Circle’s Stroke of Genius/Can Anyone Regulate AI?

John and Glen ruminate on a pair of major events reshuffling the fintech world- The Circle IPO’s impact on venture funding, and the Big Beautiful Bill’s unorthodox approach to throttling AI regulation. Also- John gets “spun out on quantum,” and admits a surprising change of heart regarding his outlook for AI.        
 
Links related to this episode:

• Glen’s blog on the Circle and Chime IPOs: https://www.big-fintech.com/what-the-chime-and-circle-ipos-mean-for-fintech-investment/
  
  
• The Senate alters the House budget provision curtailing states’ ability to regulate AI: https://rollcall.com/2025/06/05/ai-regulation-moratorium-dropped-in-senate-budget-package/
  
  
• Axios’ story about AI’s newfound ability to blackmail: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/23/anthropic-ai-deception-risk
  
  
• CNBC’s take on the Genius Act: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/13/what-the-genius-act-could-mean-for-crypto-and-other-investors.html
  TechCrunch’s recap of Chime’s circuitous path to a successful IPO: https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/12/chime-almost-died-in-2016-turned-down-by-100-vcs-today-it-ipod-at-14-5b/
  
  
• Pitchbook’s take on the inevitability of Chime’s “down round” IPO: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/chimes-ipo-signals-down-rounds-are-here-to-stay 

Join us for our next CU Town Hall- Wednesday July 9 at 3pm ET/Noon PT– for a live and lively interactive conversation tackling the major issues facing credit unions today. Industry developments keep coming fast and furious- the CU Town Hall is the place to make sense of these items together. It’s free to attend, but advance registration is required:  https://www.cutownhall.com/ 

Join us on Bluesky!  @bigfintech.bsky.social;  @154advisors.bsky.social (Glen); @jbfintech.bsky.social (John)

And connect on LinkedIn for insights like the Friday Fintech Five:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/glensarvady/