Scaling Trust in Crypto: Insights from Consensus Miami | "What The Fraud?" Podcast

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Hi, guys. We're here in Miami for Consensus 2026. For a few days, the conference becomes the center of the crypto and digital asset world. But beyond big announcements and bold predictions, something more important is happening. The infrastructure is being built, the rules are being tested, and the risks, from fraud to misuse, are evolving just as fast as the technology itself.

Welcome to the 'What The Fraud?' Podcast by Sumsub, where we go behind the headlines to understand how fraud actually works and who is fighting it. I'm Anastasia, Sales Director for Americas at Sumsub, and for this special episode, we're coming to you straight from the Sumsub booth here at Consensus Miami. Throughout the day, we sat down with leaders from Fireblocks, Citi, Kite AI, Amena Bank, Polygon, and Kraken—the people building, scaling, and securing the future of digital finance.

We talked about what's actually happening behind the scenes, from institutional adoption and tokenization to AI-driven systems and the changing nature of risk. So let's get into it.

Alongside financial infrastructure, another shift is happening, one driven by AI. We're moving from systems that assist users to systems that can act on their behalf, making decisions, executing transactions, and interacting with financial networks autonomously. That shift brings opportunity, but also entirely new risks.

With me today is Lei Lei, VP and Global Head of Business Development and Strategy at Kite AI. Lei Lei, welcome to the podcast.

Lei Lei, Kite AI

LEI LEI: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm incredibly excited to be on the podcast.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: How is Miami? How is Consensus?

LEI LEI: It's a lot of fun. Great turnout. Even at the beginning of the conference, there's a huge crowd, so you know that payments and tokenization are huge topics here.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Great. I want to start by talking about the intersection of AI and blockchain. For someone outside of this space, what problem are you guys actually trying to solve there?

LEI LEI: Yeah, absolutely. AI is everywhere, and it's hugely powerful. Tons of people use ChatGPT and Claude every day. It can do a lot of research and reasoning and make your day-to-day tasks hugely easier, increasing your productivity. But I think what people haven't really realized is that there is a lot of execution capability. One of the big roadblocks is that for an agent to actually execute, complete a transaction, or buy things for you, there needs to be a lot of guardrails in place for you to trust it with your wallet or money.

We basically launched a vertically integrated product that brings a lot of that trust and those guardrails into a product we call Kite Agent Passport, which allows you to spend within limits. You, as a human, set how much you want to spend, if you want to purchase something on one of the major e-commerce sites, and how long you have to do that. You can always hit the kill switch if it's not what you wanted.

I think having that trust embedded at the infrastructure level is something that we think about every single day and is hugely important for us to really scale.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: I'm glad that you touched on AI agents acting on our behalf, which again sounds futuristic, but what's actually happening right now that most people haven't really noticed?

LEI LEI: Explorer 2, which is one of the major protocols, already has 100 million transactions happening. If you look at agentic commerce and agentic payments, back in 2024 there were about 20 different companies building in that space.

Fast-forward two years later, and there are over 500 companies in the space. That's 20x growth in two years. Some of the major players out there, whether it's Google, Stripe, Coinbase, or PayPal, have all been very focused on payments infrastructure.

A lot of major merchants like Amazon and Shopify are also actively looking at how they think about their business with consumers and businesses having agents execute and buy products through a different user experience, but in a trusted format. They're rethinking shopping as well as trading and investment experiences.

It's definitely happening. Recently there was also news that OpenAI and Anthropic formed major partnerships with large private equity firms. The key part there is that these firms have thousands of portfolio companies, giving major LLM providers a great testing ground for user data across industries like healthcare, finance, and fintech.

I think that's the key part to think about—how do we unlock something that's enterprise-ready and trustworthy for day-to-day consumers like you and me, so that I can go onto these platforms and actually complete many of the normal things I do every day?

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: But with all this conversation around AI and blockchain together, and all these partnerships, what's the part of the conversation that frustrates you the most?

LEI LEI: That's a great question. I think we can't think about trust, compliance, and security after the fact. It has to be built in from day one.

At a lot of companies, I often hear things like, "Let's get adoption, let's get users, and then let's think about KYC. Then let's think about how to reverse transactions or hold people accountable."

That's really frustrating to me. That's why we're thinking about this from day one at the infrastructure level. We're thinking about how to build things for machine speed and how to account for the fact that many agent transactions are currently API calls or research actions that may only cost cents on the dollar.

That's difficult when using traditional payment rails that may charge 3%, for example. I really think it's about preparing from day one for this different kind of world that's coming.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: And in the world you're describing, with autonomous AI agents operating on our behalf, let's say something does go wrong in a way nobody expected. Who do you think will be responsible?

LEI LEI: Great question. We are still in the early stages. It's a very nascent part of the industry, and there are a lot of hurdles to overcome.

Agents can perform transactions, but ultimately it's still a human or a company that's liable when things go wrong. If I buy something, who do I return it to? How do disputes work? What happens if the product isn't what I wanted?

That's all about the consumer experience. Again, it goes back to trust and user experience. It has to be better than the current way of shopping or investing. It has to provide additional value, and I need to be sure I can get my money back if things don't go as planned.

That's why there are a lot of smart people thinking about how to unlock this for everyday society.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: As we're coming to the last question—and because we focus on fraud on this podcast—where do you see the biggest potential for misuse as AI and blockchain start to work together?

LEI LEI: You've probably seen it already: there have been a lot of hacks in the blockchain industry. That's definitely an area we're concerned about as well.

AI has made certain things easier. There was a really great paper published by A16Z discussing experiments where an agent examined vulnerabilities in systems and explored ways around them.

Of course, LLMs won't directly tell you how to exploit something because they're not allowed to do that, but there is still a lot of information you can gather. Security is absolutely top of mind for us.

We work with a lot of external third parties, and our security officer is constantly thinking through all these potential scenarios. Claude has also launched new security-focused tools that help as well.

I think this is an incredibly important area, and security is going to be huge in the AI world. I would definitely encourage traditional security companies to look into this space because it's one of the building blocks needed to reach the next level of trust and scale.

E-commerce is projected to become a $1 trillion market within the next five years, and to truly capitalize on that opportunity, we need to build the foundation correctly.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Well, thank you very much, Lei Lei, for your time. I enjoyed this conversation, and hopefully, together we can help build a more secure AI-driven future. Thank you, and enjoy Consensus and Miami.

LEI LEI: Okay. Thanks so much.

Mayur Gupta, Kraken

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Trust, behavior, and perception ultimately decide whether crypto goes mainstream or stays niche. And nobody thinks about that more carefully than the people responsible for actually growing these platforms. I'm joined by Mayur Gupta, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Kraken. Mayur, welcome.

MAYUR GUPTA: Thank you. Thanks, Anastasia, for having us.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: How is Consensus going for you and for Kraken?

MAYUR GUPTA: Going very well. I live here, so this is my neighborhood, so I love being here whenever Consensus comes. Our CEO Arjun is here too, so I'm excited to listen to him speak on the platform, along with many of the Krakenites. So yeah, we love Consensus.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: I want to start with your role at Kraken. You're responsible for growth and marketing across a global user base. What actually drives someone to trust and start using crypto today, from your perspective?

MAYUR GUPTA: There's not a singular use case. I'll answer two questions. One is what gets someone to try crypto, and then why they pick Kraken, because many of them do.

I think crypto use cases vary so much based on who you are, what stage of life you're in, and what part of the world you're in as well. It's one of the things that's evolving rapidly. People used to think, "Crypto is only meant for scammers. Crypto is only meant for people trying to get rich fast."

But if you go outside the bubble we all live in in the US or UK, crypto is actually a platform and a movement used for survival in many countries.

If you're in a country going through war, massive inflation, or corruption, people are holding stablecoins not to speculate, but to preserve and protect what they own.

If you're in the US and sending money back home to Mexico, India, or somewhere else, this is now the fastest and most seamless way to do it. You're not waiting two or three days or paying $15 or $20. Your family receives the money instantly.

What I love and appreciate most is that the infrastructure and technology have evolved so much that there are now real human use cases and utility for crypto. Through platforms like Kraken, if you're using a Kraken card, you can travel around the world without worrying about forex or conversions.

Different utilities and use cases are bringing people into the ecosystem.

And one last thing on Kraken. We've been around for 15 years. We've built credibility through our actions and values. We've fought for the mission. Alongside that, we've evolved from being a crypto exchange focused on trading during our first 10 to 12 years into a multi-asset, multi-product, end-to-end financial infrastructure.

We now offer services similar to a neobank, like the Kraken card. You can trade equities on our platform, not just crypto. You can hold stablecoins. We are also making our infrastructure available to intermediaries and neobanks like bunq in Europe, enabling them to offer crypto trading to their users while leveraging the systems we've built for our direct clients.

There's a lot happening, but it all ladders up to our mission of driving financial freedom, where access and choice become native rather than a bolt-on.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Great. You obviously mentioned that you have millions of users globally on your platform. What do people get wrong about crypto that surprises you most right now?

MAYUR GUPTA: There are still a lot of misconceptions about crypto, especially among people who aren't yet using these platforms. Once they're in, there is hopefully enough education and onboarding to guide them through the journey.

The technology is incredible, but it has two sides. There's the casino side of crypto, focused on speculation, meme coins, altcoins, and volatility.

But then there's the science and substance underneath, which isn't as exciting or flashy, but that's the real substance of this movement. That's what's leading to innovations like stablecoins, tokenized equities, and tokenized real-world assets.

What surprises me is that many people still think crypto is only for hiding assets, black money, or scams. In reality, it's often the opposite. Fiat currency is fungible and difficult to trace. But if something is on-chain and recorded on a blockchain, it is traceable. At some point, when you connect it to something KYC-related, you can trace where that asset is.

There are still misconceptions, but it's not the user's fault. It's up to builders and early innovators like us to educate people. That's why, as a marketing and growth organization at Kraken and Payward, we focus heavily on education and storytelling around the utility and substance of crypto, not just hype and FOMO.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: I also wanted to talk a little bit about another buzzword we hear a lot here: AI. AI is changing how platforms understand users, but it's also changing how bad actors target them. From where you sit, which side is moving faster?

MAYUR GUPTA: That's a great question. Everyone talks about AI taking over the world, but I don't think it's about taking over. I think it will make the world faster, leaner, and smarter.

There are a lot of moving parts, and we'll see where things go over the next few weeks, months, and years. But one thing is certain: we are now living in a natively AI-driven world.

Anyone who lived through the last 20 years remembers the digital transformation era. We used to constantly talk about "digital," and now we don't anymore because it's just embedded in everything. AI will become the same. In a few years, we probably won't even say the word AI because everything will inherently be AI-driven. I actually think crypto will become similar. Blockchain and crypto infrastructure will become native parts of finance.

Coming back to your question about whether bad actors are moving faster than good actors—I'm from India, so it reminds me of a Bollywood movie where people ask why the cops can't move faster than criminals. The answer is usually because law enforcement is bound by rules and compliance, while bad actors are not.

In any major technological shift like AI, you'll always have all kinds of players and actors. But what's exciting is that responsible platforms like Kraken are evolving rapidly to become AI-native organizations.

There are two parts to this. One is how we evolve internally. The second is how we create smarter and more seamless experiences for our users so they can make better decisions.

Good actors will continue leveraging technology for fraud prevention, security, and detection. Those principles have been foundational for Kraken since day one. Security and trust are part of our DNA and something we invest in every day. We have dedicated teams around the world focused on staying ahead as the technology evolves.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Definitely. I think trust and compliance are extremely important. As crypto adoption accelerates, fraud grows alongside it. From your perspective as Chief Marketing Officer, how does that concern change the way you build a brand and connect with clients compared to other industries you've worked in?

MAYUR GUPTA: I fundamentally believe fraud is a human issue. It's not unique to crypto or AI. Fraud exists everywhere, including the offline world. It's talked about more in crypto because we're challenging incumbent systems that have existed for over a hundred years. The balance of power is shifting.

But what's more important is trust. You don't build trust through words or ads. You build trust through actions, especially during difficult moments.

Crypto has gone through many ups and downs. During the last bear market, a lot of things collapsed, and there were bad actors scaling rapidly. But good actors like Kraken kept building. We kept reinforcing trust.

There was always a segment of people who believed in the substance of crypto, not just the volatility, and they stayed. Now we've bounced back. That's the responsibility brands like Kraken have. We must continue focusing on the foundation. We were the first platform to provide proof of reserves before anyone else. Over the past several quarters, we've also publicly shared our financials despite being a private company.

That reflects our values and ethos. Those are the things that build trust with users, investors, partners, and the broader ecosystem. Everyone in this space needs to continue doing that if we want movements like crypto and AI to succeed long term.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: That's great to hear. Thank you very much, Mayur, for this conversation. We'll see you around. Enjoy Consensus and Miami.

MAYUR GUPTA: Thank you. Thanks, Anastasia.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Thank you.

Larry Wade, PayPal

As crypto moves closer to everyday payments, regulation stops being something in the background. It becomes part of how products are actually built and scaled. For companies like PayPal, compliance isn't just about managing risk anymore. It's starting to shape how innovation happens in the first place.

With me today is Larry Wade, Global Head of Crypto Compliance and Regulatory Relations at PayPal. Larry, welcome to the Podcast.

LARRY WADE: Thank you so much. Really excited to be here.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: How is Consensus going for you and for PayPal?

LARRY WADE: We really brought the tribe, so it's exciting to have all the team members you're typically talking to on Teams or Zoom all in the same room. We're really excited and love getting the word out about what we're trying to do.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Yeah, it's buzzing today. We're loving it.

LARRY WADE: Absolutely.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: I want to start with one of your sessions, Larry. In your session, you talked about moving from compliance to catalyst. What does that shift look like in practice?

LARRY WADE: Yeah, it's interesting. I like to say that I am a "how do we get to yes" type of risk and compliance professional, rather than a "no, convince me" type.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Nice.

LARRY WADE: Especially in this industry, you need to think creatively, leverage best practices, and apply reasonably conservative regulatory requirements, even if they're not directly applicable to that area, and then come to a place of, "All right, what can we actually do?"

I really look at compliance as an enabler, especially now. Honestly, the tech and engineering teams across the industry are doing a fantastic job. Now it's about how you merge this Web2 traditional world from a merchant and traffic perspective with the Web3 world, and you have to do that in a very safe and sound manner. Using compliance as that catalyst to launch products that you can harden and scale is extremely important right now.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: You've also been involved in launching products like PYUSD. What actually changes when bringing something like that to the market from a regulatory perspective?

LARRY WADE: Absolutely. From a PayPal perspective, we have the largest federally regulated stablecoin, so that alone creates a different risk appetite for the organization, even from a reputational risk perspective.

Think about it. PYUSD on the PayPal platform gives us more control, but PYUSD is an open-source stablecoin. It can exist in a DeFi ecosystem and be utilized by developers, and if something goes wrong, PayPal's name is still attached to it.

From a reputational perspective, that's extremely important. And if something creates reputational risk, I will be getting calls from regulators around the world. That's something you always have to think about. There are also nuances specific to the digital asset ecosystem. For example, if someone sends in a stablecoin that we don't support, that's a uniquely crypto-related risk.

I like to say that 80% of the tried-and-true risk and compliance best practices that PayPal is known for can still be leveraged. The remaining 20% is different, changes constantly, and sometimes even changes by chain.

That's also the fun part. But when you bring PYUSD into an ecosystem like PayPal, it's about making sure we don't hurt the core business, that we enhance the existing business, and that we create a better experience for our merchant and consumer partners.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Great. Where have you seen regulation actually force a better product decision—something that wouldn't have happened without compliance pressure?

LARRY WADE: Sensible regulation is essential because it creates minimum requirements and rules of the road for all participants. You don't want the Wild West. I would say the biggest regulatory shift happened here in the US when the GENIUS Act passed.

Suggested read: Global Stablecoin Compliance: GENIUS Act, MiCA, Hong Kong, Singapore, and More Key Rules

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Yeah.

LARRY WADE: Even though we don't yet have finalized rule-making, just having it pass was a signal to companies that are not natively crypto-focused to begin engaging and saying, "Okay, this is real, and we can actually discuss it with senior leadership and the board." That was absolutely critical.

In addition, MiCA in the EU and the UK, leaning in with new proposed rule-making, are also very important. When you see major governments focusing on this space, that's a positive signal, and it enables more responsible building.

Suggested read: MiCA Regulation and EU Crypto Rules: What Changes in 2026

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: That's great to hear. And as you said, having these global frameworks developing across different regions really helps companies move forward.

LARRY WADE: What's fascinating about the global component is that the engineering and product teams are building incredible things. But once you move into a value-transfer environment involving governments and regulators, they look at things very differently.

You almost need a bespoke approach for every region because different governments and regulators have different mandates. That's why I constantly focus on best practices. I don't want to reinvent the wheel every time. I want a solid baseline that I can then tailor to the specific goals and regulatory expectations of each jurisdiction.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Definitely. And as crypto becomes more embedded in everyday payments, which risks do you think regulators are still underestimating?

LARRY WADE: Everything ultimately comes down to safety and soundness. This idea of complete anonymity isn't really how things work anymore. There are great partners helping with wallet attribution and helping regulators understand that a self-hosted wallet may not belong to a PayPal customer directly. Maybe it's connected to one of our merchants through our pay-with-crypto product.

We can't necessarily KYC that person directly, but I often explain to partners that you don't KYC a prepaid debit card either. In this case, however, we can at least understand the history associated with the wallet.

That's something uniquely native to the blockchain ecosystem. A lot of what I do is storytelling—explaining that everything we already do from a compliance perspective is still happening, plus additional safeguards and visibility.

When you get into core commerce flows, there are many stakeholders involved: consumers sending money cross-border or checking out, merchants receiving settlements, and others. Each group has different risk appetites and different levels of comfort with the technology.

So I constantly emphasize safety, soundness, and the protections people already know and trust from PayPal, while explaining how we're enhancing them.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Definitely. And one last question for you, Larry. What's one change that would make it significantly easier to scale digital assets within companies like PayPal?

LARRY WADE: One simple change, and hopefully this eventually happens, would be around how stablecoin transactions are treated from a tax perspective.

Technically, a stablecoin transaction can require tax documentation from a user even though there is no capital gain or loss involved. That's just additional paperwork, and we really see stablecoins as payment instruments. Being able to make that process as frictionless and seamless as using fiat currency would be a huge unlock. So fingers crossed on that one.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Fingers crossed. Larry, thank you very much for stopping by and for this conversation. Really enjoyed it. Enjoy Miami and enjoy Consensus.

LARRY WADE: Thank you. You too. Appreciate it.

ANASTASIA SHVECHKOVA: Thank you.

That's it for our time here at Consensus Miami. Across all these conversations, one thing is clear: this space isn't just about innovation, it's about building systems people can actually trust. Thanks for listening to this special episode of 'What The Fraud?' If you enjoyed this, don't forget to follow the podcast.

And if you want to learn more about how Sumsub helps businesses stay ahead of fraud and compliance challenges, head to Sumsub.com. See you next time, and stay safe.