Money doesn’t become geopolitical overnight.

It becomes geopolitical when the rails start to change.

In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend is joined by Sean Lee for a focused conversation on what China is really building with the digital yuan and why this moment is about infrastructure, not currency replacement.

Drawing on recent meetings with the People’s Bank of China, Sean explains how the digital yuan is moving beyond a domestic CBDC experiment toward offshore settlement, trade finance, and geopolitical optionality. Rather than replacing the dollar, China appears to be building parallel rails designed to keep trade moving in a more fragmented world.

This is not a CBDC hype episode. It’s a grounded discussion about trade, trust, gold, and how digital infrastructure reshapes global money flows.

We cover:
• Why the digital yuan is shifting from onshore use to offshore settlement
• How trade, geopolitics, and optionality are driving new money rails
• Why gold still matters in a digital financial system
• Where stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenised deposits coexist
• What founders should be building for as interoperability becomes multi-dimensional

If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand where global finance is actually heading beyond headlines and hype, this episode is worth your time.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – The next money rails
01:00 – From domestic CBDC to offshore settlement
02:40 – Trade, geopolitics, and optionality
04:00 – Incentives vs mandates
05:00 – Gold, trade flows, and Asia’s role
07:30 – Digital RMB and new denominations
09:00 – Gold-backed stablecoins and layered money
10:30 – Stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenised deposits
11:45 – What founders should focus on next
13:30 – Closing thoughts

🔗 Connect with Sean Lee

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-lee-4b7a98/
X: https://x.com/CryptoSeanLee

🔔 Subscribe for moreMoneyNeverSleeps breaks down one big idea each week in under 15 minutes, with founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.🌐 https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/

Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Scaling human expertise isn’t a technology problem — it’s a trust problem.

In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Joni Pirovich, founder of Crystal aOS, about where crypto and AI quietly hit their limits — and why human judgment remains the real constraint as systems scale.

Joni explains how her background in legal and regulatory work exposed a simple truth early on: expertise doesn’t scale on its own. As crypto firms mature, the challenge isn’t avoiding regulation, but earning trust — proving responsibility continuously, with humans still accountable.

This isn’t an AI hype conversation — it’s about judgment, guardrails, and the shift from heroics to systems that actually hold up under pressure.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oN7I1_FV14k
More at https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294

Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights — in 10–15 minutes.
New episodes weekly.
Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Surviving the hard days of startup life isn’t about working more - it’s about building the right support around you.

In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend speaks with Ollie Walsh, founder of Pipit Global (exited to Qenta), about founder burnout, resilience, and what actually helps founders get through the hardest stretches.

Ollie explains why cutting hours helped more than pushing harder, how peer groups and a supportive board mattered, and why resilience is built quietly over time.

This isn’t hustle culture - it’s endurance.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DiwWvnygiwI

More at https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast…

Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights - in 10-15 minutes.
New episodes weekly.

Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Crypto doesn’t win in 2026 by being louder - it wins by becoming boring.In this episode of MoneyNeverSleeps, Pete Townsend is joined by Alejandro Gutierrez for a sharp set of 2026 predictions on where crypto, onchain finance, and AI actually go next, as the hype keeps fading and the infrastructure takes over.

This is Alejandro’s 11th appearance on the show, and the first in the new era of MoneyNeverSleeps: sharper, faster, and YouTube-led.We break down:

- Why the next onchain breakout won’t look like a product, but a primitive

- Why blockchains weren’t built for humans — and why AI agents may be the real users

- Why privacy is coming back, driven by institutions and regulators, not consumers

- How quantum risk is moving from theory to something protocols must address now

- Why HTTP 402 and internet-native payments will finally resurface for the modern web.

Alejandro brings deep experience from the Solana ecosystem and years in crypto, DeFi, and fintech, offering a grounded view on what’s maturing, what’s misunderstood, and what actually matters heading into 2026.

If you care about where crypto is heading beyond price action — infrastructure, AI, privacy, RWAs, and the future of onchain finance — this is a sharp, 13-minute deep dive worth your time.

Watch On

YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@moneyneversleeps1814

Listen On

Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTnd

Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294

About MoneyNeverSleepsMoneyNeverSleeps is a weekly show where smart people bring one big idea — and Pete Townsend breaks it down in under 15 minutes. Featuring founders, operators, and investors shaping crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance. After 300+ long-form episodes, the show has evolved into a sharper, faster format built for a world where insights need to travel quickly.

Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights. Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Website: https://www.moneyneversleeps.ie/

Why are stablecoins suddenly a geopolitical issue? Pete Townsend and Garrett Cassidy break down dollar dominance, EU pushback, AI’s role in digital money, and the future of global financial rails — in one fast 14-minute riff.

We cover:
• Why dollar-based stablecoins are spreading globally
• Why European policymakers are pushing back
• What Martin Wolf gets right (and wrong) in the FT
• How AI could become a major stablecoin “super-user”
• The real near-term use cases for consumers and enterprises
• The future of onchain finance and global money rails

Sharp riffs, big ideas, real insights — in 10–15 minutes.
New episodes weekly.

Hosted by Pete Townsend.

Hey there, I’m Pete Townsend, and this is MoneyNeverSleeps - where we look inside the minds of entrepreneurs and at the crossover of startups, enterprise, finance, technology, and life as we know it.

This one’s different.

We’re live from The Podcast Studios at HeadStuff HQ in Dublin - the legendary former Westland Studios where artists like U2 and Hozier recorded in the past - for Episode 300.

Seven years. Three hundred episodes. Hundreds of conversations with founders, investors, operators, technologists and builders. One story ends, another begins.

To mark the moment, I’m joined by Mai Santamaria and Alejandro Gutierrez, two of the rocks who’ve carried the show forward in the post-Eoin Fitzgerald era. We look back on how it all started with “two mics and a backpack,” revisit some of our bold 2025 predictions, riff on tokenization, stablecoins, and AI, and reflect on what this community has built together.

Big thanks to Search4Less and Barry Darmody for sponsoring this episode, to Conan Brophy for seven years of production wizardry, and to every single one of you who’s listened, shared, or joined in along the way.

Featuring: Mai Santamaria, Alejandro Gutierrez, Conan Brophy, Paul Smyth, Barry Darmody

Full predictions recap at moneyneversleeps.ie

🔗 LINKS

Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

Alejandro Gutierrez joins me to talk Solana in Ireland, stablecoins, and tokenized securities - plus I share the launch of Norio Ventures Fund I and what’s ahead for Episode 300.

🔹 Scaling Solana Superteam Ireland and building community across the island
🔹 Stablecoins moving mainstream + tokenized securities gaining momentum with Nasdaq
🔹 My launch of Norio Ventures Fund I and what’s next for MoneyNeverSleeps

🔹 Plus, we look ahead to the Payments Innovation Roundtable in Dublin, and CryptoMondays Belfast

About MoneyNeverSleeps:

I’m Pete Townsend, host of MoneyNeverSleeps and General Partner of Norio Ventures. With nearly 300 episodes, this show dives into the minds of entrepreneurs at the intersection of startups, finance, technology, and life as we know it.

References:

• Solana Superteam Ireland

• Norio Ventures

• CryptoMondays Ireland

• rwa.xyz (on tokenized securities)

LINKS:

Solana Superteam Ireland: Website | X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn

Alejandro Gutierrez: X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn

Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, we're doing something different on MoneyNeverSleeps.

You're coming inside the room for the Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025, recorded live at Civic Hall in NYC during NY Tech Week, where we brought 5 incredible Web3 startups to the stage for a standing-room-only crowd of founders, investors, and builders.

These aren’t founders chasing hype - they’re building with traction, with purpose, and with an eye on the next version of the internet.

Along the way, you’ll hear:

• • A powerful fireside chat with Clarisse Hagege, founder and CEO of Dfns, on her journey from TradFi to web3 and the reality of raising in tough markets
  • Startups introduced by their mentors and customers, not just the usual emcee banter
  • Closing thoughts on what Techstars Web3 has meant to me and to Hugh McGirr, my partner in building this since 2021
• 
  

• You’ll hear from:

• • 🧠 Autonom – web3’s first full-context real-world assets oracle

  • 🛡️ DABL – the essential risk layer for onchain hedging

  • 🔐 Nera Systems – privacy-enhancing tech for secure data sharing in AI workflows

  • 🌱 nodes.garden – one-click platform for running testnet nodes and earning token rewards

  • 🔍 TRUSTBYTES – bringing predictive intelligence to institutional wallets
    Whether you’re a founder, investor, or web3 builder—this one captures the energy, the ambition, and the conviction of what’s next.

  🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube: Techstars Web3 Demo Day 2025

  LINKS:

  Leave a review & subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

  Email us: info@norioventures.com

  Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

  MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter