How Stablecoins Can Export U.S. Capital Markets to the World | Nick van Eck

Feb 24, 2026

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In this episode of Talking Tokens, Jacquelyn Melinek speaks with Nick van Eck, co-founder and CEO of Agora, about how the stablecoin infrastructure platform is building the financial fabric for enterprises to operate entirely onchain. Nick explains why Agora launched as a neutral horizontal player to serve enterprises beyond the USDT and USDC duopoly, and how the company's white-label model allows partners to launch branded stablecoins on top of AUSD - while sharing revenue and network effects.

He walks through the waves of stablecoin adoption from crypto governance tokens to DeFi to emerging markets and why their adoption is already here due to stablecoins being 100 times better than local alternatives, and how Agora is solving payment workflows. The conversation covers how the Genius Act and Bridge acquisition accelerated Fortune 500 interest, why stablecoins export U.S. capital markets and stability to regions with high inflation and poor financial services.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro
(01:23) Why Nick started Agora to serve enterprises beyond the Tether-Circle duopoly
(02:13) Competing in waves of adoption rather than directly challenging existing players
(03:37) Focusing on net new markets: institutional assets, DeFi, and emerging markets
(04:54) Solving entire payment workflows from treasury to cross-border disbursements
(06:09) What keeps companies onchain?
(08:42) Agora's white-label business model and revenue sharing with partners
(12:46) Custody solutions for the next trillion dollars in stablecoins
(18:26) Traditional businesses adopting stablecoins faster outside the US
(19:44) Stablecoins as means for exporting U.S. capital markets to emerging markets
(22:36) Fortune 500 focus and preparing for Genius Act implementation
(23:16) Final advice: operate with integrity and play the long game

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