Money Code 70 Countries Without a Single Download w/ May Zabeneh (PayPal)
Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK.
In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with May Zabeneh, SVP and GM of Crypto at PayPal, where she's building the playbook for how a major fintech embeds stablecoins into existing payment infrastructure.
They unpack how PayPal enabled stablecoins in millions of wallets and the bets they hope to pay off, how "disrupting yourself is painful but important for long-term success," and why the best stablecoin strategy might be one where nobody needs to say the word "crypto."
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Chapters
00:00 PYUSD goes live in 70 countries - and users don't need to do anything
01:48 Why custodial stablecoins are harder than open wallets
04:25 "They can't even hold balance today": the utility unlock
07:52 Should crypto and stablecoins even share a name?
11:23 Foundations before flywheel: hold, earn, send, spend - in that order
14:56 Payouts as the Trojan horse: gig workers and Google creators
17:36 "There were times we were trying to do too much"
20:15 No playbook existed - PayPal had to write it
23:50 Disrupting yourself inside a public company
28:12 "You don't need to touch crypto": abstracting it away for merchants
32:37 The Skype analogy: interoperability as the real growth driver
35:42 AI agents will need programmable money - but not yet
41:50 Success means stablecoins become invisible infrastructure
Connect with the Hosts & Guest
Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chuk_xyz/ | http://stablecoinblueprint.com
Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz
May Zabeneh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayzabaneh/ | http://paypal.com/
About Stablecon
Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you're building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens.
About BVNK
BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.