In this episode of The Defiant Podcast, Chris Storaker sits down with Alex Garn, Chief Product Officer at Borderless, to unpack how stablecoins are quietly transforming cross-border payments — and what it actually takes to move money at scale across jurisdictions.

Alex walks through Borderless’ role as an orchestration layer for global on- and off-ramps, why the company stays out of the flow of funds, and how a single API can replace dozens of fragmented integrations across local regulators, liquidity providers, and banking partners.

We explore why stablecoins are moving beyond trading and DeFi collateral into real-world enterprise payments, where they already outperform legacy rails on settlement speed, transparency, and custody — especially across emerging market corridors like Latin America and Southeast Asia.

The conversation also digs into the hard parts: liquidity constraints by corridor, KYC and compliance friction, why US–EU payments still favor SWIFT, and whether incumbents like Visa, Mastercard, and SWIFT are more likely to be disrupted or to acquire their way into the future.

Finally, Alex shares his outlook on regulatory clarity post-GENIUS, the coming wave of corporate stablecoin adoption, and why distribution — not branding — will determine which stablecoins ultimately win.

00:00 — Intro: Alex joins The Defiant Podcast

01:30 — From DeFi & data science to stablecoin payments

04:10 — What Borderless does: orchestration vs custody

07:10 — Why cross-border on/off-ramps are still fragmented

10:00 — Stablecoins beyond DeFi: real enterprise payment use cases

12:45 — Treasury management, payouts, and B2B adoption

15:30 — Liquidity realities: when $10M+ stablecoin payments work

18:10 — Why US → Latin America leads stablecoin adoption

20:30 — Where stablecoins don’t win (yet): US–EU & SWIFT

22:50 — KYC as the biggest bottleneck in crypto payments

26:00 — Self-custody, bank risk, and corporate treasuries

29:30 — Stablecoins vs SWIFT: speed, cost, and settlement

33:00 — Visa, Mastercard, SWIFT, and the M&A race

36:40 — Regulation after GENIUS and global spillover effects

39:40 — What enterprise adoption looks like in the next 2–3 years

42:30 — Stablecoin fragmentation, liquidity, and consolidation

45:00 — Closing thoughts: what excites Alex most about the future

How Stablecoins Are Rewiring Global Payments | Borderless CPO Alex Garn

The Defiant – DeFi Podcast

January 9, 2026

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How Stablecoins Are Rewiring Global Payments | Borderless CPO Alex Garn

Jan 9 2026 – 25:34

Chris Storaker sits down with Alex Garn, Chief Product Officer at Borderless, to unpack how stablecoins are quietly transforming cross‑border payments and what it actually takes to move money at scale across jurisdictions. Alex explains Borderless’ role as an orchestration layer for global on‑ and off‑ramps, why the company stays out of the flow of funds, and how a single API can replace dozens of fragmented integrations across local regulators, liquidity providers, and banking partners.

Key topics include:

• Stablecoins moving beyond trading and DeFi collateral into real‑world enterprise payments, outperforming legacy rails on settlement speed, transparency, and custody, especially in emerging‑market corridors like Latin America and Southeast Asia.

• Liquidity constraints by corridor, KYC and compliance friction, and why US–EU payments still favor SWIFT.

• The outlook for regulatory clarity post‑GENIUS, the coming wave of corporate stablecoin adoption, and why distribution—not branding—will determine which stablecoins ultimately win.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro: Alex joins The Defiant Podcast

01:30 – From DeFi & data science to stablecoin payments

04:10 – What Borderless does: orchestration vs custody

07:10 – Why cross‑border on/off‑ramps are still fragmented

10:00 – Stablecoins beyond DeFi: real enterprise payment use cases

12:45 – Treasury management, payouts, and B2B adoption

15:30 – Liquidity realities: when $10M+ stablecoin payments work

18:10 – Why US → Latin America leads stablecoin adoption

20:30 – Where stablecoins don’t win (yet): US–EU & SWIFT

22:50 – KYC as the biggest bottleneck in crypto payments

26:00 – Self‑custody, bank risk, and corporate treasuries

29:30 – Stablecoins vs SWIFT: speed, cost, and settlement

33:00 – Visa, Mastercard, SWIFT, and the M&A race

36:40 – Regulation after GENIUS and global spillover effects

39:40 – What enterprise adoption looks like in the next 2–3 years

42:30 – Stablecoin fragmentation, liquidity, and consolidation

45:00 – Closing thoughts: what excites Alex most about the future

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The Rise of the Fan Economy | Consumer Crypto | Avalanche Ecosystems Ep. 4

Jan 5 2026 – 18:27

In this episode of the Avalanche Ecosystem Series, the hosts explore “fantech,” a new sector where sports fans, music fans, creators, and event‑goers become participants in real digital economies. Topics include loyalty programs, ticketing, creator monetization, and on‑chain rewards, with a focus on why Avalanche is emerging as a leading infrastructure for this shift.

Featured conversations: Rain, Uptop, The Arena, Tixbase.

Chapters

00:00 – The Ticket That Didn’t Work

01:30 – What Is Fantech?

04:00 – Payments as the Base Layer

06:30 – Loyalty Goes On‑Chain

10:00 – Social + Fan Economies

13:00 – Fixing Ticketing

17:00 – Why Avalanche Works for Consumers

19:00 – The Future of Fandom

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Uniswap Is About to “Turn on the Switch.” with Hayden Adams

Dec 22 2025 – 01:08:19

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams discusses the UNIfication proposal, which would activate protocol fees, introduce a programmatic UNI burn, and realign value accrual across the Uniswap ecosystem. The conversation covers the mechanics of the fee switch, token‑jar burn design, governance tensions, and the shift toward protocol‑first infrastructure.

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Ethereum’s “HTTP Moment” with Marissa Foster & Yoav Weiss

Dec 19 2025 – 40:01

Camila Russo talks with Marissa Foster (Product, Ethereum Foundation) and Yoav Weiss (security researcher, Ethereum Foundation) about the Trustless Manifesto, the Ethereum Interop Layer (EIL), and how trust assumptions are creeping into Ethereum’s stack. They explore RPC trust issues, cross‑chain UX, and the future of wallet‑centric security.

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Becoming the “Institutions Chain” with Morgan Krupetsky (Avalanche)

Dec 5 2025 – 40:19

Morgan Krupetsky, VP of On‑Chain Finance at Ava Labs, explains Avalanche’s “real‑world adoption first” ethos and how its architecture enables enterprises, fintechs, banks, governments, and consumer apps to build purpose‑designed blockchains while tapping into a shared liquidity hub.

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Tokenize Everything: Robert Leshner’s Vision for On‑Chain Finance

Nov 18 2025 – 22:13

Robert Leshner (founder of Superstate, former Compound founder) discusses why tokenizing assets will drive the next trillion‑dollar shift, the rise of tokenized T‑bills and equities, regulatory tailwinds, and how DeFi will become the infrastructure powering TradFi.

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Is DYOR Dead? Building a Safer Web3 with Alex Katz

Nov 14 2025 – 37:08

Alex Katz, CEO of Kerberus, examines the limits of “Do Your Own Research” in a world of sophisticated scams, address poisoning, malware, and AI deepfakes, and outlines how wallet‑native security can protect users without sacrificing decentralization.

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Avalanche DeFi: The Journey to Bring Institutions On‑Chain

Nov 12 2025 – 15:24

Camila Russo and Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo discuss Avalanche’s technical upgrades (Octane, Etna, Interchain Messaging), institutional onboarding (e.g., T. Rowe Price, Wellington), and strategies for sustaining ecosystem growth without constant incentives.

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Inside the PYUSD Takeover of PayPal with May Zabaneh, VP Crypto

Nov 7 2025 – 42:18

May Zabaneh explains PayPal’s launch of the PYUSD stablecoin, its potential to lower cross‑border payment costs, integrate with PayPal/Venmo, and drive financial inclusion.

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Why Yat Siu Believes Altcoins Will Surpass Bitcoin

Oct 21 2025 – 01:01:15

Animoca Brands co‑founder Yat Siu outlines a vision for a trust layer built on zero‑knowledge proofs, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, and the Mocaverse ecosystem, arguing that altcoins could eventually eclipse Bitcoin.

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The AI CEO Era: Breaking Build Bottlenecks with Vibe Coding (Ahmad Shadid)

Oct 17 2025 – 47:10

Ahmad Shadid discusses “vibe coding,” AI‑driven rapid development, decentralized GPU networks, and the challenges of security and audits in a 20× faster build environment.

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How Avalanche Is Tackling the Blockchain Trilemma

Oct 14 2025 – 26:45

Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo explains Avalanche’s sub‑second finality, large validator set, and native messaging that connects thousands of sovereign L1s, aiming to square speed, security, and decentralization.

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What Crypto VCs Want Now | Aryan Sheikhalian

Oct 10 2025 – 46:51

Aryan Sheikhalian (CMT Digital) talks about the shift from crypto as an asset to crypto as infrastructure, tokenized equities, identity layers, ZK proofs, and the future of crypto‑focused venture capital.

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Solana vs. Bitcoin: Why Pantera Capital Is All‑In (Paul Veradittakit)

Oct 6 2025 – 35:59

Paul Veradittakit (Pantera Capital) explains the firm’s $1.2 billion Solana fund, the role of stablecoins in Latin America, and why Solana could outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum.

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Can Crypto Be Trusted? (Ben Nadareski)

Oct 3 2025 – 46:16

Ben Nadareski (Solstice Labs) discusses permissionless, institutional‑grade yield strategies, the US token stablecoin, and how Solana’s speed and composability are reshaping DeFi trust.

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StarkWare Bets on Becoming Bitcoin’s Execution Layer (Eli Ben‑Sasson)

Oct 1 2025 – 54:08

Eli Ben‑Sasson (StarkWare) outlines StarkNet’s ZK‑proof scalability, Bitcoin staking incentives, and why corporate chains are unlikely to succeed in crypto.

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$100 Million DeFi DAT Chooses ETH (Ryan Zurrer)

Sep 19 2025 – 44:58

Ryan Zurrer (Dialectic) explains Game Square’s $100 M bet on Ethereum, the dominance of ETH in real‑world crypto use cases, and the company’s automated DeFi machine.

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Plasma’s Plan to Dethrone Tron (Paul Faecks)

Sep 16 2025 – 45:02

Paul Faecks (Plasma Chain) details gasless USD transfers, a $2 B liquidity launch, and the strategy to compete with Tron and Ethereum in emerging markets.

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J.P. Morgan’s Nightmare: How Stablecoins Let You Be Your Own Bank (Reeve Collins)

Sep 12 2025 – 41:34

Reeve Collins (co‑founder of Tether) explores the evolution of stablecoins, their $246 B impact, and how they are reshaping cross‑border payments, DeFi, and traditional banking.

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Solana’s Rise as a Treasury Powerhouse (Joseph Onorati)

Sep 9 2025 – 01:09:35

Joseph Onorati (DeFi Development Corp) discusses Solana‑focused treasury strategies, yield generation, and a bold prediction that Solana could surpass Ethereum by market cap.

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Bitcoin Mining’s Golden Age or Final Battle? (Fakhul Miah)

Sep 5 2025 – 45:18

Fakhul Miah (GoMining Institutional) examines AI hyperscalers, BTC‑backed loans, geopolitical shifts, and the $100 B in Bitcoin ETFs shaping mining’s future.

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The Future of Finance Is Tokenized (Ondo’s Vision)

Sep 2 2025 – 46:54

Ian De Bode (Ondo Finance) talks about tokenizing treasuries, stocks, and ETFs, liquidity solutions, and regulatory clarity for real‑world assets on chain.

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Bridging the Gaps: Prabal Banerjee on Scalability & Interoperability

Aug 29 2025 – 45:28

Prabal Banerjee (Avail) discusses data availability, multichain fragmentation, and Avail’s acquisition of Arcana to make blockchain “invisible” to end users.

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The $10 Trillion Question: Crypto’s Biggest Cycle Yet (Ellio Trades)

Aug 25 2025 – 45:53

Ellio Trades (BlackHole) analyzes whether we’re entering a new altcoin season, institutional interest, and why Avalanche was the ideal launchpad for BlackHole’s V3.3 DEX model.

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Interoperability and Innovation: Decentraland’s Future (Kim Currier)

Aug 22 2025 – 49:60

Kim Currier (Decentraland) explores NFTs, virtual real estate, brand partnerships, and tools that empower creators in the metaverse.

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Filecoin’s Role in Decentralized AI & Data Sovereignty (Marta Belcher)

Aug 18 2025 – 45:33

Marta Belcher (Filecoin Foundation) discusses decentralized storage for AI, journalism, human‑rights use cases, and governance challenges.

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Intention, Privacy, and Trust: Adrian Brink’s Vision (Anoma)

Aug 15 2025 – 49:40

Adrian Brink (Anoma) examines privacy‑first design, intent‑based systems, and how cryptography can protect communities against external threats.

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DeFi’s Dance with Fintech (Paul Frambot)

Aug 12 2025 – 46:52

Paul Frambot (Morpho) explains how DeFi is becoming fintech’s backbone, offering permissionless infrastructure, risk management, and global liquidity.

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Bridging DeFi and TradFi (Niklas Kunkel)

Aug 8 2025 – 36:55

Niklas Kunkel (Chronicle Labs) covers oracle development, tokenized real‑world assets, and the convergence of traditional finance with DeFi.

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Unlocking Bitcoin’s Potential (Charlie Hu, Bitlayer)

Aug 4 2025 – 57:48

Charlie Hu discusses Bitcoin’s programmability, layer‑2 solutions, and how Bitlayer is building DeFi liquidity on Bitcoin.

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From Meme to Movement: Dogecoin’s Next Chapter (Jordan Jefferson)

Aug 1 2025 – 56:36

Jordan Jefferson (MyDoge, DogeOS) talks about building an app layer on Dogecoin, community culture, and future DeFi use cases.

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Ethereum Turns 10: Joe Lubin on Revolutionizing the Global Economy

Jul 30 2025 – 46:03

Joe Lubin (ConsenSys) reflects on a decade of Ethereum, staking strategies, DeFi‑TradFi convergence, and the vision for a decentralized global economy.

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Spark (SPK): The DeFi Protocol Redefining Finance (Sam MacPherson)

Jul 28 2025 – 46:39

Sam MacPherson (Phoenix Labs) outlines Spark’s subDAO model, $10 B TVL milestone, institutional adoption, and the future of stablecoins.

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Stablecoins Redefined: How the Genius Act Impacts Exchanges (Biconomy)

Jul 25 2025 – 54:46

Diane Magince and Breno Sperandio discuss regulatory implications of the Genius Act for stablecoins and crypto exchanges.

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The Global Shift to Bitcoin (Jeff Garzik)

Jul 23 2025 – 53:11

Jeff Garzik (Hemi) explores Bitcoin’s rise as digital gold, sidechain scaling, and the future of BTC‑DeFi.

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How Lido Is Redefining Ethereum Staking (Hasu)

Jul 22 2025 – 51:53

Hasu (strategic advisor, Lido) covers dual governance, liquid staking, and the upcoming V3 upgrade.

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Invisible Wallets and Decentralized Privacy (Georgi Koreli)

Jul 18 2025 – 45:34

Georgi Koreli (Hinkal Wallet) explains invisible wallets, privacy stacks, and regulatory challenges in Web3.

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From Crisis to Comeback: Euler Labs’ $200 M Hack Recovery (Michael Bentley)

Jul 15 2025 – 53:02

Michael Bentley (Euler Labs) details the 2023 exploit, fund recovery, and the launch of V2.

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Arbitrum Uncovered (Steven Goldfeder)

Jul 11 2025 – 01:09:14

Steven Goldfeder (Offchain Labs) explains optimistic rollups, ZK vs. optimistic debates, and the future of Ethereum L2s.

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Inside Kadena’s $50 M Leap (Stuart Popejoy)

Jul 9 2025 – 45:06

Stuart Popejoy (Kadena) discusses scalability, grant programs, and the role of real‑world assets.

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Vlad Tenev on Robinhood’s Bold Move into Crypto (Jul 8 2025 – 46:60)

Vlad Tenev (Robinhood) talks about tokenized U.S. stocks in the EU, an Ethereum L2 launch with Arbitrum, and the future of crypto as a financial backbone.

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20 % Yield on Stablecoins Is Just the Beginning (Vikram Arun)

Jun 27 2025 – 44:22

Vikram Arun (Superform) examines sustainable on‑chain yields, automation in DeFi, and the impact of the GENIUS Act.

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Emin Gün Sirer on Scaling Avalanche (Jun 23 2025 – 01:07:23)

Emin Gün Sirer (Ava Labs) covers Avalanche’s consensus protocol, multi‑chain scaling, and stablecoin integration.

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Ethereum Staking ETFs: How They Could Transform Crypto Investing (Evan Weiss)

Jun 20 2025 – 40:55

Evan Weiss (Alluvial) explains the rise of staking ETFs, regulatory developments, and institutional participation.

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Every Company Will Be a Crypto Company (Sandy Kaul)

Jun 13 2025 – 56:07

Sandy Kaul (Franklin Templeton) discusses on‑chain money‑market funds, tokenization, and the merging of TradFi with DeFi.

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NFC Lisbon Recap: Art, Finance, and Digital Economies (Alex Estorick)

Jun 11 2025 – 50:56

Alex Estorick (Right Click Save) reflects on NFTs, meme coins, artist royalties, and the financialization of culture.

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Ethereum’s Next Moves (Tomasz Stańczyk)

Jun 6 2025 – 57:29

Tomasz Stańczyk (Ethereum Foundation) talks about scaling, foundation restructuring, and the role of stablecoins in Ethereum’s future.

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Zero‑Knowledge Proofs: The Game‑Changer for Digital Privacy (Rob Viglione)

Jun 4 2025 – 49:21

Rob Viglione (Horizen Labs) explores ZKPs for medical and financial data, privacy‑centric AI, and monetizing personal data.

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How Payroll, Stablecoins & Regulation Are Reshaping Global Economies (Megan Knab)

May 31 2025 – 40:49

Megan Knab (Franklin) discusses crypto payroll, stablecoin‑backed paychecks, and the GENIUS bill’s impact on global finance.

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AI Agents, Meme Coins, and a Better Future for Investing (Shaw Walters)

May 16 2025 – 58:47

Shaw Walters (Eliza Labs) examines AI agents in digital worlds, token launches, and how decentralized AI can democratize investing.