The Fintech Blueprint

In this episode, Lex speaks with John Caplan — CEO of Payoneer, a public fintech company driving over $85 billion in annual cross-border payment volume. With roots as a prepaid card provider, Payoneer has evolved into a global financial operating platform serving 2 million entrepreneurs across 190 countries.
Caplan shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey—from building OpenSky and scaling it to $50 million in revenue before its acquisition by Alibaba, to now leading Payoneer’s transformation into a full-service banking alternative for global SMBs.
We explore how Payoneer is addressing the complex financial needs of international businesses, competing in a dynamic payments landscape, and preparing for a future that includes stablecoins, workforce management, and potentially $1 trillion in annual volume.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
Payoneer’s Strategic Evolution from Payout Processor to Global SMB Bank Alternative
Under John Caplan’s leadership, Payoneer expanded beyond marketplace payouts to become a comprehensive cross-border financial platform, offering AR/AP, intra-network transfers, cards, and global workforce management. This shift has significantly increased customer retention, take rate, and profitability—highlighting how product expansion and upmarket focus can unlock durable growth in fintech.
Execution Over Hype in Global Fintech Infrastructure
Payoneer operates in 190 countries with 100+ banking partners and 7,000 payment routes—demonstrating the importance of deep regulatory compliance, local licensing, and multi-entity support in building resilient cross-border infrastructure. Unlike crypto-native entrants, Payoneer emphasizes last-mile utility and customer trust as core differentiators for scaling in complex markets.
Profitable Scale and Global Demand for SMB Financial Services
With $1B+ revenue, $200M+ EBITDA, and $7.5B in customer funds held, Payoneer is proving that serving cross-border SMBs is not just a mission, but a highly profitable business. Their customer base spans from Bangladeshi freelancers to European firms doing $1M+ in volume, signaling massive, underserved global demand for modern financial tools outside the traditional banking system.
TOPICS
Payoneer, Alibaba, OpenSky, Stripe, Wise, Airwallex, Mercury, NuBank, digital banking, embedded finance, stablecoins, blockchain, regtech, B2B payments, SPAC, supple chain, ecommerce
 
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: John’s Career Journey: From OpenSky to Alibaba to Payoneer
6’18: Inside OpenSky: Serving Global Sellers and Financing the Supply Chain
9’54: Finding Traction: Failure, Product Market Fit, and China’s E‑Commerce Leap
13’42: Global Distribution: Universal Ambitions, Local Execution
15’52: Behavior Change Beats Legacy: Why Users Digitize When It Matters
17’21: Payoneer at $85B Volume and $1B Revenue: A Platform for Global SMBs
20’49: From Prepaid Cards to Core Operating Account: Evolving Payoneer’s DNA
25’32: Inside Payoneer’s Architecture: Global Bank Network and Internal Ledger
28’26: Global Growth Corridors: LatAm, APAC, and Take Rate Expansion
31’13: Staying the Course: Payoneer’s Post-SPAC Journey Through Volatile Markets
34’03: Misunderstood Value: Stablecoins, Interest Revenue, and Payoneer’s Real Strengths
38’44: Where Global Commerce Bends: Regulation, Platforms, and Resilience
40’58: Path to $1 Trillion: Payoneer’s Strategy for Organic and Inorganic Growth
43’22: The channels used to connect with John & learn more about Payoneer

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.

In this episode, Lex speaks with Michael Egorov - Founder of Curve Finance and YieldBasis. Kicking things off about his journey from experimental physicist to founder of Curve Finance and YieldBasis, highlighting how theoretical physics concepts influenced his creation of financial invariants in DeFi protocols.
Curve pioneered fully automated concentrated liquidity for stablecoins and introduced veTokenomics, a governance model rewarding long-term commitment with voting power and protocol fees. Egorov defends veTokenomics against criticisms of unlock-driven volatility, citing that most CRV locks average over 3 years and behave like permanent commitments. YieldBasis expands Curve’s approach by offering impermanent gain strategies to counter impermanent loss in volatile markets like Bitcoin, aiming to scale toward a $50B market ceiling.
The discussion closes with reflections on DeFi token market structure challenges and Egorov’s call for protocols to connect token value to real economic flows by activating fee-sharing mechanisms.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
veTokenomics Drives Long-Term Alignment and Token Sink Efficiency
Michael Egorov introduced veTokenomics in Curve to address short-termism in token governance by requiring users to lock CRV tokens for up to 4 years to gain voting power and protocol rewards. This mechanism has proven effective in practice, with the average CRV lock time exceeding 3 years, effectively removing tokens from circulation. Egorov notes that veTokenomics removed 3x more tokens from supply than buybacks would have, highlighting its material impact on protocol stability and investor alignment.
YieldBasis Aims to Neutralize Impermanent Loss via Engineered Impermanent Gain
YieldBasis builds on Curve’s AMM infrastructure by combining two layers: a Curve pool experiencing impermanent loss, and a complementary structure engineered to capture “impermanent gain”. This dual-layer approach statistically delivers net profit in volatile assets like Bitcoin, assuming mean-reverting price movements. Egorov estimates the market ceiling for this strategy at $50 billion, positioning YieldBasis as a scalable solution for volatility-based yield generation.
DeFi’s Market Structure Issues Stem from Uncertain Token-Economics Linkages
Egorov critiques much of DeFi for failing to connect protocol economics to token value. While Curve distributes fees directly to CRV lockers, most protocols (like Uniswap) have not activated fee-sharing mechanisms (”fee switches”), creating valuation uncertainty. Egorov argues that unless projects “turn the switch on” and reduce economic ambiguity, token pricing will remain volatile and fragile, hindering broader adoption and investment confidence.
TOPICS
Curve Finance, YieldBasis, Uniswap, MakerDAO, Convex, StakeDAO, Threshold Network, NuCypher, AladdinDAO, Athena, Yearn, DeFi, veTokenomics, AMM, Stablecoin, Tokenomics, Governance, CRV Token, Ethereum, ETH, Bitcoin, BTC
 
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
1’17: From Laser Cooling to Stablecoin Swaps: Michael Egorov on Physics-Inspired DeFi and Writing the “Laws” of Money
9’12: On-Chain Macro Labs: Designing Economies at Speed
14’58: Lockups vs. Liquidity Wrappers: When “Commitment” Becomes a Market for Illiquidity
18’57: Delegate Democracy on Chain: Vote Aggregators, Campaign Politics, and Why Ve-Style Governance Drives Higher Participation
23’52: Beyond TVL: Why Stablecoin AMMs “Need Less,” and How Yield Basis Targets Bitcoin’s Volatility to Neutralize Impermanent Loss
31’00: Who Earns the Volatility Yield: Wrapped Bitcoin Deposits, Market-Maker Liquidity, and the Long Runway Before Strategy Saturation
36’58: The Altcoin Valuation Trap: Why Buybacks Barely Move Prices—and Locking Can Shrink Supply
40’32: Fixing Token Market Structure: Connecting Cashflows, Killing Uncertainty, and Why “Turning the Fee Switch On” Matters
47’23: The channels used to connect with Michael & learn more about Curve and YieldBasis

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.

In this episode, Lex speaks with Gracy Chen - Bitget’s CEO, who transitioned from a fintech entrepreneur to leading one of the top five global crypto exchanges. Bitget processes $10–20 billion in daily trading volume and serves 120 million users across centralized and decentralized platforms. Its geographic base is mostly in Asia, but it’s expanding into Europe through regulatory compliance and new products like tokenized US stocks, which have already surpassed $20 billion in trading volume.
Bitget differentiates through security features, including a $600 million protection fund, and user acquisition via both brand campaigns (e.g. Messi sponsorship) and local affiliate (KOL) marketing. Looking ahead, Bitget aims to move beyond crypto-native assets toward mass adoption, focusing on product-market fit and offering tokenized real-world assets and enterprise services.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
Bitget Is Transitioning Toward Regulatory Compliance and Tokenized Assets
Bitget, historically an offshore crypto exchange, is shifting to a compliance-first strategy in key markets like Europe (e.g., under MiCA). It’s also diversifying its product offering beyond altcoins, including tokenized US stocks and forex, which have already generated $20B in trading volume. This reflects a broader industry trend where crypto platforms aim to integrate with traditional finance and support real-world assets (RWAs).
Bitget’s User Acquisition Combines Web2 Financial Discipline with Web3 Community Tactics
Bitget uses a hybrid marketing approach: brand partnerships like the Leo Messi campaign and grassroots affiliate marketing via KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) who earn volume-based rebates. Additionally, local teams are given budget control and tailor acquisition strategies per market. This decentralized yet data-informed model mimics Web2 CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) analysis while leveraging crypto-native community dynamics.
Exchanges Are Struggling with Unsustainable Token Launch Models
Gracy Chen criticizes the crypto industry’s overreliance on speculative “narrative-driven” token launches, noting that even well-funded tokens often fail without real product-market fit. Bitget is responding by requiring more tangible utility and sustainability from listed projects and aims to balance value across users, exchanges, and project teams through mechanisms like airdrop campaigns and launch pools with TOPICS
Bitget, Bitget Wallet, Bitkeep, Coinbase, Binance, FTX, MetaMask, MicroStrategy, BlackRock, crypto, crypto exchange, token, altcoins, digital assets, tokenized assets, tokenization
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
1’03: A $300 Revelation: The Unlikely Path to Running a Global Crypto Exchange
4’00: From Offshore to Onshore: Scaling a Global Exchange for 120 Million Users
10’09: Chasing Real Value: How Product Market Fit Outlasts Hype
15’39: Market Structure in Flux: How Speculators Gave Way to Institutions
19’14: Inside the Exchange: How Marketing and Trust Drive User Growth
26’20: Balancing the Books: Navigating User Acquisition in Web3 vs Web2
30’38: Speculation and Signal: How Culture and KOLs Drive Crypto Adoption in Asia
34’11: Fixing the Feedback Loop: Rethinking Token Launches and Expanding Beyond Altcoins
40’42: Beyond the Hype: Building Sustainable Demand for Tokenized Assets

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.

In this episode, Lex speaks Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis. Together, they explore the evolution of Gnosis from an Ethereum-based prediction market project into a major infrastructure provider powering over $100 billion in DAO treasuries and $10–15 billion in monthly DEX trading via CowSwap. Tracing the company’s journey from a 2017 ICO raising $12.5 million in ETH (now worth ~$450 million) to spinning out critical tools like Safe, CowSwap, and Zodiac, all originally built for internal use.
Despite their success, Gnosis recognizes that the crypto-native user base is limited and has now pivoted to building user-centric, mainstream products like the upcoming Gnosis App targeting Gen Z with real-world financial utility. The company emphasizes its founding mission of democratizing financial ownership and warns against complacency as incumbents like Stripe and Robinhood enter the space. Lastly, Gnosis sees a near-term opportunity in AI-agent driven commerce, especially through reverse advertising models that could unlock trillion-dollar markets.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
The $12.5M ICO That Became a $450M Treasury: Gnosis raised $12.5 million in ETH during their 2017 ICO when ETH was trading at $40. Through conservative treasury management and holding their ETH position, that initial raise has sustained the company for nearly a decade and grown to approximately $450 million today. Friederike attributes this to “conservative treasury management and sheer luck” — a remarkable case study in long-term crypto treasury stewardship.
Polymarket Runs on Gnosis Infrastructure: Despite Polymarket’s $10B+ valuation and mainstream recognition, it still uses Gnosis’s conditional token framework that was written years ago. Friederike acknowledges being “a little salty” that infrastructure they built powers such a significant share of the on-chain prediction market economy without Gnosis directly benefiting financially. It’s a stark illustration of the “first up the mountain” dynamic where pioneers clear the path but don’t always capture the value.
The 19th Century German Banking Parallel: Friederike draws a compelling historical analogy: impoverished German farmers in the 1800s faced predatory moneylenders charging 25-40% interest. They responded by forming collective community banks, lending to each other at 4-6%. Within decades, tens of thousands existed, and one-third of Germans remain members today. She positions crypto’s ownership model as the modern equivalent — a cooperative financial revolution for a generation economically disenfranchised by incumbent systems.
TOPICS
Gnosis, Gnosis Safe, CowSwap, Zodiac, CPK, Polymarket, Kalshi, ConsenSys, Ethereum, ETH, AI, AI Agents, ICO, Onchain, Governance, Crypto Treasury, Web3, Blockchain, Finance, Banking, Payments, Custody, Wallets
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
1’25: From Prediction Markets to On-Chain Governance: The Gnosis Journey with Friederike Ernst
6’09: Early ICO Bets and Lasting Impact: How Treasury Design and Tooling Shaped On-Chain Governance
14’10: Owning the Problem: Turning Internal Crypto Tools into Customer-Facing Products
18’08: Beyond Crypto Natives: Building User-Friendly Blockchain Finance for the Next Billion
24’34: Beyond the Noise: Staying True to Web3’s Ownership Revolution
28’48: Culture as the Catalyst: Building User-Owned Financial Systems for a Disenfranchised Generation
32’59: Reinventing Everyday Banking: A Self-Custodial Money App for the Postbank Era
36’48: AI Agents With Wallets: Gnosis Chain as the Payment Rail for Autonomous Finance
39’49: Reverse Advertising: How AI Agents Will Turn Your Attention Into a Trillion-Dollar Market

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.

In this episode, Lex speaks with David Namdar - CEO of the BNB Network Company, kicking off with his journey from early Bitcoin adoption in 2012 to co-founding Galaxy Digital and now leading the BNB Network Company. Namdar explains the evolution of public markets’ engagement with crypto, highlighting how regulatory hurdles and speculative cycles shaped market participation. He outlines the rise of Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies, crediting Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy for pioneering the model by converting $400 million in cash to Bitcoin - now holding over $75 billion in BTC. We examine how Binance, with 290 million users and 40% of global crypto volume, supports BNB as a deflationary asset, burning up to $2 billion per quarter. Finally, Namdar shares why BNB, not Bitcoin, is the focus of his new DAT initiative, offering U.S. investors exposure to an underrepresented but powerful asset.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
Digital Asset Treasuries Are Emerging as Crypto ETFs in Disguise: Public companies like MicroStrategy and MetaPlanet are turning their balance sheets into crypto holdings, offering indirect exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. This model is attracting billions and creating a new on-ramp for investors -especially where ETFs or direct access are limited.
BNB Is Massively Used Yet Underrepresented in U.S. Markets: With 290 million users and up to $2B in quarterly token burns, BNB is one of the most used tokens globally. Yet it’s largely inaccessible to U.S. investors, creating a major disconnect and a potential opportunity for BNB-focused public vehicles.
Crypto Booms Often Rely on Misunderstood, Unsustainable Incentives: Namdar highlights how past cycles inflated demand through staking rewards and nominal yields, not real value. A lack of economic literacy continues to fuel hype over fundamentals, risking long-term sustainability.
 
TOPICS
BNB Network Company, Binance, BNB, Galaxy Digital, SolidX Partners, MicroStrategy, Bitcoin, Bitcoin treasury, Ethereum, Digital Asset Treasury, DAT, treasury, crypto, convertible debt, tokenomics, crypto treasury, capital markets
 
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
1’09: Building the Crypto Investment Bank: Taking Digital Assets to Public Markets
4’43: Why Going Public Matters: Crypto Firms, Capital Access, and Market Credibility
7’28: From Fintech to DeFi: How U.S. Markets Mispriced the Crypto Transition
11’07: Real Yield vs. Hype: Why Crypto Markets Keep Getting It Wrong
14’36: The Rise of Digital Asset Treasuries: How Crypto Became a Corporate Balance Sheet Strategy
18’28: Financial Engineering in Crypto Treasuries: How Convertible Debt Fueled Massive Bitcoin Accumulation
22’23: Boom, Hype, Exhaustion: The Capital Cycle Behind Crypto Treasuries
28’52: From Foundations to Public Markets: Why BNB Is the Next Big Treasury Bet
33’25: BNB by the Numbers: Inside the Tokenomics of the World’s Largest Crypto Exchange
39’18: Premiums, Discounts, and Buybacks: Managing Value in Crypto Treasury Stocks
44’41: The channels used to connect with David & learn more about BNB Network Co.

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.