Bitcoin Is More Than Digital Gold | Jesse Pollak

Jesse Pollak argues that crypto’s real product-market fit is no longer just Bitcoin as a store of value, but financial services that are global, 24/7, and low cost. He says Base has moved from experimentation into a focused strategy around trading, payments, lending, and agentic finance, with the clearest demand coming from institutions and consumer apps that want better rails under the hood. In his view, mainstream adoption means Wall Street, banks, and fintechs are all bringing activity onchain, even if that does not always translate into the kind of price action retail crypto holders expected.

He points to tokenized equities, stablecoin banking, and agent payments as the next major growth areas. Pollak says Base is already seeing meaningful volume in tokenized stocks, Bitcoin trading, and borrowing markets, and he expects 2026 to be the year agentic payments emerge and 2027 the year agentic finance becomes real at scale. He also frames Base as complementary to Ethereum and Bitcoin, arguing that both become more useful when smart-contract rails make them more productive and easier to integrate into financial products.