Host Justin Friedman sits down with Sophia Goldberg, Rain’s Head of Payments and founder of Ansa, the branded stored value platform acquired by Rain in 2026. They discuss how combining Ansa’s closed-loop, stored value infrastructure with Rain’s stablecoin-powered open-loop payment rails could change the way global brands build wallets, loyalty programs, and embedded payment experiences.

Sophia explains why branded payments can be much more than the familiar coffee-shop wallet, from marketplaces retaining seller earnings to hotel and travel rewards that work consistently anywhere you go. She argues that stablecoins can collapse much of the complexity of launching financial products in new markets, allowing brands to create more consistent payment and loyalty experiences around the world.

The conversation then turns to agentic commerce and the emergence of AI agents as a new shopper persona. Sophia and Justin unpack the questions this creates around identity, delegated authority, fraud, liability, and payment credentials, and why the payments industry may need to solve them collectively to enable the next era of e-commerce. Sophia explains why competitors are already collaborating on standards through the Agentic Payments Alliance as the industry prepares for the approaching paradigm shift.

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About Crossing the Chasm

Crossing the Chasm is a special series with Rain focused on what it actually takes for stablecoins to become the default for everyday payments. Instead of rehashing benefits or highlighting pilots, the series breaks down the real work behind winning on Main Street, from upgrading payment rails and navigating regulation to embedding stablecoins into products people already use. Through conversations with builders and operators, we explore how tokenized money moves from early adoption to practical, widespread use across businesses and consumers.

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Rain is Building Embedded Financial Services for Your Global Brand