zili

building in fintech / agentic commerce

[zili @zllyng]

Coffee shops are the new branches in banking

And Capital One started this.

Branch is not dead.

#capitalone #branches

[Vasek Mlejnsky @mlejva]

startups should not be building coffee shops

[zili @zllyng]

Events in Fintech in SF happening this week:

Aug 12 - Coffee x Counsel SF at Corgi Cafe
https://t.co/cYYdJpGeF6

Aug 19 - Sardinecon by @Sardine https://t.co/LLn25s2APz

Aug 20 - The Back Office | SF Rooftop Social for Finance, Accounting & Risk by @maxima_dot_ai
https://t.co/FKAoJANW0L

Aug 20 - SF Executive Fintech Dinner
https://t.co/YOfvKgtPsk

If there's any that I've missed, please let me know - I can add it :)

#fintech #sf

[Abbas Khan @KhanAbbas201]

Whichever neobank figures out QR code payments will have a much easier time expanding across Asia.

As much as I try to use my crypto cards here, I still end up using local QR payments every now and then.

If one neobank figures this out, I’d almost have no choice but to use it.

[zili @zllyng]

Mastercard has entered the chat
👀

Race for stables is on for the networks.
(It’s always been on, but now you can see it)

[CoinDesk @CoinDesk]

INSIGHT: @Coinbase bid up to $2.5B for @BVNKFinance before @Mastercard won with $1.8B, with BVNK's founders ultimately choosing Mastercard over the higher offer due to better cultural fit.

@IanAllison123 reports.

[zili @zllyng]

@cuysheffield @Sakshit0044 Same, can’t dm

[zili @zllyng]

Visa is so right

[Cuy Sheffield @cuysheffield]

Today, agentic commerce doesn’t exist in any meaningful way. However, I have more conviction than ever that 24 months from now agents will become economic actors that drive billions of dollars of spend across the world.

We have an incredible opportunity at Visa to help build this future and we are hiring AI-native talent across our agentic product and partnerships teams.

DMs open if interested

[zili @zllyng]

Mastercard spent the last 10 years be the dominant fintech card network to get slammed by Visa in stablecoins

[Connor @0xConnor_]

Stablecoins going global by utilising Visa’s network instead of fighting it might be the smartest distribution move in crypto.

Why spend ten years building merchant acceptance when you can borrow the network that already has it.

[Stacy Muur @stacy_muur]

Fixed-rate lending recently landed on @Morpho with its new protocol, Midnight.

It expands what Morpho can offer just as more major apps are starting to use its infrastructure.

The bigger picture:

1️⃣ Fixed-rate lending

Unlike Morpho's existing variable-rate markets, borrowers and lenders can now lock in rate and duration upfront.

2️⃣ More predictable credit

Businesses and fintechs need predictable borrowing costs and returns. Midnight gives them that onchain.

3️⃣ Distribution through major apps

@RobinhoodCrypto Earn and @Uniswap Earn are powered by Morpho, while @Coinbase uses it for crypto-backed loans.

Users access Morpho through these apps without ever touching Morpho's own interface.

4️⃣ Early capital traction

Morpho deposits on Robinhood Chain crossed $500M in the first month. Robinhood Earn alone is already above $250M.

5️⃣ Broader onchain credit

Morpho can now offer more types of credit while Robinhood, Coinbase, Uniswap, and other apps bring the users.

This is probably the most scalable path for onchain lending.

[Fatema @fatemallk]

i 3D printed 100 corgis for london's first (of many) corgi cafe

@UseCorgi

[David Tso (dave.base.eth) @davidtsocy]

If you’re building across these verticals, we want to hear from you:

- Tokenized assets and yield
- Stablecoins for emerging markets
- Onchain credit
- Prediction markets
- 24/7 FX and institutional markets
- Agentic commerce

Applications to the @base ecosystem fund are open

[zili @zllyng]

Just came to sf as an asian girl, my corgi senses are tingling

[zili @zllyng]

@sytaylor I’ve been saying this for ages! So true

[zili @zllyng]

@ebadgio_ Does it actually

[zili @zllyng]

All we really need is Tom Cruise to bring back the Zephyr

[Ribbit Capital @RibbitCapital]

Here’s why we believe @basepowerco can become the defining power company of this era. Excited to deepen our partnership with @ZachBDell, @JLopas, and the rest of the @basepowerco team!

[zili @zllyng]

💥🔥

[a16z crypto @a16zcrypto]

Stablecoins are increasingly being spent by card swipe.

Crypto payment cards have gone from a novelty to more than $750 million in monthly spend. These cards let people pay with crypto anywhere traditional card networks are accepted. Behind the scenes, the crypto — stablecoins, overwhelmingly — gets converted to local currency at the point of sale, so the payments look like any other card transactions to merchants.

Crypto cardholders don’t require a traditional bank account. Depending on the program, users either deposit stablecoins with a card issuer, or hold them directly onchain through self-custody. Crypto cards expand people’s access to U.S. dollar accounts globally, and they offer a convenient way for stablecoin holders to transact.

[zili @zllyng]

@stanleefounder Is your name stan lee (founder) so people don’t mistake you for stan lee (comic book writer)

[zili @zllyng]

@KenWattana time to install claude in the shower to auto post any shower thoughts

[zili @zllyng]

If you know how money really works then crypto is so obvious in the agentic world

[a16z crypto @a16zcrypto]

.@cdixon: "You can imagine an internet of billions and trillions of AI agents conducting economic transactions."

The natural way for them to transact? Crypto.

[zili @zllyng]

Everyone in crypto left just so the tradfi players can come in when the magic happens

Ig being boring but profitable is unsexy

[Mesh @MeshClans]

From August 2021 through 2023, blockchains captured 90%+ of monthly crypto revenue.

By mid-2026, that share dropped to 25%.

The new breakdown:

🔸 Finance apps: exceeded 50% in most months
🔸 Consumer apps: steady meaningful share
🔸 Blockchains: down to ~25%
🔸 Physical and crypto infrastructure: rounding errors

The economic center of crypto moved from the base layer to the apps running on it.

Early cycles were infrastructure-focused because infrastructure was the only place value could accrue.

Users paid L1 gas fees because there was nowhere else for the money to go. Ethereum's high fees, Solana's spikes, Bitcoin's security budget drove revenue.

As blockchains became cheaper, more scalable, and more reliable, apps could finally support real users and capture their own revenue streams.

Finance apps (perp DEXs, lending protocols, stablecoin issuers, trading tools) earn fees from trading volume, not just gas.

Consumer apps (memecoin launchpads, wallets, social tools) turn engagement into sustained revenue as they find market fit.

The internet followed the same arc.

In the 1990s, ISPs and backbone providers made the money. By the 2010s, applications and platforms captured most of the value.

Crypto is following that path, faster and with full transparency because everything settles onchain.

You can't value L1s solely on the claim that they capture all fees anymore.

App-layer protocols have proven that lean teams can generate hundreds of millions in revenue across:

🔸 @HyperliquidX -style derivatives platforms
🔸 @Pumpfun -style consumer platforms
🔸 The wider DeFi stack

These products now capture economic surplus that once flowed almost entirely to validators and miners.

That diversification is healthy. Crypto no longer depends on one revenue source or one narrative.

The infra succeeded, which is why its revenue share fell. Finance and consumer apps now generate the majority.
That's where the next decade of value compounds.

h/t: @Blockworks

[Ilan Zerbib @i_zerbib]

@sapiom just raised a $35 million Series A from @dragonfly_xyz , @Accel , @AnthropicAI and others to help unlock the next trillion agents.

The first thing we’re tackling is cost.

To make that happen, we are launching three new products today at https://t.co/6TTK1QT8Py