Michael Curry

Building Stablecoin Retail Solutions 🤹 @spendcodes
Not Big Short Michael Burry 📉
Not Bishop Curry of Duchess Markle 🇬🇧
Curry like #30 🏀 NYCMarathon '24 🏃

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

"Stablecoins: Quietly going live (Main Stage)" :
https://t.co/Tim34Uvqtu

#MPE2026Berlin

[StripMallGuy @realEstateTrent]

Many cyclists in Central Park don’t stop for pedestrians - they don’t care if the light is red.

I’m often walking with our newborn son, and know the green light to cross is meaningless.

They don’t even slow down - I should film it.

Some of the most entitled folks in the world.

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

@0xMarcB @bhavishya √ It's featured in "The Founder" with Michael Keaton - Good flick 🍿 https://t.co/IvMrTjPoEi

[Austin Campbell @austincampbell]

Apparently the BIS is a huge fan of the Genius Act! Why do I say that?

Well, at Jackson hole, the head of the BIS, De Cos, basically called out the problems with stablecoins as:

1 - Singleness (e.g. par redeemability)
2 - Interoperability
3 - Financial Integrity

What is fascinating about this is that the entire critique only applies to pre-Genius stablecoins!

Perhaps that is why he is making it now?

Under Genius, redemption is guaranteed, there are interoperability standards, and the financial integrity is stronger, not weaker, than that of fractional reserve banks relying on an insurance fund that can barely cover a single percentage point of outstanding deposits, if that.

Many of the past issues with "stablecoins" are real, but Congress just slammed the door in their face and now rules are almost final. In fact, if you look at the NYDFS regime, much of which parallels what is in Genius, there have been zero peg stability problems with the stablecoins and no reserve issues in the history of regulated stablecoins in NY, which includes the third largest stablecoin to have existed ($BUSD).

De Cos seems to have implied, perhaps inadvertently, that Genius stablecoins are a better, not worse, form of money than traditional bank deposits with his critique!

Funny how that works.

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

I'm speaking at Stablecon USA 2026 in Washington, D.C. The future of programmable money is being built right now → https://t.co/ZgnyilAGz5 →
Use "Curry300" for a $300 discount

[Spendcodes - Stablecoins for any Point of Sale @spendcodes]

Lawson Convenience Stores in Japan designed Stablecoin Acceptance using Konbini barcodes.
What resulted from the trade-offs? 👇 Link below.

#ConvenienceStore #Payments #Retail #PointOfSale #Stablecoins #JPYC #USDC #USDT

[Spendcodes - Stablecoins for any Point of Sale @spendcodes]

🔖 Read the full analysis:
https://t.co/kp61zzDwHM

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

For retail operators, the critical questions aren't about digital assets—they're about cashier speed, reconciliation headaches, and whether the interchange savings justify integration:

https://t.co/WWHee1picc

#Payments #Retail #PointOfSale #Stablecoins
#JPYC #USDC #USDT

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

Lawson Convenience Stores (Japan's 3rd largest chain) started accepting Stablecoins at checkout.

We broke down the trade-offs behind these retail trials and what payment committees actually need to weigh before scale.

Link below 👇

[Omid Malekan @malekanoms]

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but this explainer of how credit cards work by Rain is inaccurate, almost misleading.

For the record, I like that team and think stablecoin-backed cards are a great product, but if we are going to be disruptive as an industry we need to get key facts right. So let's get to it:

First, the claim that without interchange "no business would take on the risk and costs associated with issuing your card" is absurd.

Interchange is capped in many places to a fraction of the US (most notable the EU) and cards there work just fine. Nobody has exited the market. The credit/debit blend might be different, and there are less rewards, but cards persist.

Similar story in the US with debit cards where the fee is capped by the Durbin amendment.

If you don't believe me, as your favorite LLM how much profit the largest issuers take home from interchange. It's definitely not "recouping operating costs."

Second, the claim that delays in settlement lead to a very high cost of capital ("idle capital") for issuers is mostly wrong.

The largest issuers all have access to real-time payment systems like same-day ACH, RTP, and FedNow (hell they own the private-sector solutions like TCH that offer some of these). If they don't settle cards in real-time, it's because they choose to, not because they can't.

First, delayed settlement = netting = lower cost of capital. The longer the delay, the more capital efficient the netting.

Also, in the weekend example, there is almost no money actually sitting idle earning nothing waiting for Monday settlement. The largest issuers settle out of their Fed reserve balances which earn IORB (currently 3.6%).

And the funds tied up in credit card settlement are relatively tiny compared to their massive balance sheets, which suffer from excess reserves. There probably is no other place they'd want to park this money anyway.

Even if non-weekend settlement did impose some cost, it is small compared to what is recouped via interchange (for credit and Durbin-exempt debit) or the insane interest rate charged on revolving balances (on credit).

Lastly, stablecoin-backed cards also have an idle balance problem. It's just transferred from an issuer (like JPM) to the user (like you).

If you don't believe me, ask your favorite LLM to cross-reference the largest card issuers with a list of the banks most aggressively trying to kill stablecoins in DC. Why would the likes of JPM and BoA be so opposed to something that supposedly reduces their costs?

Third, the cross-border example is both oversimplified and convoluted.

As a general rule of thumb, cross-border card swipes are more profitable than domestic ones for issuers. They are exempt from domestic caps and also earn the F/X conversion fee (at least 1%, if not higher).

This is one reason why so many American credit cards give such great travel perks. They want you to go to Europe and use your card there - they'll make more oney.

Now, this doesn't apply in the example given (a Colombia-issued card being used for a Claud subscription) but I am confident LatAm card issuers make money off the F/X leg - it's not a burden.

As a general rule of thumb, any argument or explainer that acts like credit card issuers or networks are doing us some kind of favor by existing should not be taken seriously.

Issuing a card and running a card network are among the most profitable businesses out there. The gross-margins are fat, the sector is growing, and the network effects are strong.

So why do I care enough to issue this correction?

The fact that Rain—an otherwise succesful and even admirable company—would issue this tortured account of how cards work is a great teaching moment as to why cards and their related fees persist, despite being a regressive tax on small business.

Rain's business model is primarily interchange. They can't exactly come out and say "stablecoins on public blockchains will kill swipe fees" because then they'd have to go find a new business model.

Something similar has happened to every pre-crypto attempt to disrupt cards. Those in the position to change it all got coopted to benefit from it.

My favorite example are the largest merchants (like Amazon) who used to be the largest victims of swipe fees, until they realized they can negotiate much lower fees for them, then issue a branded card that sticks it to smaller competitors.

My own view is that stablecoins will ultimately disrupt this model and collapse swipe fees. First, because the card industry's margins (including Rain's) are their opportunity.

Second, because unlike the credit card networks, public blockchains are censorship-resistant. They allow far more competition, particularly from startups.

The process will take decades to play out, but ironically stablecoin-backed cards like the ones issued by Rain will help us get there.

To break down network effects, you need to target one side of the market first. Get millions of people comfortable with paying with stablecoins (by way of a card), then go to the merchants and convince them to accept stables directly.

I'm sure a savvy startup like Rain will be able to evolve. The big banks who are the biggest issuers will struggle.

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

@jessepollak @victorzh

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

@NikMilanovic Mostly agree — one thought: Most consumers will follow as more and more app developers choose to use stablecoins as dollars on consumers' behalf. Which in turn drives merchant demand and vice versa...

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

Met with @SenAdamSchiff office today with @standwithcrypto.

Here to help get the Clarity Act to the Senate floor. Good discussion on building @spendcodes in California for the benefit of Main Street Merchants nationwide. More work ahead...

Thank you to Jed Bush and the Senator's team.

[Stand With Crypto🛡️ @standwithcrypto]

Today on Capitol Hill, we're delivering a clear message to the Senate.

Stand With Crypto brought 20 founders, developers, and Chapter Presidents to Washington for a full day of meetings and to hand-deliver our new Key Vote Alert Zine to all 100 Senators.

The message is on the page and in the room: the voters want Clarity.

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

@spendcodes @CashApp @Meta 📺You can see the full Stablecoin panel for Merchant Payment Ecosystem 2026 Conference in Berlin here: https://t.co/JH0unxgFp0

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

Timing and transition

[Spendcodes - Stablecoins for any Point of Sale @spendcodes]

3B+ Meta, Cash App users get Stablecoin Wallets in 2026 | MPE 2026 Berlin

Michael Curry from Spendcodes discusses how Stablecoins are quietly going live & the emerging dynamic that is driving the transformation.

#stablecoins #merchant #merchantservices #fintech @CashApp @Meta

[a16z Frontier @a16zfrontier]

"The most durable infrastructure companies don't wait for external developers to validate their tech. They build the application themselves first — on top of their own rails — and use it to prove out the capabilities they're asking others to build on."

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

Watch panel video here : https://t.co/Tim34Uvqtu
#Stablecoins #Merchants #PointOfSale

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

"Stablecoins: Quietly going live (Main Stage)" :
https://t.co/Tim34Uvqtu

#MPE2026Berlin

[Michael Curry @pushhandle]

This Exactly. @tokendispatchhq just posted "The Second Attempt" about Meta putting stablecoins into WhatsApp, Instagram, & Facebook.

Customers choose apps.
App developers are choosing Stablecoins...