TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast — Episode #711
Title: How to Turn Any App Into a Bitcoin On-Ramp with Harsha Goli
Host: Marty Bent
Guest: Harsha Goli, Founder of Magnolia
Date: February 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Marty Bent interviews Harsha Goli, a seasoned developer and the founder of Magnolia. They explore how Magnolia seeks to make it easy for any application to be a seamless Bitcoin on-ramp, discuss the evolving landscape of Bitcoin infrastructure, and dive into broader industry themes—including compliance, custody, stablecoins, the impact of recent regulation, and the transformative role of AI in fintech and company building. The discussion is energetic, honest, and loaded with both technical and market insights.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Harsha Goli’s Journey in Bitcoin (02:01–07:38)

Harsha’s Background:
- Started in the Bitcoin space in 2015 as a sophomore in college.
- Early interest in open-source financial tech.
- Early days involved hackathons and improving GitHub projects.
- Worked at GE Power, then BitPay (notably on SegWit2.x tooling/testnets), later startup consulting, then a pivotal role at Fold (backend/wallet/Lightning/launching Fold’s debit card).
Career Progression:
- Experience at Lightning Labs, Voltage (product management), Swan (Lightning/data team/product mgmt).
- Saw firsthand the challenges for smaller companies to build reliable Bitcoin infrastructure.
Big Insight:
- Despite Bitcoin’s “new and shiny” tech, mass adoption lags due to difficult, fragmented, expensive on-ramping processes for users and businesses.

Quote:

"The problem always was that in order to actually get Bitcoin, you could only go to reliably a couple of big exchanges. And if you were a small company...you had to do so much, and you had to rely on sometimes really sketchy partners." — Harsha Goli (06:39)

2. Magnolia: Mission, Architecture & Compliance (07:39–15:53)

Magnolia’s Goal:
- Empower apps and businesses of any size to natively offer Bitcoin purchases and related finance features—without users needing to leave for a third-party like Coinbase.
Big Problem:
- Existing integrations are slow, expensive (e.g., $20–30k/month minimums), and regulatory burdens are daunting.
Technical Approach:
- Robust enterprise wallet system.
- Double-entry accounting ledger.
- Clean, extensible API.
Compliance Challenge:
- Building relationships in banking—literally shifting personal branding.
- Deep involvement with compliance experts (special shoutout: Haley Lennon, ex-Fold counsel).
Key Learning:
- Success in compliance often relies on strong, reputable introductions and proactive, clear communication with regulators.

Quote:

"After like, honestly, a large number of conferences and conversations, we managed to find a lot of really healthy inroads into the banking world with really good compliance folks at our backs too." — Harsha Goli (12:10)

3. Ideal Customer & Use Cases (13:39–15:53)

Target Market:
- Bitcoin businesses with substantial retail users and those wanting to monetize via banking and on/off ramps.
- High demand from non-custodial lending platforms, wallets, and businesses seeking U.S./EU market access.
Immediate Focus:
- Enable platforms to convert stablecoins directly to fiat for users—especially supporting Bitcoin-backed lending.

Quote:

"Our ideal customer is any kind of Bitcoin business that's got a high retail audience... and anyone who's looking to access the US and EU financial markets." — Harsha Goli (15:26)

4. The Evolving Stablecoin Narrative (17:08–23:17)

Shifting Use Cases:
- Stablecoins are breaking out from trading to utility for real-world usage (education, property, daily spending), especially in developing regions.
- Regulatory landscapes changing, especially with the "Genius Bill" in the U.S.
Artificial Demand Concern:
- U.S. pushes stablecoin adoption to bolster T-bill demand, possibly creating forced demand scenarios.
New Utility:
- Real use among Bitcoin-backed loan recipients who want fiat liquidity.

Quote:

"People are implementing stablecoins everywhere and seeing where they fit... what's sticking quite well is the concept of—okay, everyone's got some amount of Bitcoin they want to take out loans against." — Harsha Goli (19:33)

5. Lessons Learned: Prime Trust & Security Failures (23:17–29:52)

The Prime Trust Debacle:
- Fold originally integrated with Prime Trust; later, catastrophic operational errors led to massive customer loss (lost private keys, operational segregation issues).
Magnolia’s Model:
- Deeply integrated compliance, operations, and engineering—no silos.
- Highly segregated key management (multi-custodian, multi-server, clear separation of withdrawal vs. deposit controls).
- Compliance policies are extensive and proactively shared with partners and regulators.

Quote:

"The compliance folks, the operation folks, and the engineering folks... cannot operate independently. They need to constantly talk." — Harsha Goli (24:50)

6. Regulatory & Licensing Strategies (30:54–36:11)

Smart Compliance:
- Regulators mostly focused on preventing overleverage/rehypothecation and clear, understandable documentation.
- Magnolia leverages partner bank licenses to quickly reach all states and EU/US without waiting on all paperwork.
Banking Product Announcement:
- Magnolia is launching an API-based full banking service for app developers: spin up real bank accounts, do fiat-to-Bitcoin or Lightning instantly.
- U.S. launch in all major states; EU capabilities coming soon.

Quote:

"You can just implement our API into existing infrastructure and turn any application into a full-fledged bank... that's huge. That's what I wish I had five years ago." — Harsha Goli (33:14)

7. The AI Revolution in Fintech & Operations (36:11–47:10)

AI Drives Efficiency:
- Magnolia slashed KYB (Know Your Business) onboarding from six weeks to less than one, thanks to AI.
- Differentiated use: Engineering, compliance, business docs, and lead generation automated via AI agents.
AI Tools:
- ClaudeBot, Ralph Wiggum loop, interaction (Telegram bot), custom Chrome/Twitter AI lead generation.
Security Caution:
- High attention to PII/data segregation in AI usage—anticipation of widespread industry hacks as less-careful companies integrate AI.
Changing Company Building:
- Founder “agency” is even more valuable; creative, driven individuals will thrive with low headcount and high productivity.

Quote:

"The financial system should not be locked out to people who are building it... AI really does supercharge folks." — Harsha Goli (36:44)

"I've always been against hiring as a growth metric... AI is going to really be able to supercharge powerful operators." — Harsha Goli (38:07)

8. AI & The Enterprise Adoption Dilemma (51:00–60:56)

Job Market & AI:
- Displacement is inevitable, but historical analogies (e.g., power drill vs. manual tools) show economic output increases and new jobs emerge.
- Real question: Will enterprise pick up the bill and find enough value to justify the existing AI cost structure, or will there be a bubble pop?
Tech Cycles:
- Mirroring earlier booms and corrections in technologies, a correction could delay mainstream adoption, but enterprise demand is key.

Quote:

"Economic displacement is a very normal part of any kind of healthy economy... all it means is, you gotta switch gears, do something else. But the economic output of an individual does compound." — Harsha Goli (53:40)

9. The State of Bitcoin: Technology, Markets, and 2026 Trends (60:57–70:39)

Layers of Growth:
- At the enterprise level: focus remains on Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
- Legally: Tied to stablecoins and U.S. dollar hegemony battles.
- Technically: Innovation (Lightning, ARK, Spark, covenants) continues, though rarely mainstreamed.
Magnolia’s Pragmatic Focus:
- Targeting where the “bigger splashes” occur: price-based tooling, seamless onboarding/conversions for both individuals and businesses.
Emerging Narrative:
- Interoperability between layer twos is increasing; killer apps may emerge from behind-the-scenes tech, not consumer branding.

Quote:

"The value of bitcoin has always been the actual buy, sell price of bitcoin. People are trying to take advantage of that in really interesting ways..." — Harsha Goli (61:28)

"I think fundamentally... now more than ever, the barrier [to building] is lowered—and I think that's fantastic, frankly, for innovation as a whole." — Harsha Goli (48:39)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On mass adoption:

"If you're not paying attention, you probably should be. Probably should be. Probably should be." — Harsha Goli (00:18)
On technical vs. operational risks:

"Prime Trust wasn't hacked... they ended up losing private keys... people were depositing money into a black hole." — Harsha Goli (24:14)
On product-market fit and iteration:

"All these applications should be able to take someone's money and give them Bitcoin. Right. Instead of shoving them off to Coinbase or something." — Harsha Goli (10:31)
On compliance & banking:

"Compliance is not that complicated; it’s about who you know, and moral accountability." — Harsha Goli (13:01)

Timestamps for Key Segments

Harsha’s background & career journey: 02:01–07:38
Why Magnolia? The industry problem: 07:40–11:03
Building Magnolia: technical and compliance realities: 11:03–13:39
Customer profile & stablecoin use cases: 13:39–15:53
State of stablecoins, genius bill, real-world utility: 17:08–23:17
Prime Trust lessons, security/compliance best practices: 23:17–29:52
Banking product launch, licensing, expansion: 31:53–36:11
AI in fintech, compliance, and operations: 36:11–47:10
AI, jobs, macro, and the future of enterprise adoption: 51:00–60:56
Current state of Bitcoin & future directions: 60:57–70:39
Closing thoughts & Magnolia’s customer-first vision: 70:39–72:23

Closing Thoughts from Harsha (70:40–72:05)

"What we're trying to do is just make it easy to get banked… create as much financial tooling as possible for the builders… If there's something that you would like to see that you don't think we have, reach out, maybe there's a way we can do it… Even if you just want to say hi. I love chatting with people in bitcoin. Y'all are my people." — Harsha Goli

Final Takeaways

For Developers/Builders: Magnolia is actively lowering the barrier for app-based Bitcoin onboarding, with robust compliance, deep technical chops, and a customer-first attitude.
For Industry Watchers: This episode is packed with insight into how the foundations for the next generation of Bitcoin financial services are being built—focusing on pragmatic solutions and security.
For Entrepreneurs: The integration of AI + Bitcoin is accelerating, especially in lean, high-agency teams—don't sleep on the new toolbox.
For Bitcoiners: The future success of Bitcoin still relies on making it easier for ordinary people and businesses to connect to the network directly—Magnolia aims to be the bridge.

Listen for:

Deep dives on infrastructural lessons learned
Real talk on compliance (not just tech!)
Inside look at how AI is really used in modern fintech startups
Big, bold vision for bringing "banking-as-a-service" for Bitcoin to the masses

Contact:

Interested in integrating Magnolia? Reach out to Harsha Goli via Magnolia’s channels.

"Peace and Love, Freaks." — Marty Bent (72:29)

Episode Overview

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Harsha Goli’s Journey in Bitcoin (02:01–07:38)

Harsha’s Background:
- Started in the Bitcoin space in 2015 as a sophomore in college.
- Early interest in open-source financial tech.
- Early days involved hackathons and improving GitHub projects.
- Worked at GE Power, then BitPay (notably on SegWit2.x tooling/testnets), later startup consulting, then a pivotal role at Fold (backend/wallet/Lightning/launching Fold’s debit card).
Career Progression:
- Experience at Lightning Labs, Voltage (product management), Swan (Lightning/data team/product mgmt).
- Saw firsthand the challenges for smaller companies to build reliable Bitcoin infrastructure.
Big Insight:
- Despite Bitcoin’s “new and shiny” tech, mass adoption lags due to difficult, fragmented, expensive on-ramping processes for users and businesses.

Quote:

"The problem always was that in order to actually get Bitcoin, you could only go to reliably a couple of big exchanges. And if you were a small company...you had to do so much, and you had to rely on sometimes really sketchy partners." — Harsha Goli (06:39)

2. Magnolia: Mission, Architecture & Compliance (07:39–15:53)

Magnolia’s Goal:
- Empower apps and businesses of any size to natively offer Bitcoin purchases and related finance features—without users needing to leave for a third-party like Coinbase.
Big Problem:
- Existing integrations are slow, expensive (e.g., $20–30k/month minimums), and regulatory burdens are daunting.
Technical Approach:
- Robust enterprise wallet system.
- Double-entry accounting ledger.
- Clean, extensible API.
Compliance Challenge:
- Building relationships in banking—literally shifting personal branding.
- Deep involvement with compliance experts (special shoutout: Haley Lennon, ex-Fold counsel).
Key Learning:
- Success in compliance often relies on strong, reputable introductions and proactive, clear communication with regulators.

Quote:

"After like, honestly, a large number of conferences and conversations, we managed to find a lot of really healthy inroads into the banking world with really good compliance folks at our backs too." — Harsha Goli (12:10)

3. Ideal Customer & Use Cases (13:39–15:53)

Target Market:
- Bitcoin businesses with substantial retail users and those wanting to monetize via banking and on/off ramps.
- High demand from non-custodial lending platforms, wallets, and businesses seeking U.S./EU market access.
Immediate Focus:
- Enable platforms to convert stablecoins directly to fiat for users—especially supporting Bitcoin-backed lending.

Quote:

"Our ideal customer is any kind of Bitcoin business that's got a high retail audience... and anyone who's looking to access the US and EU financial markets." — Harsha Goli (15:26)

4. The Evolving Stablecoin Narrative (17:08–23:17)

Shifting Use Cases:
- Stablecoins are breaking out from trading to utility for real-world usage (education, property, daily spending), especially in developing regions.
- Regulatory landscapes changing, especially with the "Genius Bill" in the U.S.
Artificial Demand Concern:
- U.S. pushes stablecoin adoption to bolster T-bill demand, possibly creating forced demand scenarios.
New Utility:
- Real use among Bitcoin-backed loan recipients who want fiat liquidity.

Quote:

"People are implementing stablecoins everywhere and seeing where they fit... what's sticking quite well is the concept of—okay, everyone's got some amount of Bitcoin they want to take out loans against." — Harsha Goli (19:33)

5. Lessons Learned: Prime Trust & Security Failures (23:17–29:52)

The Prime Trust Debacle:
- Fold originally integrated with Prime Trust; later, catastrophic operational errors led to massive customer loss (lost private keys, operational segregation issues).
Magnolia’s Model:
- Deeply integrated compliance, operations, and engineering—no silos.
- Highly segregated key management (multi-custodian, multi-server, clear separation of withdrawal vs. deposit controls).
- Compliance policies are extensive and proactively shared with partners and regulators.

Quote:

"The compliance folks, the operation folks, and the engineering folks... cannot operate independently. They need to constantly talk." — Harsha Goli (24:50)

6. Regulatory & Licensing Strategies (30:54–36:11)

Smart Compliance:
- Regulators mostly focused on preventing overleverage/rehypothecation and clear, understandable documentation.
- Magnolia leverages partner bank licenses to quickly reach all states and EU/US without waiting on all paperwork.
Banking Product Announcement:
- Magnolia is launching an API-based full banking service for app developers: spin up real bank accounts, do fiat-to-Bitcoin or Lightning instantly.
- U.S. launch in all major states; EU capabilities coming soon.

Quote:

"You can just implement our API into existing infrastructure and turn any application into a full-fledged bank... that's huge. That's what I wish I had five years ago." — Harsha Goli (33:14)

7. The AI Revolution in Fintech & Operations (36:11–47:10)

AI Drives Efficiency:
- Magnolia slashed KYB (Know Your Business) onboarding from six weeks to less than one, thanks to AI.
- Differentiated use: Engineering, compliance, business docs, and lead generation automated via AI agents.
AI Tools:
- ClaudeBot, Ralph Wiggum loop, interaction (Telegram bot), custom Chrome/Twitter AI lead generation.
Security Caution:
- High attention to PII/data segregation in AI usage—anticipation of widespread industry hacks as less-careful companies integrate AI.
Changing Company Building:
- Founder “agency” is even more valuable; creative, driven individuals will thrive with low headcount and high productivity.

Quote:

"The financial system should not be locked out to people who are building it... AI really does supercharge folks." — Harsha Goli (36:44)

"I've always been against hiring as a growth metric... AI is going to really be able to supercharge powerful operators." — Harsha Goli (38:07)

8. AI & The Enterprise Adoption Dilemma (51:00–60:56)

Job Market & AI:
- Displacement is inevitable, but historical analogies (e.g., power drill vs. manual tools) show economic output increases and new jobs emerge.
- Real question: Will enterprise pick up the bill and find enough value to justify the existing AI cost structure, or will there be a bubble pop?
Tech Cycles:
- Mirroring earlier booms and corrections in technologies, a correction could delay mainstream adoption, but enterprise demand is key.

Quote:

"Economic displacement is a very normal part of any kind of healthy economy... all it means is, you gotta switch gears, do something else. But the economic output of an individual does compound." — Harsha Goli (53:40)

9. The State of Bitcoin: Technology, Markets, and 2026 Trends (60:57–70:39)

Layers of Growth:
- At the enterprise level: focus remains on Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
- Legally: Tied to stablecoins and U.S. dollar hegemony battles.
- Technically: Innovation (Lightning, ARK, Spark, covenants) continues, though rarely mainstreamed.
Magnolia’s Pragmatic Focus:
- Targeting where the “bigger splashes” occur: price-based tooling, seamless onboarding/conversions for both individuals and businesses.
Emerging Narrative:
- Interoperability between layer twos is increasing; killer apps may emerge from behind-the-scenes tech, not consumer branding.

Quote:

"The value of bitcoin has always been the actual buy, sell price of bitcoin. People are trying to take advantage of that in really interesting ways..." — Harsha Goli (61:28)

"I think fundamentally... now more than ever, the barrier [to building] is lowered—and I think that's fantastic, frankly, for innovation as a whole." — Harsha Goli (48:39)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On mass adoption:

"If you're not paying attention, you probably should be. Probably should be. Probably should be." — Harsha Goli (00:18)
On technical vs. operational risks:

"Prime Trust wasn't hacked... they ended up losing private keys... people were depositing money into a black hole." — Harsha Goli (24:14)
On product-market fit and iteration:

"All these applications should be able to take someone's money and give them Bitcoin. Right. Instead of shoving them off to Coinbase or something." — Harsha Goli (10:31)
On compliance & banking:

"Compliance is not that complicated; it’s about who you know, and moral accountability." — Harsha Goli (13:01)

Timestamps for Key Segments

Harsha’s background & career journey: 02:01–07:38
Why Magnolia? The industry problem: 07:40–11:03
Building Magnolia: technical and compliance realities: 11:03–13:39
Customer profile & stablecoin use cases: 13:39–15:53
State of stablecoins, genius bill, real-world utility: 17:08–23:17
Prime Trust lessons, security/compliance best practices: 23:17–29:52
Banking product launch, licensing, expansion: 31:53–36:11
AI in fintech, compliance, and operations: 36:11–47:10
AI, jobs, macro, and the future of enterprise adoption: 51:00–60:56
Current state of Bitcoin & future directions: 60:57–70:39
Closing thoughts & Magnolia’s customer-first vision: 70:39–72:23

Closing Thoughts from Harsha (70:40–72:05)

"What we're trying to do is just make it easy to get banked… create as much financial tooling as possible for the builders… If there's something that you would like to see that you don't think we have, reach out, maybe there's a way we can do it… Even if you just want to say hi. I love chatting with people in bitcoin. Y'all are my people." — Harsha Goli

Final Takeaways

For Developers/Builders: Magnolia is actively lowering the barrier for app-based Bitcoin onboarding, with robust compliance, deep technical chops, and a customer-first attitude.
For Industry Watchers: This episode is packed with insight into how the foundations for the next generation of Bitcoin financial services are being built—focusing on pragmatic solutions and security.
For Entrepreneurs: The integration of AI + Bitcoin is accelerating, especially in lean, high-agency teams—don't sleep on the new toolbox.
For Bitcoiners: The future success of Bitcoin still relies on making it easier for ordinary people and businesses to connect to the network directly—Magnolia aims to be the bridge.

Listen for:

Deep dives on infrastructural lessons learned
Real talk on compliance (not just tech!)
Inside look at how AI is really used in modern fintech startups
Big, bold vision for bringing "banking-as-a-service" for Bitcoin to the masses

Contact:

Interested in integrating Magnolia? Reach out to Harsha Goli via Magnolia’s channels.

"Peace and Love, Freaks." — Marty Bent (72:29)

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#711: How to Turn Any App Into a Bitcoin On-Ramp with Harsha Goli

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Summary

Episode Overview

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Harsha Goli’s Journey in Bitcoin (02:01–07:38)

2. Magnolia: Mission, Architecture & Compliance (07:39–15:53)

3. Ideal Customer & Use Cases (13:39–15:53)

4. The Evolving Stablecoin Narrative (17:08–23:17)

5. Lessons Learned: Prime Trust & Security Failures (23:17–29:52)

6. Regulatory & Licensing Strategies (30:54–36:11)

7. The AI Revolution in Fintech & Operations (36:11–47:10)

8. AI & The Enterprise Adoption Dilemma (51:00–60:56)

9. The State of Bitcoin: Technology, Markets, and 2026 Trends (60:57–70:39)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

Timestamps for Key Segments

Closing Thoughts from Harsha (70:40–72:05)

Final Takeaways

Summary

Episode Overview

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Harsha Goli’s Journey in Bitcoin (02:01–07:38)

2. Magnolia: Mission, Architecture & Compliance (07:39–15:53)

3. Ideal Customer & Use Cases (13:39–15:53)

4. The Evolving Stablecoin Narrative (17:08–23:17)

5. Lessons Learned: Prime Trust & Security Failures (23:17–29:52)

6. Regulatory & Licensing Strategies (30:54–36:11)

7. The AI Revolution in Fintech & Operations (36:11–47:10)

8. AI & The Enterprise Adoption Dilemma (51:00–60:56)

9. The State of Bitcoin: Technology, Markets, and 2026 Trends (60:57–70:39)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

Timestamps for Key Segments

Closing Thoughts from Harsha (70:40–72:05)

Final Takeaways