About the development of the Crypto payment industry and entrepreneurial opportunities:
1. Currently, the distribution of stablecoins has a two-layer structure:
The first layer consists of stablecoin issuers and primary distributors. The more banking channels the issuers have, the more types and numbers of KYC-compliant primary distributors there are.
The second layer includes exchanges/brokers (which have regional fiat deposit/withdrawal and C2C platforms), Crypto payment apps, and offline OTC networks. This layer will transmit KYC to a broader user base, even reaching unregistered (cash) audiences. Exchanges primarily serve users in the crypto space, while other channels cover broader payment/settlement/gray market areas.
2. Currently, traditional Fintech is reverse-compatible with the Crypto ecosystem. In this field, large companies are gatekeepers, and there are few entrepreneurial opportunities. Similar to how Visa/MasterCard/UnionPay allow Crypto to coexist within their payment card networks, PayPal/JD, which have specific scenarios, issue stablecoins and use their own scenarios for cold starts. Blackrock/Franklin Templeton/Huaxia are utilizing Tokenized Money Market Funds and Treasury to facilitate crypto trading/settlement, representing compliant/white market activities. This makes it difficult for grassroots entrepreneurship to thrive. Supporting AI agents to use stablecoins and smart contracts for payment/management of funds is one direction to explore.
3. Finally, stablecoins are penetrating the fissures of the global financial system between gray and white areas, as compliance/sanctions/capital controls/underdeveloped infrastructure/severe inflation/small governments begin to spontaneously embrace Crypto payment markets that are fragmented, localized in developing countries, and consist of marginalized, silent groups in the third world. This direction encompasses a large population but lacks good data statistics, field surveys, and commercial integration. Hidden within this is a significant business opportunity.
The occasional mentions of Huiwang in Crypto media are just the tip of the iceberg. If entrepreneurs choose to enter, they must select cities with a large distribution of OTC stores, such as Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Istanbul, and Buenos Aires, to conduct research and explore upstream and downstream business model deductions.
