Edwin Aoki I Stablecoins Bridge Old and New Payment Rails with PayPal I Pragma Bangkok 2024

Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 12:00 AM

Discover how PayPal’s digital currency initiative is reshaping global payments in this in-depth conversation with Edwin Aoki, PayPal’s CTO of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies. Learn about the launch of PayPal USD (PYUSD), the strategic reasons behind creating a stablecoin, and how blockchain technology is bridging old payment rails (like wire transfers and SWIFT) with modern digital assets. Edwin shares insights on multi-chain adoption (including Ethereum and Solana), confidential transfers, regulatory compliance, and real-world use cases—from B2B crypto payments to everyday consumer transactions. Key topics include: • Why PayPal ventured into crypto and how digital assets improve cost and efficiency • PYUSD design, bankruptcy-remote reserves, and NYDFS greenlisting • Seamless merchant integrations, enabling users to spend cryptocurrency anywhere PayPal is accepted • Exploring confidential transactions on Solana for privacy in business-to-business payments • Future innovations in smart contracts, cross-border payments, and SAP integration Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look at how a global financial leader embraces Web3, stablecoins, and the next generation of commerce. 00:00 Introduction & Keynote Opening 00:49 Meet Edwin Aoki, PayPal’s Digital Currency CTO 01:57 Why PayPal Entered the Crypto Space 02:26 Bridging Old Payment Rails With Blockchain 03:04 Outdated Systems & Crypto’s Efficiency 04:09 How Stablecoins Improve Global Payments 05:52 Moving from Buy/Hold to Stablecoins 07:31 Seamless Merchant Integration with Crypto 08:37 Launch of PayPal Stablecoin (PYUSD) 09:12 Multi-Chain Approach & Confidential Transfers 10:23 How PYUSD Differs from Other Stablecoins 11:35 Optimizing Smart Contracts for Payments 13:11 Bankruptcy-Remote Reserves & NYDFS Approval 14:17 Compliance & Innovation at PayPal 15:24 Executive Backing & Corporate Challenges 17:42 Expanding PYUSD & Multi-Currency Plans 19:21 Future Focus: SAP Integration & Global Adoption 20:52 Looking Ahead to Payment Innovations _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎤 *Pragma Bankgkok* Pragma Bangkok 2024 closed out a year of exceptional Pragma events held around the world, and offered the global Web3 community a chance to hear from founders and builders as they reflect on the past, and look to the future of Web3. Pragma Bangkok 2024 was held on November 14th at the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand. Watch the full YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4JNkhnsv5F95OqxT_IjCEl&si=6Tv3CvB6vrQIIjBA ETHGlobal's Pragma series, which began in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, has been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. You can learn more about Pragma and upcoming events in the series here: https://ethglobal.com/pragma _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow PayPal X: https://x.com/PayPal Website: https://www.paypal.com ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _