Episode 449 | Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect

What if paying with crypto felt as effortless as tapping your card? We sit down with Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect, to unpack how stablecoins, smarter wallet-to-app messaging, and a new wave of SDKs are collapsing the gap between crypto checkout and the one-click experiences consumers expect.

Jess traces her path from investment banking to early Bitcoin research to leading a network that connects 700 wallets to 70,000 applications and moves hundreds of billions in value. We dig into the real merchant story: slashing fees from the typical 2–3% card rates to basis points, settling in seconds instead of days, and opening doors in markets where stablecoins are already everyday money. The caveat has always been clunky UX - QR codes, chain selection, gas fees - but that’s changing fast as partners like Coinbase Commerce, Mesh, and Privy streamline onboarding and data sharing.

We explore two frontiers set to unlock the next wave of growth. First, in-store payments, where WalletConnect’s new POS SDK aims to meet the speed and reliability of retail environments and is already rolling out with partners in Asia. Second, recurring payments, where crypto’s push model needs safer, revocable permissions to mirror subscriptions without sacrificing user control. Along the way, we zoom out to embedded finance, where neobanks become financial hubs offering custody, trading, and wealth tools, and to data privacy, where wallets enable selective disclosure so users share only what’s needed for shipping, KYC, or age checks.

Enjoy the conversation, and if it sparks ideas, subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.