Borders - Wei Zhou | ATC #630
Host Stephen Sargeant welcomes Wei Zhou, CEO at Coins.ph, to discuss grassroots crypto and stablecoin adoption in the Philippines, why the country consistently ranks in Chainalysis’ global top 10, and how regulation since 2016–2017 enabled licensed exchanges and bank connectivity. Zhou explains...
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From Trading Floors to Onchain Markets - Bart Smith | ATC #629
In this episode of Around The Coin, Stephen Sargeant speaks with Bart Smith, CEO of Avalanche Treasury Co., to discuss building a regulated digital asset treasury focused on the Avalanche ecosystem. Bart explains why a public treasury vehicle can give investors brokerage-account access to AVAX...
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What Crypto Investors Look for in Founders - George Christopher | ATC #628
Host Stephen Sargeant welcomes George Christopher, Principal Investor at CoinFund (founded 2015), discussing how CoinFund invests from pre-seed through Series C+ across seed and venture funds in blockchain-focused companies. George shares his background in SaaS growth investing, argues the...
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Why KYC Isn’t Enough for Crypto Compliance - Charlene Cieslik | ATC #627
Live from Futurist, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Charlene Cieslik, an independent financial crime compliance consultant with 26 years in compliance (including early FINTRAC) and 10 years in crypto, about Canada’s crypto compliance landscape. Cieslik argues repeated misconduct by industry...
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Why Banks Are Getting Into Crypto Lending - Andrei Poliakov | ATC #626
Live from Futurist, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Andrei Poliakov, founder and CEO of APX Lending. Poliakov explains why he built a highly regulated, compliant crypto-backed lending business after failures like Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager and FTX, offering loans in Canada and the US against...
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Rethinking Public Relations in the Age of AI - Nikita Sachdev | ATC #625
Live from Futurist, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Nikita Sachdev, owner of Luna PR, about how AI is reshaping public relations in crypto, Web3, and AI. Nikita explains that while AI makes content creation easy, distribution and winning attention are harder, making PR and credible placements…
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The Next Era of Blockchain Finance - Patrick O'Kain | ATC #624
Host Stephen Sargeant welcomes Patrick O’Kain, partner at Borderless Capital, to discuss cybersecurity, crypto investigations, blockchain analytics, and how AI-driven agentic commerce and stablecoins will reshape payments and finance. O’Kane explains Borderless Capital’s infrastructure-focused...
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Investing in AI and Blockchain Startups - Samiz Bayan | ATC #623
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Samiz Bayan, partner at Draper Dragon, on the state of venture capital and the convergence of AI, blockchain, and tokenization. Bayan outlines Draper Dragon’s early-stage focus on infrastructure, its bridge between Silicon Valley and Asia via the Draper Network…
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Programmable Compliance for Onchain Finance - Nikhil Raghuveera | ATC #622
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Nikhil Raghuveera, CEO and co-founder of Predicate, about building real-time, smart-contract-level policy enforcement for onchain finance. Nikhil explains his background in payments and policy, why data from blockchain analytics providers isn’t enough, and how...
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From Banking to Stablecoin Payments - Wesley Rios | ATC #621
On Around The Coin, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Wesley Rios, US & LATAM Partnerships Lead at Morph Network, about the current state of stablecoin infrastructure and merchant payment rails. Rios shares his career path from Citi, JPMorgan, and 13 years at Mastercard into crypto, arguing...
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How Blockchain Fixes Ticketing Infrastructure - David Barrick | ATC #620
Host Stephen Sargeant welcomes David Barrick, CTO and co-founder of TIX & KYD Labs, to discuss why ticketing is fundamentally a banking business and how blockchain can fix fees, fraud, and resale chaos. Barrick explains primary vs. secondary ticketing, how venues rely on ticketing companies for...
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The Hidden Problem With Prediction Markets - Seni Thomas | ATC #619
Join our host, Stephen Sargeant, as he welcomes Seni Thomas, CEO and founder of EDGE Markets, to discuss prediction markets and EDGE’s role in compliant, high-velocity fund movement across regulated venues. Thomas covers EDGE’s $29.2M Series A led by CoinFund, the partnership with Kalshi, and why...
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How Crypto Onboarding Finally Gets Easier - Aditi Sriram | ATC #618
On Around The Coin, host Stephen Sargeant welcomes Aditi Shriram, COO of Para, to discuss her path into crypto from seeing Vitalik speak and starting at ConsenSys, plus her experience as a venture scout for Bain Capital Crypto. Aditi explains Para’s focus on wallet infrastructure for companies...
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How AI Agents Use Stablecoins - Xen Baynham-Herd | ATC #617
Join our host Stephen Sargeant with Xen Baynham-Herd, Head of Growth and Marketing at Base, on the Around The Coin podcast to discuss Base’s newest launches. Base Ledgers for enterprise-grade private transactions (shielded from the public but visible to regulators/auditors) and Base MCP, which...
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ATC - Itai Turbahn, Co-Founder & CEO of Dynamic and Tal Zackon, Co-Founder & CEO of TRES Finance
Join our host Stephen Sargeant with Itai Turbahn from Dynamic and Tal Zackon from TRES Finance, both now under Fireblocks, for a deep dive into agentic AI and what it means for payments, compliance, cybersecurity, and stablecoins. They explain why today’s human-in-the-loop rails like cards and…
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How Stablecoins Fix Cross-Border Payments - Chris Mason | ATC #615
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Chris Mason, founder and CEO of Orbital, about building stablecoin infrastructure and how it can improve cross-border payments compared with traditional correspondent banking and SWIFT. Mason explains Orbital’s background processing stablecoins for seven years…
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Why Enterprises Need Their Own Blockchain - Kyle Jenke | ATC #614
Recorded live at EthCC in Cannes, Around The Coin with host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Kyle Jenke, Chief Business Officer at Optimism, about how Optimism’s OP Stack and OP Enterprise help large enterprises build and own their own blockchains for customization, revenue economics, and stronger...
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Why Institutions Need Confidential Blockchain Transactions - Jeremy Jeremy | ATC #613
Live at EthCC on the Around The Coin podcast, Stephen Sargeant heads to the Zama Villa to speak with Zama COO Jeremy Bradley about fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) and why financial institutions need a confidentiality layer to balance blockchain transparency with selective access for regulators...
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Will AI Agents Dominate DeFi Trading? - Sergej Kunz | ATC #612
Join host Stephen Sargeant reports live from ECC, where discussions center on wallets, tokenization, real-world assets, regulation, and compliance, and introduces a live Around The Coin episode featuring 1inch co-founder and CEO Sergej Kunz. Kunz recounts 1inch’s start at the 2019 ETHGlobal New...
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How Crypto Companies Get Media Coverage? - Otto Jacobsson | ATC #611
Join host Stephen Sargeant live from EthCC in Cannes for a special episode of the Around The Coin podcast featuring Otto Jacobson, CEO of YAP Global. Otto shares his journey from investment banking and CFO to leading one of the top PR firms in crypto, blockchain, fintech, and AI. Together, they...
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Why AI Agents Need Blockchain Identity? - Yat Siu | ATC #610
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, covering his background (German mother tongue, education work) and views on how AI is changing the purpose of school and future jobs, emphasizing creativity, humanities, and entrepreneurship. Siu…
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Is Your Crypto Safe From Hackers? - Dyma Budorin | ATC #609
Join host Stephen Sargeant on this special edition of the Around The Coin podcast as he sits down with Dyma Budorin, CEO of Core3 and co-founder/executive chairman of Web3 cybersecurity firm Hacken—to unpack security transparency, risk analytics, and accountability in crypto. Budorin recounts...
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Why Stablecoins Succeed Where Banks Struggle - Arnold Lee | ATC #608
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Arnold Lee, CEO and co-founder of Sphere Labs, about building stablecoin-enabled payment infrastructure during the 2022 downturn and focusing on real end-user needs rather than “stablecoin” narratives. Arnold explains how Sphere helps businesses move money...
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Are You Reporting Crypto Taxes Correctly? - Lawrence Zlatkin & Wendy Walker | ATC #607
Join host Stephen Sargeant interviews Lawrence Zlatkin, Vice President of Tax at Coinbase, and Wendy Walker, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Sovos, about the fast-changing tax and regulatory landscape for digital assets heading into 2026. They discuss the rollout of US crypto information...
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AI Changing Crypto Compliance and Security - Rick Harmsen | ATC #606
In this episode of the Around The Coin Podcast, host Stephen Sargeant is joined by Rick Harmsen, CTO of DataExpert, to compare key takeaways from two conferences happening at the same time: Chainalysis Links in New York and ECC in Cannes. They discuss the growing convergence of AI, regulation,...
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Retail Crypto Trading Is Driving Markets - Vugar Usi | ATC #605
In this episode of the Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Vugar Usi, CEO of MEXC, to discuss his path from traditional finance and marketing to running a global crypto exchange. Vugar explains what makes MEXC stand out—serving 40M users across 170+ markets with a 99%...
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How Tokenized Assets Work in Crypto Markets? - Ran Goldi | ATC #604
Stephen Sargeant interviews Ran Goldi, SVP of Payments & Network at Fireblocks, revisiting his earlier prediction that stablecoins would become a dominant payments rail and discussing 2025 as a breakout year for stablecoins. Rand shares lessons from algorithmic trading and First Digital’s rapid...
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How Tokenized Assets Work in Crypto Markets? - Jesse Knutson | ATC #603
Host Stephen Sargeant interviews Jesse Knutson, Head of Operations at Bitfinex Securities, about his path from investment banking (Barclays, Macquarie) to early Blockstream work and the Blockstream Mining Note, which he describes as an early flagship tokenized security. They discuss Liquid and…
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Are Stablecoins Replacing Global Payment Rails? - Kevin Lehtiniitty | ATC #602
Join host Stephen Sargeant as he interviews Kevin Lehtiniitty, CEO and founder of Borderless.xyz, about stablecoin infrastructure and global payment flows, including the Genius Act and why stablecoins are more practical for payments than Bitcoin. Kevin explains Borderless’s branding, his early…
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Why Financial Institutions Fear Vendor Lock-In - Natalya Thakur | ATC #601
Stephen Sargeant interviews Natalya Thakur, CEO and founder of Knova, about how traditional financial institutions are transitioning into digital assets. Thakur recounts her early exposure to blockchain at BlackRock, where she supported initial Bitcoin ETF work and later promoted digital-asset...
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Building AI-Driven Onchain Trading - Alex Svanevik | ATC #600
Stephen Sargeant interviews Alex Svanevik, CEO and co-founder of Nansen, on how the company evolved from NFT-era analytics into an AI-native, full-stack on-chain trading product that combines real-time intelligence, execution, and portfolio tracking in one self-custodial experience. Alex…
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Stablecoin Trends and Predictions 2026 - Mouloukou Sanoh & Tara Annison | ATC #599
Join host Stephen Sargeant on a special edition of the Around The Coin Podcast as he sits down with top industry voices to unpack the biggest crypto trends of 2025 and what’s ahead for 2026. Featuring Mouloukou Sanoh, CEO and co-founder of Mansa, the conversation explores how stablecoin...
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From Bitcoin to Stablecoin Innovation - Edward | ATC #598
Join host Stephen Sargeant on the Around The Coin podcast as he sits down with Edward Woodford, the CEO of Zerohash. This episode delves deep into the digital asset and stablecoin infrastructure landscape, exploring how Edward built Zero Hash from the ground up, the evolution of stablecoins, and...
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The Future of Institutional Crypto Staking - Matt Molloy | ATC #597
In this episode of Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant is joined by Matt Malloy, CEO and co-founder of TruFin Labs, to explore the world of staking, liquid staking, and yield in the digital asset ecosystem. They dive into the differences between traditional and liquid staking, the...
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The Future of Hardware and Software Integration - Rand Hindi | ATC #596
In this compelling episode of Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Rand Hindi, the CEO of Zama, a cutting-edge company pioneering Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) for Web3 infrastructure. Discover how Zama's revolutionary technology is enabling confidential transactions...
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Fighting Financial Crime With AI - Joe Robinson | ATC #595
Join Stephen Sargeant in this episode of the Around The Coin podcast as he sits down with Joe Robinson, CEO and co-founder of Hummingbird. Discover how Hummingbird is revolutionizing the way financial institutions combat financial crimes using AI and advanced analytics. Joe provides insights into...
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Decentralized Wallets for Business Payments - Yolanda Liu | ATC #594
Join Stephen Sargeant, your host of the Around The Coin podcast, as he dives into crypto wallets used by major merchants worldwide with special guest Yolanda Liu, co-founder of Pay Protocol. Discover Yolanda's fascinating journey from AI and holographics to revolutionizing payment services in…
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How DeFi Meets Traditional Finance - Irina Chuchkina | ATC #593
In this fascinating episode of the Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Irina Chuchkina, the Chief Growth Officer at Wallet in Telegram. The discussion dives deep into the wallet infrastructure within Telegram, covering topics like stablecoins, tokenized assets, privacy, and...
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What Makes a Great Crypto Wallet? - Jamie Elkaleh | ATC #592
Join host Stephen Sargeant on this insightful episode of the Around The Coin podcast as he chats with Jamie Elkaleh, CMO of Bitget Wallet. Discover the intricate world of crypto wallets, from technological advancements to global marketing strategies. Jamie delves into topics like TVL, investor...
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How Stablecoins Are Replacing Payment Rails - Emilio Rivero Coello | ATC #591
Join host Stephen Sargeant as he sits down with Emilio Coello, a leading product manager at Aptos Labs, in this engaging episode of Around The Coin Podcast. From his extensive background in regulatory and policy work at Bitso to his current role handling payments and stablecoins at Aptos, Emilio...
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Inside a Crypto-Only Lifestyle - Joel Valenzuela | ATC #590
Join host Stephen Sargeant on the Around The Coin podcast as he interviews cryptocurrency pioneer Joël Valenzuela, a core member of the Dash DAO. Joel shares his journey from the early days of Bitcoin to living a crypto-only lifestyle, completely disengaged from traditional fiat banking. This...
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The Evolution of Wallet Infrastructure in Web3 - Jess Houlgrave | ATC #589
Join host Stephen Sargeant on this episode of the Around The Coin podcast as he sits down with Jess Houlgrave, the CEO of WalletConnect. Discover how WalletConnect is integrating hundreds of wallets and thousands of applications to build a seamless ecosystem that connects diverse elements of the...
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How Embedded Wallets Transform Global Payments - Itai Turbahn | ATC #588
In this episode of the Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Itai Turbahn, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic, to discuss Dynamic's recent acquisition by Fireblocks. Itai dives deep into the details of different types of crypto wallets, comparing Fireblocks and Dynamic, and the...
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How Will MPC Wallets Change Finance? - Clarisse Hagège | ATC #587
Join Stephen Sargeant live from Money 20/20 with Clarisse Hagège, the founder and CEO of Dfns, on the Around The Coin podcast. For the first time, the podcast is featured at Money 20/20, discussing key topics such as cybersecurity, custody, and MPC (multi-party computation). Clarisse shares her...
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Will Agentic AI Define The Future? - Victor Orlovski | ATC #586
Join host Stephen Sargeant on the Around The Coin podcast, as he interviews Victor Orlovski, General Partner at R136 Ventures. Victor shares his unconventional journey from being a CTO of a major European bank to founding R136 Ventures, a firm focused on early growth stage FinTech and B2B...
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Earning Real Yield Safely in Crypto - Vik Arun | ATC #585
In this episode of the Around The Coin podcast, host Stephen Sargeant interviews Vik Arun, CEO and co-founder of Superform, a company pioneering new levels of decentralization through their innovative app. Stephen and Vik discuss the current investment landscape, the potential impact of...
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Do We Really Need More Blockchains? - Anthony Day | ATC #584
In this episode of Around The Coin, host Stephen Sargeant sits down with Anthony Day, Marketing Director at VeChain, to discuss the future of blockchain applications. Anthony emphasizes the need for purpose-filled, impactful applications over simply creating more blockchains. They delve into...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The mission behind Around The Coin podcast is to offer entrepreneurs an alternative perspective for growing their business in and around the payment industry.
HOSTED BY
Stephen Sargeant and Mike Townsend
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Around the Coin have?
Around the Coin currently has 633 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Around the Coin about?
The mission behind Around The Coin podcast is to offer entrepreneurs an alternative perspective for growing their business in and around the payment industry.
How often does Around the Coin release new episodes?
Around the Coin releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 633 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Around the Coin?
You can listen to Around the Coin on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Around the Coin?
Around the Coin is created and hosted by Stephen Sargeant and Mike Townsend.
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