Arnold (CEO of Sphere) on Cross-Border Payments, Stablecoins & Blockchain Adoption
Speaker: Arnold, Co-Founder & CEO of Sphere
Topic: How blockchain and stablecoins can revolutionize international trade—if we solve real-world frictions.
Ship or Die at Accelerate 2025: Bringing International Trade Onchain (Arnold Lee – Sphere)
🔹 About Sphere
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Sphere is a cross-border payments platform.
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Processes billions in volume annually for individuals and businesses sending funds overseas.
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Offers on/off-ramp services for stablecoins and fiat.
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Easy to use: “First one’s free.”
🔹 The Origin Story
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Sphere was founded in a tough market:
🔻 Solana was $8
🔻 FTX collapsed
🔻 U.S. banking crisis
🔻 VCs said crypto was “dead” and suggested focusing on AI instead. -
Despite this, Arnold and his co-founder stayed committed to crypto and found strong demand—especially in emerging markets.
🔹 Key Insight: Emerging Markets Want This Tech
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People most excited about Sphere’s stablecoin payment tech?
🌍 Emerging markets — not Silicon Valley. -
So, Arnold and his team moved to those regions to understand user needs deeply.
🔹 Real-World Problem: Bob & Ahmed
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Bob: U.S.-based machinery exporter in Texas.
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Ahmed: Agribusiness operator in northern Nigeria needing Bob’s equipment.
The Problem:
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Ahmed has to send a SWIFT wire to Bob, taking 3–10+ days.
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Delays = added port fees, demurrage, labor costs, and risk if anything goes wrong.
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If there’s a mistake (wrong items, parts missing), restart the entire process.
🔹 Why Blockchain Doesn’t Automatically Fix This
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Yes, stablecoins could speed this up…
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BUT:
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Ahmed doesn’t know how to use stablecoins.
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He’s focused on farming, not hiring Solidity devs.
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Local banks need to validate compliance.
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Education & onboarding are major barriers.
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🔹 The Real Challenge: Adoption & Trust
Two strategies:
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Bottom-up:
Teach local users like Ahmed directly (hard to scale). -
Top-down:
Work with governments, central banks, and regulators to embed blockchain compliance and auditability (very slow and bureaucratic).
🔁 Both are necessary.
🔹 The Bigger Truth
“One-third of all human time is spent waiting—for weekends, holidays, or slow payments to clear.”
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The benefits of solving this aren’t just marginal—they’re exponential.
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Sphere is working on:
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Embedded compliance
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Familiar user interfaces
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Streamlined cross-border stablecoin payments
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🧠 Key Takeaway
Arnold’s message to blockchain builders:
“If we want stablecoins and tokenization to make a real impact, we must engage both regulators and real users—especially in hard-to-reach regions.”
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