In this episode of What the F Happened? Fraud and Financial Crime, Deconstructed, we go beneath the hype to examine the real plumbing of the future financial system: stablecoins.

While Bitcoin grabs headlines, stablecoins now move over $300B globally — acting as the bridge between traditional banking and Web3. We break down what stablecoins actually are, why they’ve grown so fast, and how they’re reshaping payments, compliance, and financial crime.

You’ll learn:

• How stablecoins enable “digital cash” — and why stability is often just a promise

• What the Terra Luna collapse teaches us about algorithmic risk

• How new regulation like the GENIUS Act aims to bring order to crypto

• The tactics criminals use today: mixers, no-KYC exchanges, and affinity fraud

• Why the fiat-to-crypto on-ramp is the most critical choke point for stopping fraud

• How modern fraud defense relies on behavioral signals, device intelligence, and real-time decisioning

We close with a bigger question: can a financial system ever be both perfectly private and truly safe?

If you work in fraud, AML, payments, or fintech — this is your practical guide to where stablecoins are headed, and where risk teams need to focus next.

LINKS

Transcript:https://www.datavisor.com/defend-podcast

Watch the original webinar: https://www.datavisor.com/intelligence-center/webinars/defend-webinar-stablecoins-and-blockchain-regulation-fraud-risk-and-decentralization

DEFEND Training: https://www.datavisor.com/defend-training

00:00 Welcome & why stablecoins matter

03:51 What stablecoins actually are

05:29 Terra Luna the $50B warning

07:59 Regulation enters the chat - Genius Act

10:03 Mixers no KYC and laundering

12:12 Affinity fraud explained

13:37 The on-ramp choke point

18:08 The future of privacy vs safety

Risk and compliance teams are often viewed as cost centers—but what if your fraud and AML infrastructure could become a growth engine?

In this episode of What the F Happened? Fraud and Financial Crime, Deconstructed, we unpack how a leading payments processor transformed its internal risk stack into a scalable, revenue-generating product. Handling over 60 million transactions per month across 2,500+ clients, the organization replaced siloed legacy systems with a unified, real-time fraud and AML platform—unlocking faster threat response, lower losses, and an entirely new monetization strategy.

You’ll learn how modern risk architecture turns defense into differentiation, including:

• Why consolidating fraud and AML into a single platform accelerates agility and compliance

• How ensemble machine learning (supervised + unsupervised) improves detection while reducing false positives

• The role of low-code workflows in empowering risk teams to respond in hours, not weeks

• Why multi-tenant architecture is the key to turning internal capabilities into sellable services

• Real-world results: 35% fraud loss reduction, 98% faster strategy updates, 4× operational capacity, and sub-day onboarding for new clients

Whether you’re in fintech, payments, banking, or financial crime prevention, this episode offers a practical blueprint for converting security investments into competitive advantage—and incremental revenue.

If you manage fraud, AML, risk, or P&L, this is your guide to moving beyond reactive defense toward a unified, real-time platform that protects margins while opening new growth opportunities.

00:00 From Cost Center to Growth
02:31 The Breaking Point for Legacy Risk
04:08 Four Roadblocks Holding Teams Back
07:12 Building a Unified Fraud & AML Core
09:21 The Revenue Engine: Multi-Tenancy
10:47 Results: Losses Down, Speed Up

Macroeconomic volatility, from regulatory shocks, to geopolitical fragmentation, and rising credit stress, is compressing margins, fast.

In this episode, we break down why traditional, batch-based risk tools fail under volatility, and what a modern, flexible fraud and AML platform must deliver to operate at the speed of today’s financial system.

You’ll learn

• The 3 forces driving change

• The architectural flaws holding teams back

• The 5 technical pillars required to turn risk from a cost center into a margin engine.

Read the full analysis: https://www.datavisor.com/blog/how-macro-volatility-is-driving-a-shift-to-flexible-fraud-aml-platforms

DEFEND Training: https://www.datavisor.com/defend-training

00:00 Welcome

00:29 Shifting Financial Economics

01:42 The Triple Threat Explained

06:38 Traditional Fraud Stack Failures

09:35 Risk as a Margin Lever

14:34 Testing Platform Flexibility

In this Monthly Brief, we break down the most important fraud and financial crime developments shaping early 2026 — and what they mean for financial institutions navigating new regulatory pressure, expanding attack surfaces, and rising expectations for real-time defense.

This episode covers:

• Why fraud defense is entering a regulatory shift

• Nacha’s expanded ACH liability rules and sender-side accountability

• CFPB Section 1033 and how open banking changes fraud risk

• How some organizations are turning risk operations into revenue

• What stablecoins reveal about the future of transparency in financial crime

Get the full January newsletter and links to all resources mentioned: https://www.datavisor.com/defend-podcast

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:29 The new fraud landscape in 2026

1:50 Nacha & ACH liability changes

5:12 CFPB Section 1033 & open banking

8:24 Turning risk into revenue

11:14 Alert Summaries with AI

12:38 Stablecoins & what’s next

16:24 Closing

Welcome to the fraud and financial crime podcast breaking down the real-world threats and defenses shaping today’s financial ecosystem to prepare you for what’s next.