MoneyNeverSleeps

Citi Institute's "Tokenization 2030: Wall Street OnChain" puts a number on it: $5.5 trillion in tokenized assets by 2030. Alejandro Gutierrez, who leads Solana Superteam Ireland and returns for another appearance on the show, joins me to stress-test that forecast — what Citi gets right with DTCC, NYSE and Nasdaq embedding tokenization into core infrastructure, and what we think it misses, including the stablecoin-treasury flywheel, the pressure native issuers like Ondo and Superstate are putting on incumbents, Ireland and Luxembourg's combined funds industry as an underrated jurisdictional play, and why 24/7 markets are really built for AI agents, not retail traders.Read the full report, "Tokenization 2030: Wall Street Onchain," Citi Institute, June 2026: https://www.citigroup.com/global/insights/tokenization-2030Castle DAO, the Solana builder residency at Slane Castle: https://tally.so/r/ODJv1kFollow Alejandro on X and LinkedIn: https://x.com/A_gutierrohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-gutierrez-98979b43/Follow Superteam Ireland on X: https://x.com/SuperteamIEhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/superteam-ireland/CHAPTERS00:00 Cold open — for the agents00:37 Introduction01:18 Citi's stated case: three drivers behind $5.5 trillion02:19 Is public equities at $3.6 trillion an aggressive number?03:25 Public permissionless vs. private permissioned chains04:30 The flywheel Citi missed: stablecoins, treasuries and collateral06:28 24/7 isn't for retail — it's for the agents08:50 Ondo, Superstate and the pressure on incumbents10:53 Ireland, Luxembourg and the €12.5 trillion opportunity12:02 The wrapper problem: tokenized funds without tokenized holdings12:41 Castle DAO at Slane CastleMoneyNeverSleeps — sharp riffs, big ideas, and real insights from smart people, in under 15 minutes. Hosted by early-stage investor Pete Townsend, GP at Norio Ventures, sitting at the intersection of crypto, fintech, AI and onchain finance.Website: moneyneversleeps.ieLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petetownsendnv/X/Twitter: https://x.com/PeteTownsendNVInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/petetownsend353/Email: info@norioventures.com

Money doesn’t become digital overnight.It becomes digital when the rails of finance begin to change.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Emma Landriault of JPMorgan about why stablecoins and bank-issued deposit tokens may end up reinforcing, rather than replacing, each other.Emma Landriault is Executive Director at JPMorgan and global product lead for JPM Coin, a deposit token that enables institutional clients to move money between accounts in real time, 24/7.Drawing on her work building deposit tokens and financial market infrastructure, Emma explains why stablecoins, deposit tokens, and potentially central bank digital currencies represent different layers of the financial system rather than competing forms of money.Across crypto, fintech, and traditional finance, the conversation around stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and onchain settlement is moving from experimentation toward real financial infrastructure. Companies such as Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and major global banks are increasingly integrating these rails into payments, treasury, and settlement systems.Rather than replacing banks, digital money is emerging as a modular system where different forms of value serve different roles — from programmable treasury operations to onchain settlement and institutional liquidity management.This isn’t a crypto-versus-banks conversation. It’s a discussion about financial architecture, interoperability, and how the rails of global finance are quietly evolving.We cover:• Why stablecoins and bank-issued deposit tokens are designed to coexist• How liability and trust anchors shape different forms of digital money• Why corporate treasurers are beginning to manage liquidity directly from wallets• What programmable treasury operations could mean for financial workflows• How traditional institutions are approaching onchain assets and digital markets• Why the future financial system may look more like interconnected networks than isolated payment systemsEmma brings a systems-level perspective shaped by building real financial infrastructure inside one of the world’s largest banks, explaining why operational reality matters as much as technological innovation — and why the next phase of digital finance will likely be defined by interoperability rather than disruption.If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how traditional finance and onchain systems are beginning to converge, this episode offers a practical perspective on where things may be heading.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Why stablecoins and banks can coexist01:00 – Layers of digital money02:30 – Liability, trust, and financial infrastructure04:10 – Deposit tokens vs stablecoins06:00 – Yield, liquidity, and treasury operations07:10 – How corporate treasurers use digital assets08:40 – Programmable treasury and wallet infrastructure10:00 – Institutional interest in onchain finance11:15 – Convergence and network-based financial systems13:00 – The future architecture of digital money13:40 – Closing thoughtsFor full show notes and guest links, see below.MoneyNeverSleeps explores one big idea each week in under 15 minutes with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.If you're interested in where financial infrastructure is heading — from stablecoins and tokenized assets to AI-driven markets — subscribe and join the conversation.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/#Stablecoins #DigitalMoney #OnchainFinance

Scaling human expertise isn’t a technology problem — it’s a trust problem.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Joni Pirovich, founder of Crystal aOS, about where crypto and AI quietly hit their limits — and why human judgment remains the real constraint as systems scale.Joni explains how her background in legal and regulatory work exposed a simple truth early on: expertise doesn’t scale on its own. As crypto firms mature, the challenge isn’t avoiding regulation, but earning trust — proving responsibility continuously, with humans still accountable.This isn’t an AI hype conversation — it’s about judgment, guardrails, and the shift from heroics to systems that actually hold up under pressure.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oN7I1_FV14kMore at https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights — in 10–15 minutes.New episodes weekly.Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Crypto doesn’t win in 2026 by being louder - it wins by becoming boring.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend is joined by Alejandro Gutierrez for a sharp set of 2026 predictions on where crypto, onchain finance, and AI actually go next, as the hype keeps fading and the infrastructure takes over.This is Alejandro’s 11th appearance on the show, and the first in the new era of MoneyNeverSleeps: sharper, faster, and YouTube-led.We break down:- Why the next onchain breakout won’t look like a product, but a primitive- Why blockchains weren’t built for humans — and why AI agents may be the real users- Why privacy is coming back, driven by institutions and regulators, not consumers- How quantum risk is moving from theory to something protocols must address now- Why HTTP 402 and internet-native payments will finally resurface for the modern web.Alejandro brings deep experience from the Solana ecosystem and years in crypto, DeFi, and fintech, offering a grounded view on what’s maturing, what’s misunderstood, and what actually matters heading into 2026.If you care about where crypto is heading beyond price action — infrastructure, AI, privacy, RWAs, and the future of onchain finance — this is a sharp, 13-minute deep dive worth your time. Watch OnYouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@moneyneversleeps1814Listen OnSpotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTndApple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294About MoneyNeverSleepsMoneyNeverSleeps is a weekly show where smart people bring one big idea — and Pete Townsend breaks it down in under 15 minutes. Featuring founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance. After 300+ long-form episodes, the show has evolved into a sharper, faster format built for a world where insights need to travel quickly.Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights. Hosted by Pete Townsend. Website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/

Hey there, I’m Pete Townsend, and this is MoneyNeverSleeps - where we look inside the minds of entrepreneurs and at the crossover of startups, enterprise, finance, technology, and life as we know it.This one’s different.We’re live from The Podcast Studios at HeadStuff HQ in Dublin - the legendary former Westland Studios where artists like U2 and Hozier recorded in the past - for Episode 300.Seven years. Three hundred episodes. Hundreds of conversations with founders, investors, operators, technologists and builders. One story ends, another begins.To mark the moment, I’m joined by Mai Santamaria and Alejandro Gutierrez, two of the rocks who’ve carried the show forward in the post-Eoin Fitzgerald era. We look back on how it all started with “two mics and a backpack,” revisit some of our bold 2025 predictions, riff on tokenization, stablecoins, and AI, and reflect on what this community has built together.Big thanks to Search4Less and Barry Darmody for sponsoring this episode, to Conan Brophy for seven years of production wizardry, and to every single one of you who’s listened, shared, or joined in along the way.Featuring: Mai Santamaria, Alejandro Gutierrez, Conan Brophy, Paul Smyth, Barry DarmodyFull predictions recap at moneyneversleeps.ie🔗 LINKSLeave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)Email us: info@norioventures.comPete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, we're doing something different on MoneyNeverSleeps.You're coming inside the room for the Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025, recorded live at Civic Hall in NYC during NY Tech Week, where we brought 5 incredible Web3 startups to the stage for a standing-room-only crowd of founders, investors, and builders.These aren’t founders chasing hype - they’re building with traction, with purpose, and with an eye on the next version of the internet.Along the way, you’ll hear:A powerful fireside chat with Clarisse Hagege, founder and CEO of Dfns, on her journey from TradFi to web3 and the reality of raising in tough marketsStartups introduced by their mentors and customers, not just the usual emcee banterClosing thoughts on what Techstars Web3 has meant to me and to Hugh McGirr, my partner in building this since 2021You’ll hear from:🧠 Autonom – web3’s first full-context real-world assets oracle🛡️ DABL – the essential risk layer for onchain hedging🔐 Nera Systems – privacy-enhancing tech for secure data sharing in AI workflows🌱 nodes.garden – one-click platform for running testnet nodes and earning token rewards🔍 TRUSTBYTES – bringing predictive intelligence to institutional walletsWhether you’re a founder, investor, or web3 builder—this one captures the energy, the ambition, and the conviction of what’s next.🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube: Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025LINKS:Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)Email us: info@norioventures.comPete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, I sat down with my longtime Techstars colleague and friend Allard Luchsinger, Managing Director of the ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator in Amsterdam.Allard and I have been on each other’s investment committees for years, so this conversation hits a bit differently. We’ve traded notes across dozens of startups, and we’ve seen each other call the shots on what makes an unstoppable founder. That theme became the golden thread through this episode.We get into Allard’s journey from building startups during the dot-com era, to co-founding a zero-commission trading platform years before Robinhood, to leading one of Europe’s most respected fintech accelerators. We also dig into:His experience investing in African fintech and why mobile-first changed everythingThe early signals from AI and how they mirror fintech’s formative yearsThe conviction you need to invest at pre-seed when all you have is a deck, a founder, and a feelingThe power of mindfulness, presence, and early-morning meditationWhy stablecoins and tokenized assets are quietly rebuilding the financial rails from the inside outThis one’s full of hard-earned wisdom from someone who knows both sides of the founder–investor equation, and delivers it all with a calm clarity that hits home.LINKS:Connect with Allard Luchsinger on LinkedIn ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator: Website | LinkedInLeave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)Email us: info@norioventures.comPete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter