In 2017, I tried to build what @WesternUnion wouldnโt: a stablecoin-based remittance protocol.
I was a young investment banker in Hong Kong, watching cleaning ladies from the Philippines, Indonesia,and other APAC countries pay 10-15, sometimes 20% fees to send money home, even though the UN capped remittance fees at 3%.
Western Union and others like MoneyGram ignored it. They made tens of billions off the poorest.
Whatโs always made me angry is how multi-billion-dollar corporations built their empires on the backs of the poorest people in the world.
Tens of billions in profit every year, not from luxury, not from speculation, but from remittances.
From the sweat of migrant workers sending $100 home so their families can eat.
I was born and raised in Africa. Iโve seen it my whole life.
The global South pays the highest price so the global North can take a fee.
Itโs one of the most normalized injustices of our time.
Long story short, I tried to build a WU killer and I failed. Too early? Wrong timing maybe, regulators in Europe (AMF, BaFin) shut us down before we could raise.
But todayโฆ Western Union just announced itโs building on @solana!
The worldโs most powerful permissionless blockchain, fast, cheap, and decentralized, exactly what I dreamed of eight years ago.
Funny how the disruptors became the disrupted.
Feels like a full circle moment.
The mission didnโt die, it just found a better chain.
Only Possible On Solana ๐
Bonus:
Hereโs a relic from 2017, a young man who thought stablecoins could beat Western Union.
Turns out, he was right. Just eight years too early.
idk how many gacha / mystery pack web2 and web3 products i've tried in the last 3 months, but the only ones i've been EV+ on are @Collector_Crypt, powered by Collector Crypt, or @Packly_gg.
i've thrown a few thousand bucks into testing and developing my own thesis to understand how to not only have fun and make money, but invest on longer time horizons.
i won't be putting my hard earned money towards anything other than Collector Crypt aligned projects or Packly moving forward.
i'm tired of false promises of fair odds and chase grails. let the training continue in my efforts to catch 'em all (my personal chase cards).
Introducing Hunch, the most advanced trading terminal and Prediction market aggregator.
Track wallets, spot unusual activity, find arbitrage, execute with the best routing & so much more.
Live now with a next level reward engine to incentivize being early and inviting friends.
The announcement everyone's been waiting 60 million years for
The Jurassic Finance Labs raise starts on May 8th on @MetaDAOProject's permissionless ICO platform
Your passwords. Your bank details. Your medical history. Who you're dating. What you're earning. Where you're sleeping tonight. The job you're quietly applying for. The conversation you're having in private. Your home address. Your front door. We protect all of it, every single day, without thinking twice.
But here's the thing about blockchain tech aka crypto which @solana is one of the best. Itโs an open, public ledger. Anyone can see it. Every wallet, every transfer, every token that moves. When you send or receive assets, that information is out there, trackable by anyone who looks.
For some things, that transparency is ultimate power. For other thingsโฆ it's a problem.
Privacy is a human right, so we decided to build something about it.
Meet Private Send, the first feature inside PAL, our Privacy Aggregator Layer. Built directly into your wallet. Nothing to download, no extra app, no complicated setup.
Here's how it works:
Is permissionlessness just a vibe now?!
Change My Mind | Ep. 2: Is Code Law?
๐๏ธ Thurs April 16
๐ 10AM EST (2PM UTC)
๐ Livestreaming here on ๐ โ