In this episode of Stableminded, This Week in Fintech's stablecoin-focused series, Drew Rogers sits down with Rob Sargsian, co-founder and CEO of due, a stablecoin-first payment platform that connects local payment rails with blockchain infrastructure to enable faster, cheaper, and more accessible global payments.

Rob brings extensive fintech experience from his roles at Revolut, where he worked on crypto initiatives, and Bolt, the European ride-hailing company, where he first encountered the challenges of cross-border payments. At Bolt, Rob witnessed firsthand how cross-border payment costs could reach up to 11% of transaction value, sparking his interest in finding better solutions.

Founded approximately two years ago, due connects to local payment rails (primarily real-time payment networks) and major blockchains to provide seamless movement of funds between fiat currencies and stablecoins. The company has connectivity in 85 markets for local payments and 150 markets with Swift payments, with a particular focus on emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.

During the conversation, Rob shares due's pivot from initially building an aggregation layer on top of on/off-ramp providers to vertically integrating and building direct banking relationships and obtaining regulatory licenses. He explains how stablecoins enable due to operate with less liquidity requirements than traditional payment companies because they can rebalance liquidity across accounts faster (within 30 minutes). Due is focused on obtaining necessary regulatory approvals, having recently received their VASP registration in Spain and working toward a MICA license.

For 2025, due plans to expand their GTM efforts and add new features like cards, TMAX, and yield-bearing assets to build a comprehensive experience comparable to Wise or Revolut but fully on-chain. Rob emphasizes that due is in this for the long term, committed to building infrastructure that's as reliable and seamless as established players like Wise and Airwallex. "If it wasn't hard, somebody else would have already done it," he notes, pointing to the continued inefficiencies in global payments as evidence of the opportunity ahead.

Thank you to Dfns for sponsoring this episode of Stableminded.

Dfns is the wallet infrastructure platform securing over $1 billion monthly, with zero hacks, and trusted by 130+ global fintechs, banks, and enterprises. From Fidelity to Coinbase, top players rely on Dfns to manage digital assets with unmatched security and seamless API integrations.

Watch the full episodes on Spotify and Youtube below!