Bobby Shell (Voltage): Lightning, Stablecoins on Bitcoin, & Raising Kids in the age of AI

In this episode of the Conor Chepenik podcast, Bobby Shell, VP of Marketing at Voltage, joins Conor to break down where the Lightning Network actually stands in 2026, enterprise adoption, Cash App's quiet dominance, stablecoins coming to Lightning, and why the next 24 months will define Bitcoin's institutional story.They get into the real trade-offs of self-custody Lightning vs. outsourcing it, how Nostr needs go-to-market people more than engineers, and why Bobby thinks sales is the single most important skill anyone can build heading into an AI-automated economy.Plus: homeschooling, screen time, recess, and what it actually means to raise kids with conviction in 2026.Time Codes: 00:00:00 - Intro & guest background 00:01:58 - Cash App: 8% of onchain, 25% of txns over Lightning 00:02:46 - Stablecoins coming to Lightning & why Tether moved to Bitcoin 00:03:45 - Voltage's dollar-settled product for enterprises 00:04:47 - Lightning as the payment layer for AI agents 00:09:47 - Why some exchanges actively refuse to add Lightning 00:11:34 - Self-custody Lightning vs. outsourcing: honest trade-offs 00:27:16 - The SMB silver tsunami: 10,000 boomers retiring daily 00:32:26 - Sales is the most important skill for the AI era 00:39:48 - What would you ask Satoshi if you got one question? 00:42:21 - Outro musicConnect:My X: https://x.com/ConorChepenik My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorchepenik/ Voltage website: https://voltage.cloud Bobby on X: https://x.com/iBobbyShell Bobby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-shell-iv/