The Fintech Blueprint

In this conversation, Cris Sheridan, who is the Senior Editor of Financial Sense and Host of FS Insider, leads the conversation around the basics to understand the exciting new digital universe, more commonly known as The Metaverse. More specifically, we discuss all things VR & AR including social media’s proliferation into the sector, Millenial vs GenZ behavioural approaches to the metaverse, the...

In this conversation, we chat with Jason Wenk, who is the Founder & CEO at Altruist. Apart from this Jason is a writer, self-proclaimed math geek, and investment systems developer. He began his career at Morgan Stanley in NYC at age 20, working on investment research and asset management systems development. After this Jason founded FormulaFolios: quantitative, computer-driven investment models ba...

In this conversation, we chat with Chris Dean, who is the Founder & CEO at Treasury Prime. Previously, Chris was the CTO & VP of Engineering at Standard Treasury, which was acquired by Silicon Valley Bank for an undisclosed amount. More specifically, we discuss all things banking-as-a-service, FinTech APIs, embedded finance, and the general evolution of the FinTech banking industry over the last d...

In this conversation, we are so lucky to tap into the brilliant mind of none other than Sheila Warren who sits on the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum and is a key member in the executive leadership of the Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), in which she oversees strategy across the entire C4IR Network, consisting of centers in 13 countries. Sheila also holds...

In this conversation, we delve deep into next generation finance and banking with CJ MacDonald, the Founder and CEO of Step – an incredibly successful neobank on a mission to improve the financial future of the next generation. More specifically, we discuss traditional vs. digital banking, how personal experiences influence entrepreneurial the spirit, immersive market research, banking-as-a-servic...

In this conversation, we talk all things capital markets and investing with Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro, one of the fastest-growing and largest global digital investing companies, brokerages, and applications out there. More specifically, we discuss the eating habits of Warren Buffet, community-driven investment challenging incumbent investing practices, the purposes of investing and...

In this conversation, we talk all things Wall Street, FinTech, and Venture Capital with Patrick Pinschmidt, who's the general partner and co-founder at MiddleGame Ventures. More specifically, we discuss the ups and downs of sell-side research in the early 2000s, the evolution of financial technology to today’s FinTech, an insight into the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the US Treasury De...

In this conversation, we have a really cool conversation on fintech, crypto assets, payments and all the things around it with Ivan Soto-Wright, the CEO and Co-founder of MoonPay. More specifically, we discuss Liability-driven Investment (LDI), the proliferation of AI in personal finance to drive sound decision-making, innovation in finance is following the same trajectory that resulted in VOIP fo...

In this conversation, we talk with Beatriz Helena Ramos – artist, entrepreneur, film director, producer and illustrator – the mind behind DADA.art. DADA is “a space where everything is about cooperation and solidarity, which are amazing ways to allow self-expression, as well as constant inspiration. Additionally, we provide simple tools to encourage creativity, and erase intimidation.” More specif...

In this conversation, we talk with Maximilian Rofagha, who serves as the CEO and Founder of Finimize, about how to do personal finance right and how to do it bottoms up for the world. Additionally, we explore Max’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur, the nuances of the e-commerce business, the building of and drivers behind community and creating business activities around it, the influences of F...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Kevin Owocki, who serves as the CEO & Chief Roboticist at Gitcoin, about the evolution of the programmable blockchain space, how open software gets made, where value comes from and all sorts of other really cool futuristic things. Additionally, we explore the nuances of being an early developer in shifting markets, idea mazes, the founding o...

In this conversation, we geek out with Horacio Barakat, who serves as the Head of Digital Innovation for Capital Markets and the Head of DLT for the Repo Platform of Broadridge, about digital transformation, capital markets, and the role of blockchain in the institutional part of the financial industry. Additionally, we explore the embedded complexities of capital markets and how fundamental they...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Robert Leshner of The Compound Protocol about the early days of crypto and how a fascination with Ethereum smart contracts drove him to build one of the largest DeFi projects to date. Additionally, we explore the nuances of lending and interest rates, consumer privacy software and data monetization, floating interest rate pools of capital ac...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Will Beeson of Bella Loves Me and Allica Bank about banking and neobanking and the differences that he has witnessed across the different geographies in which he has worked on building a bank. Additionally, we explore the nuances around regulation and licenses, the transaction-centric nature of the American fintech layer, consumer psychograp...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Michael Sena of uPort, 3Box Labs, and The Ceramic Network about web3.0, decentralized identity, and the various standards that he has been implicit in creating. Additionally, we explore the nuances around data ownership and identity, the journey from founding uPort to now 3Box and the Ceramic network and how the practical implementation of t...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Marwan Forzley of Veem about how the rampant evolution of the mobile phone spurred his fascination to turn the phone into a business-to-business (B2B) payments network. Additionally, we explore how generations of companies have tried to use correspondent banking to solve for B2B cross border and failed, the intricacies of payment rails and t...

Hi Fintech Futurists, Welcome back to our podcast series! For those that want to subscribe in your app of choice, you can now find us at Apple, Spotify, or on RSS. In this conversation, we talk with Rune Christensen of Maker Foundation about how he became one of the most influential builders in the DeFi ecosystem. Additionally, we explore the creation, experiences, and evolution of Decentralized A...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Anil Aggarwal of Clarity Payment Solutions (acquired by TSYS) and TxVia (acquired by Google) about how he “stumbled” upon the payment space at the right time. Anil is an absolute FinTech icon as the founder of renowned FinTech conferences – Money20/20 and FinTech Meetup. Additionally, we explore the various concepts of payment network utlity...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Jon Helgi Egilsson about his incredible journey to becoming Chairman and a co-founder of Monerium. Jon is a former chairman and vice-chairman of the supervisory board of the Icelandic Central Bank, a former adjunct professor in financial engineering and MBA lecturer at Reykjavik University, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, and co-f...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Camila Russo of The Defiant and author of The Infinite Machine, about her journey as a successful financial journalist was derailed by the Crypto boom and subsequent winter of 2017. Additionally, we explore the success behind her first book, the nuances of the NFT craze, and how The Defiant became one of the most popular crypto media brands...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this exciting conversation, we talk with none other than Joe Lubin of ConsenSys and Ethereum, about his journey from being exposed to advances in artificial intelligence at Princeton to becoming the household name in programmable blockchain. Additionally, we get an insider look into his founding of Ethereum and ConsenSys, and how the technology and individuals behind these...

Hi Fintech Futurists, In this conversation, we talk with Tyler Mulvihill of Treum and EulerBeats, about how he became involved in the very first non-financial production grade blockchain use case, tracking & tracing tuna from Fiji to New York using Treum. Additionally, we explore the nuances of NFTs and how EulerBeats is using bonding curve economics to price the future of NFT use rather than mere...

In this conversation, we talk with Patrick Berarducci of ConsenSys, about the valuations and multiples of capital markets protocols in Decentralized Finance on Ethereum, now making up over $60B in token value. Additionally, we explore the nuances of scaling Ethereum and its solutions, such as Metamask and the emerging Layer 2 protocols. We also discuss law and regulation, including a fascinating s...

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 , Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions .

M1 Finance bundles together roboadvisory, neobanking and lending into a single “super app”, allowing for combined pricing power (i.e., charging nothing on asset allocation). The firm currently has $3 billion in AUM, a growth of 50% in the past four months and tripling their total in just over a year. Notably, the company has its own broker/dealer and offers fractional shares, and partners with Lin...