{"id":649346,"date":"2025-01-15T14:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T11:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/softbank-veteran-hunts-for-profits-in-payments-infrastructure-plumbing\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T14:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T11:50:21","slug":"softbank-veteran-hunts-for-profits-in-payments-infrastructure-plumbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/softbank-veteran-hunts-for-profits-in-payments-infrastructure-plumbing\/","title":{"rendered":"#SoftBank veteran hunts for profits in payments infrastructure plumbing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In the summer of 2020, as pandemic-driven volatility gripped markets, SoftBank Group shocked Wall Street with a series<\/a> of massive options bets on U.S. technology<\/a> stocks. Behind those trades \u2014 which earned SoftBank the \u201cNasdaq whale\u201d moniker \u2014 was Akshay Naheta<\/a>, an executive whose career has been marked by bold wagers on disruption.<\/p>\n

Now, after orchestrating multi-billion-dollar deals, including an attempt to merge Nvidia and ARM, Naheta is making perhaps his most ambitious bet yet: That the world\u2019s payment infrastructure is ripe for reinvention.<\/p>\n

His Zug, Switzerland-based startup, Distributed Technologies Research<\/a> (DTR), is attempting to bridge the gap between traditional banking and blockchain technology, joining an army of companies trying to modernize the global payments infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The startup claims its technology can eliminate various payment inefficiencies, from transfer costs and interchange fees to foreign exchange conversion charges and settlement delays.\u00a0\u201cCurrent payment networks suffer from inefficiencies \u2013 transfer costs, interchange fees, FX conversion charges, settlement delays and other opaque fees,\u201d Naheta told TechCrunch in an interview.<\/p>\n

DTR\u2019s core technology, AmalgamOS, essentially connects banks with blockchain networks. Through APIs, it allows businesses to integrate payment capabilities while maintaining compliance with local regulations. The system can handle everything from merchant payments to treasury management, supporting both traditional currencies and major stablecoins across 48 countries.<\/p>\n

The startup has built what Naheta describes as an \u201cinternational orchestration network\u201d that automatically routes transactions through either traditional banking or blockchain rails, depending on which path offers the optimal combination of speed and cost. \u201cWe\u2019re connected to 12,000 banks in Europe,\u201d he said in an interview. A business integrating DTR\u2019s APIs can let its customers initiate transfers directly through banking app<\/a>s.<\/p>\n

DTR\u2019s push into payments infrastructure comes at a seemingly opportune time. Visa and Mastercard \u2014 both of which charge 2-3% swipe fees<\/a>, typically the second highest cost for merchants after payroll \u2014 are facing mounting scrutiny over their duopoly, and the U.S.\u2019 proposed Credit Card Competition Act could require banks to offer merchants alternatives to the dominant networks.<\/p>\n

DTR\u2019s early customers say its infrastructure fills a significant gap. Philip Lord of Oobit, a crypto wallet startup, said the system allowed his company to move money from his crypto wallet to a U.K. bank account on Christmas Day in under 30 seconds \u2014 a transfer that would have taken days through traditional channels.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Akshay Naheta Image: DTR<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Naheta\u2019s interest in payment infrastructure stems from an unlikely source: SoftBank\u2019s acquisition of Fortress Investment Group in 2017. The deal put about $20 million worth of Bitcoin on SoftBank\u2019s balance sheet.<\/p>\n

As he studied the underlying blockchain technology, Naheta says he saw an opportunity to apply his background in wireless communications to payment networks. While still at SoftBank, Naheta had begun assembling what he hoped would be DTR\u2019s founding team. He reached out to his undergraduate thesis advisor, Pramod Viswanath<\/a>, an expert in wireless communications who now leads Princeton\u2019s blockchain center and Sreeram Kannan<\/a>, who would later start Eigen Layer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team saw blockchain as a peer-to-peer communications network at heart, one that could apply decades of research in wireless systems to revolutionize payments. Naheta said he nearly resigned from SoftBank in summer 2018 to focus on DTR and crypto venture Bakkt, but was persuaded to stay by senior executives, including Rajeev Misra and Masayoshi Son.<\/p>\n

Naheta\u2019s previous forays into the payments sector also included SoftBank\u2019s investment in Wirecard, which later collapsed. SoftBank still made profits on its investment in Wirecard. \u201cI\u2019ve had lots of missteps,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cI looked at it from a perspective of, here\u2019s a company that has all of these regulated licenses around the world, clearly has the payments technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those experiences appear to have influenced DTR\u2019s emphasis on compliance and institutional credibility. This measured approach extends to the company\u2019s growth strategy. \u201cEven if I increase my headcount to 60 people by the second quarter, we\u2019ll be free-cash-flow positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Stablecoin\u2019s growth surged 55% in 2024 and Bernstein expects it to hit $500 billion in market cap this year. Image: Bernstein<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The startup faces competition on multiple fronts. Wise has built a successful business matching currency flows between countries, Ripple offers blockchain-based settlement despite its legal troubles, while traditional banks also say they are upgrading their systems through initiatives like SWIFT. Last, but not least, Strip<\/a>e\u2019s recent $1 billion acquisition of Bridge stands to help the world\u2019s most valuable fintech startup make deeper inroads into payments.<\/p>\n

Yet Naheta sees an opening in serving businesses caught between these worlds \u2014 particularly digital nomads, creator economy platforms, and companies operating across emerging markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cBanks are not equipped to run KYC\/AML at that small level, where you\u2019re paying out $200 to 10,000 people per month,\u201d he argued. The fragmented nature of national payment systems creates particular challenges for businesses operating globally, as each jurisdiction maintains its own rails and regulations.<\/p>\n

The payments industry\u2019s high margins and network effects make it notoriously difficult to disrupt. PayPal commands a $70 billion market cap even after recent declines, while Visa and Mastercard together are worth over $1 tillion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think that the retail customer is getting screwed on payments,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not the fault of the banks. They are plugged into legacy systems and it\u2019s very hard to turn a Titanic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord of Oobit said in an interview that the space remains wide open. He pointed out that until just a year ago, the only option for businesses needing to move between crypto and traditional banking systems was to \u201cgo to like an OTC shop and pay probably like 1 to 3% to get it transferred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy that for so many years, we have had so many startups come up, we have had so many coins show up, and whenever I wanted to do an on-ramp or off-ramp, there was no other formalized legal idea system around,\u201d he said. DTR\u2019s solution is \u201ca block faster\u201d than alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2020, as pandemic-driven volatility gripped markets, SoftBank Group shocked Wall Street with a series of massive options bets on U.S. technology stocks. Behind those trades \u2014 which earned SoftBank the \u201cNasdaq whale\u201d moniker \u2014 was Akshay Naheta, an executive whose career has been marked by bold wagers on disruption. Now, after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":649347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GettyImages-1411083957.jpg?resize=1200,675","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[75736,76556,153619,153620,151963],"class_list":["post-649346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-crypto","tag-fintech","tag-akshay-naheta","tag-nasdaq-whale","tag-softbank-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}