WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>And then of course you learn about the technology and

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<v Speaker 1>we do that. That was my aha moment. That's when

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<v Speaker 1>I was, oh, wow, this is good to change everything.

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<v Speaker 1>We didn't do an ico. We sold to private, accredited

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<v Speaker 1>investors at a time when nobody else was doing that.

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<v Speaker 1>We never had a public sale. For example, of our

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<v Speaker 1>app token, which collateralizes the network.

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<v Speaker 2>People call it meme coins. Right, So you could take

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<v Speaker 2>something from culture that is maybe weird or funny, but

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<v Speaker 2>the masses are human psychology gravitates to it, and some

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<v Speaker 2>of it may not be for you or me. Right,

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<v Speaker 2>some of it is just Internet culture. But there's things

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<v Speaker 2>like doche coin and fart coin, but they build a

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<v Speaker 2>brand and a following and you have network effects. This

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<v Speaker 2>episode is brought to you by v Chain. V chain

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<v Speaker 2>is one of the top layer one enterprise blockchains indie

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<v Speaker 2>crypto asset class and they are getting adoption by many

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<v Speaker 2>big brands and companies around the world who are building

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<v Speaker 2>Web three and decentralized application technologies. I've been a vet

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<v Speaker 2>token holder for many years. In fact, I started investing

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<v Speaker 2>in v chain back into eighteen and some of the

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<v Speaker 2>key features of the v chain blockchain includes its secure,

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<v Speaker 2>affordable scalable, fast, and sustainable. Some of the companies and

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<v Speaker 2>brands working with vchain include Jivon, Chi, Walmart China, BMW,

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<v Speaker 2>Bostonsulting Group, and many more. Most recently, they partnered with

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<v Speaker 2>Dana White in the UFC, and Dana White even said

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<v Speaker 2>recently that he purchased over a million dollars of the

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<v Speaker 2>VET token and v chain also recently launched staking, where

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<v Speaker 2>you can stake the vet token and earn great rewards.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you'd like to learn more about v chain,

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<v Speaker 2>go to vchain dot org. Link will be in the description. Hey, folks,

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<v Speaker 2>welcome into the Thinking Crypto Podcast. I'm your host, Tony

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<v Speaker 2>Edward and joining me today is Danny McKay, who is

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<v Speaker 2>the co founder and CEO of Flexa. Now. Flexa is

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<v Speaker 2>a digital assets payments platform. Danny, great to have.

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<v Speaker 1>You, Thank you. Great to be here.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Danny, I'm excited to talk about crypto payments and

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<v Speaker 2>learn about all the great things Flexa is doing. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>let's kick it off with your background. Tell us a

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<v Speaker 2>bit about yourself, where you're from, your professional background, and

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<v Speaker 2>how'd you end up founding Flexa.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's a great question. Background specifically, I'm an attorney. So,

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<v Speaker 1>as some folks already know, I took a weird path

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<v Speaker 1>to get into crypto. But yeah, I was a litigation attorney,

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<v Speaker 1>a business litigation attorney. You worked with a lot of startups,

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<v Speaker 1>worked in the technology sector quite a bit, and that

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<v Speaker 1>led me to crypto. So professionally speaking, I was a

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<v Speaker 1>lawyer for many years. This is my fourth Flex is

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<v Speaker 1>my fourth startup. So I've dabbled in a few things

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<v Speaker 1>here and there, but by far Flex is the focuslex

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<v Speaker 1>Flex is the big one, so to speak.

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<v Speaker 2>So where along the journey or like let's say timeline,

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<v Speaker 2>did you find a crypto or blockchain and what was

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<v Speaker 2>your aha moment?

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<v Speaker 1>That's a great question too do so for me it

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<v Speaker 1>was honestly boring. So if you're a trial lawyer, one

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<v Speaker 1>of the things you have to do is it damages evaluation.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you get a case set, you need to

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<v Speaker 1>evaluate damages. Otherwise what's the point of a case if

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<v Speaker 1>there are no damages. So I got a case I

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<v Speaker 1>want to say, twenty sixteen as a litigation attorne and

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<v Speaker 1>crypto was involved in specifically, it was a narrow ether

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<v Speaker 1>and bitcoin were involved, and I had to do damages

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<v Speaker 1>analysis for you know what possible damages might be. And

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<v Speaker 1>in doing that analysis, I kind of went down the

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<v Speaker 1>rabbit hole finding out about these different assets and more

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<v Speaker 1>importantly the volatility and the appreciation and everything else that

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<v Speaker 1>went along with crypto. And then of course you learn

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<v Speaker 1>about the technology. And when you do that, that was

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<v Speaker 1>my Aha moment. That's when I was, oh, wow, this

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<v Speaker 1>is going to change everything, and sure enough it has.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, an incredible I mean, obviously you went and started

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<v Speaker 2>a business, So tell us about the genesis of flexa

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<v Speaker 2>of how did the idea come about on what's the mission?

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<v Speaker 1>The real idea came about with a combination of two things.

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<v Speaker 1>One would be Payments where payments focused company. Obviously, you

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<v Speaker 1>know we're here to help merchants primarily, you know, helping

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<v Speaker 1>merchants thrive in the next era of commerce. So for us,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a merchant centric play all the way. And

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<v Speaker 1>that really came from one of my co founders, Trevor Filter,

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<v Speaker 1>who was in payments his whole professional career. Then the

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<v Speaker 1>other co founder, Tyler Spaulding, brought with him a real

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<v Speaker 1>deep understanding of blockchain technology. So together they had this

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<v Speaker 1>idea of how they can really replace debit and credit rails. Thankfully,

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<v Speaker 1>they wanted an attorney as a co founder to help

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<v Speaker 1>them build from the beginning. We wanted to build flex

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<v Speaker 1>in the most compliant way possible. I knew that they

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't invest an attorney to be a co founder if

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't want that to be the case. That gave

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<v Speaker 1>me a lot of trust and faith in them. By

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<v Speaker 1>the way, at an early time, this is eight years

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<v Speaker 1>ago now, it seems crazy. So yeah, so I eagerly

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<v Speaker 1>took this opportunity, and knowing what I knew at the

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<v Speaker 1>time about crypto, and knowing what I thought could happen,

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<v Speaker 1>how the transformative this technology could be, particularly with payments,

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<v Speaker 1>I was I was eager to join. That was That's

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<v Speaker 1>how I got into it. And you know, obviously still here,

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<v Speaker 1>still paving the way you.

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<v Speaker 2>Mentioned those eight years ago. That took a lifetime in crypto,

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<v Speaker 2>right with all the things we've seen, some massive collapses FTX.

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<v Speaker 2>Now we're in a very different environment, much more crypto

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<v Speaker 2>friendly environment. What's it like looking back, you know, going

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<v Speaker 2>through that arduous journey, you know, through all the ups

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<v Speaker 2>and downs.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm really proud of our history. We could have

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<v Speaker 1>done things differently and we wouldn't be here anymore. We

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<v Speaker 1>didn't do an ICO. For example, we sold to private

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<v Speaker 1>accredited investors at a time when nobody else was doing that.

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<v Speaker 1>We never had a public sale, for example, of our

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<v Speaker 1>AMP token which collateralizes the network. Probably talk about that

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit later. So we did a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>things right in the beginning. We built a compliance program first,

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<v Speaker 1>a BSAAML program before we built anything else. We became

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<v Speaker 1>fins End registered as a money services business immediately. I

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<v Speaker 1>started pursuing money transmitter licenses immediately, so now we have

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<v Speaker 1>licenses throughout the nation. We did a lot of things

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<v Speaker 1>in the compliance and legal front from the outset in

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning to make it through these eight years, because

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<v Speaker 1>there have been quite a bit of challenges, not just

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<v Speaker 1>with the FTX type stuff that drives the market down

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<v Speaker 1>and weekends consumer confidence, but even what we saw with

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<v Speaker 1>the SEC for example, in some of the hurdles they

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<v Speaker 1>put folks through, including FLEXA was named in a complaint

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<v Speaker 1>not as a defendant, but just referenced in a complaint

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<v Speaker 1>with allegations about our token which were patently untrue. So

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<v Speaker 1>we had to deal with all that. We still have

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<v Speaker 1>to deal with all that in certain arenas. So for me,

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<v Speaker 1>we built it right in the beginning and those challenges

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<v Speaker 1>made us stronger. And we look at those challenges as

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<v Speaker 1>helping us find the next opportunity, helping us find the

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<v Speaker 1>next reason to build and what to build. So you know,

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<v Speaker 1>no complaints will continue to just push forward.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's go through the details of how a merchant

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<v Speaker 2>or a business can use flex up to accept crypto

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<v Speaker 2>or you know, spend crypto if they want with stable

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<v Speaker 2>coins and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean for us it's optionality, right, for merchants,

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<v Speaker 1>it's primary optionality. There's a lot of competitors now. People

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<v Speaker 1>are especially because the Genius Act, which obviously came out

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<v Speaker 1>in July, so it's still kind of brand new. But

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<v Speaker 1>what we've seen since Genius is stable coin strategy, stable

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<v Speaker 1>coin adoption kind of flood the market. Everyone's trying to

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<v Speaker 1>get in in some way with stable coin payments, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's wonderful. I don't think anybody would have guessed, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>in July, when Genius becomes law, that the market cap

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<v Speaker 1>for stable coins would be where it is today. I

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<v Speaker 1>think upwards of about three hundred billion or something like that.

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<v Speaker 1>We have thirty billion of on chain activity on a

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<v Speaker 1>daily basis. I don't think anybody would have thought this

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<v Speaker 1>would happen this quickly with stable coins. But for us,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not just stable coin payments. It's not just one

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<v Speaker 1>token or two tokens. It's not just one chain or

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<v Speaker 1>two chains. It has to be everything. It has to

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<v Speaker 1>be any asset for the merchants, from any chain for

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<v Speaker 1>the merchants. It has to be that way, any wallet,

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<v Speaker 1>any asset, and really anywhere, which we're excited to look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to some announcements coming up next year on that.

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<v Speaker 1>But for us, it's optionality. And I see a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of our competitors. They may offer one or two or

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<v Speaker 1>three tokens, they may offer one chain, They may require

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<v Speaker 1>their merchants to have their own crypto wallets. And if

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing that, how are you helping the merchant. Merches

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to hold crypto yet, they don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>manage and hold in custody crypto yet. So we make

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<v Speaker 1>it possible so they can accept FIAT and we can

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<v Speaker 1>do that with our payment page product or payment link

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<v Speaker 1>payment clips. We do that with our SDK that any

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<v Speaker 1>wallet can embed, such that any Walt literally can use

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<v Speaker 1>our payment platform in order to make payments with merchants.

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<v Speaker 1>So folks can use their walts to make payments with merchants. Honestly,

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<v Speaker 1>it's optionality for the merchants, and we do it in

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<v Speaker 1>a number of different ways, none of which costs the

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<v Speaker 1>merchants anything. Obviously, we do the full integration ourselves. And

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<v Speaker 1>of course consumers don't pay for our service, they just

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<v Speaker 1>use the digital assets to make payments at many fortune

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred merchants and growing.

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<v Speaker 2>That's incredible. And is your service available in the international

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<v Speaker 2>markets or just the United States?

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<v Speaker 1>Great question. So right now it's the United States, El Salvador.

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<v Speaker 1>We're legally authorized and we will look forward to some

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<v Speaker 1>things happening in Canada. We're also super closed in a

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<v Speaker 1>number of other international jurisdictions. So you know, I used

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<v Speaker 1>to just say any asset, any wallet. I've been throwing

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<v Speaker 1>it anywhere on there because for the last year and

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<v Speaker 1>a half or so I've really been working hard with

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<v Speaker 1>my team on global expansion and again with flex. So

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<v Speaker 1>this goes back to what I said at the outset.

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<v Speaker 1>We did compliance first, right, we had the BSAML program first.

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<v Speaker 1>We do complete KYC ofax screening for folks that use

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<v Speaker 1>our network. We're very careful because you know, we want

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<v Speaker 1>to talk to regulators and make them feel comfortable, and

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<v Speaker 1>more importantly, we want to talk to merchants and let

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<v Speaker 1>them know we've got their back. We're protecting them from

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<v Speaker 1>day one, so they don't have to worry about a thing.

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<v Speaker 1>We take care of compliance. And I've taken that approach

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<v Speaker 1>internationally as well. So while I see some companies to

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly roll out with the product in a foreign jurisdiction,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't do that because we're protecting merchants. We only

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<v Speaker 1>launch in the jurisdiction once I feel comfortable with my

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<v Speaker 1>CLO that we're either licensed fully to do it or

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<v Speaker 1>that we have a legal authority in some other way

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<v Speaker 1>to do it. So it's taken us some time on

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<v Speaker 1>the international piece, but that's certainly something we're working hard

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<v Speaker 1>on and I'm looking forward to to talking more about

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<v Speaker 1>in the near term.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh absolutely, And that totally makes sense, and I think

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<v Speaker 2>it's the right approach because we're seeing across the globe

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<v Speaker 2>different jurisdictions now putting together their rules so to speak,

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<v Speaker 2>and guard rails, So you kind of want to wait

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<v Speaker 2>for some of those things to be ironed out before

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<v Speaker 2>you launch, and like you said, you get to protect

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<v Speaker 2>your customers and folks and make sure everything is good there.

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<v Speaker 1>Amen. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And as far as assets that you support, you mentioned

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<v Speaker 2>stable coins, I'm assuming you support the top stable coins

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<v Speaker 2>and crypto assets. So if I wanted to pay with

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<v Speaker 2>bitcoin or ether things like that, I can do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Absolutely. I think we always say ninety nine plus,

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<v Speaker 1>but really it's anything digital. Any digital token that can

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<v Speaker 1>be traded can be spent on the FlexIt platform, and

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<v Speaker 1>so really I look at as kind of infinite. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean we're talking about today. I mean it's funny. When

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<v Speaker 1>we launch flex I think there maybe were two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>different tokens maybe, and today there's just a ridiculous amount

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<v Speaker 1>of token, not all of them being traded, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>but there's tens of thousands of tokens today. We could

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<v Speaker 1>create a token right now in the time it takes

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<v Speaker 1>to do the next fifteen minutes of this podcast if

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<v Speaker 1>we wanted to. So, tokens are popping up everywhere, and

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<v Speaker 1>we never wanted to strip merchants of optionality. So we

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<v Speaker 1>think all tokens should be spendable and We're going to

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<v Speaker 1>keep it that way. So yeah, of course bitcoin you

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<v Speaker 1>can spend on our network right now, ether of course,

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<v Speaker 1>light coin. All the token that folks want to spend

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<v Speaker 1>you can spend, and even some that maybe they don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to spend, like for instance, there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>folks that think spending bitcoin is crazy, and that's fine,

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<v Speaker 1>that's up to them. But yet it's been our top

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<v Speaker 1>asset for spending since we founded Flexa in twenty eighteen.

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<v Speaker 1>That is going to change. Folks are spending stable coins

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more now because the Genius Act. And I've

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<v Speaker 1>said this before publicly, but I really think merchant loyalty

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<v Speaker 1>points are going to make a huge play and merchants

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<v Speaker 1>are going to have their own tokens. That to me

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<v Speaker 1>is super exciting. We've been working with some super high

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<v Speaker 1>end merchants and how to roll something like that out.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm very fascinated by that with these businesses, and I've

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<v Speaker 2>been having different conversations with different folks about once we

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<v Speaker 2>have like clarity, these businesses create rewards tokens that could

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<v Speaker 2>be traded in the open market. They can build relationships

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<v Speaker 2>to other business where you can go spend that token.

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<v Speaker 2>There So let's say, for example, it's a Walmart token

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<v Speaker 2>or Amazon token, and I can go to Starbucks and

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<v Speaker 2>spend it. It could trade in the open market. Maybe

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<v Speaker 2>Walmart and Amazon say hey, hold on to witning. You

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<v Speaker 2>can earn rewards like staking. There's a lot of possibilities here.

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<v Speaker 1>So the possibilities, really, to your point, are endless. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think I heard the word clarity commodity are out there,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think that is going to be a driver.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we've been waiting for this. It's on the horizon.

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<v Speaker 1>I've personally been to DC too many times to count

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<v Speaker 1>and had too many meetings to count. Genius was great,

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<v Speaker 1>but Clarity is going to be bigger. And I've said

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<v Speaker 1>this too. Tax reform will be the third pillar of

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<v Speaker 1>all this. You give merchants the Genius Act for stable coins,

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<v Speaker 1>Clarity Act, so they actually know which tokens are commodities

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<v Speaker 1>and securities and which tokens they can accept a safe manner.

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<v Speaker 1>And then you give some to tax reform. So it

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<v Speaker 1>was deminimus relief. At least when you're buying, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>a cup of coffee shouldn't be a taxable event. Wow.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I know we've been talking to emergants for

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<v Speaker 1>eight years, and I personally know that is an explosive

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<v Speaker 1>moment for digital asset payments. It's what they've been waiting for.

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<v Speaker 1>It's what we've been waiting for so while. We've been

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<v Speaker 1>educating merchants, and I think we've talked to I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I have to honestly think we've talked to every fortune

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred, if not five hundred merchant in the last

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<v Speaker 1>eight years. I mean, over ninety percent of them has

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<v Speaker 1>shown excitement about digital asset payments. It doesn't mean they're

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<v Speaker 1>all ready to launch. We've worked with some of them

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<v Speaker 1>for five plus years getting them ready to launch. I

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<v Speaker 1>think twenty twenty six will be big in that regard.

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<v Speaker 1>Some folks are getting ready to launch, and a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of that is because of Clarity. A lot of that

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<v Speaker 1>is because the promise of clarity right now that they're

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<v Speaker 1>really looking at it more seriously, so you you convert

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<v Speaker 1>that promise into an actual law. I couldn't be more excited.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's gonna be an exciting time and I can't

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<v Speaker 2>wait to see the innovation post that bill being passed

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<v Speaker 2>or signing to law, and the clarity people will have

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<v Speaker 2>to invest more build and do a lot of innovation.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Now you mentioned, you know stable coins, you expect that

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<v Speaker 2>to grow as far as payments being used. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we got the Genius Act in place and so forth. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>and you mentioned, you know there's some people, well good

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<v Speaker 2>amount of people that use bitcoin. But do you think

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<v Speaker 2>over time it becomes more so heavy weighted stable coins

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<v Speaker 2>versus these other assets, or maybe bitcoin catches up because

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<v Speaker 2>Bitcoin's price continues to go up, that spending a fee

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<v Speaker 2>s of Toshi's it becomes like nothing because the price

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<v Speaker 2>is so high.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I think there will always be folks spending bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>because that was the original promise of bitcoin. It's supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to be a payment token. I think, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>real bitcoin folks want to use bitcoin for that purpose,

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<v Speaker 1>and they always will. To your point, it won't be

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<v Speaker 1>maybe a lot and they're going to hold the bulk

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<v Speaker 1>of their assets in that form, but yeah, they'll always

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<v Speaker 1>spend it. It won't be the real spending driver. Though

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<v Speaker 1>stable coins are already accomplishing that. They're catching up quite quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned Bitcoin's always been the most spent token on

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<v Speaker 1>our platform. That's changing quickly because of stable coins. And

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<v Speaker 1>again I can't understate, you know, speaking with merchants, loyalty

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<v Speaker 1>points and merchant tokens haven't even begun. Yeah, that's a

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<v Speaker 1>whole new game, and that's going to unlock so much.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's you know, you can brainstorm, as you have

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<v Speaker 1>already here today, how you can use loyalty points in

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<v Speaker 1>the form of tokens and merchant tokens themselves to incentivize consumers,

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<v Speaker 1>to reward consumers, and to increase payments. And we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>talked about this, but you know, one of the things

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<v Speaker 1>we've done at Flexa because we've built this payment platform

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<v Speaker 1>the way we have, we've now opened up commerce for everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>No longer are you restricted from participating in e commerce

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<v Speaker 1>because you don't have the right credit score, you can't

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<v Speaker 1>get the right credit card, you don't have a bank account,

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<v Speaker 1>or your underbank or underbanked. No longer are those hurdles,

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<v Speaker 1>which means instead of something like you know, seventy eight

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<v Speaker 1>to eighty four percent of the population participating in commerce,

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<v Speaker 1>now you're talking about ninety nine plus percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>global population participate to participate in commerce through payments, which

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<v Speaker 1>is also a game changer. So you combine that with

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<v Speaker 1>what we're talking about in loyalty points and merchant tokens.

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<v Speaker 1>This thing is just it's too massive to even imagine

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<v Speaker 1>right now, and that gives us a lot of excitement

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<v Speaker 1>as this year ends we move into twenty twenty six.

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<v Speaker 1>That gives us so much excitement about FLEXA and that's

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<v Speaker 1>why we're heads down building as hard as fast as possible.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh. Absolutely, tell us a bit about liquidity, because maybe

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<v Speaker 2>we're certain assets outside of Bitcoin. You know, Bitcoin like

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<v Speaker 2>the most liquid acid in crypto. But like let's say

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<v Speaker 2>you go down to listen, you're supporting some all coins.

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<v Speaker 2>It may not be as popular, but when you get

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<v Speaker 2>the liquidity. Are you working with different exchanges?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so we work with exchange partners. Coinbases an exchange

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<v Speaker 1>partner of ours, Gemini is an exchange partner of ours.

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<v Speaker 1>We work with other exchanges as well. You know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>in the process of lining that up that same thing internationally,

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<v Speaker 1>so we'll always have exchange partners for that piece of it.

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<v Speaker 1>But I can tell you related to that as the

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<v Speaker 1>app token, So we created AMP to be a collateral

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<v Speaker 1>token to backstop all of our payments and the utility

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<v Speaker 1>it serves cannot be understated here. I don't know that

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<v Speaker 1>there's a Flexa without app, because what other folks are

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<v Speaker 1>trying to do is build digital asset payment rails that

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<v Speaker 1>are not collateralized, which means you give merchants a horrible choice.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, they really have this problem, what if the

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<v Speaker 1>transaction fails or what if the network fails. So some

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<v Speaker 1>of these works are much faster now than they used

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<v Speaker 1>to be, so unlike Bitcoin, it might not take you

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes anymore for a transaction to confirm. Maybe it

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<v Speaker 1>takes you a second or less than a second, but

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't mean that network is going to stay up

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<v Speaker 1>all the time. So how do you protect merchants the

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<v Speaker 1>transaction takes thirty to forty minutes. Well, you can have

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<v Speaker 1>that because you can't sit there with a cup of

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<v Speaker 1>coffee waiting for a transaction to process. And you also

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<v Speaker 1>can't have the risk of a network failing or the

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<v Speaker 1>transaction failing in any way. So other digital asset payment

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<v Speaker 1>platforms say, hey, that's just part of the risk. But

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<v Speaker 1>we've said at Flexus since day one is shouldn't be

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<v Speaker 1>part of your problem, merchant. So the AMP token collateralizes

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<v Speaker 1>every payment. The world's only neutral collateral token. It collateralizes

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<v Speaker 1>every payment that fows for our network, so we can

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<v Speaker 1>promise merchants they will be paid, not only promise, we

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<v Speaker 1>can actually guarantee merchants, every one of them, that they'll

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<v Speaker 1>receive full payments. And we're the only payment platform that

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<v Speaker 1>can do that because we're the only payment platform that

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<v Speaker 1>utilizes the AMP token to collateralize payments. So, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this thing collect you wrap it all up everything I've

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<v Speaker 1>talked about with any token, any wallet, what's happening with clarity,

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<v Speaker 1>what's happening with merchants developing loyalty tokens and merchant tokens.

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<v Speaker 1>The fact that our rail is completely collateralized by AMP.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a unique payment platform. It's the most unique payment platform.

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<v Speaker 1>And in talking to merchants, you know, once they understand it,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes it takes some time, it's really the only option.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the only viable option.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, it's amazing. Yeah, I can't think of anybody else

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<v Speaker 2>who's doing that with you know, the token setups. That's

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<v Speaker 2>really great.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, nobody else is doing it. I mean it's hard.

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<v Speaker 2>It was hard.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I've said this before. The work involved in

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<v Speaker 1>pulling this off. It knows no wonder. It's taking eight

395
00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.440
<v Speaker 1>years to get to where we are. The work involved

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<v Speaker 1>in just having a token mature to the point where

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<v Speaker 1>it's used in a utility form like this, to have

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<v Speaker 1>that AMP token backstopping flex of payments, you cannot do

399
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<v Speaker 1>that overnight. You can't do it overnight, especially when you

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<v Speaker 1>go through some of the hurdles we talked about earlier. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>we didn't mentioned the pandemic. I mean, that could have

402
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<v Speaker 1>knocked us out, you know, but for some really loyal

403
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<v Speaker 1>merce who really love what we were building, I don't

404
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<v Speaker 1>know where we would have made it through that, because

405
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<v Speaker 1>you know, we were a brick and mortar in store

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<v Speaker 1>payments only at that point. That prompted us obviously to

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<v Speaker 1>move on online. But yeah, it really took a grind

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<v Speaker 1>from us and really heads down stuff to pull this off.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know that's why I keep coming back with this.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the most excited I've been at Flexa since

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<v Speaker 1>we started, and the future is unbelievably bright. We're just

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<v Speaker 1>trying to figure out how to take advantage of it best.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh for sure, Now I read about FLEXA terminal tells

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<v Speaker 2>you that and if I'm not mistaken. That's launching in

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty six.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it is. So that's you know, emvs have what

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<v Speaker 1>one thousands, they're limited to one thousand different assets that

418
00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:42.960
<v Speaker 1>they can you can spend with it. That makes no

419
00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:45.200
<v Speaker 1>sense when we're talking about tens of thousands of tokens.

420
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.240
<v Speaker 1>So FlexIt terminal built in cooperation in partnership with Burner,

421
00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:52.599
<v Speaker 1>makes it possible for folks to use that terminal for

422
00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:55.400
<v Speaker 1>immediate crypto still on our payment rail, but it makes

423
00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:57.440
<v Speaker 1>it possible. It's the actual terminal, so you can make

424
00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.799
<v Speaker 1>those payments. And for us that's critic important because it

425
00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:05.680
<v Speaker 1>gives again merchants optionality. Certainly not required. Nothing is required

426
00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.880
<v Speaker 1>from a merchant. If they want to take digital asset payments,

427
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:09.960
<v Speaker 1>they don't need a terminal, they don't need to do anything.

428
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.160
<v Speaker 1>We integrate with their point of sale directly, and that

429
00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.680
<v Speaker 1>will always be true. It's just another piece to give

430
00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:18.400
<v Speaker 1>merchants optionality, so they'd accept payments in that way if

431
00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.960
<v Speaker 1>they want to. And it may be a critically important

432
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:22.839
<v Speaker 1>piece because folks are used to that and I like

433
00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:25.079
<v Speaker 1>to do that, and some merchants want it. So you know,

434
00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.559
<v Speaker 1>this is the truth. If a merchant wants something in

435
00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:29.279
<v Speaker 1>this space, We're going to deliver it for them.

436
00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:36.240
<v Speaker 2>Danny. There's an interesting kind of movement happening with crypto

437
00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.359
<v Speaker 2>where it's human behavior tokenized on the blockchain and a

438
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:42.880
<v Speaker 2>financialized and people call it meme coins. Right, So you

439
00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:46.279
<v Speaker 2>could take something from culture that is maybe weird or funny,

440
00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:50.880
<v Speaker 2>but the masses are human psychology gravitates to it. And

441
00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.279
<v Speaker 2>sure some of it may not be for you or me, right,

442
00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.240
<v Speaker 2>some of it is just Internet culture. But there's things

443
00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.559
<v Speaker 2>like doche coin and fart coin. But the build a

444
00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:03.599
<v Speaker 2>brand and a following, and you have network effects. So

445
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:06.559
<v Speaker 2>how do you You may have touched a bit on this,

446
00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.640
<v Speaker 2>but how do you navigate that to say, hey, look

447
00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.319
<v Speaker 2>there's a big demographic that's backing this coin. It's the

448
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:16.319
<v Speaker 2>craziest thing ever. But there's people hold it and merchase

449
00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.039
<v Speaker 2>want to accept it, so we're going to facilitate it.

450
00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:20.759
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I mean I look at it first from the

451
00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:25.359
<v Speaker 1>legal perspective, which is if coinbase and Gemini support the token.

452
00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:28.839
<v Speaker 1>I rely a lot on their teams to make sure

453
00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:32.799
<v Speaker 1>something is first of all, legally permissible to be traded,

454
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.079
<v Speaker 1>let alone spent at point of sale. With one of

455
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.400
<v Speaker 1>our merchants, and then we have our own token review

456
00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:40.599
<v Speaker 1>committee at Flexa. So every token that we allow to

457
00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.839
<v Speaker 1>be spent on our platform has gone through not only

458
00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:47.400
<v Speaker 1>the coinbase and Gemini review, but our Flexa internal review

459
00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:49.400
<v Speaker 1>before it gets to the point where it can actually

460
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.359
<v Speaker 1>be spent. Other than that, honestly, it could be anything.

461
00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:55.400
<v Speaker 1>It really could be. I mean, I draw the line

462
00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.079
<v Speaker 1>at hate speech. There's something that's promoting hate speech or

463
00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.960
<v Speaker 1>something like that. As long as I'm CEO of Flexa,

464
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.400
<v Speaker 1>nobody's going to be able to spend it. But other

465
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.440
<v Speaker 1>than that, no, if it's popular, if it's doge, or

466
00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.519
<v Speaker 1>if it's something that folks get behind and they love it,

467
00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:12.599
<v Speaker 1>even even no one's asked, but even furt coin, you

468
00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:15.279
<v Speaker 1>will make it spendable if enough people want it to

469
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.799
<v Speaker 1>be spendable, and more importantly, if our merchant wants it

470
00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:20.440
<v Speaker 1>to be spendable. Yeah. So, yeah, we don't want to

471
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.000
<v Speaker 1>limit this. We built this so anything digital can be spent,

472
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.440
<v Speaker 1>and I mean it that way. I mean, even you

473
00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:29.359
<v Speaker 1>look at tokenization of assets, which is going nuts right now.

474
00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:32.799
<v Speaker 1>I think right now you're kind of in that post pilot,

475
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:37.400
<v Speaker 1>early production phase of tokenization of assets. But that's happening.

476
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:39.839
<v Speaker 1>I mean, most major banks, most major even real estate

477
00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.799
<v Speaker 1>companies are looking at tokenization of assets in a very

478
00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:46.119
<v Speaker 1>real way. There's no reason why tokenize assets. If they

479
00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:47.599
<v Speaker 1>can be traded, they should be able to be spent,

480
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.160
<v Speaker 1>and they can be We're already built so they can

481
00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:53.039
<v Speaker 1>be that flexous. So this is just another example of

482
00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:56.079
<v Speaker 1>building flexa the right way. So any asset, any digital asset,

483
00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:59.559
<v Speaker 1>can be spent. And that's again for merchant optionality primarily

484
00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:00.799
<v Speaker 1>exciting days.

485
00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.440
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's so fascinating because there's so many possibilities. And

486
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.319
<v Speaker 2>you know, one of the things I thought about as

487
00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:10.079
<v Speaker 2>we're having this conversation when you have these meme coins, Look,

488
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.039
<v Speaker 2>there's a certain demographic in the public that will hold it.

489
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.359
<v Speaker 2>There's a community, but I think there are merchants, there

490
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:17.880
<v Speaker 2>are businesses. So if you run a comedy show or

491
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:21.559
<v Speaker 2>you do something that's funny or lighthearted, right, that's a

492
00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:24.359
<v Speaker 2>great demographic to tap into it. Accept that coin because

493
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:27.720
<v Speaker 2>it's you know, from a brand resonance standpoint, it's on point. Now,

494
00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.519
<v Speaker 2>if you're a Fortune five hundred company, you may not

495
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.759
<v Speaker 2>want to accept far coin, right, but hey, that's okay.

496
00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.279
<v Speaker 2>There's different verticals, different cohorts right as it would.

497
00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.079
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I mean it's important to realize too that FLEXA

498
00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:44.880
<v Speaker 1>doesn't require the merchant to accept any specific coin. For example,

499
00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:47.440
<v Speaker 1>a merchant wants to take USD only we're licensed to

500
00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.440
<v Speaker 1>pull that off. Not every digital payment platform is. Like

501
00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:52.599
<v Speaker 1>some would say, sorry, we don't have the money transmit

502
00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.240
<v Speaker 1>your license, or we're not a money services business. Thankfully,

503
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.920
<v Speaker 1>we built that in the beginning, so merchants can accept

504
00:23:58.000 --> 00:23:59.920
<v Speaker 1>USD if they want to. In fact, you could spend

505
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:02.400
<v Speaker 1>bitcoin at point of sale. The merchant could take light coin,

506
00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:05.519
<v Speaker 1>they could take any asset they want because of our platform.

507
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.440
<v Speaker 1>So if it's it's USDA USD one day and ether

508
00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:11.039
<v Speaker 1>of the next and bitcoin the next, that's fine by us.

509
00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.640
<v Speaker 1>So truthfully speaking, someone could spend four coin and the

510
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.960
<v Speaker 1>merchant does not need to hold that.

511
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.839
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and obviously we're using forty coin as an example, right,

512
00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:22.400
<v Speaker 2>but it could be the other stuff. It could be

513
00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.680
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, a monkey coin or something and a

514
00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:26.680
<v Speaker 2>zoo accepts it.

515
00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.240
<v Speaker 1>Yeah why not? Why not? Man? No, I think sky's

516
00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:32.599
<v Speaker 1>the limit. And that again, you're going to exactly what

517
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:35.480
<v Speaker 1>we talk about, which is optionality. Merchants should be able

518
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:37.319
<v Speaker 1>to do what they want it should be for them,

519
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:39.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, gone or the days when the debit and

520
00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:42.640
<v Speaker 1>credit rails kind of dictate to merchants what they're going

521
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:45.720
<v Speaker 1>to pay and how they're going to accept. I mean

522
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:50.119
<v Speaker 1>those things, you know, those old, ancient, broken analog debit

523
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:52.960
<v Speaker 1>and credit rails invented some thirty years before the internet

524
00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:56.799
<v Speaker 1>costs this country two percent of his GDP annually. Seven

525
00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:00.799
<v Speaker 1>hundred billion dollars annually is a social cost of payments

526
00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:06.680
<v Speaker 1>on those broken out of date, analog, really antique payment rails.

527
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:09.279
<v Speaker 1>So those should have been gone a long time ago.

528
00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:11.119
<v Speaker 1>We think you're at flex so they have a shelf

529
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:14.000
<v Speaker 1>life of maybe ten to twenty years and then they're

530
00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:16.400
<v Speaker 1>just gone. And we're doing everything in our power to

531
00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.079
<v Speaker 1>make that timeline come quicker.

532
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:20.519
<v Speaker 2>So on that note, Danny, because one of my questions

533
00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:22.880
<v Speaker 2>for you is going to be it's twenty thirty five,

534
00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:27.079
<v Speaker 2>how do you see crypto in payments and the economy,

535
00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:30.720
<v Speaker 2>and what's your like predictions? You know, and obviously we

536
00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:33.799
<v Speaker 2>won't hold it to you, but you know, well, how

537
00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:35.519
<v Speaker 2>do you see the future of payments? So I'm the

538
00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:37.279
<v Speaker 2>one here that thinks it is going to be ten years,

539
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:37.759
<v Speaker 2>not twenty.

540
00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.920
<v Speaker 1>I always pushed that faster, and I just again, I

541
00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:43.839
<v Speaker 1>look at what's happened in stable coins since Genius, which

542
00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:46.240
<v Speaker 1>was only in July. That just happened in July, and

543
00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:49.640
<v Speaker 1>we already see these ridiculous numbers about on chain activity.

544
00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.359
<v Speaker 1>So for me, by twenty thirty five, not only will

545
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.680
<v Speaker 1>all payments be digital asset payments in some way or another,

546
00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:58.559
<v Speaker 1>but folks won't even know what's happening, just like you know.

547
00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:01.559
<v Speaker 1>The easiest way to think of it is, folks don't

548
00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.759
<v Speaker 1>think of how they can possibly make a cell phone

549
00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:06.000
<v Speaker 1>call today, or how you send a text message. You

550
00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:08.559
<v Speaker 1>just do it. No one's wondering what that technology is,

551
00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:10.920
<v Speaker 1>or how do you build that? No one today. Everybody

552
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.000
<v Speaker 1>wonders about crypto. How does this work? Why is this working?

553
00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:16.599
<v Speaker 1>Is it safe? It's scary. This is a scary thing.

554
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.880
<v Speaker 1>I thought it was for you know, money laundering and

555
00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:21.720
<v Speaker 1>funding terrorism and it once they learned that, no, no, no,

556
00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.880
<v Speaker 1>of course, any asset can be used for those things,

557
00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:26.240
<v Speaker 1>but crypto is probably the dumbest asset to use for

558
00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:29.119
<v Speaker 1>those things because it's all public and unschained. But once

559
00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:31.640
<v Speaker 1>you start to educate folks and they learn about the technology,

560
00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:34.039
<v Speaker 1>how much faster it is, how more inclusive it is,

561
00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:37.359
<v Speaker 1>how much safer it is, the privacy protection features this

562
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.000
<v Speaker 1>which we haven't even talked about. Every bit of it

563
00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:43.240
<v Speaker 1>is better. Merchants are learning that. Most merchants already know that.

564
00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:47.039
<v Speaker 1>They're just rolling it out over time. Consumers won't even know.

565
00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:50.640
<v Speaker 1>As the UX gets better, consumers won't even know what's happening.

566
00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.039
<v Speaker 1>It's going to be as easy or easier than their

567
00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:55.839
<v Speaker 1>current payment flow to be faster, you know, just work,

568
00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:58.000
<v Speaker 1>and it's going to be better. It already is better.

569
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:01.680
<v Speaker 1>It's just not fully adopted yet. So by twenty thirty five,

570
00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.599
<v Speaker 1>I think it's completely taken over payments. I wouldn't be

571
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.839
<v Speaker 1>surprised if you know, the visas, amexs and master cards

572
00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:10.599
<v Speaker 1>of the world have gotten a board too late. Everything

573
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:13.400
<v Speaker 1>they're trying to do right now isn't crypto payments. It's

574
00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:16.480
<v Speaker 1>it's it's crypto on roads and off ramps, using those

575
00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:20.400
<v Speaker 1>ancient analog payment rehels, which are broken and costs the

576
00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:24.759
<v Speaker 1>seven hundred billion dollars annually nobody wants. Nobody wants. So yeah,

577
00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:26.799
<v Speaker 1>I look forward to twenty thirty five and maybe sooner.

578
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's gon exciting time and to your point of consumer,

579
00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.680
<v Speaker 2>most of the people won't know that the stable points are.

580
00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:36.200
<v Speaker 2>Blockchain tech is running behind the scenes right now and

581
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.400
<v Speaker 2>obviously as they the crypto acid class grows and there's

582
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:43.039
<v Speaker 2>more holders. Uh what you guys are doing? Will you

583
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:44.400
<v Speaker 2>know if I want to spend my big winner in

584
00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:46.640
<v Speaker 2>my Ether or Solona or whatever it is, I could

585
00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:48.640
<v Speaker 2>have that optionality. It'll be very seamless.

586
00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:52.000
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, yeah, for sure.

587
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.680
<v Speaker 2>Now you mentioned you got some launches coming up in

588
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:58.240
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty six, we got the Terminal launch. Is there

589
00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.960
<v Speaker 2>anything else on your road map that you want to highlight?

590
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.119
<v Speaker 1>So what we've been really focused on as merchants. So

591
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:07.079
<v Speaker 1>we've been working with merchants for literally eight years, so

592
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.200
<v Speaker 1>some of them we've been talking to seven plus cheers,

593
00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:12.839
<v Speaker 1>And what I'm excited about is finally bringing those merchants

594
00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.119
<v Speaker 1>out of kind of hiding and getting them rolling with

595
00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:21.599
<v Speaker 1>digital asset payment acceptance. So we're focused on that. We

596
00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:24.319
<v Speaker 1>have our product about where we want it for next year.

597
00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:27.119
<v Speaker 1>We've been refining a few things, so whether it's payment pages,

598
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.039
<v Speaker 1>payment clips, payment links, there's a number of different ways

599
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:33.680
<v Speaker 1>merchants can accept digital asset payments through Flex's platform and

600
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:35.799
<v Speaker 1>with what we've done on our SDK, so any wallet

601
00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:38.960
<v Speaker 1>can integrate and use our payment platform. We really feel

602
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.319
<v Speaker 1>like we're in a good place now with merchants and

603
00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:44.240
<v Speaker 1>as they learn more about AMP, which takes some time,

604
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.079
<v Speaker 1>because again we're the only one collateralizing payments and that's

605
00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.160
<v Speaker 1>a weird topic right by the way, all your payments

606
00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.119
<v Speaker 1>are collateralized by this token called AMP that folks can

607
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.400
<v Speaker 1>buy globally and pledges collateral. There's a bit of a

608
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:58.079
<v Speaker 1>break there. Wait, how does that work? How does that

609
00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:00.599
<v Speaker 1>possibly work? So by the time they learn or it's

610
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:04.160
<v Speaker 1>you know, to a merchant, they absolutely love it, but

611
00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:06.799
<v Speaker 1>it takes time to educate. But for us, what that

612
00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:09.920
<v Speaker 1>means is it's just this twenty twenty six should be

613
00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:13.440
<v Speaker 1>just this year of bringing merchants on, turning them on,

614
00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:17.359
<v Speaker 1>getting them ready new jurisdictions internationally, with new merchants and

615
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:19.039
<v Speaker 1>new and bigger merchants here at home.

616
00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.079
<v Speaker 2>Danny, I don't know if this makes sense for your business,

617
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:25.079
<v Speaker 2>but it's something that I'm waiting to see someone solve,

618
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:28.960
<v Speaker 2>and that is micro payments for streaming and web monetization

619
00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.000
<v Speaker 2>and so forth. Is have you guys thought about anything

620
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:32.559
<v Speaker 2>like that.

621
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:35.039
<v Speaker 1>One hundred percent. So that's part of everything that I'm

622
00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:37.640
<v Speaker 1>talking about. And so yeah, when I say merchants, I'm

623
00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:39.799
<v Speaker 1>not just talking about the traditional fortune one hundred is

624
00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:41.400
<v Speaker 1>who we are working with and talking to, and that's

625
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.200
<v Speaker 1>part of what I'm talking about. But I'm talking about

626
00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:46.839
<v Speaker 1>all the above, right, So it might be in the

627
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:49.519
<v Speaker 1>infrastructure you're talking about, it could be in gaming, it

628
00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:53.079
<v Speaker 1>could be pretty much anywhere that payments are made in

629
00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:56.599
<v Speaker 1>any format, in any ecosystem. We've been building that for

630
00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.000
<v Speaker 1>two years. I said this in a post once and

631
00:29:59.079 --> 00:30:01.559
<v Speaker 1>I exposed that we you know, we were processing stable coin,

632
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.519
<v Speaker 1>but it's five to six years before anybody else was,

633
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.319
<v Speaker 1>quite frankly, so when Genius rolls out, that was kind

634
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:09.119
<v Speaker 1>of old news to us. We've been stable coins we

635
00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:11.519
<v Speaker 1>used for payments on our platform forever, and I think

636
00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:14.240
<v Speaker 1>we're about five years ahead of everybody else on the

637
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:18.680
<v Speaker 1>other payment ecosystems that exist out there, which for us

638
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.599
<v Speaker 1>at Flex is hugely exciting. It's exciting for our merchant partners,

639
00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:23.200
<v Speaker 1>and it's part of the reason I look forward to

640
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:24.480
<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty six so much.

641
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:28.319
<v Speaker 2>That's awesome, Danny, you've been in this industry for a

642
00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:29.960
<v Speaker 2>long time, So I'm curious to get your take on

643
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:35.039
<v Speaker 2>the amount of Tradify Wall Street institutions now entering crypto banks,

644
00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:38.880
<v Speaker 2>the major investment firms. It's incredible. Many of them were

645
00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:42.279
<v Speaker 2>anti crypto for a long time. Now they've completely done A.

646
00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:44.440
<v Speaker 1>One to eighty and Aaron Brace yea, I've kind of

647
00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:47.759
<v Speaker 1>always called bullshit on that. Excuse my friendship. They were

648
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:50.039
<v Speaker 1>publicly anti crypto, but we were meet I was a

649
00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:53.240
<v Speaker 1>meeting with them in twenty eighteen nineteen. They were all building,

650
00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:56.039
<v Speaker 1>they were all learning, They all knew exactly what was coming.

651
00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:58.640
<v Speaker 1>Some of them had these black sites where they wouldn't

652
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.839
<v Speaker 1>have it in their building. They would have it literally

653
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:03.160
<v Speaker 1>a hidden office where you'd meet with the crypto teams

654
00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.680
<v Speaker 1>in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen. So, y know, we all

655
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:09.799
<v Speaker 1>know the famous ones who say they ate crypto. Well,

656
00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:13.200
<v Speaker 1>they've been building for ten years. So I'm not shocked

657
00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:15.720
<v Speaker 1>by any of this. I don't think anybody should be.

658
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.680
<v Speaker 1>They're not only ready, but they're gonna launch all of them,

659
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:22.440
<v Speaker 1>and they know they have to because it's really simple.

660
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:23.720
<v Speaker 1>They know the technology is better.

661
00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:30.000
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, and it's incredible. They are launching ETFs, they're

662
00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:34.000
<v Speaker 2>launching tokenized products, custody stable coins, and much more. You know,

663
00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:35.839
<v Speaker 2>there's talks of the banks they want to launch their

664
00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:38.279
<v Speaker 2>own stable coins. How do you think this stable coin

665
00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:40.880
<v Speaker 2>market plays out? Because there might need to be some

666
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:44.400
<v Speaker 2>consolidation here. Everybody in their uncle can have a stable coin. No,

667
00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:46.319
<v Speaker 2>everybody and their uncle's going to try to have a

668
00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:49.079
<v Speaker 2>stable coin right now. It's built though, in genius especially,

669
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:51.720
<v Speaker 2>you know, without going into the nitty gritty of the

670
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.799
<v Speaker 2>regulatory details, it's really hard once you get past a

671
00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:57.240
<v Speaker 2>certain threshold if you grow too much, you know, for

672
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.200
<v Speaker 2>you know, it's a bit different than being regulated like

673
00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:03.079
<v Speaker 2>a bank, but not that different, right, It's it's really

674
00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:06.519
<v Speaker 2>hard to get to that level and succeed. So there's

675
00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.240
<v Speaker 2>a bit of a first mover advantage in place for

676
00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:12.799
<v Speaker 2>the usdcas and tether of the world, et cetera. But

677
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:15.039
<v Speaker 2>you're going to see stable coins.

678
00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:16.720
<v Speaker 1>You are going to see them, and there are going

679
00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:19.799
<v Speaker 1>to be many Who's gonna win that war? I think

680
00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:22.119
<v Speaker 1>there will be some consolidation. I think there will be

681
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:24.400
<v Speaker 1>some deaths, and there's gonna be more than one winner.

682
00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:25.720
<v Speaker 1>There's gonna be a lot of winners. There's a lot

683
00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:28.640
<v Speaker 1>of room for everybody. The space is huge, it's international,

684
00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:32.559
<v Speaker 1>and stable coins folks are finally starting to realize thanks

685
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:36.559
<v Speaker 1>to genius. Again, it took regulatory clarity. It took an

686
00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:40.200
<v Speaker 1>actual law for folks to feel safe enough to learn

687
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:43.160
<v Speaker 1>enough to really use it. And that's what's gonna happen

688
00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:45.400
<v Speaker 1>with clarity. So you go back to that, and that's

689
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:47.519
<v Speaker 1>why you're seeing what's happened with stable points happen. So

690
00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:49.279
<v Speaker 1>to your point, there's gonna be a lot of them.

691
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.960
<v Speaker 1>Some of them are gonna be bigger winners than others.

692
00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:53.559
<v Speaker 1>But I just see it as such an open space

693
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:55.960
<v Speaker 1>for creative minds that great things will happen.

694
00:32:56.319 --> 00:32:58.440
<v Speaker 2>Oh for sure. One of the things you've seen in

695
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.680
<v Speaker 2>the industry is a lot of crypto companies going public.

696
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:03.440
<v Speaker 2>There's expecting to be more in twenty twenty six. You

697
00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:06.119
<v Speaker 2>get the SEC chair talking about making it easy and

698
00:33:06.119 --> 00:33:09.480
<v Speaker 2>so forth. FLEXA have any plans along those lines that

699
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:10.160
<v Speaker 2>you can share.

700
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:12.799
<v Speaker 1>No, not right now, And I'm not saying no, I

701
00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.599
<v Speaker 1>won't share it. I'm saying no, we don't have those

702
00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.519
<v Speaker 1>plans right now. You know, my co founder and I Trevor,

703
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:22.440
<v Speaker 1>I haven't thought outside of how we best help merchants

704
00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:26.599
<v Speaker 1>in eight years, so truthfully speaking, you know, we haven't

705
00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:28.759
<v Speaker 1>even we haven't thought about anything other than how we

706
00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:31.519
<v Speaker 1>build this platform for merchants, how we best protect AMP,

707
00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.599
<v Speaker 1>and how we best use AMP to callateralize payments. You know,

708
00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:37.799
<v Speaker 1>for us, it goes hand in hand. It's just for merchants.

709
00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:40.000
<v Speaker 1>It's just for merchant optionalities, helping them thrive in the

710
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.119
<v Speaker 1>next air of commerce. And someday in the future, if

711
00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:46.640
<v Speaker 1>we achieve this great goal of replacing debit and credit

712
00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:49.799
<v Speaker 1>rails with a far better piece of technology that helps merchants,

713
00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:52.519
<v Speaker 1>I guess we'll take a breath and think of options then,

714
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:53.440
<v Speaker 1>but not right now.

715
00:33:54.039 --> 00:33:57.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you guys are head sound building right, absolutely? Yeah,

716
00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:00.200
<v Speaker 2>are you using AI in any way to facilit will

717
00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:01.319
<v Speaker 2>tate your services?

718
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:04.039
<v Speaker 1>So we're a bit slow to that. I was cautious.

719
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:06.599
<v Speaker 1>You know, sometimes the lawyer in me comes out and

720
00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.679
<v Speaker 1>delays things here a bit too much. But yeah, we've

721
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:13.360
<v Speaker 1>implemented some AI, very carefully implemented some AI and what

722
00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:15.639
<v Speaker 1>we're building and how we build it. And by the way,

723
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.159
<v Speaker 1>you know AI aggregators. This is another payment ecosystem there

724
00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:21.920
<v Speaker 1>that we're working with as well. And we're building for

725
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.639
<v Speaker 1>so I think there's a lot of opportunity there. I

726
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:26.559
<v Speaker 1>just try to be really careful. Again, it's not because

727
00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:28.360
<v Speaker 1>I want Flexi to be protected, It's because I want

728
00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:30.760
<v Speaker 1>merchants to be protected. So maybe we're going to roll

729
00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:32.480
<v Speaker 1>it out kind of carefully and thoughtfully, but it is

730
00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:33.320
<v Speaker 1>something we're focused on.

731
00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:35.239
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, oh for sure. I know there's a lot of

732
00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:38.159
<v Speaker 2>talks of AI agents and that economy and look at

733
00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.400
<v Speaker 2>still at ground level, so we have to figure out

734
00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:43.559
<v Speaker 2>the rules and regulations around that. But yeah, you can

735
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:46.599
<v Speaker 2>imagine they're going to be taking payments and stable coins

736
00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:47.519
<v Speaker 2>and other assets.

737
00:34:47.800 --> 00:34:50.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Yeah, and somebody's got to power those payments.

738
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:52.960
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, we're focused. Yeah.

739
00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:55.559
<v Speaker 2>Awesome, d any great stuff. I got some wrap up

740
00:34:55.599 --> 00:34:58.199
<v Speaker 2>questions here for you. Sure, first, if you could create

741
00:34:58.199 --> 00:34:59.679
<v Speaker 2>your own metaverse, what would the theme be?

742
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:02.199
<v Speaker 1>You know what, I'd go back to nature somehow. I

743
00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:04.039
<v Speaker 1>like to you know, I do a lot in nature.

744
00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:06.519
<v Speaker 1>I try to do as interesting. Fact. I don't know

745
00:35:06.519 --> 00:35:09.280
<v Speaker 1>if everybody knows this, but over ninety percent of human

746
00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:12.719
<v Speaker 1>existence was spent in the hunter gatherer phase, so we

747
00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:14.960
<v Speaker 1>have not evolved for what we're living in. We have

748
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:18.039
<v Speaker 1>not evolved for this office in Manhattan. We're not here,

749
00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:20.360
<v Speaker 1>We're not supposed to be So for me, it would

750
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:22.639
<v Speaker 1>have to be something in nature, Definitely, something in nature,

751
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:23.880
<v Speaker 1>something where I can go fishing in nature.

752
00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:27.079
<v Speaker 2>Maybe, oh for sure. Yeah, especially in it's this technology

753
00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:28.760
<v Speaker 2>driven world and digital world and every.

754
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:32.280
<v Speaker 1>Us furst right, it's yeah, our bodies biologically we're not

755
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:34.559
<v Speaker 1>supposed to be here right now, so I would want

756
00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:36.320
<v Speaker 1>to use technology to bring.

757
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:41.760
<v Speaker 2>Me back absolutely, rapid fire questions. Favorite food, Yeah, it's.

758
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:43.440
<v Speaker 1>Got to be pizza. It's got to be pizza. And

759
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:45.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm a Chicago guy originally, so for me, it's going

760
00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.719
<v Speaker 1>to be thin cruss, tavern style Chicago pizza.

761
00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:50.960
<v Speaker 2>Nice. Favorite musician or band.

762
00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:54.400
<v Speaker 1>I mean Beatles one Beatles, Beetles a kind of my formation.

763
00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:56.360
<v Speaker 1>Also Beetles led to everything else. So my favorite band

764
00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:59.000
<v Speaker 1>in college with the Pixies, number of other bands with Pixies.

765
00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.559
<v Speaker 1>Nothing happened without the Beatles to me, nothing, So it's Beatles.

766
00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:03.119
<v Speaker 2>Nice.

767
00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:08.119
<v Speaker 1>Favorite movie, favorite movie, Holy hell, So that's impossible. I

768
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:11.360
<v Speaker 1>just have too many, too many favorite movies. I mean, immediately,

769
00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:13.360
<v Speaker 1>what comes to my mind is The Godfather because that

770
00:36:13.480 --> 00:36:17.079
<v Speaker 1>was my favorite movie for so long. But yeah, too

771
00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:17.719
<v Speaker 1>many to count.

772
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:20.239
<v Speaker 2>Oh, for sure, favorite book that's.

773
00:36:20.039 --> 00:36:25.159
<v Speaker 1>Even worse than movies. You're killing me Flan O'Brien, Third Policeman,

774
00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:27.480
<v Speaker 1>probably if I had to limit it to one only

775
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:31.440
<v Speaker 1>because the writing is spectacular and the kind of there's

776
00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:33.119
<v Speaker 1>a bit of a sci fi twist in there to

777
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:35.480
<v Speaker 1>a piece of classic literature that I like, So I'll

778
00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:36.079
<v Speaker 1>go with that one.

779
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.239
<v Speaker 2>And when you're not working, what are you doing for fun?

780
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:40.639
<v Speaker 1>For fun, I'm either out with my wife. We're either

781
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:43.039
<v Speaker 1>having a great dinner in a cocktail somewhere here in

782
00:36:43.079 --> 00:36:46.840
<v Speaker 1>the city, or I'm in nature somewhere fishing. So yeah,

783
00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:48.679
<v Speaker 1>it's one of those two. It's either. Yeah, it's a

784
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:50.079
<v Speaker 1>bit of a yin and yang for me. I'm in

785
00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:52.920
<v Speaker 1>the city enjoying a good meal, or I'm lost somewhere

786
00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:53.559
<v Speaker 1>in the Little.

787
00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:56.199
<v Speaker 2>Danny awesome stuff, Absolute pleasure. I love what you guys

788
00:36:56.239 --> 00:36:58.039
<v Speaker 2>are building. And you know, we talked a bit about

789
00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:01.119
<v Speaker 2>before the recording, we're gonna have to do around two

790
00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:03.760
<v Speaker 2>since we're both near New York, and uh, we're gonna

791
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:05.760
<v Speaker 2>do it in person. But thank you so much for

792
00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:06.239
<v Speaker 2>joining me.

793
00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:07.599
<v Speaker 1>Appreciate it, Tony, Thank you.

794
00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:08.559
<v Speaker 2>M