Stablecoins are having a moment. Here's why. [newsletter]
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared in our newsletter — a guide to trending topics in crypto with insights and resources from engineers, researchers, and others on the a16z crypto team. Subscribe to see it in your inbox every other week.
The month fintechs embraced stablecoins
Sam Broner
In the last six weeks alone, we’ve seen an incredible number of product launches and partnerships within the stablecoin payments space, kicking off a rush to realize one of crypto’s most immediate use cases.
Since April 1: USDC issuer Circle filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange; Coinbase released an agentic payments standard with support for stablecoin payments; and both Visa and Mastercard enhanced stablecoin support. Last week’s Stripe Sessions conference brought even more stablecoin news: Stripe announced stablecoin financial account balances, a programmable stablecoin (via Bridge), a stablecoin-backed card, and more. Meanwhile, Meta is also reportedly in talks to introduce stablecoins as a means for payouts.
The through-line between all of these announcements is about meeting users where they are. Connecting stablecoins to traditional systems will help grow adoption, even if users initially have to rely on legacy payment companies building backwards-compatibility into existing products. More users will mean more opportunities to build stablecoins directly into new or better blockchain-based products — to self custody, make purchases, send money, use DeFi, and more.
In the meantime, catch up on recent announcements, why they matter, and how they fit into the bigger picture…
Read our guide to recent stablecoin news
Physical security for crypto founders, operators, and investors
Carl Agnelli
The father of a crypto entrepreneur was rescued by French police last week after captors kidnapped him and severed his finger. This sounds like something out of a movie, but it isn’t fiction — violent crimes like these are happening with frightening regularity within the crypto and tech communities.
Head of security for a16z crypto Carl Agnelli, who has served as a Secret Service special agent and head of security for Citi, shares actionable lessons to help keep anyone safe. He digs into two areas central to safety — daily habits and avoiding crypto industry-specific violent crime — starting with some foundational principles.
Founders, operators, and engineers are focused on building their companies. But if you’re not thinking about personal, physical security none of that matters. And it’s not just about your safety. It’s about your teams, your families, and your work.
So here’s how to make physical security a core part of your operating system (bonus: you’ll also learn how to identify a two-way mirror)…
Security audit best practices
Matt Gleason
One of the most critical phases of the secure software development cycle is the security audit: an independent assessment of one’s code or systems that’s designed to flag possible flaws. a16z crypto security engineer Matt Gleason has performed hundreds of assessments over a decade on a wide range of systems including applications, networks, devices, wallets, and smart contracts. During that time, he’s observed how most successful companies get their systems assessed by external reviewers.
In this post, Matt shares his best practices for preparing for, and following through on, a security review. Even though each review is different — and none are designed to “find and fix all vulnerabilities” — here’s what you can do to make sure the process runs as smoothly as possible.
Read the full list of best practices
Research events and updates
Best of Real World Crypto
Joseph Bonneau
We offer a series of “Field Notes” from select academic conferences so that you can stay up to date on cutting-edge crypto research. Unlike many other primarily academic venues, the Real World Crypto (RWC) 2025 conference does not publish peer-reviewed papers. Instead, talks highlight the most interesting research papers and industry projects of the prior year, many of which were published in other forums. In essence, RWC is an annual “greatest hits” event in cryptography.
In the past, RWC has focused mostly on non-blockchain applications of cryptography. This year’s conference featured 46 talks over three days covering almost every topic in cryptography, including advances in encrypted messaging, TLS and Web PKI, and post-quantum cryptography. However, in what is perhaps a sign of the increasing impact of web3 research on the broader cryptography space, this year’s event did feature many presentations related to the web3 ecosystem. We cover a selection of the most interesting bits.
New paper: ‘Accountable liveness’
Tim Roughgarden, Columbia University computer science professor and head of research at a16z crypto, and Joachim Neu, one of our research associates, have just released a new paper with Andy Lewis-Pye (LSE) and Luca Zanolini (EF) that explores when and how adversarial nodes can be punished if they stall transaction confirmation in blockchains. The researchers show how and to what extent “accountability guarantees” are achievable for liveness. Beyond theoretical contributions, liveness accountability also has practical implications. The paper provides rigorous foundations for liveness-accountability heuristics such as the “inactivity leaks” employed in Ethereum.
Documenting the human side of crypto: new films to watch
As the crypto industry evolves, several documentaries are covering the space through the lens of its people — builders, artists, and others — rather than through the usual tropes and misconceptions.
First up is Vitalik: An Ethereum Story, which is now available to stream on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Vimeo on Demand. With unprecedented access, this feature documentary chronicles the rise of Vitalik Buterin from teenage coder to the architect of Ethereum.
Next up is Any Problem is No Problem, where an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-award-winning team of filmmakers captured the personal journeys of five founders who, aiming to build a better internet, attended a16z crypto’s startup accelerator in Santa Monica. The documentary premiered at the AmDocs Film Festival this March, taking home the Sadie Katz Award for Hustle. You can also watch it at the San Francisco Documentary Festival on May 3 (California), at DC/DOX Film Festival on June 14 (Washington, D.C.), and Christie’s Art + Tech Summit on July 17 (New York City).
Meanwhile, the world’s first IRL NFT gallery also got the documentary treatment with “Venice to Venice”, which chronicles the three-year, four-continent journey of Bright Moments from its beginnings in Venice Beach to the 2024 Biennale in Venice, Italy. The film last screened in November at Art Blocks Marfa Weekend.
— a16z crypto editorial team
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