Esther Wong (Cashi) on Making Stablecoins Spendable (EP.743)

Cashi is designed to let people receive stablecoins and then spend, send, or withdraw them, but it remains in public beta. Esther Wong said the company initially expected freelancers, content creators, and digital nomads to be core users; early customers also include people living outside their country of nationality who use stablecoins for everyday purchases. Wong cautioned that a month of beta data is too little to establish broader demand. Users show clear interest in holding dollar stablecoins, but how they spend varies by country and customer group.

Cashi offers USDC and USDT, with preferences often shaped by which asset users can access more easily through local exchanges. Wong said demand for USDC is higher in Europe, where she said USDT is banned. The gap between wanting to hold dollars and being able to pay conveniently in them is especially visible in Venezuela: many merchants use QR codes instead of point-of-sale terminals, limiting the usefulness of a payment card. Wong said the exchange-rate difference between dollars and local currency can reach 17%, so users may prefer to hold stablecoins while spending dollars through other local methods.

Wong brings about 17 years of finance experience, including 10 years focused on card payments, and helped launch Crypto.com’s card seven years ago. Changes in payments infrastructure and stablecoin settlement by Visa and Mastercard helped prompt her to explore Cashi. The company chose direct integrations with core providers rather than white-label products, aiming for more control and better unit economics. That approach took longer to build and slowed the launch. Wong said that, if card volume scales, scheme rebates could reduce unit costs by as much as 80%.

Wong sees a difference between monetizing assets under management and improving payment economics. She said it is easier to negotiate yield on USDC with Circle or launch a company’s own stablecoin than to improve card-payment economics, which depend on negotiations with established card schemes. Cashi is also interested in possible access to tokenized securities, including US equities or real estate, but Wong said the company first needs to understand customer demand. Tokenized shares can differ by venue because of their legal structures; in a previous role, she evaluated four structures. Decisions involve trade-offs around 24/7 trading, liquidity, and dividends, and can be difficult to reverse.

Wong said stablecoin peer-to-peer transfers can be more exposed to fraud because on-chain funds cannot be recalled through a centralized bank. Agent-assisted payments raise separate questions for merchants about disputes and who bears responsibility. She expects payments made by agents within set limits could follow simpler agent-assisted payments, while broader autonomy may still be two or three years away. These risks and unresolved responsibilities shape how quickly such payment models may develop.

Cashi’s aim is to make sending dollars feel simple without requiring users to focus on blockchain mechanics. Wong described how orchestration could convert a Colombian customer’s local-currency payment through a provider’s ledger and deliver USDC quickly and cheaply. She also said stablecoins can help businesses expand globally without establishing a physical presence in every market. Cashi is pursuing additional licenses before offering more products and services, to reduce the risk of disruption after launch. Yield and possibly tokenized assets remain under consideration, while the company continues releasing updates weekly.