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Jesse Pollak

Head of Base, Coinbase Global

Search every verified Jesse Pollak interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jesse Pollak, creator of Base and Head of Base at Coinbase Global, spoke at TOKEN2049 Singapore on October 7, 2026, where he discussed the growth of tokenized equities on the Base network. He stated that tokenized equities had grown from near zero to over $3.3 billion in the last 18 months, and he described an SEC innovation exemption as a factor in this growth. Pollak highlighted new use cases such as "stock memes," which he described as meme coins paired with stocks, and noted that Base has seen millions of dollars in originations within 12 days of launching a related product. He also compared on-chain borrowing against stocks favorably to legacy systems, citing 24/7 availability, instant settlement, and global eligibility, while claiming legacy rates are typically 8–10%. In a September 1, 2026 podcast episode of Fintech X AI, Pollak discussed the potential for crypto to serve as a payment rail for AI agents. He argued that agents, being software-native, are better suited to transact via programmable wallets and stablecoins than through human-oriented systems like credit card forms. He acknowledged that agents would also use fiat but said crypto offers a more natural interface for software. When asked about the timeline for widespread agentic payments, Pollak estimated it would occur over the next 5–10 years, noting that the agentic adoption curve could be faster than the earlier crypto adoption curve.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“We think that this is going to be another supercycle like stablecoins, which have brought hundreds of billions of dollars onto the crypto asset platform over the last 5 years. And in the last 18 months, we are at the very beginning of that. We've gone from basically zero to more than 3.3 billion dollars of tokenized equities all running on this platform. And it's not going to slow down. I don't know if folks saw, but”

“In the legacy world, if you wanted to borrow against your stocks, it would take days. You'd have to sign a really long form that you probably don't understand, and it's only available to a few people with a few assets in a few jurisdictions. And it's pretty expensive on top of that. You're talking rates in the 8 to 9 to 10% today. On chain, it's a totally different picture. You have 24/7 borrowing. It's instant. Anyo”

“I think 5-10 years. I think 5 years might be a little overly optimistic. Although, if it's, you know, if 5 years the agentic payments are moving that fast. But, I think the agentic curve could be faster than the the crypto curve. I think there's a question of like how much does the agentic curve just end up bundling crypto? And And it they just like rise together because it's so much easier for agents to transact. Bu”

“I think that you'll have agents doing things in fiat as well. What we're seeing on base, I think with Coinbase, is that agents, their native language is software. And so, the really powerful thing about crypto is that it's like software money. And so, if I'm an agent, I'm like reaching for a tool, and one option is like I can go fill in a form with like a credit card that like someone has to go and provision for me, ”

“I think as we talk to builders, one of the most pernicious realities of the last decade has been that it's just way too hard to build in crypto in the United States. And that means that builders are spending more money on lawyers than they are on engineering and product. And that's kind of like an untenable reality for being the place where this innovation happens in the future. And so, I think from an importance per”

“The pie is just growing. We're upgrading the whole global financial system and seeing other folks come in and say, 'Hey, wow, what base has been doing for 2 and 1/2 years and you know, the billions of dollars of assets and billions of dollars of volume on base. That looks pretty good. Let's figure out how to contribute to that effort as well.' That gets me excited. I'm also someone who always loves a little bit of co”

Other executives at Coinbase Global

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