hellenstans.eth

@mariannehere i have started posting more on linkedin as well, sent you a dm!

Making a tg groupchat for all CT creators who are also on LinkedIn handpicking a few people to join this new group lmk in the comments👇

WhatsApp is really the default tool for businesses in Kenya. My dentist just sent me a WhatsApp message to remind me about tomorrow’s appointment. It just works.

Web3 grant programs often treat talent and strong use cases as the main constraints. But in emerging markets like Africa, the bigger constraint is often distribution. If a project has to use grant money to build the product and find users from the beginning, it is already starting at a disadvantage. @Celo’s stronger move was solving distribution first through @minipay That makes funding builders more strategic. Projects have 14M+ activated wallets to plug into

@Stablekoinhq Amazing! I wrote on the same here too x.com/hellenstans/st…

Even though more than 40% of crypto transaction volume in Africa is now stablecoin-based, most end users are not directly interacting with stablecoins. They do not hold USDC or USDT, they do not manage wallets, and they do not think in terms of blockchains. What actually happens is that someone sits in the middle. An agent, a platform, or a provider bridges the gap. If a person in the US sends you an invoice in USDC and you are in Nigeria, you do not go and buy USDC yourself. You send naira to a provider, and that provider completes the transaction on your behalf. Most stablecoin usage in Africa today is indirect. That is where the idea of zero fees starts to break down. Stablecoins as a technology can move value at very low cost, but users do not interact with that layer. They interact with onramps, intermediaries, and offramps, and each of those layers has a cost. Read the record; stablekoin.africa/p/the-hidden-c…

@asemota They added stablecoins via @tempo so companies like Meta can pay creators with USDC. And for AI agents to be able to spend stablecoins with Link.

Didn't they always have this?

Why Link is a big step forward for consumer crypto - 250 million consumers have a Link wallet with a stored fiat payment method. - It supports a global set of payment methods like cards and bank accounts, as well as UPI, PIX, etc. - It now stores stablecoins (on Tempo!) in a consumer-friendly UX. No complicated addresses required. Just a digital dollar balance that can be spent at 5 million merchants. - It’s agent-native. The 5 million Stripe customers (as well as anyone who supports MPP) can immediately accept payments from agents using Link with no additional work. Virtually *every* leading AI company is a Stripe customer and works with Link. Ultimately, this is crypto as plumbing providing faster, cheaper and global without any consumer behavior change necessary.

Fintechs are now using stablecoins purely as a settlement layer. Users get faster and cheaper transfers without ever dealing with on/off-ramps of stablecoins. I wrote a short article on how companies like @MoneyGram @NALAmoney and @theflutterwave are already doing this across Africa and Asia: hellenstans.substack.com/p/how-fintechs…

@nandithapmenon @binji_x @jia_DeFi @numidatech ooo this is actually interesting. i didn't know they usually have a ready market, (aggregators) they sell to.

@hellenstans @binji_x @jia_DeFi as for collateral, you'd be surprise that they require just an ID, phone # and an referral letter in some cases. They just keep adding "fees" on the amount owed if they default and charge to their mobile money. ex: @numidatech

REAL USECASE ALERT spoke to @nandithapmenon who is active in the crypto scene in Uganda onchain microloans and financing via crypto is has major potential there there are around 14-15k fish farmers that go out everyday into lake victoria and lake albert but they don’t have the capital to add fuel for the day to their boats So they’ll go to banks, get the cash, then use the boat, fish, and pay the bank back. these are 24-72 hour micro finance loans but over the last two years Uganda has digitized so much that everyone uses phone payments called momo pay & airtel pay but they lack transparency and accountability. so if we build crypto tools to build on-ramps and DeFI to move this money in a transparent and unruggable way, this could be an actual use case that reduces dependencies for many people. overall tether is dominating in expanding stablecoins in the region, but this still needs on-ramps, DeFi, and more. we must find more ways to be proactive in these regions by building actual tools and working with people on the grounds to redistribute them. if you want to build an actual business, working in this niche may be worth considering.

@owocki @0xFrame @torproject @DefiLlama @LeastAuthority @DataverseOS @NomicFoundation @_digitalgaia @justinglibert @RadxChange @grassEcon @zigzagexchange @revertfinance @just_dna_seq @remyroy @e_steroids @neiman30

@0xFrame @torproject @DefiLlama @LeastAuthority @DataverseOS @NomicFoundation @_digitalgaia @justinglibert @RadxChange @grassEcon @zigzagexchange @revertfinance @just_dna_seq @remyroy @e_steroids heads up u have about $1k on zksync lite from your old gitcoin grant on 0x62131a54d46351e5281c7b9acb7ee3e712f41449. withdraw it before zksync lite shuts down may 4th

@lifiprotocol @phillipzentner heads up yall have about $60k on zksync lite on 0x8932eb23bad9bddb5cf81426f78279a53c6c3b71 for your old lifi gitcoin grant. withdraw it before zksync lite shuts down may 4th!

@owocki @wor flagging this for @grassEcon

zksync lite is shutting down may 4th! there is about $221k still in old gitcoin grant wallets on zksync lite! if youre on this list ppls withdraw by may 4th! if you know someone on this list pls let them know. if you want the list to help with outreach, DM me pls + ty

@camiinthisthang @sanity_io This is really cool! I’ve also found that understanding if you have a short or long torso and your waist to hip proportions really helps with dressing for your body type and matching outfits better.

Im building a personal stylist app that catalogues every item I own and then recommends me outfits based on the occasion. I have sooo many clothes I just dont wear and im hoping this will finally elevate me to the fashionista status I've always wanted to be @sanity_io - for managing the content (pics of clothes) @OpenAI for sketch to model what the items would look like together in an outfit Opus 4.6 for literally everything else The best part of vibe coding is finding an idea that actually feels exciting to build 🤪

CharmVerse built one of the most practical and effective tools for grants programs. It brought real structure to workflows for operators, reviewers, and the broader community. Sad to see it go, grateful for what they built!

@aixarizzo go to the gym and consistently think about your protein intake

make money, go to the gym, goon, sleep, repeat make money, go to the gym, goon, sleep, repeat make money, go to the gym, goon, sleep, repeat make money, go to the gym, goon, sleep, repeat

Setting up a new laptop for my nephew and noticing how AI is now integrated directly into the Windows interface and browser by default. AI is becoming less optional.

Spent the weekend thinking about how much fintech has evolved since I went crypto full-time. Stablecoins will continue to scale in emerging markets. But for the average user, the default interface probably won’t be exchanges or self-custody wallets. It will just look like the fintech apps they already use every day.

@KhanAbbas201 In mobile-money markets like Kenya, it’s hard to fully leave exchanges. They’re still the main on/off-ramp via P2P.

As much as I try to move away from centralized exchanges, I keep coming back because they make my life so much easier. How do people actually make the full switch?

@MedusaOnchain a baddie

when you see this pfp what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

@griffgreen when QF rounds?

This is the first time TheDAO funded anything. Took ten years, but we finally got there 😂

@binji_x that this is the right time to buy ETH

about to speak to 50+ college students (undergrad and grad) about crypto what should i say