Exclusive: Squads unveils stablecoin account for businesses

Squads CEO Stepan Simkin explained why the firm launched Altitude and how he’s thinking about stablecoins

article-image

Papuchalka – kaelaimages/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Squads, which developed a multisig protocol on Solana, has a fun announcement: They’re launching Altitude. Basically, it’s a stablecoin-native account that allows companies to open and fund a dollar account without having to rely on traditional banks or a US entity. 

Squads CEO Stepan Simkin thinks of stablecoin-native as an account that exists “on a decentralized blockchain, and as long as the blockchain is running the program, the protocol will continue running. And so that gives you very different guarantees, where it’s true ownership, it’s true programmability, and it’s real transparency.”

As part of the unveiling, Altitude also received a strategic investment from Haun Ventures, though Simkin declined to give me exact figures. 

However, this isn’t just a new development, and the team isn’t just looking to capitalize on how hot stablecoins are right now (though, it’s an added bonus that they’re launching Altitude at this time). 

Simkin told me that he initially met Haun’s Chris Ahn two years ago, but they started to mull the concept of Altitude roughly a year ago. 

With the launch out of the way, where does Simkin see Altitude in a year?

“I think in a year, I would like us to have a consistent user base of real businesses that rely on Altitude to manage their financial operations,” he said.

“It’s very achievable, particularly in the way things are progressing today, both in terms of things we’re able to build, partners we’re able to work with, but also what we talked about before, right? We’re a tech firm, and the [adoption of stablecoins] around the world is happening right now.”

The goal for Simkin — outside of Altitude — is to “shift the conversation towards figuring out how we can make general-purpose blockchains work for institutions and work for payments as opposed to [launching on special purpose] chains […] and then have this segregated system.”

This post was updated at 10:30 a.m. ET with corrections to transcribed audio.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

Sponsored

Connect in one click from any device to help build a verifiable world and earn rewards

article-image

The Flippening was always a meme, but for a moment it wasn’t so funny

article-image

Frachtis is focused on pre-seed and seed rounds in both consumer apps and AI

article-image

Markets look forward, even when we can’t see past the news

article-image

Solana’s price run might stall as ETH gains institutional favor

article-image

The soccer club is using the XRP-compatible Root blockchain and is expected to release a mobile racing game, too