Sunny Ray sits down with Sebastian, a 31-year-old German entrepreneur based near Nuremberg, to unpack OneBanking, a new app merging traditional banking, crypto exchange, and AI assistance into a single interface. Sebastian traces his path from studying sports economics to building the supplement company IQ Vitality and then coaching thousands of founders through Zalera, experiences that shaped his understanding of both business mechanics and human behavior. He credits mentor Thomas Graf for accelerating his entrepreneurial mindset and describes teaming up with crypto veteran Wilfried to solve the painful friction between banks and crypto exchanges. The conversation covers OneBanking's AI financial assistant, its utility token and recent presale raise, partnerships with major payment players, and an ambitious five-year roadmap toward a full banking license and global scale. Sebastian closes by inviting listeners to join the waitlist ahead of OneBanking's upcoming European launch and eventual worldwide rollout.
A 31-year-old German founder explains how OneBanking fuses banking, crypto, and AI into a single app to close the gap between fiat and crypto.
What is OneBanking?
OneBanking is a new banking app with AI built in that does not just show your past finances but helps you see and plan your future. The AI acts as an assistant that can take actions on your behalf, ultimately helping you save and manage money more effectively.
Growing up near Nuremberg, how did that environment shape your entrepreneurial instincts?
It's a small city where things move slowly, and nobody in my family or friend group was an entrepreneur, so I had to build that mindset on my own. I also had to look outward because Germany isn't the easiest environment for startups, which is why my network is now spread across the world.
What did building IQ Vitality teach you about establishing trust with customers?
I partnered with the doctor who invented the supplement product and structured sales and marketing around it. In the first six months we built about 1,900 subscription clients, and we've since grown to more than 12,000 monthly subscribers, which showed me business really grows when you do the fundamentals right.
After coaching thousands of founders through Zalera, what's the biggest insight into human behavior you gained?
You learn to see the person behind the business, not just the success story. Everyone has struggles, whether in business, health, or their private life, and once you see people completely rather than just the polished picture, you build real friendships and partnerships that last for years.
Can you break down the OneToken and its utility?
We built it with input from our communities, mine from coaching and Wilfried's crypto community called Money Fox with over 5,000 members, rather than taking a big investor who would own most of the company. It's a utility token offering discounts on fees and subscriptions plus staking, lending, and borrowing perks, and we've already raised about 1.6 million euros in the presale ahead of the ICO.
How does an AI finance coach outperform a traditional advisor in the first 30 days?
Most people are overwhelmed by subscriptions and deals they can't track, but the AI sees the entire market through thousands of connected platforms and only surfaces what's relevant, like an upcoming subscription renewal with a discount available. You just approve the action and it handles the rest, applying the same logic across insurance, phone, utility, and other recurring costs.
Looking five years ahead, where do you see OneBanking?
We're aiming to scale fast, reaching 250,000 customers in the first year and over a million within five years. We've already lined up around 16 to 17 major partners like Visa, MasterCard, and CoinPay, and in five years we want our own banking license and to be a top five or ten player in banking, crypto, and AI banking.
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