Interview with MOA Protocol CEO Stefan Piech

USD1 to Be Integrated Into MOA Asset-Management and Payment Services

MOA Card, DeFi and Swap Services to Be Linked to Expand Everyday Use

"South Korea Is a Market Where We Want to Invest More Time"

"The current financial system and the digital-asset ecosystem are fragmented, so cryptocurrencies often remain limited to trading and are not fully used in everyday life," Stefan Piech, chief executive officer of MOA Protocol, told Bloomingbit in an interview on Oct. 7. "MOA Protocol wants to improve the real-world user experience for digital assets and expand both companies' financial ecosystems through our USD1 partnership with World Liberty Financial."

The company's plan is to connect digital assets into a single financial ecosystem that goes beyond investment and trading to include asset management, transfers and payments in daily life.

The service structure resembles global fintech company Revolut, but the starting point is different. While Revolut began in traditional finance and integrated payments, investing and travel into one app, MOA says it is building an integrated financial experience centered on digital assets.

Expanding USD1 Use Cases as MOA Card Aims to Become a 'Crypto Banking Card'

MOA Protocol recently entered a strategic partnership with World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, to broaden cooperation across the two companies' financial services. Through the partnership, WLFI's dollar stablecoin USD1 will be connected to MOA's DeFi asset-management and payment services, while MOA's financial offerings and user benefits will also be expanded.

MOA Protocol is pursuing an all-in-one finance strategy that links digital-asset management, transfers and spending in a single user experience. Its financial services are built around MOA-Fi, a DeFi asset-management service; the MOA Card, which allows digital assets to be used for real-world payments; and MOA Swap, which supports fast, low-cost exchanges between stablecoins based on different fiat currencies.

In particular, the MOA Card is meant to connect users' digital assets to everyday spending. Users can pay for meals, shopping and other purchases without first moving assets into a bank account. MOA is also combining the card with lifestyle benefits such as hotel discounts and cashback. That allows users to spend their digital assets directly through the MOA Card in a range of day-to-day transactions.

The partnership with World Liberty Financial is part of the same push to expand real-world usage. "MOA wants to build an ecosystem based on trust," Piech said. "We found a strong partner through USD1, and MOA can provide more real-world value for USD1." The two companies plan to broaden its use cases by linking USD1 to real financial services such as the MOA Card.

Piech said MOA wants to go beyond simply issuing a crypto card and make it genuinely useful in daily life. "Ultimately, we want it to become users' crypto banking card," he added.

He also said the company aims to build a single financial ecosystem by linking cards, yield products, swaps and partnerships across countries. The goal is to let users handle holding assets, managing them, moving them across borders and making payments in one flow, without having to move between multiple services.

In South Korea, the company also sees medical tourism as a key real-world use case. MOA Protocol recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Medical Tourism Promotion Association and plans to expand a model that allows overseas users to pay for medical services in South Korea with digital assets such as USD1 through the MOA Card while receiving partner benefits.

The goal is to let overseas visitors use digital assets more conveniently while accessing medical services in South Korea and to offer a wider range of affiliated benefits, Piech said.

"South Korea Is a Market Where We Want to Invest More Time" as MOA Targets an Everyday Finance App

MOA Protocol's long-term goal is to turn MOA into a financial service for everyday life rather than a standalone crypto app. The company sees South Korea as a key market because of its high rate of crypto adoption and the strong potential for new technology and crypto-based payments.

"South Korea is far more open to experimenting with crypto cards and the use of digital assets in daily life," Piech said. "It is one of the markets where we want to invest more time." He added that actual spending remains limited compared with the country's high rate of crypto ownership and trading, and MOA sees that gap in real-world usage as a business opportunity.

To address that, MOA Protocol is focused on improving the user experience for digital assets. Piech said he wants MOA to become part of users' daily lives, whether they are buying groceries or taking the subway. In the future, the company wants to create an environment where users can receive their salaries in digital assets, manage them and spend them within a single account.

MOA plans to expand partnerships beyond medical tourism into transportation, travel and lifestyle services. "The most important thing right now is growing the user base and securing more partners," Piech said. "MOA Protocol already has thousands of users, and we will continue adding more value to the ecosystem." The company plans to pursue partnerships across industries rather than limiting itself to a specific sector.

Kang Min-seung, Bloomingbit reporter minriver@bloomingbit.io