Matthew Graham, Founder and Managing Partner at Ryze Labs | Credit: Ryze Labs / CCN: Hameem Sarwar
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Key Takeaways
Ryze Labs Founder Matty Graham dives into the evolution of crypto culture and the explosive success of stablecoins.
Graham argues that stablecoins are not only a core product-market fit (PMF) within crypto, but one of the most successful business models of the modern era.
In an AI-first future, Graham envisions personalized digital agents (he calls his “Marty”) that will handle everything from buying gifts to managing calendars.
Matthew Graham has been immersed in crypto since its earliest days, long before most knew what a blockchain was.
As the Managing Partner at Ryze Labs, he now backs some of the world’s most ambitious Web3 builders.
With a portfolio that includes names like Solana, LayerZero and Polygon, Ryze has grown from a 2015 tech investment banking platform into a powerhouse of blockchain venture capital.
“Crypto had been on my radar since about 2010… I guess I started to become a little bit of a hobbyist,” he told CCN.
Back in 2013, Graham was cold-emailing prominent Bitcoin enthusiasts near him, hoping to grab a coffee and chat.
Many didn’t respond, “those people are long gone, and I’m still here,” he jokes.
The inflection point came post-Ethereum.
“That was the moment for me when I knew I had to be fully involved in every way,” the Ryze Labs founder says, clarifying that Bitcoin’s libertarian roots didn’t quite resonate.
“I never really identified with like the Bitcoin maximalist Austrian economics, very hardcore libertarian type worldview.”
This outsider view gave Graham a fresh view on early crypto as a real revolution, and like most revolutions, he says, they attract outliers.
“What stood out more than anything else in very early days was a feeling that these people are nuts, to be honest,” Graham told CCN.
“That’s a function of any kind of revolutionary technology or movement,” he said.
He compares early crypto pioneers to Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, and Elon Musk, people who seemed borderline insane until they weren’t.
“Elon Musk without his money is a crazy person, right?”
Stablecoins: Crypto’s Blockbuster
Graham doesn’t hesitate when asked about crypto’s most successful product-market fits (PMFs):
“The first is Bitcoin as digital money… Number two would be stable coins… Number three, basically various types of thinly disguised gambling.”
But it’s stablecoins that he champions most passionately:
“It’s one of the best PMF home runs in modern business history… You look at a company like Tether, that’s one of the most astronomically successful businesses in recent decades by any measure.”
For Graham, the real power of stablecoins lies not in DeFi but in emerging economies battling hyperinflation:
“Overwhelmingly people in situations like that choose stablecoins as their way to not have hyperinflation,” he said, seeing their impact reach far beyond fringe use cases.
“It’s not only tech bros, it’s basically percolated all throughout society where people have figured out how to get onboarded to crypto just because it’s so existentially important to them to have stablecoins,” he said.
Crypto’s Ironic Role
In a twist of geopolitical irony, Graham argues that stablecoins may actually help preserve the global dominance of the U.S. dollar:
“Given how hostile the United States government has been to crypto… one of the best bets for extending the lifespan of USD hegemony may be crypto,” Graham said.
Increasingly, Graham believes there are signs that dominance of the U.S. dollar is “actually quite fragile”
“I would suggest that it’s very substantially more fragile than people think,” he added.
However, despite efforts to promote stablecoins pegged to other assets or currencies, Graham clearly sees how people just want stablecoins to the dollar.
“People want U.S. dollar pegged stablecoins, overwhelmingly.”
Culture Clashes and the Limits of Regulation
While many crypto founders champion decentralization, often putting it above regulation, while Graham offers a realist’s view:
“It’s a little bit unfortunate… the companies and projects… that have made the most sincere and extensive attempts to be compliant have been some of those that have been hammered the most,” he said.
In his view, founders need to think strategically, not morally:
“What I’ve learned… is that if you think of it as a moral issue or you’re doing the right thing… that’s probably not a realistic or valuable or pragmatic framework.”
When comparing crypto and AI regulation, Graham sees cultural tension ahead.
“There’s probably some very, very substantial differences between AI types and crypto types… especially and rightfully so AI towards crypto types,” he said.
But he insists that collaboration is essential.
The Next PMF: AI Agents on Crypto Rails
If stablecoins were crypto’s second act, the Ryze Labs founder believes AI is its third.
“It’s a huge opportunity for crypto to find our next big PMF. I am enormously bullish on this.”
His prediction? AI agents will soon make autonomous decisions and financial transactions:
“They are going to have to be making transactions, microtransactions, whatever it is… this is very naturally a crypto rail situation.”
Forget simple trading bots. Graham envisions deeply personal AI assistants, digital twins, that know you intimately.
He believes it so much that he has actually already named his digital twin — Marty.
Graham believes he will soon be able to ask Marty to go and do his chores, collaborate on things, and do everything he doesn’t want to do.
“Marty, you know everything about me and once you know everything about me, you start to know about the people around me… Marty, what does mom like? Go order some Christmas gifts for mom.”
With access to emails, calendars, and financial accounts, these agents will act like outsourced versions of ourselves, powered by crypto and governed by trust, he said.
LLMs, Privacy, and Power
Graham’s biggest warning? The power of language models knowing us too deeply.
“It is scary if you ask ChatGPT to create a psychological profile of yourself… it absolutely knows you as well as your best friend, maybe better,” he said.
If Graham was asked to give up two weeks of his history on Google or two weeks of his history on ChatGPT, he would choose Google every time.
“Google search history, it’s like very superficial… but ChatGPT could get in my head.”
Still, this invasive capability is also what makes AI so useful.
“That also means that we now have the opportunity to have digital agents or actors or twins that can represent us and help get things done in the digital world.”
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
