Is traditional international banking officially obsolete?

On this episode of BILLIONS, I'm sitting down with Steven Schwartz, co-founder of Whop, the internet marketplace that is quietly constructing a brand-new financial infrastructure for global creators.What started as a simple $75 sneaker bot sold in Facebook groups has exploded into a massive global network.

Today, Whop is a powerhouse where nearly 40,000 people earn over $300 million every single month, and the platform processes nearly $1 million daily in physical product sales alone.

Steven breaks down how they partnered with stablecoin giant Tether to unlock open financial networks for unbanked regions across the globe, why they are deliberately driving traditional credit card processing fees to zero, and why 70% of his entire corporate team consists of former founders.

In this masterclass, we break down:

The Facebook Group Bootstrapping: How Steven and his co-founder Cameron built an iOS app to flip Yeezys and turned a micro-win into an addiction.
The Core Pivot: Moving from niche downloadable software keys to hosting full community ecosystems with integrated chat rooms and video courses.
The Midtown Micro-Payments Project: The wild story of building laminated QR code profiles to route Apple Pay and Venmo donations directly to the homeless.
Commoditizing the Gatekeepers: Why Whop refuses to profit off standard credit card processing and is actively racing payment margins to zero.
The On-Chain Future: How stablecoin rails let an entrepreneur in Nigeria, Thailand, or anywhere without reliable banking infrastructure send and receive money across borders, building a real business without ever needing a legacy bank account.
Hiring High Agency: Why Whop acquires companies first and foremost for talent, bringing in former founders who are high-agency, obsessive, and have already built zero-to-one products, rather than chasing headcount.

TIMELINE

00:00 – The $75 Sneaker Bot: monitoring Nike's Twitter to auto-buy rare drops03:09 – The Pivot: from niche software keys to courses & private communities05:34 – Payments Philosophy: the homeless QR-code project & racing fees to zero08:34 – The Tether Bet: stablecoins & bypassing legacy banks for the unbanked19:32 – "Powered by Whop": the viral loop & the zero-fee ecosystem23:48 – Acquiring for Talent: why 70% of the team are former founders40:04 – From Alabama Construction to $180K/Month: real-world impact42:38 – "Eating Glass": the perseverance to deliver a global mission