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From PayPal to Stellar: The Journey of Jose Fernandez da Ponte
Description
Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto markets and becoming part of the financial system’s core infrastructure. In this episode of BFRR’s Digital Money Interview Series, co-host Jonas Gross and guest host Jonathan Knoll speak with José Fernández da Ponte, President and Chief Growth Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation and former Head of Blockchain and Digital Currencies at PayPal.
Drawing on two decades in payments, banking and fintech, José explains why blockchain technology could reshape financial rails that still rely on decades-old systems. He describes blockchains as “Linux for payments”: open-source, permissionless infrastructure on which institutions, developers and fintech companies can build new products step by step.
The conversation explores why stablecoins are gaining momentum now, from regulatory clarity and institutional confidence to emerging use cases in cross-border payments, treasury, payroll and commerce. José also discusses tokenized real-world assets and the shift in institutional conversations: the question is no longer whether assets such as money market funds can be tokenized, but how they can be distributed, used as collateral and integrated into markets.
A major focus is Stellar’s role in institutional finance, including the announcement that DTCC plans to make tokenized assets available on Stellar. José explains what institutions look for in a blockchain: speed, liquidity, uptime, compliance tooling, risk controls and openness.
The discussion then turns to agentic commerce. As AI agents begin to transact at machine speed, payment systems may need to support micropayments, streaming payments and higher transaction volumes. Finally, José outlines why privacy will be essential for on-chain payments and how configurable privacy, confidential tokens and selective disclosure could reconcile transparency with compliance.
A conversation about rebuilding financial infrastructure from first principles — and why the future of money may depend on open, institutional-grade networks.
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