NALA Scaled by Owning the Rails w/ Benji Fernandes

<p>Presented by Stablecon; Powered by BVNK.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Money Code, hosts Chuk Okpalugo and Raj Parekh sit down with Benji Fernandes, founder and CEO of NALA, a remittance business for diaspora customers, and Rafiki, its B2B infrastructure arm for emerging-market payouts, collections, and stablecoin settlement.</p><p>They unpack how consumer remittance volume pushed NALA to own more of the rails, why 96 out of 100 stablecoin trades in its markets are USDT, and why licenses, liquidity, and local payout infrastructure decide what stablecoins can actually do.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Subscribe and listen to the Money Code podcast here:</strong></p><p>https://lnk.to/MoneyCodeSN</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Chapters</strong></p><p>00:00 What NALA does: remittance, Rafiki, and emerging-market rails</p><p>01:56 Why Benji entered a &quot;saturated&quot; remittance market</p><p>04:56 The failed first version of NALA</p><p>06:35 Africa&#39;s fragmentation problem: 54 countries, 40 currencies</p><p>08:20 The FX loss that pulled NALA into infrastructure</p><p>12:48 The NALA stack: ledger, treasury, distribution</p><p>18:47 Where stablecoins actually help</p><p>20:43 Three stablecoin patterns Benji is watching</p><p>26:13 Local wallets: four customer problems inside one product</p><p>31:09 The liquidity problem behind stablecoin on/off ramps</p><p>35:29 &quot;Solve my problem fastest&quot;: what users care about</p><p>36:10 The stablecoin hype Benji pushes back on</p><p>40:44 TAM has to follow customer behavior</p><p>44:39 Payments for the next billion</p><p>47:40 Why Rafiki scaled after everyone called it a distraction</p><p>49:56 Where to find Benji and NALA</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Connect with the Hosts &amp; Guest</strong></p><p>Chuk Okpalugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuk-okpalugo/ | https://x.com/chuk<em>xyz/ | https://stablecoinblueprint.com</em></p><p><em>Raj Parekh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajparekh7/ | https://x.com/rajparekh | http://monad.xyz</em></p><p><em>Benji Fernandes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminf7/ | https://x.com/Benji</em>Fernandes | https://www.nala.com | https://www.rafiki.com</p><p><br></p><p><strong>About Stablecon</strong></p><p>Stablecon (https://stablecon.com/) is the premier gathering for those at the intersection of DeFi, economic policy, financial infrastructure, and institutional integration, and those reinventing global commerce. By convening the brightest minds in fintech and crypto, Stablecon provides attendees with world class thought leadership and fosters unparalleled networking and strategic collaboration across the digital payments industry. Whether you&#39;re building, advising, or navigating this new frontier, this is the room where it happens.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>About BVNK</strong></p><p>BVNK is the leading provider of stablecoin payments infrastructure, helping businesses move money faster, settle globally, and even launch their own stablecoin products. Head to https://bvnk.com/ to learn more.</p>