“Money, quantifiable, is larger than AI, it's larger than food, it's larger than oil and gas, it's larger than municipal water supplies. It's larger than government spending. It's larger than defense. It's all of these combined.” —Farooq Malik, CEO of Rain
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Farooq Malik is the co-founder and CEO of Rain, a financial infrastructure company powered by stablecoins. Growing up in an immigrant family, Farooq saw firsthand the friction involved in moving money across borders. Alongside co-founder Charles Yoo-Naut, Farooq spent years building infrastructure before stablecoins became mainstream, betting that tokenized money would eventually become a foundational layer of the global financial system. Today, Rain powers card issuance, payments, and other financial products built on stablecoin rails, helping companies move money faster and operate across markets.
In our conversation, we explore:
How stablecoins combine the advantages of cash and electronic money
The barriers that still make moving money across borders expensive and inefficient
The parallels between being an immigrant and being an entrepreneur
How Farooq and Charles met through On Deck and decided to build together
What Rain gained by building before the market was ready
How Rain earned the trust of early partners who later became customers
What The Art of War taught Farooq about patience
The misconception that stablecoins are only for emerging markets
Why the payments market is big enough for multiple winners
Why he believes Rain’s infrastructure is well positioned for a future shaped by AI agents
Thank you to the partners who make this possible
Brex: The intelligent finance platform.
Explore the episode
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(02:46) An overview of Rain and global-first financial infrastructure
(06:57) The barriers to moving money and how technology can reduce them
(15:34) How stablecoins behave like cash
(18:46) The economic opportunity of a more efficient monetary system
(22:06) How Farooq’s childhood as an immigrant shaped him
(26:00) Farooq’s first entrepreneurial venture
(29:11) Lessons from Farooq’s career before founding Rain
(36:09) Connecting with Charles through On Deck
(39:51) From Sign and Wire to Rain
(42:18) Why Rain bet on stablecoins
(47:25) How a Rain card works
(49:15) How Rain thinks about its business
(51:12) Lessons from The Art of War
(54:30) Rain’s approach to hiring and management
(55:47) Why the US is a stablecoin hub
(59:10) Why there’s room for more than Stripe
(1:03:39) How Farooq and Charles stay aligned with limited meetings
(1:05:54) Rain’s most critical mantras
(1:08:56) Why Rain is ready for AI agents
(1:12:30) Final meditations
Follow Farooq Malik
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fhmalik
Website: https://fhmalik.com
Resources and episode mentions
Books
The Art of War: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1599869772
People
Pierre Omidyar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierre-omidyar-bb10687b
Charles Yoo-Naut on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesnaut
Other resources
Rain: https://www.rain.xyz
Revolut: https://www.revolut.com
Rise: https://www.riseworks.io
Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com
Stripe: https://stripe.com
“Margaritaville”: https://southpark.cc.com/episodes/9do3gw/south-park-margaritaville-season-13-ep-3
Wired: https://www.wired.com
On Deck Founder Fellowship: https://joinodf.com
Lehman Brothers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers
Booz Allen: https://www.boozallen.com
Sign and Wire: https://www.signandwire.com
Bridge: https://www.bridge.xyz
Universal Basic Income (UBI): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_income
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