Citi and PYMNTS Launch ‘From the Block’ Podcast: Straight Talk on Digital Assets

PYMNTS and Citigroup are launching a weekly podcast series aimed at giving corporate leaders practical guidance on stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. The first episode will debut Tuesday (Jan. 13).

Called “From the Block: Straight Talk on Stablecoins and Digital Assets for Corporate Leaders,” the show will be co-hosted by PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster and Citi Global Head of Digital Assets, Treasury and Trade Solutions Ryan Rugg. Each episode will examine when and how businesses should use stablecoins, what infrastructure is required, and which use cases and business models are most likely to succeed. Guests will include regulators, investors, operators, innovators and researchers shaping the future of corporate payments.

Webster said the goal is to separate signal from noise as companies evaluate digital asset tools for cross-border payments, treasury and other finance workflows.

“I think it’s so important that we move beyond the buzz,” Rugg said. “There’s so much hype right now around digital assets, and I think the industry really needs to ask what is real, what is not? How will this impact their companies and growth for the future? That’s really what ‘From the Block’ is designed to do. It’s designed to provide the real talk about what’s relevant for their business.”

Webster said the series grew out of an off-stage conversation with Rugg that underscored the need for straightforward, practitioner-level discussion.

“The conversation that we had was so authentic and genuine that we both decided we needed some other way to elevate the conversation and invite others to participate,” Rugg said. “And that is really the genesis of ‘From the Block.’ This technology, at its core, is collaborative. It’s meant to bring disparate parties together and inform them. I think the series will be very impactful.”

As co-host and founding sponsor, Citi will use the collaboration to engage corporate finance leaders who are testing blockchain-based rails while emphasizing practical, compliant deployment.

Episodes will be broadcast on LinkedIn and distributed on podcast platforms afterward. The format is designed to give chief financial officers, treasurers and product leaders an on-ramp to the people and playbooks shaping stablecoin adoption while providing an ongoing forum to test assumptions as regulation, technology and market structure evolve.

Explore more conversations like this on the PYMNTS Podcast page.