Ep. 32: Instant Money, Real Barriers: Can Tokenized Payments Deliver for Low-Income Women?

Tokenized payments promise instant settlement, near-zero transaction costs, and fewer intermediaries—but can they actually work for low-income women and women-led MSMEs operating on thin margins and informal cash flows?

In this episode, we’re joined by Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Strategic Engagement Officer at Circle, to unpack the real potential—and real constraints—of stablecoins and tokenized cash.

We explore whether faster, cheaper money movement can meaningfully improve liquidity, reduce remittance and transfer fees, and increase economic certainty for women entrepreneurs—or whether structural, regulatory, and access barriers still stand in the way.

This conversation cuts through the hype to ask a sharper question: What would it take for tokenized money to expand women’s economic opportunity at scale?