Three fintech founders—Tiago from Revool, João from Picnic, and Rob from Pods—discuss how neobanks are scaling by hiding rather than promoting blockchain infrastructure. The winning formula: crypto under the hood. Dollar App succeeds where other platforms fail because it never mentions blockchain to users, making stablecoins as simple as traditional payments.
A panel of three fintech founders explores the evolution of the neobank space: Tiago Anderson, economist and founder of Revool (tokenized private credit in agriculture); João Ferreira, Picnic CEO focused on DeFi UX; and Rob, CTO at Pods, which helped the Brazilian Central Bank develop its CBDC. Each came to blockchain through different paths—Tiago reading JP Morgan's vision for on-chain settlement, João discovering programmable systems, and Rob seeing smart contracts eliminate intermediaries. The consensus: crypto-native neobanks fail because they ask users to understand blockchain. Dollar App thrives by hiding it—users think they're buying dollars, not USDC. Cast and Arc raised enormous rounds but growth stalled despite spending on customer acquisition. The Pods team started crypto-focused and learned users need abstraction: no chain names, no slippage warnings, no bridge UI. Account abstraction is helping. Privacy and cross-chain complexity remain unsolved for 2026-2027.
