US-HEADQUARTERED MONEYGRAM WILL SOON BE ADDING USDC TO ITS MONEY TRANSFER SERVICE,
ALLOWING USERS TO SEND CRYPTO WHICH CAN BE CONVERTED TO CASH.
WILL THIS BE A START TO TRANSFORMING THE WORLD OF REMITTANCES?
LET’S FIND OUT WITH MARK LAMB, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT COINFLEX,
A LEADING CRYPTO DERIVATIVES EXCHANGE AND YIELD PLATFORM.
GREAT TO HAVE YOU MARK
GREAT TO BE HERE.
MONEYGRAM IS TYING UP WITH THE STELLAR BLOCKCHAIN FOR THIS CRYPTO TO CASH
SERVICE. THEY ARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST PLAYERS IN THE REMITTANCES MARKETS & WORLD BANK EXPECTS
REMITTANCE TO TOP $600 BILLION THIS YEAR, COULD THIS FIAT TO CRYPTO RAMP BECOME A GAME CHANGER?
THIS IS REALLY INCREDIBLE BECAUSE WHEN YOU CAN GET CASH ON ONE HAND AND GET OUT IN USDC OR PUT IN
USDC AND GET CASH ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IT ENABLES THE THE PHYSICAL CASH AND REMITTANCES MARKETS
TO CONNECT INTO THE CRYPTO MARKETS. AND IN A LOT OF
CASES, PEOPLE JUST PREFER USDC AND OTHER STABLECOINS COIN FLEX AS A STABLECOIN TO
TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. AND SO WHEN YOU HAVE ONE SIDE OF THE EQUATION ABLE TO USE STABLECOINS
RATHER THAN BANKS, IT'S A GAME CHANGER IN TERMS OF THE FEES. IT'S A GAME CHANGER IN TERMS OF
ALL SORTS OF THINGS. AND IT MEANS ALSO IN THE BACKGROUND, MONEYGRAM CAN USE STABLECOINS TO TO AS
PART OF THEIR TRANSACTION FLOWS. SO I THINK AGAIN, OUR VIEW IS REALLY THAT AT LARGE SCALE.
STABLECOINS SHOULD BE SAVING SOMEWHERE ON THE RANGE OF $500
BILLION A YEAR FOR CORPORATES AROUND THE WORLD. AND REMITTANCES ARE AT THE HEART OF THAT.
TALKING ABOUT FEES, EL SALVADOR’S PRESIDENT SAYS USING CRYPTO CAN HELP SAVE
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN HEFTY FEES & ON REMITTANCES WHICH ACCOUNT FOR OVER 20% OF GDP,
HOWEVER MONEYGRAM CEO BELIEVES EXPECTATIONS OF SUCH SAVINGS ARE
INFLATED, BUT ISN’T A CRYPTO FIAT RAMP UP CREATING COST EFFICIENCIES?
THERE IS THIS WEIRD ANTI NETWORK IN BLOCKCHAINS WHERE THE MORE
STRONG AND POWERFUL A NETWORK BECOMES, OFTENTIMES THE FEES GET WORSE.
SO IT'S KIND OF THE OPPOSITE OF A TRADITIONAL NETWORK EFFECT, WHERE IN A SOCIAL NETWORK EFFECT,
THE BIGGER A SOCIAL NETWORK GETS, THE BETTER IT BECOMES. FOR USERS HERE, FEES OFTEN GET WORSE
IN A CRYPTOCURRENCY, SO THERE'S BLOCKCHAINS THAT DEAL WITH THAT PROBLEM VERY WELL. BITCOIN
CASH BEING ONE OF THEM STELLAR I THINK IS A LESSER KNOWN CHAIN. THERE ARE FEES ARE PROBABLY
VERY LOW BECAUSE OF THAT. IS IT ENGINEERED TO HAVE LOW FEES AT SCALE? WE'LL SEE. BUT THE THE I THINK
THE IDEAL SITUATION IS WHERE SOMEONE'S USING A LOW FEE CHAIN AND USING A STABLECOIN ON TOP OF THAT
LOW FEE CHAIN. BECAUSE IN THAT SITUATION, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF VOLATILITY. THERE'S THERE'S ZERO COST
OR NEAR ZERO COST SUB ONE $0.01 COST TO MOVE FUNDS AROUND. AND IN THAT SAME SWITCH SITUATION.
YOU SHOULD SEE ENORMOUS COST SAVINGS IN OTHER SITUATIONS. IT MIGHT NOT BE THE CASE. IT MIGHT BE
IF YOU USE BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM AND USE THE NATIVE TOKENS ON THOSE EXCHANGES, ON THOSE CHAINS,
IT MIGHT BE MORE EXPENSIVE.
REMITTANCES FROM WELL OFF RELATIVES IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD ARE SUCH A BIG
PART OF HOW PEOPLE SUSTAIN THEMSELVES IN COUNTRIES LIKE THE THE PHILIPPINES ETC,
COULD CRYPTO REMITTANCES BECOME THE BRIDGE TO HASTEN ADOPTION
ACROSS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? WHAT STUMBLING BLOCKS DO YOU SEE IN REAL LIFE APPLICATION?
YEAH.I THINK THE BIGGEST STUMBLING BLOCK
IS ACTUALLY NOT ENOUGH COMPANIES LIKE MONEYGRAM AND THE BANKING SYSTEMS
WHERE THEY WILL PLUG INTO THESE THESE THINGS. SO IT'S OFTEN VERY DIFFICULT TO ACQUIRE.
TO BUY OR SELL CRYPTO OR STABLECOINS. IF YOU'RE IN SOME OF THESE COUNTRIES, THE BANKS MIGHT NOT
ALLOW IT. THE REMITTANCES COMPANIES MIGHT NOT HAVE INTEGRATED WITH IT. YOU KNOW, THERE WILL
BE ALL THESE INTEGRATION AND ACCEPTANCE PROBLEMS, AND THAT'S WHY MONEYGRAM'S ACCEPTANCE OF USDC IS
REALLY PIVOTAL, BECAUSE IF THEY'RE ACCEPTING IT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT EXACTLY A BANK,
THEY'RE IMMENSE COMPANY. SO, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN THEY CAN POTENTIALLY DO THINGS THAT BANKS MIGHT
NOT BE ABLE TO DO, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE ACCEPTING IT NOW, IT CREATES ANOTHER VERY, VERY LEGITIMATE
FORM OF ONRAMP AND OFF RAMP WHERE WHEREAS IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO RESORT TO THE
PEER TO PEER MARKETS. AND THERE'S A TRUST PROBLEM THERE. YOU KNOW, THERE ARE VERY DEEP, VERY LIQUID.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU ARE TRUSTING SOMEONE ELSE WITH YOUR MONEY WHO ISN'T A BIG
COMPANY. THEY'RE JUST AN INDIVIDUAL THAT'S THAT'S SELLING YOU THEIR STABLECOINS OR THEIR CRYPTO.
IN MANY COUNTRIES. THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE USERS OF
MONEYGRAM THAN EVEN BANK ACCOUNT HOLDERS. YOU KNOW
THERE'S PROBABLY A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE POPULATION
THAT DON'T HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS, BUT THEY DO USE MONEYGRAM BECAUSE THAT'S HOW THEY GET CASH
AND THAT'S HOW THEY GET CASH FROM THEIR RELATIVES IN AMERICA OR EUROPE. AND AND THAT CASH IS WHAT
SUSTAINS THEM. SO IN A LOT OF COUNTRIES, MONEYGRAM IS ACTUALLY EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN A BANK
WELL A LOT OF THINGS ARE CALLED GAME CHANGERS & THIS ONE MIGHT ACTUALLY
BE IT, THANKS FOR THE CONVERSATION AS ALWAYS MARK.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME..