Show Notes
In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with Ryan Bozarth, co-founder and CEO of Dakota, to unpack how Dakota went from building its own neobank to selling the regulated infrastructure layer behind the next generation of stablecoin-native fintechs. They dig into why building a neobank has shifted from a 12-18 month, multimillion-dollar project to something teams can test in weeks, and why the next bottleneck is domain expertise, distribution, and knowing which underserved market is worth building for.
Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here: https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN
Chapters 00:00 Dakota's path from neobank to infrastructure 01:18 What "neobank" means on stablecoin rails 03:39 The new build math: weeks, not years 05:48 Community banking comes back through niches 08:28 Global rails, niche markets, and real experiments 10:47 Dakota's earned pain: onboarding and compliance as code 13:45 AI-native builders and marketplace distribution 17:48 When the neobank becomes a feature 21:57 Distribution is still the hard part 27:42 GENIUS, PACE, and the payment-institution lane 31:29 Why non-bank payments companies could win 34:49 Banks have to choose their game 37:15 Who benefits from the regulatory shift 41:33 Money becomes code 44:45 The offline niches nobody on crypto Twitter sees 46:00 Where to find Ryan and Dakota
Connect with the Hosts & Guest Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chukxyz/ | https://stablecoinblueprint.com Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz Ryan Bozarth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanbozarth | https://x.com/ryanbozarth Dakota: https://dakota.xyz | https://x.com/dakotaxyz
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.
More from Money Code
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Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK.
Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK.
Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK.