Part think tank, part factory, Final is a design workshop that’s building the new infrastructure for machines to move money. → See how and why at final.net

Since late last year, I’ve been working on a project related to agentic commerce. Today I’m excited to share a little bit more about that initiative and why I think it’s more timely and important than ever that we build better infrastructure for machines to move money. In short, it’s obvious that we’re entering the “age of autonomy.” Smart machines are learning how to perform important tasks on behalf of humans and each other. But the tools available for these machines to make and accept payments today are no better than blunt rocks and clubs. If we ever want machines to be able to conduct commerce at scale, then we need totally new financial primitives that are faster, more streamlined, simpler, and more robust than anything available today. Final (@usefinal) is the new company I’ve formed to gather this work together. Part think tank, part factory, Final is a design workshop that’s building the new infrastructure for machines to move money. For the last 8 years, our team at Flexa (@FlexaHQ) has been building onchain payments infrastructure for enterprise. Many of you are aware that Flexa today is the most licensed crypto payments provider in the US—and that’s with even more rails and corridors under active development. I’m not leaving Flexa anytime soon. For all the reasons listed above, I expect Flexa to play a critical role in helping to deploy the new technology that Final is building. And if anything, I am hoping this initiative will enable Flexa to be even more intrinsic to helping crypto payments go mainstream—because at this point, I’m fully convinced that the rise of agentic commerce will come to be known as the biggest inflection point in crypto payments adoption, period. I’ve posted some notes on how Final is approaching agentic commerce over at final.net. As the next few months unfold, I sincerely hope you’ll follow along to learn more about why we think a fresh perspective is warranted, and how equipping smart machines with better financial tools can benefit us all. More to come!

"If you're in crypto and not paying with stablecoins, you're a fraud" We're getting hot takes from the Base team at ETH Denver:

This is factually incorrect. In practice, rewards don’t come from card networks being generous. They’re funded in three main ways: > Merchants fund a large part of rewards Many rewards are effectively merchant-paid. Merchants agree to higher fees or marketing programs to boost sales, visibility, or conversion. When I was at Amex, we used to run these programs where, merchants routinely paid to run offers and reward boosts because cards drive demand. > Consumer leakage pays for power users A lot of cardholders don’t optimize: - they pay annual fees - they revolve balances and pay interest - they don’t redeem points efficiently That money subsidizes the rewards for people who use cards “well.” If everyone maximized rewards, the system wouldn’t work. > Interchange is recycled to lock in the network: Visa, Mastercard, etc collect interchange and then give parts of it back as incentives to issuers and acquirers to onboard users and merchants. This isn’t neutral alignment, it’s strategic redistribution to keep the network dominant. Cards are an incredible network effect, but not because incentives are fairly aligned. They work because merchants have the least bargaining power, consumers are financially inefficient, banks monetize credit and float, and networks sit in the middle at near-zero marginal cost.

Start accepting crypto payments with @FlexaHQ. Instant authorization across 99 assets, fraud-proof settlement with zero chargebacks, compliant rails, and flexible payouts. Low-code or no-code. Built for builders who want to ship fast.

A few things have changed in Zcash since Jan 2024: - @zashi_app, launched world-class UX for ZEC - @ShieldedLabs, new team of core contributors - integration with @FlexaHQ for retail payments - 2nd Zcash halving - fundamental gov change (no ECC/ZF control) - no direct dev fund (all grants based) - the community has grown massively w/ fresh voices - shielded hardware w/ @KeystoneWallet - @near_intents w/ Zashi integration for swaps - @Maya_Protocol DEX support - @ebfull driving Tachyon to deliver scale - wrapped ZEC on @solana - Perps on @HyperliquidX and @rhea_finance - 4X shielded pool growth - 9X shielded tx growth (tz, zt, zz 30dma) What'd I miss?

Buy @ChipotleTweets with @base pay in under 10 seconds - Mobile-first with the @baseapp - Pay right from the @FlexaHQ mini app - Near-instant confirmations - Zero fees on Base Everyday payments are finally onchain

Bealls is celebrating their 110th anniversary this year—it’s incredible that such a storied retailer would be among the first to adopt in-person crypto payments! Flexa is very proud to partner with @MBeallX and team in bringing this experience to life across the entire Bealls, Inc. footprint.

We worked with @FlexaHQ to enable USDC checkout via @base pay at more places you love @baseapp users can now spend their USDC earnings at @ChipotleTweets, @BNBuzz, or @RegalMovies through their mini apps From burritos to books to movie tickets, pay straight from the Base app

now that's based

🟦 Base Pay is an n-of-1 checkout experience in crypto—there’s really nothing else like it. So, when the @base team asked us how we could get this UX live for @FlexaHQ merchants in the most seamless and easy-to-integrate way possible, we jumped at the challenge. It’s been an incredible collaboration these last few months, and I’m so excited to share that as of today, Base Pay is now default-on for all Flexa Payments integrations—including Mini App Payments, online checkout, and in-person payments with Flexa QR Codes. Major thanks to @jessepollak, @davidtsocy, @WilsonCusack, and the entire Base team for the continued partnership! LFB!

Crypto bros, your moment has come.

🟦

The GENIUS Act has passed the Senate.

My finance degree is proud today after snagging a quote in @AmerBanker