The Fintech Blueprint

• Building a Trustless Supercomputer for Web3 and AI, with Arweave's Founder Sam Williams

  Lex interviews Sam Williams - founder of Arweave. This episode delves into the innovative aspects of Arweave, a protocol designed for permanent data storage and computation within the Web3 ecosystem. The discussion covers a range of topics, from the economic models underpinning Arweave to its potential applications in decentralized finance (DeFi) and beyond. Notable discussion points: The Founding of Arweave and its Mission – Sam Williams’ interest in distributed computing and concerns about authoritarianism led him to create Arweave in 2017. Inspired by the Snowden leaks, he saw the need for a blockchain-based permanent storage solution to protect journalism, historical records, and digital assets from censorship. Decentralized vs. Distributed Storage – Williams explained how Arweave differs from alternatives like IPFS and Filecoin. Unlike traditional storage, which requires ongoing payments, Arweave uses a one-time payment model. This storage endowment leverages declining storage costs to ensure long-term data persistence without relying on centralized infrastructure. Arweave’s Expansion into Decentralized Compute – Arweave has evolved beyond storage to develop decentralized computing through "Arweave IO." This enables parallelized smart contract execution, making it possible to run AI models, financial automation, and decentralized apps on-chain—aligning with Web3’s shift toward autonomous, intelligent systems.MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Arweave, permanent data storage, Web3, decentralized systems, distributed systems, blockchain, economic models, IPFS, Filecoin, decentralized computing, decentralized finance, compute 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: From Distributed Computing to Decentralized Truth Preservation: A Journey into Web3 4’31: Decentralization vs. Distribution: Defining the Future of Web3 Infrastructure 9’41: Building a Decentralized Archive: Arweave’s Journey from Vision to Adoption 16’28: Web3 Storage Economics: Arweave vs. IPFS and the NFT Data Dilemma 22’42: Arweave’s Endowment Model: A Blockchain-Native Approach to Permanent Storage 27’13: Arweave’s Next Chapter: From Permanent Storage to Decentralized Supercomputing 31’36: Decentralized AI and Agent Finance: Expanding Arweave’s Computational Power 36’26: Decentralized AI and Blockchain: Overcoming Computation and Consensus Challenges 41’34: The Future of Decentralized Intelligence: Trustless Finance and Digital Immortality 44’59: The channels used to connect with Sam & learn more about Arweave 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.

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• The Virtual Card Revolution Powering $7 Billion in Transactions, with Extend CEO Andrew Jamison

  Lex interviews Andrew Jamison - CEO and Co-founder of Extend - a financial infrastructure platform that helps banks innovate financial product development with capabilities while working with their existing systems, starting with virtual cards. Andrew shares his journey into fintech, detailing his experiences at American Express and the evolution of virtual cards. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in the virtual card space, the founding of Extend, and its innovative approach to simplifying spend management. The episode highlights Extend's rapid growth, unique market position, and the future of financial management, emphasizing real-time transactions and integrated solutions for businesses. Notable discussion points: Virtual Cards = Smarter Spend ManagementVirtual credit cards revolutionize payments by enabling real-time reconciliation, reducing fraud, and improving financial control—especially for SaaS, digital ads, and legal expenses. Extend’s Edge: Partnering with Banks, Not Disrupting ThemUnlike Brex and Ramp, Extend powers virtual cards on existing bank-issued cards, making adoption seamless for businesses while strengthening bank relationships. B2B Payments Go EmbeddedThe future of finance is embedding payments directly into platforms like SAP Concur - letting CFOs manage expenses within the tools they already use. From Enterprise-Only to Instant AccessVirtual cards once took months to implement. Extend’s API-first approach makes them deployable in minutes, bridging the gap between legacy banking and modern finance. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Extend, American Express, AMEX, SAP,  fintech, credit cards, spend management, virtual cards, B2B, API, banking infrastructure, embedded payments 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: From Green Screens to the Cloud: How Early Tech Shaped Andrew Jamison’s Approach to Business and Automation 5’12: Scaling Amex: Expanding Beyond Travel to B2B Payments and Virtual Cards 10’27: Virtual Cards in Travel: Solving Payments but Struggling with Scale 15’19: Virtual Cards and On-Demand Growth: How APIs Unlocked a New Payments Model 19’17: From Amex to Extend: Reinventing Virtual Cards for Everyday Business 26’00: Scaling Smart Payments: How Extend is Reshaping B2B Credit Cards 29’33: Rethinking Spend Management: How Extend Partners with Banks Instead of Replacing Them 31’47: Built for CFOs: How Extend Streamlines Payments and Expense Management 35’08: The Future of Finance: How Embedded Payments and APIs Are Reshaping the CFO’s Role 40’34: The channels used to connect with Andrew & learn more about Extend 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.

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• How Sei is Breaking Ethereum's Limits with Co-Founder Jayendra Jog

  Lex interviews Jayendra Jog - co-founder of Sei Labs, about his professional journey and the innovative Sei protocol—a high-performance parallel blockchain. Jay shares insights from his time at Robinhood, emphasizing the importance of distribution over technology and the challenges of scaling a fintech company. He discusses the limitations of Ethereum's transaction processing and how Sei Labs aims to address these through parallelization. The conversation also covers the future of blockchain in finance, the need for regulatory clarity, and the potential of high-performance blockchains to support emerging industries like AI and decentralized science. Notable discussion points: Impact Over Paychecks – Jog’s career leap from SAP to Facebook, Pinterest, Robinhood, and Sei Labs was driven by impact, not salary. He thrived in small, high-talent teams where he could truly move the needle. Robinhood’s Growing Pains – Early Robinhood was fast and scrappy, but as it scaled, bureaucracy slowed innovation. The shift from “missionary” to “mercenary” employees hurt culture and velocity. Tech Doesn’t Win—Distribution Does – The best crypto projects don’t just have great tech; they win by getting users. Sei Labs focuses on real-world adoption, not just engineering breakthroughs. Sei’s Parallelized EVM: A Game Changer – Ethereum is slow. Sei Labs fixes this by parallelizing transactions, enabling high-speed trading and complex on-chain applications. It’s Ethereum’s power with Solana’s speed. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: fintech, blockchain, Sei Labs, Sei protocol, Ethereum Virtual Machine, EVM, Robinhood, decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, DePIN 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 1’29: From Silicon Valley Roots to Startup Hustle: Jayendra Jog’s Journey Through Tech’s Elite Ranks 7’53: Scaling Robinhood: From Scrappy Startup to Corporate Bureaucracy 12’56: Why Robinhood Won: Distribution Over Technology in Fintech and Crypto 17’38: Sei and the Parallelized EVM: Scaling Blockchain for High-Performance Trading 25’18: Parallelization in Blockchain: Unlocking Scalability Without Breaking the System 28’03: Building Sei: Solving the Blockchain Adoption Puzzle for Finance and Developers 33’50: The Blockchain Race: Competing for Killer Apps and Market Dominance 38’02: The Next Wave: Sei’s Vision for AI, DePIN, and High-Performance Blockchain Applications 41’34: The channels used to connect with Jay & learn more about Sei 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.

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• Protecting 2,700 Customers Across 100 Million Transactions, with Socure's CTO Arun Kumar

  Lex interviews Arun Kumar, the CTO of Socure, an identity management and risk assessment company. In this exciting episode, Arun touches on: (1) his experience building large-scale, high-throughput, and low-latency systems at companies like Amazon and Citadel, and how he applies that expertise to the identity verification and fraud detection challenges at Socure. (2) Socure's rapid growth, serving over 2,700 customers including 9 of the top 10 U.S. banks and over 30 state agencies, processing hundreds of millions of transactions per month. (3) Socure's approach to building a real-time identity graph by aggregating signals from devices, phone numbers, IPs, and other data points to detect and prevent sophisticated fraud tactics like deepfakes and fraud GPTs. (4) The company's recent acquisition of Effectiv to simplify the integration process for customers and improve efficiency, as well as its use of Generative AI to automate various tasks. Lastly, (5) Socure's future plans to expand beyond account opening and login into transaction monitoring, as well as exploring opportunities in the growing embedded finance and digital identity spaces. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Socure, Effectiv, Citadel, Amazon, Identity management, digital identity, generative AI, deepfakes, fraud prevention, machine learning, identity verification 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: Scaling Innovation: Exploring High-Performance Systems and Real-Time Technology 4’04: From Financial Data to Machine Learning: Scaling Systems and Solving Edge Cases 8’49: Bridging Big Tech and Quant Finance: Exploring Technology Overlaps and Ultra-Low Latency Systems 11’12: Protecting Digital Identity at Scale: The Journey to Socure and Solving Real-Time Fraud Challenges 15’50: Building the Network Effect: How Socure Became a Leader in Identity Verification and Fraud Prevention 21’00: Battling Modern Fraud: Deepfakes, Generative AI, and the Evolving Landscape of Digital Security 26’30: Revolutionizing Customer Success: Simplifying Integrations with No-Code Solutions and Real-Time Performance Insights 29’57: Scaling Customer Integration: Fixed Costs, POCs, and Generative AI-Driven Value Propositions 34’00: Driving Efficiency and Scale: Socure's Evolving Product Roadmap and Future Vision 36’14: Learning from Customization: Standardizing for Scalability and Long-Term Growth 38’58: Expanding Horizons: Growing Market Share and Addressable Markets in Digital Transactions 41’00: The channels used to connect with Arun & learn more about Socure 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.

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• Curve’s Big Bet Reinventing Payments and Wallets, with CEO Shachar Bialick

  Lex interviews Shachar Bialick, the founder and CEO of Curve, a fintech mobile wallet. In this exciting episode, Shachar touches on: (1) his background as a serial entrepreneur and his experience in the Israeli military shaped his ability to solve problems and work in high-stress environments, which are key traits for a successful founder. (2) The initial idea behind Curve was to create a "wallet to rule them all" - a single interface that could consolidate and manage multiple payment cards and accounts, providing more value and convenience to customers. (3) Building Curve involved navigating complex challenges, such as convincing payment networks like Mastercard and Visa to change their rules to allow Curve's back-to-back wallet technology. This required a resilient, innovative, and persistence approach. (4) Shachar emphasizes the importance of building a company culture that fosters curiosity, adaptability, and a belief that "everything is possible" rather than focusing on perceived limitations. (5) Lastly, Shachar discusses the evolution of the fintech landscape, including the challenges faced by neobanks in creating true financial marketplaces, and the ongoing issues with the implementation of open banking standards. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Curve, ApplePay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Tink, neobank, fintech, wallets, payments, paytech, NFC, Open Banking 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: From Military Service to Fintech Success: Shachar Bialick on Founding Curve and Redefining Payments 9’10: The Resilient Founder: Risk-Taking, Leadership, and the Cultural Mindset Behind Entrepreneurship 14’59: From Unbundling to Rebundling: Building Curve to Solve Financial Fragmentation 20’50: Revolutionizing Payments: Curve's Ambition to Unite Financial Ecosystems 24’26: Trailblazing Curve: Overcoming Challenges to Redefine Payments and Build a Global Fintech Ecosystem 30’23: Project Elah: How Curve Challenged Apple’s NFC Restrictions to Redefine Digital Wallets 34’50: Shaving the Lion: How Curve Built a Culture to Overcome Industry Challenges and Innovate 39’05: Challenging Apple Pay: Curve’s Strategy to Deliver Tangible Customer Benefits 42’01: The Evolution of Fintech Infrastructure: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Role of Open Banking 51’54: The channels used to connect with Shachar & learn more about Curve 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.

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