Igor Khmel is the co-founder and CEO of SaveChain, the borderless banking app. SaveChain features a self-custody ‘stablecoin-only’ wallet with a banking interface for the global underbanked, with the option to open an FDIC-insured bank account for non-US residents. In short, SaveChain is MetaMask meets Revolut.
SaveChain is also one of the 12 founding teams forming the Techstars Web3 accelerator class of 2023.
Originally from Ukraine but now based in the US, Igor Khmel has been honing his craft for the past 17 years, including experience in the investment banking and corporate finance practice of Deloitte and McKinsey, a Stanford MBA, then in venture and as an entrepreneur in residence with Sberbank, and he’s now a third-time founder in fintech and crypto.
In this episode, Igor and Pete Townsend slide down the arc of Igor’s life in finance and ventures that led to his inspiration for SaveChain, the societal factors driving the need to pair a USD bank account with a stablecoin wallet, how Igor expects their customer experience will evolve, and the hurdles that the team will need to clear to scale globally.
Key Quotes from Igor Khmel:
“If people really want their money to be safe, they can’t just rely on regulation, they also need to rely on technology.”
“Neobanks rely on existing banking rails, so their product is user experience. In our case, under the hood there are no banking rails, there is a blockchain.”
LINKS:
Connect with Igor Khmel on LinkedIn and Twitter
Follow SaveChain on LinkedIn and Twitter
Episode title inspired by ‘Dollar and a Dream’ by The Game
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