A reflection on 2025: achievements, challenges, and gratitude

Volume Goals: 260 miles, 12 essays, 21 dates, 365 daily notes

Quotes that are exciting, novel, or useful but don't fit cleanly into the other essays. Organized by theme.<hr><h2>"You hardwire uniqueness of money"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026Sam is showing the clearinghouse product to Marco (former Fed economist, now at Bank Policy Institute).<blockquote>Marco:You hardwire uniqueness of money. Basically.Sam: Exactly. And one thing that I think is interesting and probably understated here is that you actually still do get pricing. People will ask me this question — how do you express variable risk in the ecosystem if you are hardwiring it equal to a fiat balance? And the truth is that there's always ways to express price, even if they're not as explicit as the value of the asset. You can say we give you more interest. That's the classic way. This is what banks do. And you also can say we give you different services.</blockquote><hr><h2>Spot markets can never become redemption</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Sam: There's this expression — a difference in degree can be a difference in kind. So going from dial-up to high-speed internet is sort of a different product. But I don't think that you can improve the quality of the spot markets sufficiently to breach over to redemption. There's no ability to improve spot. That's my belief right now. Maybe I'll be wrong.</blockquote><hr><h2>Tether turns off high-volume redeemers (open secret)</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Sam: Primary mint/redeem access will get turned off. It's an open secret. If you redeem too many USDT, they'll turn you off. First of all, that's borderline unethical. Second, it doesn't make very much sense to me because just charge 10 basis points or 15 basis points to do the withdrawal over a certain fee. I think what it is — they don't want to admit that they charge that much, and so they just turn you off instead.Marco: I mean, look, the SEC has been screwing the money funds all the time with changing this — liquidity gates, redemption fees and mandatory fees. So that will ultimately unnerve investors, because then you become a hedge fund where you lock in your capital for six months. But that's not money. Money is — it has to be accessible quickly. So if you impose those things, then you undermine your own business model.</blockquote><hr><h2>Cross-border payments are an accounting trick</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Marco: The thing that I am annoyed the most about is how little we talk about — cross-border payments don't exist. They are an accounting trick of consolidated balance sheets. And nobody talks about it.Sam: It's an accounting trick. It's also a magic trick. It's like soup. Two people on either side are trading with each other.Marco: I spoke with people at Merrill Lynch — because everybody says, all the textbooks and even central banks say it's a correspondent bank. But truly it is BNP Paribas New York and BNP Paribas Paris that are writing due-to/due-from to themselves. Or they can decide. And then in the consolidated balance sheet, it doesn't matter.</blockquote><hr><h2>Stablecoins democratize liquidity management</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Sam: What's interesting to me about stablecoins is that it democratizes the access to doing the liquidity management. Instead of just 100 correspondent banks doing this accounting trick, now you can have millions of small shops helping create pockets of liquidity bespoke to a certain area. So basically the inventory management problem suddenly gets a capitalist, competitive energy to create same-day, same-hour, same-minute fungibility of the local currency.</blockquote><hr><h2>Government putting Treasuries on-chain in a crisis</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Sam: If stablecoins grow to 3-5% of outstanding cash and really become a huge part of the market, and then you get a run — you could actually see the government put Treasuries on-chain or provide liquidity direct to on-chain treasury markets. It would be a confusing situation, but what it would actually do is legitimize the stablecoins.Marco: Well, they've already done it. In 2023, bailing out Silicon Valley Bank. I think they've already done that.Sam: They have, but in a way that was still reminding everyone that the product is linked to fiat. Whereas if you said — we're going to buy treasuries on-chain — suddenly that becomes a major venue.</blockquote><hr><h2>PayPal's clever structure</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/2835612b-1e6a-406f-ac90-96b2ed36aafe">30 min with Sam (Marco Macchiavelli)</a> — Feb 5, 2026<blockquote>Marco:PayPal is a great business model. Because you are within Wells Fargo — I guess, I don't know, maybe they changed — but it was clearing through Wells Fargo, and so unless you have — you are still within the wirings of Wells Fargo. And Wells Fargo has all the perks of access to the Fed and discount window.</blockquote><hr><h2>Potential new essay: "The Fourth Era of Money"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/3f02b25e-7c75-49ee-a1b9-1aa49b4de10d">Fundraising and writing strategy review with Chris</a> — Jan 1, 2026Sam and Chris discuss how to frame the "fourth era of money" concept — an academic post vs. a manifesto:<blockquote>Sam: The defining feature of the fourth era of money is that you can make credible commitments yourself. Era one is coins. Era two is we agree on a currency. Era three is trusted institutions. Trusted institutions are interesting because the trusted institution can make a commitment on your behalf. And so the fourth era of money is you can make your own commitments. You can do it remotely in a way that you have control over. That is a new capability.Chris: What is the — like, answer to Scott's question of why does that matter?Sam: One reason why it matters is because you can't make a payment program unless a trusted institution does it for you, because you can't commit to making a payment program on your behalf. You also — until DeFi — couldn't make financial products that, you know, papered in legalese by a trusted institution, because the program manager couldn't make credible commitments on their own. And now they can.</blockquote>And on tone:<blockquote>Sam: I keep falling into two modes. One is where I sound like how I wrote the opener of the welcome note, which is my preferred tone. Then I can do the academic version. My goal is something in the middle — where it sort of sounds like my authoritarian view on it, but then has all the information.Chris: If it's gonna be a manifesto, then it needs to be in the first person. Like, "I think we're at the precipice of changing how money works. I see the history of money over these four eras."</blockquote><hr><h2>"Semi-bearer asset" — a novel concept</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/3f02b25e-7c75-49ee-a1b9-1aa49b4de10d">Fundraising and writing strategy review with Chris</a> — Jan 1, 2026Granola summary notes that Sam developed the concept of stablecoins as "semi-bearer assets" — noting there were "no existing Google results" for this term. Stablecoins occupy a unique position between traditional bearer instruments and account-based systems: they maintain traceability while providing transferability benefits of bearer instruments.<hr><h2>Tokenized deposits vs. deposit tokens — an important distinction</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/4afc75f3-a2c4-4ff1-a29a-84e2762168f7">Adam / Sam Standup</a> — Jan 20, 2026From Granola summary:<ul><li>Tokenized deposits: Internal ledger tokenization for intercompany transfers within gated systems</li><li>Deposit tokens: Bearer assets reflecting claims, designed to circulate outside confined systems. Banks don't need to know the holder's identity (unlike traditional accounts), making them more capital efficient than stablecoins since they can lend out deposits vs. requiring 100% reserves.</li></ul><hr><h2>Banks need ~1,000 conversations to understand blockchain</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/a226d483-b0e8-421e-840f-7db63f2d4a4f">Better Money &#x3C;> Consensys</a> — Feb 2, 2026From Granola summary: Banks have fundamental resistance to upgrading core ledgers, requiring "pointer-based solutions on-chain" rather than fixing underlying infrastructure. There's an educational gap where "banks need ~1,000 conversations to understand implications" of blockchain technology.<hr><h2>Tether's T0: "Swift equivalent running on USDT"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/726bdc0b-2c03-45bc-b74b-cf6af9e1add0">Sam/Seb</a> — Jan 15, 2026Sebastian from Tether describing their distribution strategy and T0 system:<blockquote>Sebastian (Tether): We are launching this new stablecoin — USAT — due to the Genius Act, issued in the US. Joint venture with Anchorage Digital. Mostly because that's the only advantage that currently Circle has against us.We are looking for partners that help us connect the banks as counterparts between the network — greater than market makers. We have T0, which on a summary, it's Swift but running on USDT and potentially in USAT. We are looking for partners that help us connect the banks.</blockquote><hr><h2>Littio's reconciliation nightmare</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/6f4e69d9-db2b-44c1-b5ac-72b49d9796c8">Sam Broner and Christian Knudsen, Co-founder &#x26; CEO Littio</a> — Jan 14, 2026Christian describing the operational pain of managing stablecoins across chains and fiat currencies:<blockquote>Christian (Littio): When you have peso, you have different fiat currencies and then you have different stablecoins. And not only dollar stablecoins — well, euro stablecoin and Colombian peso and Mexican peso. And it starts becoming a monster. So regarding understanding where all the money is, it's been a pain, and that's a huge, huge pain for us.My co-founder, who leads ops, is always like — fuck, it's January, we have to do the accounting for the whole year. Obviously there's not going to be a big surprise that we lost $800,000, but we could have a discrepancy of maybe 20, 30, 50,000 — which is a lot.</blockquote><hr><h2>Gary Gensler: "what happened"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/160e5a4d-2ee6-490f-8aaa-e264eaa5e20a">Zoom: The Better Money Company &#x3C;> Affinity</a> — Jan 9, 2026<blockquote>Luis (Affinity): And then Gary went on and became like the anti-crypto guy, which was very surprising. At MIT.Sam: I think he is willing to hold two things in his head. One is what he wanted politically, and the other is sort of the truths he knew about how crypto works and how it can make the financial system better. So frustrating outcome.Luis: I remained close with him, and he's back at MIT. I really like him, but I don't know what happened. Perhaps politics is what happened.</blockquote><hr><h2>Tether's Genius Act problem — and the USAT solution</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/160e5a4d-2ee6-490f-8aaa-e264eaa5e20a">Zoom: The Better Money Company &#x3C;> Affinity</a> — Jan 9, 2026Sam explaining the Tether dilemma to Affinity:<blockquote>Sam: Our goal is to work with Genius Bill compliance stablecoins. The only potential exception is specifically Tether, just because of how widely used it is. We've got an incentive mechanism — basically, to go from Tether to a Genius Bill compliance stablecoin will be cheaper than to go from a Genius Bill compliance stablecoin to Tether. So we'll draw funds towards US regulated stablecoins.Luis: The problem being non-compliant is not that non-compliance itself — it's the fact that they might not withstand a run against the stablecoin. That's a real danger with Tether. I love the framework of the Genius Act because it forces the reserves. The moment you start playing games where your assets are a little illiquid — yeah, you're making a lot of money, but then you are exposing yourself to a bank run.</blockquote><hr><h2>Customers Bank: "We've been the bank for quite some time"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/f4f59b3c-e828-44d3-bc29-3a0fadd4406a">Better Money / Customers</a> — Jan 14, 2026Rob Layfield from Customers Bank on navigating the regulatory environment:<blockquote>Rob (Customers Bank): We've been the bank for quite some time. And unfortunately, because we've had a state regulator over that period of time, there's been discomfort in all of crypto, so we're walking carefully with our regulators so they understand exactly what we're doing. I think we've been slow to lend in terms of anything around crypto. But I think we're getting to a place where that's much more possible than it has been.</blockquote><hr><h2>Lead Bank: "This public good makes everyone's business better"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/a9a11ecc-578b-4e6f-9ce3-69f0c09a180c">Better Money and Lead | Flow of Funds and partnership</a> — Dec 18, 2025Jake from Lead Bank on why the clearinghouse resonates:<blockquote>Sam: This has been the great joy of pitching this business — I think if we had tried to do this six months ago, people just didn't get that this public good makes everyone's business better. But it does. And so that's why we're doing it now.Jake (Lead Bank): What is my business? I am an infrastructure provider to next-generation digital asset and fintech companies that want to build financial services. How do I think about this maybe powering other types of interesting capabilities that may be on our roadmap?</blockquote><hr><h2>Modern Treasury: the fragmentation problem from the fintech side</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/fb8004b5-0cf5-489a-8e8e-0d214d7b26a0">Better Money / Modern Treasury</a> — Jan 9, 2026Nick from Modern Treasury on why their customers don't care about stablecoin details:<blockquote>Nick (Modern Treasury): Most of the people we're talking to, they're not crypto people at all. They don't have strong opinions about the stuff. They want to be able to add stablecoin transfers into their payment stack. I don't think that people have very strong opinions about it and they just want to make it simple. And so we want to be able to make it simple with sufficient coverage and for us to be smart about it.</blockquote><hr><h2>Circle caps burning — "it shouldn't be legal"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/618f6516-b4f9-46f5-b67f-34801238b190">Sam Broner / Edward</a> — Jan 9, 2026Edward Woodford (Zero Hash) on Circle's redemption limits:<blockquote>Edward (Zero Hash): Circle actually caps burning. And we're right at the tip of what we can do. So the problem for you, to some degree — as you become more successful, you should hit the Circle caps. And to me, it's nuts. It shouldn't be legal.Sam: It should not be legal. I completely agree. It's so crazy.Edward: Yeah, but that is a real thing. And so that's the problem. There's two challenges around interoperability. One is caps, which is insane. Two — I don't believe every stablecoin is going to trade one to one.</blockquote><hr><h2>"Circle is the least constructive partner for anyone"</h2>Source: <a href="https://notes.granola.ai/d/618f6516-b4f9-46f5-b67f-34801238b190">Sam Broner / Edward</a> — Jan 9, 2026<blockquote>Sam: Circle's the least constructive partner for us.Edward (Zero Hash):They're the least constructive partner for anyone, really.</blockquote><hr>

Quotes that don't fit cleanly into other essays. Organized by theme.

Potent Quotables

Stablecoin issuance margins are going to zero. The winners will be companies whose real business is something else.

Most stablecoins will be complementary goods

A stablecoin is a wildcat banking dollar. Here's what that means if you work at a bank.

What is a stablecoin? A banker's guide

70% of ACH volume could move to RTP. It doesn't. Stablecoins should learn from this.

Stablecoins should be priced like ACH, not RTP

North Korean funds sit in Curve pools today. That's why institutions will use clearinghouses, not DEXs.

The compliance problem hiding in every AMM

Large economies will favor private stablecoins. Small economies will favor CBDCs. Both will converge.

Stablecoins vs. CBDCs: It depends on how big your economy is

Stablecoins will accelerate global currency consolidation. We may end up with only 10-15 that matter.

How many currencies will exist in 15 years?

Banking regulation follows a recurring pattern. Stablecoins are entering the same dance at step one.

The dance between banks and regulators — and what it predicts for stablecoins

Banks let two people pretend to have the same dollar. Stablecoins move one dollar faster. Which is better?

Capital velocity vs. capital efficiency: Can speed replace fractional reserves?

When deposits move to stablecoin issuers, credit creation shifts from local mortgages to federal treasuries

Stablecoins shift credit creation from local to federal — and nobody's talking about it

The history of money is the pursuit of singleness, and stablecoins have quietly broken it

The singleness of money: Why every dollar must be worth a dollar

How stablecoins will help banks move beyond old core ledger systems

Stablecoins unlock the bank ledger upgrade cycle — and new payment scenarios

Instead of asking what someone likes about their job, ask about their day-to-day reality and what success looks like in their industry.

Three Questions That Helped Me When Seeking Career Advice

Items I recommend frequently in home, tech, travel, and software.

Things I Recommend in 2025

A framework for making tough career decisions and a tactical approach to becoming an expert in any niche

Two Career Tools: The 45/55 Decision and Preparing Harder

Why agents need a portable, neutral identity primitive ('passport')

Universal identity for agents

A framework for how stablecoins evolve from a payments tool into 'money' (liquidity, sovereignty, credit)

How stablecoins become money: Liquidity, sovereignty, and credit

A timeline and synthesis of the spring 2025 wave of stablecoin announcements and why they mattered

The month fintechs embraced stablecoins

A dashboard with the weather forecast and top headlines is an easy, but useful little project.

Train & Weather Tracker with Raspberry Pi & E-Ink

A deeper dive than you needed into how I create systems and measure goals

587 Miles, 803 Meetings, and 14 Dates: My completely sane system for personal analytics

Businesses that are harmed by the today's payment options will adopt stablecoins, disrupting the payments industry

How stablecoins will eat payments, and what happens next

Malleable software is here, but do people want to build their own software?

Malleable software and the agency gap

Understanding the richness and limitations of the stablecoin design space through the history of banking: what worked, what didn’t, and why

A useful framework for understanding stablecoins: Banking history

Career advice for those considering engineering, product, or venture roles.

Engineering is Control. Product is Coordination. Venture is Ambiguity.

Thoughts on moving back home and the beginning my next chapter

The End of the Beginning: Thoughts on moving back home

The strategic chioces behind the worlds most used software

Did you really think Google would just give you a browser?

A simple dashboard with the weather forecast and top headlines is an easy, but useful little project.

Building an E-Ink Weather & News Display

Rebuilding the Fluid Framework Hello World with the Snowpack build tool

Snowpack with Fluid Framework

The considerations that go into building a static web app.

Static Websites: Why and What

How I help the Superkids Foundation manage its finances with Google Sheets, Twilio, and Whatsapp.

Sam Broner

Building & Investing in NYC & Online

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