Why Stablecoins Are the Infrastructure of the Future, with Marco Mahrus

In this episode of the Commerce podcast, Ys chats with longtime friend and payments operator Marco Mahrus—now Head of Revenue at Bridge—about how stablecoins are reshaping the future of global payments.

Marco takes us behind the scenes of building payments products at Uber and Brex, including the complexities of launching a co-branded card and navigating global regulatory environments. He explains how Bridge, now part of Stripe, enables companies to send and receive value on-chain through stablecoins—without requiring a crypto-native customer experience.

They dive into why adoption is accelerating now, where stablecoins have already seen traction in the Global South, and why the real breakthrough is happening behind the scenes in treasury management, cross-border disbursements, and on-chain loyalty. Whether you’re a fintech founder or enterprise operator, Marco’s clear-eyed view of the evolving payments stack offers a blueprint for what’s coming next.