Crypto Altruists Episode 151 - Glo Dollar - Unlocking billions in public goods funding with stablecoins

By:

Drew Simon

In episode 151, we're excited to welcome Garm Lucassen, CTO and Co-Founder of Glo Dollar, a stablecoin dedicated to unlocking $7.4B a year in funding for public goods and charity. We discuss how stablecoins can be leveraged to embed philanthropy into everyday transactions, the concept of Auto Public Goods Funding (or AutoPGF), the roadmap ahead for Glo Dollar, and much more.

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Three Key Takeaways

Large stablecoin issuers bring in billions of dollars in profits each year by investing the fiat backing the stablecoin. Instead of these profits going to corporations and their shareholders, Glo presents an alternative that allows the profits to be sent to public goods projects and charities.
AutoPGF (Public Goods Funding) is a mechanism that uses transaction fees to fund public goods projects. It is "Automatic" because users don't have to change their daily habits to fund public goods, it just happens automatically based on their day-to-day transactions.
$7.4B is the estimated profit made by stablecoin issuers. As the space continues to grow, and stablecoins become essential in every day life, this number is expected to increase. As Glo Dollar becomes more ubiquitous by introducing new use cases like payment rails, credit cards, and off-ramps, they can start to compete with fiat currencies such as the US Dollar, creating tremendous opportunities to bring in substantial funds for public goods.

Follow Garm and Glo Dollar

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Episode Time Stamps

02:40 - What was your "Ah hah" moment that first got you excited about cryptocurrency and web3?

04:45 - We've featured Glo Dollar on the podcast before, but for listeners who aren't familiar, can you please give the quick elevator pitch of your mission?

06:30 - You recently announced Glo Dollar 2.0, with the ambitious mission to unlock $7.4B in funding for public goods and charity. Tell me more about this.

12:20 - Glo Dollar 2.0 gives holders the opportunity to choose causes to support. How does this process work?

13:25 - Marek from Celo coined the term AutoPGF, which aligns well with the approach of Glo Dollar 2.0. What is AutoPGF?

16:10 - I understand that you have many more features coming online soon that will make Glo more ubiquitous, including a credit card and offramps. Tell me more about these initiatives.

22:20 - How is Glo Dollar helping change the narrative around stablecoins?

25:35 - The $7.4B highlighted before was based on the current stablecoin market cap of ~$150 Billion. What will it take for Glo to get there, and in an ideal world, what will the Glo ecosystem look like in 5-10 years?

30:40 - One of the ways you driven adoption is through the Glo Consortium. What is the Glo Consortium, and how can projects/organizations join the consortium?

35:00 - What's the best way for listeners to learn more about Glo Dollar and add it to their treasury?

37:35 - To wrap things up, if you could name one thing that excites you most about the social impact potential of web3, what would it be and why?

DISCLAIMER

While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, please do not take any of this as investment advice, and please make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More available HERE.