Fintech One-on-One: David Marcus, Co-Founder & CEO of Lightspark

Fintech Nexus

When you stop and think about it, it is kind of crazy that we don't have a global network for moving money instantly and cheaply. The internet is more than 30 years old now and it seems to me that this should be a solved problem by now. But it isn't, at least not yet.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is David Marcus, the CEO and Co-Founder of Lightspark. If David's name sounds familiar that is because he was the leader of the now-defunct Libra/Diem project at Facebook a few years ago. He is passionate about creating a real-time global network for money movement which is why he founded Lightspark.

In this podcast you will learn:

• His fascinating background in tech.
• The thought process that went into the Libra/Diem project at Facebook.
• Why he decided to start Lightspark.
• An explanation of the Lightning Network that sits on top of Bitcoin.
• Why they chose to build their technology for the Lightning Network.
• What Lightspark actually does and who they are working with.
• Who is using their technology today.
• The potential throughput for number of transactions per second.
• How he thinks about solving micro-payments.
• The regulatory challenges that might come with reaching scale.
• Why we should think of what Lightspark is doing as an alternative payments rail.
• Why this is a technology play and nothing really to do with crypto.
• The potential use cases that can be developed.
• How he thinks about programmable money.
• Why it is important that payments systems behave just like the internet (open, real-time and interoperable).
• The different goegraphies where they have clients today.
• How their business model works.
• Why the combination of real-time payments and Lightning is so powerful for the last mile.
• What a future with real-time global payments could mean for commerce.

Connect with David on LinkedIn
Connect with Lightspark on LinkedIn
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