Pollak: Crypto turns proprietary intermediary network effects inside out
Jesse Pollak · Why Now Is The Best Time To Build In Crypto · Y Combinator · Sep 23, 2025 · at 26:25
Jesse Pollak, creator of Base and lead at Coinbase, explains to Harj Taggar how open onchain networks disrupt traditional Web2 intermediaries that monetize closed two-sided markets.
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“I think the thing that's shifting with crypto is those network effects are being turned inside out. Where it's when we're onboarding people on chain and we're bringing them into these new systems, they're actually entering an open network where when you join the network, anyone can now start to participate. And so if you have stable coins, you can do a payment to someone else with stable coins. And that's not mediated by one payment processor. That's, you know, checking out every debit card and credit card that's going through the system. It's sitting on an open platform that anyone can build into and anyone can participate in.”
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