FINVERGE | Finance · Web3 · AI

Sergei Smalkov

FINVERGE is a high-signal podcast decoding the frontier of Finance, Web3, and Agentic Commerce. We cut through the hype to dissect what happens when programmable money meets autonomous agents. Built for founders, product leaders, and engineers, we analyze deep-tech whitepapers, cross-border payment rails, stablecoins, DeFi infrastructure, and card networks. Curated by a veteran product operator with 20 years of experience, this is your source for the engineering logic behind the future of capital. No fluff. Raw infrastructure signal.

Episodes

  1. May 26

    McKinsey: UX is Dying, AX is the New King - Q2 2026 Review

    In today’s episode: the fresh industry pulse for late May. We explore the phenomenon of nano-transactions, the 'protocol war' for the right to become the 'Visa for machines,' and provide an exclusive review of heavy-hitting reports from Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, and BCG, as well as the latest data from WalletConnect and Artemis. Morgan Stanley: Focus on the $100T tokenization of wholesale banking. McKinsey: Focus on the $5T Agentic Commerce opportunity and AX (Agent Experience). Artemis: Tracks the Mastercard/BVNK acquisition and the consolidation of the stack. Keyrock: Maps the "Protocol War" and the 6-layer stack. Visa: Discusses the "AI Mullet" and "Policy-driven" payments. Revolut: Technical paper on their new PRAGMA foundation model. WalletConnect: Highlights the "Fragmentation" and "Compliance" gaps in the 2026 market.

    20 min

  2. May 16

    The Rise of the Agentic Economy - April 2026

    The era of AI agents acting as mere "NPCs" is over. In 2026, we are witnessing the shift to Autonomous Commerce (or Agentic Commerce), where AI transitions from informing decisions to independently executing them. In this episode of FINVERGE, we dissect the infrastructure layer of machine-to-machine economies: The Rise of Agentic Payments: How delegated intent will drive a projected $3–5 trillion market by 2030. Why the Future is Onchain: Why traditional banking rails fail human-centric verification, and why stablecoins and native crypto wallets are the natural runtime for AI. The 2026 Trust Architecture: A deep dive into Mastercard Agent Pay, "Know Your Agent" (KYA) standards, and Proof of Personhood. The Death of CAPTCHA: Why legacy fraud models fail against authorized, machine-speed bot behavior. The Enterprise Privacy Problem: The massive hurdles institutional adoption faces on transparent public blockchains.

    21 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

FINVERGE is a high-signal podcast decoding the frontier of Finance, Web3, and Agentic Commerce. We cut through the hype to dissect what happens when programmable money meets autonomous agents. Built for founders, product leaders, and engineers, we analyze deep-tech whitepapers, cross-border payment rails, stablecoins, DeFi infrastructure, and card networks. Curated by a veteran product operator with 20 years of experience, this is your source for the engineering logic behind the future of capital. No fluff. Raw infrastructure signal.

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