Key takeaways
Etherfuse CEO David Taylor says the company is likely closing a new funding round pretty soon.
Etherfuse became fully regulated in Kazakhstan in about three months, against a two and a half year process in Mexico, and now issues Kazakhstani debt onchain.
Taylor says Etherfuse is working with seven governments and expects to onboard 40 new countries by year end.
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Summary
After five years of entering markets one country at a time, Etherfuse says governments now come to it, and it is moving faster as a result.
Etherfuse is likely closing a new funding round pretty soon, co-founder and CEO David Taylor said in an interview. The company has just launched in Kazakhstan, where it is now fully regulated and issues Kazakhstani debt onchain. Taylor says getting there took three months end to end, compared with a two and a half year process in Mexico.
Kazakhstan came to Etherfuse
Taylor says Kazakhstan is the fourth country where Etherfuse has been regulated. Interviewer Zach Fowler noted the company has five or six local-currency Stablebond products live. According to Taylor, the Kazakhstan government approached Etherfuse and asked for help issuing its debt onchain, and before committing it bought Mexican debt through the platform to experience the KYB and KYC process.
Taylor says stablecoins are "second nature" in Kazakhstan because of its proximity to Russia and China. He adds that the exchanges KASE and AIX both have partnership exchanges in China, so money can move between the two countries easily.
“The mission statement for EtherFuse is to on ramp the rest of the world.”
David TaylorFree ramps, revenue elsewhere
Etherfuse is working with its partner Halyk Bank to map bank accounts to self-custody wallets in a compliant way. Taylor says the end goal in all its countries is free conversion from any bank account to an onchain asset of equal value, and that this is live in half of them. The company instead makes money on debt products, FX and lending. "We try to make money where it makes sense and not where we can," he says.
A faster playbook
Taylor says four or five countries reached out to Etherfuse in the last three months, which he likens to speedrunning the process. A no action letter from Mexico took three years. In one of the biggest countries in the world, he says, approval took a week. He expects a few new government debt issuances next quarter, and he recommends governments issue debt modeled on British Gilts, a short-term product with a fixed ISIN that can be topped up with new taps.
Taylor describes the mission of Etherfuse as on-ramping the rest of the world, with a focus on underrepresented markets rather than Europe or the US. With seven governments in talks and a goal of 40 new countries by year end, he says the company's reputation now brings governments to it.
Etherfuse, Agora, AIX, and Altitude come up most.
- People
- David Taylor
- Stefan
- Guillermo
- Jason Yanowitz
- Zach Fowler
- Companies
- Etherfuse
- Agora
- AIX
- Altitude
- Bitso Business
- Blockworks
- Eldorado
- Halyk Bank
- Kazakhstan Stock Exchange
- Dfns
