Tether Throws Cash at Squirrel-Like QR Startup 🤦‍♂️💰

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Alright, Let’s Break This Down

  • Tether threw money at SQRIL-some startup in Southeast Asia trying to make QR codes talk to each other. Because, you know, that’s what the world needs. 🙄
  • SQRIL’s big idea? Let people pay abroad with their own QR codes. Because apparently, carrying cash or using cards is just too convenient.
  • Tether’s strategy? Avoid actual consumer products and just fund the boring backend stuff. Classic.

So, Tether-the stablecoin people who love printing money out of thin air-decided to invest in SQRIL, a company that’s basically duct-taping QR payment systems together across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 🎉

And here’s the kicker: there’s no crypto involved. Nope. Just good ol’ fashioned currency conversion. Shocking, right?

SQRIL’s whole thing is an API that lets banks and wallets pretend they’re not stuck in the Stone Age. You scan a QR code abroad, pay in your own currency, and-voilà-the merchant gets their money in local currency. Because apparently, banks couldn’t figure this out themselves. 🤷‍♂️

How This Supposedly Works

According to SQRIL’s CEO Malcolm Weed (great name, by the way), “Any bank, whether it’s Barclays or Bank of America-or even those hipster neobanks like Venmo-can integrate our APIs and let their users pay with QR codes abroad.”

Translation: “We’re fixing a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place.”

SQRIL isn’t even trying to be consumer-friendly. No wallet, no app, no fancy checkout. Just a glorified middleman connecting QR systems that were never meant to work together. Because why make things simple?

Why QR Codes Are a Big Deal Outside the West

In Asia, QR payments are everywhere. People scan codes to buy coffee, groceries, even street vendor snacks. Meanwhile, in the West, we’re still swiping cards like it’s 1999. 🎵

FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

TETHER BACKS STARTUP SQRIL, THE FIRST REAL-TIME, CROSSBORDER SCAN-TO-PAY QR CODE PAYMENT SWITCH FOR ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA.

Singapore, January 3, 2026 – Stablecoin issuer Tether has invested in SQRIL (pronounced squirrel), the Southeast Asia…

– SQRIL (@SQRILpay) January 2, 2026

Latin America and Africa are catching on too-real-time payments are spreading faster than card networks ever did. But try paying abroad? Forget it. That’s where SQRIL comes in, like a hero nobody asked for. 🦸‍♂️

What SQRIL Has Actually Done

Right now, SQRIL works in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Also, bank transfers in Malaysia and Thailand. Big whoop. 🎉

The catch? Banks and wallets have to actually use it. Otherwise, it’s just a cool idea collecting dust.

Why Tether’s Involvement Is… Confusing

Tether’s investment has nothing to do with crypto. No USDT in QR payments. Nope. Just infrastructure. Because Tether’s new hobby is throwing money at random tech projects. 🎲

They’ve also been dabbling in AI-because why not?-and apparently, they’re working on a mobile wallet that runs AI models locally. Because nothing says “financial innovation” like cramming AI into a wallet app. 🤖

Why SQRIL Over Established Players?

Cross-border payments aren’t new. Big payment networks already exist. But SQRIL’s genius? It doesn’t compete with banks. It just lurks in the background, like that weird neighbor who fixes your Wi-Fi but never talks to you. 🏡

That makes it easier to integrate-especially in markets where regulators side-eye foreign payment systems like they’re inspecting expired milk.

The Regulatory Nightmare

SQRIL can connect systems, but it can’t magically make regulations align. Every country has its own rules, and good luck convincing them to play nice. 🌍

So, progress depends on regulators cooperating-which, historically, has gone so well.

The Long Game (Or Wishful Thinking?)

Weed thinks QR payments will take over the world-even in card-heavy markets. “Usually, tech flows from the West to emerging markets,” he says, “but this time, it’ll be the reverse.”

Sure, Malcolm. And maybe pigs will fly too. 🐷✈️

Bottom line? Tether’s investment is either a stroke of genius or a quiet waste of money. Either way, don’t expect fireworks.

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2026-01-03 10:51