The Fintech Blueprint

Lex interviews Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0G (Zero Gravity) Labs. In this exciting episode, Lex and Michael explore the concept of decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) and how it differs from centralized, closed-source AI models provided by big tech companies. Michael kicks off with his background in tech and finance, and how he became interested in decentralized AI as a solution to the issues with closed AI systems. Notable discussion points: (1) Decentralized AI provides transparency and verifiability around the data, training, and model alignment used, unlike closed AI systems. (2) Blockchain-based systems can help enforce a "code of conduct" for AI models and ensure fair rewards distribution for data contributors. (3) 0G Labs is building a decentralized AI operating system focused on key components like decentralized storage, data availability, and a serving layer for AI inference. (4) And lastly, the company is working with various providers of AI verification mechanisms (zKML, OPML, TEML, etc.) to integrate with their decentralized AI platform. The ultimate goal is to provide a seamless user experience for building and deploying decentralized AI applications, similar to how centralized tech platforms operate today. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: 0G, 0G Labs, Zero Gravity Labs, Bridgewater Associates, ORA, Story Protocol, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Decentralized AI, Tokenized AI, Web3, Blockchain, zkML, TeeML, OPML, SPML ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT 🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2 🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV 👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS 1’10: Decentralized AI: From Early Tech Fascination to Innovating the Future 4’08: From Finance to Founding: A Journey of Passion, Growth, and Resilience 9’07: Web3 Meets AI: Building a Human-Centric Future Through Blockchain Innovation 13’45: Decentralized AI Explained: Trustless Systems vs. Closed AI Paradigms 17’21: Decentralized AI Solutions: Addressing Bias, Censorship, and Fair Rewards 23’30: Decentralized AI Framework: Building Open, Trustless Systems for Developers 27’28: Data Availability in Decentralized AI: Supercharging Blockchain for High-Performance Applications 31’24: Integrating Decentralized AI: From User Queries to Scalable Inference Frameworks 34’38: Tokenized AI Ecosystems: Economic Flows and Emerging Inference Networks 40’04: Ensuring Trust in AI Outputs: Bridging Verification Mechanisms with Decentralized Systems 42’13: Decentralized AI's Future: Breakout Use Cases and the Path to Mainstream Adoption 44’40: The channels used to connect with Michael & learn more about 0G Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Lex interviews Tom Duff Gordon, the Vice President of International Policy at Coinbase, where he drives the company’s engagement with policymakers in global markets across the UK, Europe, APAC,  LatAm, and the MENA region. Together, Tomm and Lex discuss the importance of policy work in the financial services industry, especially after the 2008 financial crisis, and how policy teams collaborate with regulators to shape the regulatory environment; the reasons why the financial services industry is heavily regulated, including the systemic and interconnected nature of the financial system and the need to protect retail consumers; the regulatory approaches to cryptocurrency and digital assets in different jurisdictions, with Europe (MiCA), the US, and other regions like Asia. The discussion highlights the diverse and evolving nature of crypto regulation globally; the challenges faced by the US in developing a coherent regulatory framework for crypto assets, particularly the jurisdictional tussle between the SEC and CFTC; Coinbase's efforts to advocate for clear and balanced crypto regulation, including through grassroots initiatives like "Stand with Crypto"; and lastly, Coinbase's evolving product strategy, expanding beyond its core exchange business into areas like custody, lending, and infrastructure for the broader crypto ecosystem. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Coinbase, Credit Suisse, SEC, Circle, MiCA, Stand With Crypto, FIT21, financial regulation, financial policy, crypto, exchange, USDC ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT 🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2 🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV 👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS 1’02: Shaping the Future of Finance: Tom Duff Gordon’s career involving Policy, Crypto, and Global Regulation 7’30: Preventing Financial Panic: How Regulation Mitigates Systemic Collapse 13’12: From Bank Runs to Balance Sheets: Tackling Systemic Risk and Preventing Financial Contagion 16’32: Regulating Crypto: Global Progress and Emerging Frameworks 19’42: Expanding Crypto Regulation Worldwide: Frameworks, Challenges, and the Road Ahead 28’18: Crypto and the SEC: Unpacking America’s Contradictory Approach to Regulation 34’30: Crypto Politics: Why the US is Divided While Europe Stays Unified 41’30: Scaling Crypto: Coinbase's Multi-Vertical Strategy and Ecosystem Vision 45’28: The channels used to connect with Tom & learn more about Coinbase Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Lex interviews Alessandro Chesser - CEO of Dynasty, a San Jose-based online platform for trust creation and management. In this episode, the key topics discussed include: The importance of aligning business and product teams, and the challenges Chesser faced when this alignment broke down during Carta's unsuccessful foray into the private markets business. Chesser's decision to leave Carta and co-found Dynasty, a startup that aims to simplify the process of creating trusts to avoid probate and  protect assets. Dynasty's go-to-market strategy, which focuses on driving organic growth through short-form video content on platforms like TikTok. And lastly, the technical and legal complexities of automating the trust creation process, and how Dynasty is navigating those challenges. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Dynasty, GetDynasty, Carta, eShares, fintech, trusts, legaltech, private markets, legal, SaaS, social media, TikTok, Instagram, LegalZoom ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT 🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2 🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV 👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS 1’24: From Sales Pioneer to Scaling Success: Alessandro Chesser on Building Carta’s Sales Organization and Transforming the Cap Table Market 5’38: Building Carta's Success: Strategic Partnerships, Demand Generation, and Sales-Product Synergy 9’57: Navigating Growth and Product Alignment: Carta's Scaling Challenges and the CartaX Experience 14’19: The Journey from Carta to Founding Dynasty: The Lessons Learned and Taking the Leap 16’55: Democratizing Estate Planning: Dynasty’s Mission to Make Trusts Accessible for Everyone 23’11: Unlocking Wealth Protection: Directed Trusts, Asset Security, and Tax Strategies for Founders and Investors 26’00: Trusts for the Middle Class: Simple Solutions for Inheritance and Probate Avoidance 28’19: Privacy and Protection: Using Trusts to Safeguard Real Estate and Build Awareness Through Organic Growth 32’02: Cracking the Viral Code: Leveraging Short-Form Video to Drive Customer Acquisition in Estate Planning 35’09: Building a Viral Marketing Team: Crafting Convincing Content for Organic Growth in FinTech 39’35: Engineering Simplicity in Legal Tech: Automating Trusts and Navigating Legal Complexities 42’52: The channels used to connect with Alessandro & learn more about Dynasty  Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Lex is interviewing Sankaet Pathak, the former CEO and founder of Synapse, and CEO and current founder of Foundation, to explore what happened with Synapse, the banking as a service industry, and key lessons learned. The discussion covers Synapse's origins, the reliance on bank partners like Evolve, the discovery of reconciliation issues and missing payments, and the eventual sale of Synapse to TabaPay. Pathak shares details on the various categories of "breaks" they uncovered, including debits from customer accounts, undisclosed fees, and the challenges around the Mercury migration. The episode also touches on potential regulatory oversights, the role of blockchain technology, and Pathak's perspective on his critics. The summary provides a comprehensive overview of the issues faced by Synapse and the broader implications for the banking infrastructure space. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: BaaS, API, Open Banking, payments, banking, Fintech, Embedded Finance, regulation Tags: Synapse, Foundation, Evolve Bank, Mercury Bank, TabaPay, Yotta, FDIC ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT 🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2 🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV 👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS 1’06: Synapse and the Evolution of Banking-as-a-Service: Sankaet Pathak’s introduction 3’26: The Synapse Story: Inside the Banking Infrastructure and Its Collapse 6’17: Behind the Rise and Reliance: How Evolve Bank Became Synapse’s Key Partner 9’16: Uncovering Reconciliation Issues: How Synapse Detected Problems with Evolve Bank 11’05: Tracking Customer Funds: How Synapse Managed User-Level Data with Pooled Bank Accounts 14’41: Uncovering Payment Breaks and Fee Issues: The Challenges Synapse Faced with Evolve Bank 21’16: Tracing Missing Funds: Synapse’s Financial Breakdowns and Evolve Bank’s Alleged Deception 24’44: From Billion-Dollar Valuation to Fire Sale: The Synapse Collapse and TabaPay Deal 29’04: Missing Millions: How a Migration Error with Mercury Led to a $49 Million Discrepancy 33’37: Lessons from Synapse’s Collapse: Reflecting on What Could Have Been Done Differently 39’10: Reflecting on Mistakes: Scaling Too Fast and the Complexities of Synapse’s Brokerage Service 43’11: Rethinking Financial Oversight: The Need for Bank Accountability and Direct Regulation of Bank-Adjacent Companies 45’59: Addressing the Critics: Sankaet Pathak on Misunderstandings and Missed Opportunities in the Synapse Collapse Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.