According to PYMNTS.com, banking giant Citi and media platform PYMNTS have launched a new podcast series titled “Stable State: Straight Talk on Stablecoins and Digital Assets for Corporate Leaders.” The show is co-hosted by PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster and Citi’s Global Head of Digital Assets, Ryan Rugg. Each episode will dissect when and how businesses should use stablecoins, the necessary infrastructure, and the most viable use cases. The podcast will feature guests from across the regulatory, investment, and operational spectrum. As a founding sponsor, Citi will use the platform to engage finance leaders exploring blockchain payments. Furthermore, the series will curate “The Stable State 25,” a list of influential practitioners, with a co-branded special report naming the final 25 individuals slated for publication by the end of 2025.
Cutting Through the Hype
Here’s the thing: the digital asset space is absolutely drowning in noise. Every other day there’s a new token, a new promise, a new revolution. But for a corporate treasurer or CFO, that’s just static. What they need is a clear signal on whether this stuff can actually make their payments faster, cheaper, or more efficient. That’s the explicit gap this podcast is trying to fill. Ryan Rugg’s quote about moving “beyond the buzz” is the entire thesis. It’s a smart, almost defensive move by Citi. They’re not just jumping on a bandwagon; they’re trying to position themselves as the sober, trusted guide in a chaotic market. And let’s be honest, if anyone’s going to get a corporate executive’s ear on financial infrastructure, it’s probably Citi.
The Real Corporate Play
So what’s the endgame here? It’s not really about crypto speculation. Look at the language: “cross-border payments, treasury and other finance workflows.” This is about plumbing. It’s about the boring, critical, multi-trillion-dollar systems that move money around the world. The podcast is essentially a long-form business development tool for Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions division. By hosting these conversations, they’re not just educating the market—they’re subtly shaping it. They’re defining what “practical and compliant” looks like, and guess who’s perfectly positioned to provide those very services? It’s a classic thought leadership strategy, but for a technology that’s still on the fringes of corporate adoption.
Winners, Losers, and The 25 List
This initiative creates clear winners and losers. The winners are the large, regulated entities—like Citi—that can offer a bridge from the old world to the new. They benefit from demystification. The losers are the purely speculative crypto projects with no clear business utility; this “real talk” podcast is basically their antithesis. And then there’s “The Stable State 25” list. Calling it a cohort of practitioners and “not a hype list” is a brilliant bit of marketing. It frames influence not as who has the loudest voice on Twitter, but who is quietly getting stuff done in the back office. By year-end 2025, that report will be a fascinating snapshot of who actually moved the needle. Was it a regulator? A logistics company CFO? That’s the story worth watching.
The Big Picture
Basically, this is a sign of maturation. When a global bank and a major trade publication partner to produce a podcast for Fortune 500 types, the technology is moving past its wild west phase. It’s entering the phase of pilots, ROI calculations, and risk assessments. The podcast itself might be just another piece of content in a crowded field. But its existence, and Citi’s heavyweight backing of it, is a much louder message. It says the industry is getting serious about building, not just trading. And for businesses sitting on the sidelines, that might be the most important signal of all.
