The Rollup How Squads Secured $15B in Assets on Solana with Stepan Simkin and Garrett Harper
Oct 31, 2025
Stepan Simkin, Co-founder and CEO of Squads, and Garrett Harper, Head of partnerships, dive into Western Union's groundbreaking $15B asset move on Solana. They discuss the importance of vertically integrated infrastructure and compare enterprise versus crypto-native stablecoin strategies. The conversation shifts to how Squads enhances liquidity and addresses the growing need for secure stablecoin solutions. With insights on the future of payroll in USDC and the ambitious path to a $3.7 trillion stablecoin market, listeners get a glimpse of the dynamic landscape ahead.
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Product-Led Evolution On Solana
- Squads evolved from governance tools to the largest smart-account provider on Solana by following customer needs.
- The team focused on multisig and then built a productivity layer to run businesses on-chain with stablecoins.
Customer Behavior Drove Product Focus
- Squads saw customers using multisig to run payroll and operations, which signaled stablecoins as core infrastructure.
- That customer behavior drove Squads to build products enabling full on-chain financial operations.
Western Union Validates Solana
- Western Union choosing Solana is a milestone validating Solana's payments stack and fintech positioning.
- Stepan calls exclusivity rumors silly and views the decision as rational recognition of Solana's tech.