109: Kevin Mehrabi on Stablecoins, USDtz, and Tezos DeFi

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We trace Tezos from a grassroots “revolution” in 2017 to a concrete plan for DeFi growth that links governance, stablecoins, and the art economy. Kevin Mehrabi shares how USDTZ prepared for U.S. clarity under the Genius Act and why Etherlink should bridge value, not hype.

• 2017 fundraiser, community-led governance shift, and decentralization as a standard
• choosing Tezos after deeply reading the white paper and rejecting hard-fork risk
• LA community building, the rise of Tezos art, and what “punk” really means for culture
• lessons from launching USDTZ early: integrations, trust, reserve-backed design
• why the Genius Act matters for compliant, treasury-backed stablecoins
• surplus as an on-chain financial battery: grants, art, hackathons, DAO treasury
• Etherlink strategy: export L1 value, import EVM liquidity, bridge interest-bearing assets