Bridge CEO Zach Abrams: stablecoins are the next platform for money

What happens when money moves 10x — or 100x — faster than it does today?

In this episode, Zach Abrams, cofounder and CEO of Bridge (now part of Stripe), lays out a bold vision for the future of money: a world where stablecoins become the dominant payment rail, most transactions happen between non-human agents, and entirely new financial infrastructure is required to keep up.

Zach explains why stablecoins are the next evolution of fintech, much like credit cards were decades ago — and why we’re still in the early innings. We dig into agentic payments, AI-to-AI commerce, micro-transactions on the open internet, and what Stripe is building by assembling stablecoin infrastructure across the stack. Along the way, we cover:

• Why cards succeeded — and what stablecoins must learn from them
• What breaks when the velocity of money increases 10x
• Stripe’s long-term strategy behind Bridge, Privy, and Tempo
• The case for open, decentralized payment infrastructure
• How AI agents could drive the majority of future payments
• Zach’s unconventional views on management, productivity, and product-market fit

If you’re curious about the future of payments, fintech, crypto, AI agents, or the economic foundations of the next internet, this conversation offers a look several steps ahead. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Stablecoins: The next platform for money 01:38 Credit cards had a moral panic too 03:29 What stablecoin infrastructure still needs to be built 05:22 The use cases no one predicted 11:11 Why Stripe is building with crypto 13:08 Why payments infrastructure must stay open 15:12 Lightning round: Bad advice, great books, and deep work Follow a16z crypto for more… X: https://x.com/a16zcrypto LinkedIn:   / posts   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pMZvsN… Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast… Youtube:    / @a16zcrypto   📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subsc… 🎙️ Like, subscribe, comment, share the show: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/ *** As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.