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- Idea Of The Day - You can let people get paid in crypto and buy tacos with It
Idea Of The Day - You can let people get paid in crypto and buy tacos with It
Needs To Exist
April 15, 2025
GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), delivering you a startup idea to make stablecoins your everyday money.
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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.
Daily Idea - Borderless. Instant. Paychecks.
Payments ca nbe fixed
Fast, global, paycheck in crypto
Inspired by this tweet
The One Liner
Spend stablecoins like dollars. Get paid in them too.
The 140 character tweet (or X) version
Your boss wires USDC. You tap to buy coffee. This tool makes stablecoins feel like regular money — no volatility, no crypto hoops.
The Longer Story Version
The Problem
Getting paid in fiat is… fine. Until it’s not.
Let’s say you’re remote. Or international. Or moving money between banks, countries, or platforms. Suddenly your paycheck hits delays, fees, FX nonsense — and you're the one getting screwed.
Even locally, your money moves slow. Weekends and holidays? Good luck.
Meanwhile, crypto promised a revolution — but try using it to actually live. You’ll hit a wall:
No way to earn in it.
No easy way to spend it.
And the ones that do exist? Volatile AF.
Stablecoins fix the volatility. But no one made it usable yet.
The Solution
This tool does what banks and wallets couldn’t:
Make stablecoins your everyday money.
Here’s how:
Get paid in USDC (or other stablecoins) directly through payroll, with no crypto onboarding friction.
Instant access to your money — no 3-day delays, no hidden bank fees.
Spend globally with a card or tap-to-pay wallet, just like Apple Pay.
Save more by skipping currency conversion and transfer fees.
Whether you’re a freelancer in Brazil, a dev in Eastern Europe, or a U.S. tech worker tired of slow banks — this gives you financial freedom and speed.
And with stablecoins backed 1:1 by USD? It’s not betting on Bitcoin. It’s just smarter dollars.
How We’d Build It
Keep it lean. Move fast.
Bonus: Add a Telegram bot to alert you every time you get paid or spend — like Venmo, but cooler.
Why It Needs to Exist
Because fiat is slow, expensive, and stuck in the 90s.
Stablecoins are better — faster, cheaper, borderless — but invisible in everyday life.
This tool brings them out of the crypto echo chamber and into your wallet.
For workers, it means more control over your money.
For businesses, it means faster, cheaper global payroll.
For the system? It’s a step toward a borderless, modern financial stack.
You shouldn’t have to wait for your money.
You shouldn’t lose 8% just to move it.
And you shouldn’t need to be a crypto nerd to use better money.
This isn’t about hype. It’s about real utility.
Digital dollars that actually work in the real world.
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Get Paid, Then Play
Find the wedge. Own the flow.
Getting paid in stablecoins isn’t a product.
It’s a financial foundation.
The real opportunity? Picking the right user or use case, and then building a product around their daily money flow — not just the paycheck, but everything that happens after it lands.
Let’s break it down by angle:
🧳 1. The Remote Worker Wedge
Problem: You're getting paid by a U.S. company while living in Colombia. Your bank eats 4% in FX fees and your money takes 5 days to show up.
Play:
Extra twist: Plug into crypto debit cards so they can tap to pay anywhere.
🌍 2. The Emerging Market Superapp
Problem: Local currencies are volatile. Banks suck. But mobile penetration is high and stablecoins are growing.
Play:
Build a “mini bank” for freelancers or gig workers to get paid in USDC.
Auto-save, auto-pay bills, split money with family across borders.
Add daily cashback in stablecoin for retail purchases (supermarket, gas, etc.)
Monetize: Transaction fees, merchant deals, lending off deposits.
Inspo: Think “Cash App for stablecoins” — but designed outside the U.S.
💼 3. The B2B Payroll Infrastructure
Problem: Companies want to offer crypto payroll, but compliance, taxes, and UX are a mess.
Play:
Build a Stripe-like API for companies to offer crypto/stablecoin payroll to employees.
Handles all the conversion, tax withholdings, and reporting.
Who would pay:
Crypto-native startups
Global companies with remote teams
DAOs paying contributors
Monetize: Per user/month + transaction fees
🛍️ 4. The Retail Cashback Loop
Problem: Users don’t see the benefit of getting paid in crypto unless they can spend it.
Play:
Partner with merchants to offer 5% cashback when customers pay in USDC.
Use that as a reward engine for getting paid in crypto in the first place.
“Get paid in USDC → spend it → earn more USDC.”
Bonus: Give power users “crypto cash back maps” showing where to earn the most in their area.
🔐 5. The Payouts-as-a-Service Layer
Problem: Platforms (think: marketplaces, creator tools, microtask apps) want to pay users globally — instantly, cheaply, and without banks.
Play:
Build a white-labeled stablecoin payout rail.
Give platforms a dashboard, compliance tools, and API.
Plug into whatever chain is cheapest (Base, Solana, etc.)
Monetize: SaaS + per-transaction
Perfect for:
Creator platforms
Online marketplaces
Gaming platforms paying out micro-earnings
🧠 Final Thought
The paycheck is the wedge.
Once you’re where the money lands, you own the relationship.
From there, the layers build:
Spend it
Save it
Split it
Invest it
Borrow against it
This is how the next-gen financial stack gets built:
Not with trading. Not with tokens. But with paychecks, groceries, and bills.
One More Meme
