Inside Telegram’s Plan to Bank 3 Billion People ft. Manuel Stotz from the TON Foundation
🎯 Summary
Podcast Episode Summary: Inside Telegram’s Plan to Bank 3 Billion People ft. Manuel Stotz from the TON Foundation
This 72-minute episode features Raoul Pal interviewing Manuel Stotz, the newly appointed President of the TON Foundation, focusing on the strategic integration of the TON blockchain with the massive user base of the Telegram messaging app. The core narrative revolves around leveraging Telegram’s billion-user network to achieve unprecedented financial inclusion and adoption for the TON ecosystem, solving the classic “no users” problem that plagues most new blockchains.
1. Focus Area
The discussion is firmly rooted in Crypto/Web3, specifically focusing on blockchain adoption, financial inclusion, digital network states, and the strategic intersection of massive social networks (Telegram) with decentralized finance (TON).
2. Key Technical Insights
- Network State vs. Blockchain Startups: Unlike most blockchains that start with a product and need to build a user base, TON starts with a billion-user network (Telegram) and needs to integrate the utility of the TON token and its financial layer.
- Leapfrogging in Emerging Markets: The adoption trajectory mirrors previous mobile/FinTech revolutions (like Kenya’s M-PESA), where users in developing nations leapfrog legacy systems directly to superior digital financial tools (stablecoins, BTC, TON).
- Satoreka Concept: Stotz posits that the blockchain space represents an entirely new “continent in cyberspace” (Satoreka), analogous to how the Americas were named, suggesting a foundational, geographically distinct economic realm built on absolute digital scarcity.
3. Market/Investment Angle
- Untapped Financial Inclusion: The primary opportunity lies in banking the 3 billion unbanked/underbanked individuals globally who currently suffer from volatile local fiat currencies. Crypto offers them a superior store of value (stablecoins, BTC).
- Frontier Market Parallel: Stotz draws direct parallels between the complexities of investing in frontier markets (currency risk, market access, governance issues) and the challenges/opportunities inherent in building decentralized economies.
- First-Mover Advantage in Global Networks: Projects like TON, which gain traction in emerging markets first, may avoid direct competition from established US/Chinese tech giants, similar to how early FinTech winners emerged in Africa and Asia.
4. Notable Companies/People
- Manuel Stotz (TON Foundation President): Former Goldman Sachs (GSIP) employee, founder of Kingsway Capital (focused on frontier/emerging markets investing), and now leading the strategic execution for TON.
- Telegram: The foundational network, boasting approximately one billion users, providing the massive distribution channel for TON.
- Kingsway Capital: Stotz’s firm specializing in public equities and venture investing in emerging/frontier markets, where he experienced currency volatility firsthand, leading him to crypto adoption.
- Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital): Mentioned for his advice to Stotz: choosing a game “stacked in your favor” (avoiding competition) is as important as being a good athlete.
5. Regulatory/Policy Discussion
The discussion touches on the human rights aspect of financial access, framing the lack of capital formation in poor countries (due to reliance on weak fiat) as a major problem. Digital assets are presented as a crucial tool for poverty reduction and economic empowerment by providing access to global, stable stores of value.
6. Future Implications
The conversation strongly suggests that the next major wave of crypto adoption and value creation will originate from emerging and frontier markets, driven by necessity and the availability of mobile technology. The TON/Telegram integration is positioned as a potential blueprint for how a massive, existing social network can successfully onboard billions into a decentralized financial system, creating a “network continent.”
7. Target Audience
This episode is highly valuable for Crypto Investors, Web3 Strategists, Venture Capitalists, and Macro Analysts interested in real-world adoption metrics, emerging market dynamics, and the strategic convergence of centralized social platforms with decentralized infrastructure.
Comprehensive Summary
Raoul Pal interviews Manuel Stotz, the new President of the TON Foundation, to explore the ambitious goal of banking three billion people via the integration of the The Open Network (TON) with Telegram. Stotz outlines his unconventional path from a humble German background, through value investing principles learned from Warren Buffett, to working at Goldman Sachs (GSIP), and finally founding Kingsway Capital, which specialized in navigating the volatility of frontier and emerging markets.
Stotz argues that his experience in these markets—dealing with complex market access, currency collapse (e.g., the Nigerian Naira), and limited capital formation for the local populace—provided the perfect framework for understanding the crypto space. He views the crypto economy itself as a collection of frontier markets. The critical realization was that billions of people in these regions, armed with smartphones, are actively seeking refuge from failing fiat currencies by adopting stablecoins and major cryptocurrencies.
The core strategic advantage of TON is its partnership with Telegram, which provides an immediate, massive user base of approximately one billion people—solving the “cold start” problem that cripples most new blockchains. Stotz frames this as the next logical step following the FinTech/mobile revolution seen in places like Kenya (M-PESA). He sees Telegram as a “network state” ready to adopt a new financial layer.
Stotz emphasizes his mission-driven approach, believing that providing access to sound money (digital assets) is a crucial step in poverty reduction and financial inclusion. He took the leadership role at the TON Foundation pro bono, focusing on strategy
🏢 Companies Mentioned
💬 Key Insights
"Telegram has $1.7 billion of convertible bonds. They just refinanced them last week. And we're trying to put also that on-chain, right? So we have a captive issuer. So, and of course, it would be nice if that yield stays within the ecosystem and doesn't leak out to traditional finance, but stays within the country, in the network, stays in the network continent, right?"
"And the US government wants it, right? And, and who's gonna buy the, you know, US bonds? It's not gonna be the Chinese, the, you know, the Russians, the Saudis, or even the Japanese. It's gonna be Tether and Circle, which, you know, hopefully it's gonna go public this week."
"doubling down on stablecoins, right? And stablecoins is one of the largest and most exciting parts of this industry. You know, huge TAM, massive network effect. Tether's making more money than Goldman Sachs, uh, with like, you know, considerable less people."
"You can just click your Telegram contact with press a button, and that person doesn't even need to have a wallet. You can still send him coins. And if they don't have a wallet yet, they just get a button, say, click, and you activate a wallet, and you get the coin, whether it's a Ton coin or a US dollar stablecoin that runs on Ton, right?"
"there's governments in authoritarian regimes that have other ideas, right? They want the central bank digital currency, linked to a social credit score, linked to QR codes and digital IDs and sort of digital dystopia, right? And I'd much rather, you know, I'm on team freedom, right?"
"They want the central bank digital currency, linked to a social credit score, linked to QR codes and digital IDs and sort of digital dystopia, right? And I'd much rather, you know, I'm on team freedom, right?"