WeFi Bets On ‘Deobanking’ As Crypto Searches For A Mainstream Foothold

by
Alisa Davidson

Printed: October 03, 2025 at 8:57 am Up to date: October 03, 2025 at 8:57 am

by Ana

Edited and fact-checked:
October 03, 2025 at 8:57 am

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When greater than 2,000 individuals gathered at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit Nationwide Conference Heart this June, the spectacle may have handed for a tech rally or perhaps a pop live performance. Movie star appearances, a Guinness World File certification, and a Ferrari raffle gave the day its headlines. However beneath the theatrics, the deobank WeFi was attempting to reply a persistent query: can crypto banking change into atypical banking?

Constructing a financial institution on-chain

Based by Maksym Sakharov and Reeve Collins, one of many unique creators of Tether, WeFi calls itself a “deobank”—a decentralized on-chain financial institution. The pitch is that neobanks, regardless of their modern cellular apps, nonetheless depend on legacy banking infrastructure. That dependence typically means charges, delays, and regulatory bottlenecks inherited from the outdated system.

WeFi’s mannequin is completely different. It runs completely on crypto rails, providing non-custodial accounts, stablecoin-based yields, playing cards for on a regular basis spending, and even ATM withdrawals. In Sakharov’s phrases: “We’re not patching the system. We’re rebuilding it on-chain.”

From monetary exclusion to mobile-first design

The corporate’s ambitions stretch past early adopters. Roughly 1.4 billion individuals stay unbanked worldwide, with a big proportion in Asia. International locations just like the Philippines and Malaysia illustrate the hole: widespread cell phone use, however reliance on money or high-cost remittance channels.

WeFi is focusing on that demographic with a mobile-first interface designed to resemble acquainted fintech apps. The thought is to decrease the training curve—customers handle tokenized fiat and crypto balances via easy instruments for funds, financial savings, and transfers. Behind the scenes, good contracts deal with staking rewards and programmable finance options, however the entrance finish goals to really feel simple.

Managing compliance whereas staying decentralized

One of many hardest questions for any crypto banking experiment is regulation. WeFi has pursued what it calls a “distributed licensing technique.” Its group corporations maintain a Cash Companies Enterprise license in Canada, a VASP registration within the Czech Republic,, with further functions beneath manner in different jurisdictions.

The accounts themselves are non-custodial, which means customers, not the corporate, management their belongings. That distinction reduces the agency’s direct obligations round buyer identification. Nevertheless it doesn’t remove regulatory scrutiny. International authorities are more and more analyzing stablecoin yields and DeFi-linked providers, areas the place WeFi has promised returns as excessive as 18% on deposits.

The stability between spectacle and technique

At its Bangkok summit, WeFi secured a Guinness World File for concurrent YouTube livestream individuals—121,348 throughout a previous occasion. The popularity was symbolic. In a sector typically accused of inflating numbers, having a licensed metric mattered. Coupled with a Ferrari raffle and celeb endorsements, the marketing campaign underscored how a lot visibility has change into a part of the battle for legitimacy in crypto finance.

However visibility just isn’t the identical as adoption. The problem now’s whether or not the mix of self-custody, licensing, and consumer-friendly packaging can survive exterior the convention stage. Comparable guarantees within the sector have struggled when confronted with regulatory pushback or safety lapses.

Towards a decade of “on-chain” banking

Wanting forward, Sakharov and his group describe a ten-year horizon the place crypto rails underpin most monetary transactions. They foresee mainstream use of high-yield stablecoin accounts, on-chain loans, and programmable payroll methods. WeFi is considered one of a number of initiatives experimenting with the “onchain checking account” mannequin—an strategy that mixes stablecoins, DeFi protocols, and card networks to create accounts which are auditable, programmable, and interoperable with fiat methods.

Whether or not these experiments will stand up to the sensible calls for of compliance, consumer safety, and market volatility stays unresolved. For now, WeFi’s visibility marketing campaign has positioned it among the many most recognizable efforts to show blockchain banking from a distinct segment thought right into a service acquainted to on a regular basis shoppers.

Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, focuses on cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising traits and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and interact readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.

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