Why Do Stablecoins Lead the Crypto Innovation Conversation?

Rain CEO Farooq Malik on how the technology might lay the groundwork for better money flow

If you’d like to join me – and peers – for deeper conversations on innovation and leadership, get on this list for Fortt Knox Executive Communities, launching soon: mba.fortt.com.

This is an AI-assisted summary of my Fortt Knox 1:1 with Rain CEO Farooq Malik. View the full interview here:

Farooq Malik, co-founder and CEO of Rain, argues that the real breakthrough in stablecoins isn’t speculation, it’s efficiency. In conversation with Jon Fortt, Malik frames Rain’s mission clearly: Make tokenized money interoperable with existing payment rails while keeping the crypto complexity invisible to users.

The payoff is practical, not ideological. Stablecoins move money in a non-fungible, cash-like way. That sharply reduces the hidden working-capital costs embedded in today’s fintech flows. Many “instant” payments still rely on layered IOUs and prefunding. Stablecoins collapse that structure.

Rain started with cards for a reason. Card payments are the most complex surface in payments, involving authorizations, settlements, refunds, and disputes. By solving cards first, Rain made stablecoin balances spendable anywhere consumers already transact. Rain sells to platforms, not consumers. Its customers include fintechs, employers, and remittance providers. The company positions itself as authorization-and-settlement infrastructure that connects any payment type to any network.

Malik traces his conviction back to immigrant experiences with cross-border friction and later to seeing outdated financial plumbing firsthand at a development bank. Rain survived crypto’s deepest downturn by staying lean and regulation-forward. Now, with clearer rules emerging globally, the company is expanding features, licenses and geography. Malik’s bet is straightforward: As money becomes programmable, stablecoins will quietly power cheaper credit, global payroll and embedded finance – without users ever needing to know they are using crypto.

---

Today’s Toughest Problem

Rain is solving how to make stablecoins spendable everywhere: cards, ACH, and wires. The challenge isn’t consumer demand, it’s interoperability and regulatory complexity. Malik argues that today’s fintech experiences hide massive balance-sheet costs. Stablecoins reduce those costs by moving value directly, like cash. Rain’s task is to deliver that efficiency inside familiar rails and compliant frameworks.

Origin Story

Malik’s worldview was shaped by immigration and cross-border family finance. It sharpened later while running treasury and capital markets operations where billions of dollars moved via emails, PDFs and wires. The inflection point came when a customer received investment funds instantly via USDC. The contrast with week-long ACH delays was stark. Stablecoins stopped looking speculative and started looking inevitable.

Death Valley

Rain launched just before crypto’s systemic crises, including Luna and FTX, followed by bank failures that directly affected its accounts. Regulatory uncertainty was existential. Clarity could legitimize the model or shut it down. Rain survived by staying scrappy, keeping the team lean and continuing to grow modestly. The company engaged regulators early and kept building despite uncertainty.

Core Belief

Efficiency wins. Malik emphasizes humility and scrappiness as operating principles. You can be right today and wrong tomorrow. Stablecoins matter not because they oppose fiat currency, but because programmable money lowers costs, expands access and enables products that legacy rails cannot support sustainably.

Strategic Imperative

With regulation catching up, Rain’s mandate is expansion. That means deeper card and payment features, more licenses, and broader geographic reach. The pitch is simple: one API and global coverage. As markets formalize, Rain aims to be the quiet infrastructure layer that helps stablecoins move from niche to default.

If you’d like to join me – and peers – for deeper conversations on innovation and leadership, get on this list for Fortt Knox Executive Communities, launching soon: mba.fortt.com.