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

  
  

This week, I caught up with Jesse Phillips, co-founder and CEO of Trustware, and one of the most quietly determined founders I’ve ever backed.

I invested in Jesse and his co-founder Jonathan Frazier through the Techstars Web3 accelerator in 2023, and since then, Trustware⁠ have done what most early-stage startups only dream of—shipping a real product, signing real customers, and generating real revenue… all on just $400K in capital and a team of six.

In this conversation, Jesse and I get into what it really takes to build through the mud - when you’ve got more vision than runway, and the only way out of the mud is through the mud. We talk about the early decisions that shaped Trustware’s roadmap, the week Jesse had to tell his team he couldn’t promise their next paycheck, and why raising less money actually made them a stronger company.

Trustware is building what Jesse calls “a switchboard for crypto” - a way for wallets and apps to exchange any asset for any other asset(s) across chains and identity layers. It’s a big vision with a deeply pragmatic approach - and one that’s already helping crypto-native teams clean up the mess under the hood.

This one’s a masterclass in staying focused, tuning out the hype, and building for the long game.

• The early decision to bootstrap and stay lean
• How Trustware helps wallets and apps simplify cross-chain ops
• Why team culture matters even more when the money’s tight
• What Jesse learned about founder storytelling while fundraising
• The value of persistence over polish in the early innings
  

LINKS:

Trustware: Website | X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn | Discord

Jesse Phillips: X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn

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

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

In this episode:MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, I sat down with my longtime Techstars colleague and friend Allard Luchsinger, Managing Director of the ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator in Amsterdam.

Allard and I have been on each other’s investment committees for years, so this conversation hits a bit differently. We’ve traded notes across dozens of startups, and we’ve seen each other call the shots on what makes an unstoppable founder. That theme became the golden thread through this episode.

We get into Allard’s journey from building startups during the dot-com era, to co-founding a zero-commission trading platform years before Robinhood, to leading one of Europe’s most respected fintech accelerators. We also dig into:

• His experience investing in African fintech and why mobile-first changed everything

• The early signals from AI and how they mirror fintech’s formative years

• The conviction you need to invest at pre-seed when all you have is a deck, a founder, and a feeling

• The power of mindfulness, presence, and early-morning meditation

• Why stablecoins and tokenized assets are quietly rebuilding the financial rails from the inside out

This one’s full of hard-earned wisdom from someone who knows both sides of the founder–investor equation, and delivers it all with a calm clarity that hits home.

LINKS:

Connect with Allard Luchsinger on LinkedIn

ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance Accelerator: Website | 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, I’m joined by Scott Ashmore and Rob Halligan, co-founders of Shuttle - a platform giving individuals access to venture capital deals that have traditionally been reserved for the ultra-wealthy.

Scott and Rob are best friends of 25 years, first-time founders, and the type of guys who rolled up their sleeves, built something that didn’t scale, tore it all down, and came back with something far more powerful - and regulated - with Shuttle.

We get into:

• Their early days of investing together that kicked it all off
• That raw turning point moment at Web Summit 2022 when they knew the original plan wasn’t going to work
• What it took to get regulated and launch a platform built for the digitally-native, tech-savvy retail investor
• Why retail investors should have a front-row seat to venture capital opportunities—and how Shuttle is making that happen
  

This is a story of friendship, frustration with the status quo, and the belief that access to financial upside shouldn’t be limited by your net worth.

Learn more about Shuttle:

Shuttle enables busy professionals to co-invest alongside well-known venture capital firms, regardless of their knowledge, network or net worth. Since launching in December last year, they've already enabled their customers to invest alongside 15 VC funds.

LINKS:

Shuttle: Website | X/(Twitter) | LinkedIn | Unsophisticated Investor Newsletter

Scott Ashmore: LinkedIn

Rob Halligan: 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