Fixing Capitalism, One Smart Contract at a Time
Staff Writer • 2025-07-17
Capitalism’s plumbing is broken. Founders can’t access liquidity. Investors are stuck in opaque cap tables. Lawyers are trapped recycling boilerplate. And yet, in the middle of all this inertia, Fairmint is quietly moving over $1 billion in tokenized equity across Ethereum—without anyone going to jail. On a recent episode of the Stonks Go Moon Podcast, I sat down with Joris Delanoue, co-founder of Fairmint and architect of the Open Cap Table Protocol. What unfolded was a conversation about more than just crypto rails or fundraising mechanics—it was a full-blown manifesto for fixing capitalism at its core. The Death of the SAFT, The Rise of Streaming Equity “SAFTs are vintage,” Joris said plainly, referring to the once-popular "Simple Agreement for Future Tokens" that dominated early Web3 fundraising. Fairmint has replaced that outdated relic with a hybrid: the SAFE plus token warrant. This combo preserves the legal protection of traditional equity deals while offering a clear, compliant path to token distribution—whenever it happens, whether in one year or five. It’s what Fairmint calls “streaming equity.” No dodgy Cayman entities. No regulatory dodgeball. Just real equity, augmented by token exposure, flowing legally on-chain. Why Put the Cap Table on Chain? The logic is elegant. “Before, equity was paper. Then it became PDFs. Now, with blockchain, it can become programmable,” Joris explained. That programmability unlocks instant settlement, smart contract-based compliance, and access to decentralized finance (DeFi)—without sacrificing investor protection. In Joris’ words, “We don’t fix liquidity. We fix the infrastructure that prevents liquidity from happening.” Betting on the U.S.—Not in Spite of the SEC, But Because of It Fairmint didn’t go offshore. It didn’t run from regulators. It leaned in. “If you want to fix capitalism, you want to be where capitalism is,” Joris told me. And that’s why Fairmint chose to build from the U.S., even as the crypto industry fled overseas. It wasn’t easy. For years, lawyers told them it was “too early.” VCs said “not now.” And crypto natives called them “too regulated.” Meanwhile, TradFi called them “too crypto.” But the tide has turned. “The same guys who wouldn’t take our calls are now rushing to get meetings. Not because they suddenly love regulation—but because they don’t want to be last,” Joris said. From France to Fairmint—A Frustrated Founder’s Origin Story Joris didn’t start in finance. He started in frustration. Back in France, managing cap tables was a nightmare. Issuing equity to employees was clunky and expensive. Angel investments were illiquid for years. And after two successful exits, Joris had had enough. He teamed up with Thibaul, his co-founder, and found his “cloud computing 2.0” moment—in blockchain. “It was obvious. This was the rail the financial industry needed,” he said. What Happens When Capitalism Goes On-Chain? If Fairmint has its way, the implications are profound. Founders will have more control over their equity. Investors will have real-time transparency. VCs will finally escape illiquid purgatory. And lawyers? They won’t be replaced—but they will be redefined. “Instead of pushing paper, lawyers will help design protocols. They’ll be part of the product itself,” Joris predicted. Smart contracts won’t kill legal work. They’ll just automate the tedium. The Infrastructure Moment Is Now Joris believes we’re at a tipping point. Stablecoins proved that on-chain dollars could work. Tokenized equities are next. Big banks are knocking. Broker-dealers want in. And Wall Street is suddenly very interested in becoming composable. Fairmint’s vision isn’t just about making cap tables digital. It’s about rearchitecting capitalism from the inside out—without burning the house down. “The laws became our specification,” Joris said. “And now, the rest of the world is catching up.”
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