Podbit · The a16z Show
Clear rules unlock the near-term: stablecoins, tokenized stocks and bonds, on-chain lending — a full Finance 2.0 upgrade. Longer term, if AI agents proliferate, they'll need a native payments layer, and crypto is the natural answer. The internet of agents runs on blockchains.
Where this was said
At 56:35 · chapter starts 55:30
Hackett asks the biggest question: what's at stake for the country? Marc Andreessen frames it as the latest chapter in American technological supremacy — a 100-year run that has generated enormous economic and national security benefits. Having the crypto industry based in the U.S. is unambiguously good for American law enforcement and security agencies, which can work with American companies in ways they simply cannot with offshore operators. He notes with some irony that the argument feels almost embarrassing to make because it's so obvious — America has clearly benefited from technological leadership for a century, and everyone should want that to continue. Chris Dixon then turns to specifics, drawing on his book 'Read Write Own': blockchains are disintermediation machines, and the near-term opportunity is Finance 2.0 — stablecoins, tokenized stocks, bonds, and treasury bills, on-chain lending. The 8-10% fee to send money to Mexico drops to near zero. Traditional wire transfers that take days and sometimes just disappear get replaced by near-instant global settlement. Further out, Dixon speculates that a world of proliferating AI agents will need a native payments layer, and crypto is the natural answer. The internet of agents runs on blockchains.
Sending money to Mexico via traditional financial service providers costs 8–10% in fees; using stablecoins on a blockchain, the fee is near zero due to the removal of intermediaries.
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