THE FINANCIAL BARRIER AFFECTING 2/3 OF THE PLANET

THE DOLLAR ACCESS
REVOLUTION

Two-thirds of the planet cannot hold US dollars. Let that sink in.

While Americans take for granted our ability to hold and transact in USD, most people in emerging markets face an impossible challenge: they CANNOT hold US dollars.

Even if they receive a USD wire transfer, their banks force-convert it to local currency—often unstable, inflationary, and difficult to convert back.

This insight from the latest StableMinded episode featuring Eric Barbier, CEO of Triple-A, represents the biggest revolution happening in stablecoins today that most still overlook.

Watch the full episode below on Youtube, or on our Spotify.

KEY MOMENTS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS

• [12:45] "You can't outsource compliance" – Eric reveals why their regulated-first approach creates a massive competitive moat, especially with tier-1 merchants like Farfetch and Razer

• [18:30] The unexpected B2B revolution – How a Hong Kong mobile phone exporter and Vietnamese buyer are using stablecoins without crypto knowledge

• [25:15] Making crypto feel like traditional payments – Triple-A's technical innovations that eliminate the anxiety of blockchain confirmations and create seamless checkout experiences

• [37:36] "For two-thirds of the planet, they can't get hold of dollars" – The revolutionary insight about dollar access that's driving mass adoption in emerging markets

THANK YOU TO Dfns

Season 3 of Stableminded is powered by Dfns—the wallet infrastructure platform securing over $1 billion monthly, with zero hacks, and trusted by 130+ global fintechs, banks, and enterprises. From Fidelity to Coinbase, top players rely on Dfns to manage digital assets with unmatched security and seamless API integrations.

FROM MOBILE MONEY PIONEER
TO STABLECOIN INFRASTRUCTURE

In the episode, Eric shares how he founded Triple-A five years ago after building Tunes (now FinTunes), a company that connected mobile money wallets across emerging markets.

It was during his time at Tunes that Eric discovered the foundation for Triple-A. His clients faced two major problems:

1. Fraud and chargebacks from credit card payments

2. Pre-funding requirements that trapped working capital in different currencies

What sets Triple-A apart is their deliberate approach to regulation. While many startups choose to operate in regulatory gray areas, Eric built Triple-A as a regulated financial institution first, blockchain company second.

Despite securing licenses in the US, Europe, and Singapore (with more applications pending), Eric acknowledges the significant challenges with Europe's MICA regulations. However, he views regulation as a competitive advantage that enables Triple-A to serve enterprise clients like Farfetch and Razer.

EMERGING MARKET TREASURY SOLUTION:
THE DOLLAR ACCESS PROBLEM

Triple-A's original checkout product is rapidly evolving into a complete treasury management solution for businesses in emerging markets facing a critical problem: they cannot hold US dollars.

"When you're living in the US, you're getting a USD bank account by default. The reality is that for people in emerging markets, they can't hold US dollars," Eric explains in the episode.

This constraint creates a significant competitive disadvantage. When businesses receive USD wire transfers, banks force-convert the funds to local currency—often weak and inflationary—trapping value and complicating international trade.

Triple-A's treasury solution addresses this directly: a USD-denominated account powered by stablecoins that functions like a traditional banking dashboard. Businesses can:

• Receive payments in 50+ currencies

• Hold funds as stablecoins (or auto-convert to fiat)

• Execute cross-border transactions without pre-funding requirements

• Maintain dollar-denominated working capital regardless of local banking constraints

ENTERPRISE-GRADE
PAYMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

Behind Triple-A's merchant solutions is purpose-built infrastructure designed for business requirements that typical crypto platforms can't meet:

Real-time settlement without blockchain delays 
Triple-A's transaction processing system detects payments in the mempool before confirmation, providing immediate feedback to users—crucial for checkout experiences where customers won't wait minutes for confirmation.

Integrated exchange partnerships 
Direct connections with Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Binance create off-chain settlement channels, eliminating gas fees entirely and enhancing user experience for those paying from major exchanges.

Enhanced transaction metadata 
Unlike typical blockchain transactions showing only addresses and amounts, Triple-A enriches payment data with merchant information, product details, and even logos—making statements more informative than traditional credit card receipts.

These infrastructure innovations enable Triple-A to serve 20,000+ customers across 120+ countries while maintaining regulatory compliance in multiple jurisdictions. For traditional businesses, the blockchain complexity disappears entirely, providing the benefits of stablecoin rails without any technical barriers.

Triple-A continues to expand geographically, with offices in Singapore, the US, Europe, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Their team is actively hiring across technology, compliance, and business development roles.

The adoption of stablecoins for payments is accelerating, particularly in B2B transactions where the benefits of speed, cost, and accessibility are most pronounced.

As Eric puts it: "The future is bright. I think all the stars are aligned."

Watch the full epsiode with Triple-A on the Stableminded Youtube or Spotify

STABLEMINDED RECAP

• 10+ Projects added to Stableguide with more in the que! Stableguide is a single dashboard to navigate the rapidly expanding stablecoin landscape. Some companies added: Walapay, Stable Sea, Openledger, Lulo, Joltz, Stable and Cryptoworth
  More projects to come next week as well! Respond to this email if you want to see any specific project mentioned

• New Stable Spotlights Out Now on Youtube and X

  • The Self-Custody Card That Lets You Spend Stablecoins Anywhere | Tom from Arculus

  • Why Merchants Actually NEED Stablecoins Now | Justin Gainsley, Coinbase Commerce

  • Simple Crypto Subscription Payments | Jeff from LoopCrypto

  • Rebuilding Stablecoins from the Ground Up | Anna from Perena

• Season 4 of Stableminded, focused on Stablecoin Issuance will be out in early May. This season will be sponsored by M0 ! If you arent familiar with M0, check out the tweet below. (Current marketcap for $M is at $180m)

Until next time…

Stay Stable,

Drew and Zach