Crypto and Fintech Are Colliding. Who Wins, and How? - Ep. 856
🎯 Summary
Podcast Summary: Crypto and Fintech Are Colliding. Who Wins, and How? - Ep. 856
This episode of Unchained features host Laura Shin in conversation with Elizabeth Rosiello, CIO and founder of As of Finance (formerly Bitpass), discussing the collision between traditional FinTech and the crypto space, viewed through the lens of her company’s pioneering work in African cross-border payments. The discussion highlights how emerging markets, particularly in Africa, have already navigated the technological shifts the US and global finance are only now beginning to experience.
1. Focus Area
The primary focus is the convergence of Crypto/Web3 and traditional FinTech, specifically examining the evolution of cross-border payments, remittances, and local currency trading in emerging markets, using Africa as the central case study. Key themes include the role of mobile money (like M-Pesa), the utility of Bitcoin and stablecoins as settlement layers, and the strategic shift from retail to wholesale B2B payment solutions.
2. Key Technical Insights
- Bitcoin as an Early Liquidity Bridge: Initially, As of Finance used Bitcoin as a fast, cheap intermediary technology to bridge African currencies with global hard currencies (like USD) for international payments, bypassing slow and expensive traditional correspondent banking rails.
- Stablecoin Dominance in Volume: Demand rapidly shifted from Bitcoin/ETH to stablecoins (primarily USDC) for crypto volume about four to five years ago, surprising the founder who initially favored Bitcoin’s perceived stability. Stablecoins are now preferred for saving and cross-border settlement due to their perceived stability and ease of use.
- The Need for 24/7 Settlement: The core technical advantage of crypto/stablecoins is their ability to settle transactions 24/7/365, which is crucial in markets where traditional banking systems are slow (taking 24-48 hours domestically) or closed on weekends/holidays, contrasting sharply with the 9-to-5 banking mindset prevalent in some Western FinTech circles.
3. Market/Investment Angle
- Africa as a Leapfrog Market: The African FinTech scene, catalyzed by M-Pesa, has already experienced the rapid adoption curve that the US is now seeing with institutions like JPM launching tokens on Base.
- Shift to Wholesale/B2B: The company pivoted from serving retail customers to focusing on high-volume corporate clients and remittance companies, realizing the superior unit economics of wholesale transactions (e.g., a $35,000 payment vs. a $5 retail transaction).
- Competition Drives Development: The influx of competitors in African payment corridors (like Nigeria and Francophone Africa) is viewed positively as it increases competition, drives down costs, and fosters overall market development, even if it challenges the founder’s desire for market dominance.
4. Notable Companies/People
- Elizabeth Rosiello & As of Finance (formerly Bitpass): Founder of what was arguably the first crypto exchange connecting directly to mobile money in Africa, and one of the first female-founded crypto exchanges globally.
- M-Pesa: The foundational mobile money innovation in Kenya that set the stage for subsequent FinTech growth in the region.
- D-Local: The cross-border payments provider set to acquire As of Finance (pending regulatory approval).
- Barry Silbert: Early investor in As of Finance, connecting the company to the broader US crypto VC ecosystem.
- Western Union/MoneyGram: Traditional remittance giants that are now trading with As of Finance, illustrating the integration of crypto rails into legacy finance.
5. Regulatory/Policy Discussion
The discussion touches on the historical high friction in African remittances, partly due to monopolies and legacy banking infrastructure. Rosiello notes that As of Finance proactively sought licensing (UK, Spain) and acquired companies with licenses to build regulatory compliance directly into their DNA, ensuring that their entire team—compliance, trading, onboarding—understands and integrates crypto knowledge.
6. Future Implications
The conversation strongly suggests that the future of global payments, especially cross-border, will be crypto-native at the infrastructure level, even if the end-user interface is Fiat-based. The success of stablecoins and 24/7 settlement proves that the utility of blockchain rails is undeniable, forcing even traditional players (like the 35 largest remittance companies now trading with them) to adopt these technologies, whether overtly or covertly. The collision means crypto is no longer a fringe concept but the underlying technology enabling modern financial efficiency.
7. Target Audience
This episode is highly valuable for FinTech executives, institutional investors in emerging markets, cross-border payment professionals, and crypto strategists interested in real-world utility cases that bridge decentralized technology with regulated financial flows.
🏢 Companies Mentioned
đź’¬ Key Insights
"And if you, you know, want to be cool and hang sometimes you have to sexualize yourself or allow yourself to be sexualized."
"And when I would go to a lot of these crypto things, remember the first one was the first Satoshi Round Table. And they were like, we're going to the phone party. And like everybody had like three girls on their arm."
"Look, it's not only that I was female, I was like a 30-something mother of female. So I wasn't like a hot on a bikini founder. I was like middle-aged lady founder, right?"
"No, because you still need to access the local currency. And that travels by banks, and that's regulated by the government. And, you know, until we come to a place where people are using crypto for everything, which might be your goal, but until we get there, you're going to have to participate in the economy."
"So it doesn't really matter about the technology, if it's sort of converging and everybody's using it, it still matters on those core company basics. And I say, there's a lot, and people like, all Elizabeth's a hater, she's hating on this company that's growing so fast and breaking things. And I'm like, in the end, you know, there is infrastructure in Africa. There are people here. There are rules."
"Mobile money was just a version of FinTech at the time, because they were the weirdos at the conference in the beginning... Now we're seeing it go into the metaverse, or wherever you want to go from there. And I think it's the same FinTech. We're still lending, sending, saving, right? Spending."