Unlike competitors feeling pressure to build proprietary AI foundation models, Apple can simply partner with providers like Google. This reveals Apple's true moat isn't the model itself but its massive hardware distribution network, giving it leverage to integrate best-in-class AI without the high cost of in-house development.

Visa's moat is threatened less by traditional competitors and more by sovereign payment systems. Government-backed networks like India's UPI and Brazil's Pix facilitate direct bank-to-bank transfers, bypassing Visa's rails. In China, state control and super apps like Alipay have effectively blocked Visa from the market.

To counter the rise of free, government-backed account-to-account (A2A) payment systems, Visa is building its own A2A network. It then monetizes these flows by adding value-added services like real-time fraud detection and global interoperability—features that basic, local bank-transfer systems cannot match, turning a commodity threat into a premium offering.

While many investors hunt for pure monopolies, most tech markets naturally support a handful of large players in an oligopoly structure. Markets like payments (Stripe, Adyen, PayPal) demonstrate that multiple large, successful companies can coexist, a crucial distinction for market analysis and investment strategy.

Rather than engaging in destructive price wars, Visa and Mastercard prioritize maintaining high industry margins. Their primary competitive focus is on converting the world's $11 trillion in cash and check transactions to digital, effectively expanding the entire market for both players instead of fighting over existing share.

Stripe’s payments model shows how AI creates powerful data flywheels. Their massive, proprietary transaction dataset trains superior models, which improves the product, attracts more customers, and widens their data advantage, making it nearly impossible for new competitors to catch up.

Cross-border transactions are a critical, high-margin driver for Visa. Due to increased complexity and currency exchange, these international payments carry fees roughly three times higher than domestic ones. Consequently, they contribute over a third of Visa's revenue despite representing only a tenth of its total payment volume.

Unlike networks such as Visa that strive for neutrality, Stripe's launch of its own blockchain, Tempo, is an opinionated play. This forces other payment service providers into a dilemma: using Tempo means actively helping their biggest competitor, Stripe, build a moat and capture more of the value chain.

The stablecoin market isn't about everyone launching their own coin. Established players like Circle's USDC create powerful network effects through tens of thousands of API integrations with apps like Cash App and Coinbase. This utility makes it the default choice for developers, creating a significant competitive moat.