Ahmad

Speaker into a void. Building @sovra_finance. Writing:

[Ahmad @wehbix]

In 2019 my bank locked me out of my own savings

Last month a friend called me minutes after an airstrike evacuation order. He had cash in a bag and nowhere safe to put it

Today @WiredMiddleEast published our story

The problem hasn't changed. We're building the answer

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@sodofi_ happy to chat

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@hthieblot sovereignty

[Ahmad @wehbix]

Bullish. In the East where cash is still king, the off-ramp channel that makes the most sense is the one that's already present everywhere.

> Easy on-ramp in the West into stablecoins
> Easy off-ramp in the East into cash
> Real value created
> normie adoption

[MoneyGram @MoneyGram]

Introducing MGUSD.
MoneyGram's native U.S. dollar stablecoin.

Natively issued on @StellarOrg.
Built with @Stablecoin, @M0 and @FireblocksHQ.
Live in the U.S. today.

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@CoinDesk @MoneyGram @StellarOrg Big W

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@AriEiberman Ridiculous.

In Lebanon banks are still holding hostage all deposits made prior to 2019, while calling deposits after 2019 "fresh money" and charging 2% withdrawal fees and 5$ monthly fee just to hold a "fresh dollar account".

0% yield

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@gminoprio @moonpay @WalletConnect In fintech there are 5 ways at most to build any feature. Chances are they way you do it has been done before and will be done again

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@stablecoin_p @sovra_finance

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@therealchaseeb @sacha Let’s chat. DM-ing you

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@jeazous I don’t trust fintechs with bad design

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@afscott L2s are losing the plot. @base is turning bearish. No chain can thrive without builder support. Legacy can only go so far

[Alex Scott @afscott]

ahmad is using stablecoins to solve very real problems in the middle east that users in the u.s. and europe would take for granted:
- a safe store of value
- a hedge against volatile currencies
- the ability to take your savings with you in case of war

[Ahmad @wehbix]

Chatted to @afscott about:
- self custody in response to banking failure
- stablecoins vs. cash under the mattress
- how self custodies stablecoins can be a lifeline in times of war

got me excited to do more on Solana

[Solana Foundation @SolanaFndn]

New episode of Solana is Global with @afscott:

@wehbix, founder of @sovra_finance, discusses building self-custodial financial infrastructure for the MENA region, addressing issues like banking failures and currency volatility.

Check out the full episode 👇

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@afscott thank you for giving me the space to talk about our work. Excited to do more on Solana

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@defyneric Yes, named virtual accounts very helpful for this use case

[Ahmad @wehbix]

https://t.co/gExS0SVkE5

[Ahmad @wehbix]

I haven't been to Argentina, but every time I speak to an Argentinian I'm amazed by how similar their experience is to ours (#Lebanon). About fifteen years apart. We had plenty of time to learn from their financial crisis. Of course we turned a blind eye and kept jolly-printing our pegged currency.

Fast forward to now, the parallels still hold: An unreliable local currency. Strong appetite for the dollar. High remittance volume. International workers sending money home. Freelancers paid by clients abroad.

In Argentina, this has given birth to a thriving fintech ecosystem built on stablecoins. People receive, save, and increasingly spend in digital dollars, as global citizens, liberated from the constraints of their local banking system.

There is something here for us to learn from. I wrote about it. Link in next tweet

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@jessepollak @base today is a good day for you to hire builders, not yappers

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@Mastercard @OndoFinance @jpmorgan @Ripple

[Ahmad @wehbix]

@shanmug10092971 @0xNairolf @sovra_finance yes DM me

[Ahmad @wehbix]

Great piece. The same structural conditions exist in MENA: dollar demand driven by currency and banking weakness, expensive legacy rails, and a closed-loop opportunity no one player has assembled.

The takeaway that translates most directly: the balance is the product, not the transaction.