Inside the PYUSD's takeover of PayPal with May Zabaneh, VP Crypto
The Defiant - DeFi Podcast7 Marras 2025

Inside the PYUSD's takeover of PayPal with May Zabaneh, VP Crypto

In this conversation, May Zabaneh breaks down PayPal’s move into stablecoins with PYUSD and why it matters for financial inclusion. We explore how PYUSD could lower costs for cross-border payments, deliver faster settlement, and plug directly into PayPal’s existing ecosystem. The discussion covers why PayPal built a proprietary stablecoin, early adoption and real-world use cases, and plans for international expansion. We also examine the role merchants play in crypto acceptance, how DeFi and traditional finance are converging, and why interoperability will be essential in the next phase of digital payments.

Chapters

00:00 PayPal’s Vision for Stablecoins

02:47 Why PYUSD? Rationale and Goals

05:18 Stablecoin Advantages: 24/7, Inclusion, Cross‑Border

08:22 Why Proprietary vs Supporting Others

11:06 Unlocking B2B and Rebuilding On‑Chain

12:20 PYUSD in the PayPal/Venmo Ecosystem

14:21 International Expansion and Global Transfers

17:02 Merchant Fit: Categories, Costs, Declines

19:32 User Segments: Crypto‑Curious to Super Users

23:28 Pay with Crypto: Scaling to Larger Merchants

29:38 PYUSD in DeFi: Open and Multi‑Chain

32:01 Liquidity, Partnerships, and the Three Pillars

35:56 Interoperability and Evolving Roles

39:11 AI x Payments: Agent‑Driven Commerce

40:42 Finding the Flywheel, What’s Next

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