Tae Oh is the founder of Spacecoin
Getting a mortgage, swiping a credit card, or applying for a small business loan are things many of us rarely think twice about. They’re just part of life, the quiet machinery that keeps careers, families, and ambitions moving forward. But for billions of people around the world, that machinery doesn’t exist. Without a recognized financial identity or credit history, they’re invisible to banks and locked out of the economy. Entire communities are left unable to build wealth, launch businesses, or even dream on the same scale as those with access to credit.
That gap also presents a massive opportunity. Two innovations in particular, low-orbit satellites and blockchain, are converging to create the foundation for the next wave of financial inclusion. Together, they promise not only affordable global connectivity but also the ability to develop verifiable digital credit histories that are secure, transparent, and portable across borders.
To understand how these technologies are coming together, we spoke with Tae Oh, founder of Gluwa, the company behind Spacecoin and Creditcoin.
How could satellites play a role in the future of fintech?
The fintech industry still relies heavily on the internet and mobile networks, which remain inaccessible to many people. Around 2.6 billion individuals are still unconnected due to a lack of reliable connectivity. One of the main reasons is that many of these people live in locations where building internet infrastructure is costly and often overlooked by providers.
But there is an alternative. A constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites can provide global coverage with the potential to connect people in hard-to-reach areas without being constrained by geographical barriers. When combined with blockchain, this approach could enable universal connectivity without reliance on centralized institutions.
A satellite community-owned network creates a new way for people to join the digital economy, giving them reliable internet access where none existed before. With that access, they can also connect to financial platforms that track borrowing and repayment in a transparent way, essentially building a digital credit history that lenders anywhere in the world can recognize. One example is Creditcoin, a blockchain-based system designed to record these transactions securely, helping people in underserved markets prove their financial reliability.
You mentioned Creditcoin’s role in linking people into financial systems. How can decentralized financial participation help expand access to credit?
To access credit from a bank, individuals need to have a credit score. However, many people in emerging markets still lack one. Without a score, they cannot access loans or financial services, making it difficult for them to participate in the fintech ecosystem.
Creditcoin builds credit histories by recording loan agreements and repayments directly on its blockchain (also known as “on-chain”). Each loan contract and repayment is immutably logged in the on-chain ledger, creating a transparent record of financial reliability. Over time, this repayment data forms a borrower’s verifiable credit history.
This differs from traditional credit scoring, which relies on opaque, jurisdiction-specific data. Creditcoin instead provides a portable, tamper-proof record of creditworthiness, enabling borrowers in underserved markets to prove their reliability to global lenders.
How are emerging markets shaping the future of decentralized finance?
Emerging markets are at the center of decentralized finance because they face the most urgent need for alternatives to traditional banking. Across the globe, billions of people remain unbanked or underbanked, left outside of credit systems and formal financial services.
For them, DeFi is a lifeline. It’s the way a worker can send money home across borders without paying crippling fees, how a shopkeeper can shield their savings from runaway inflation, and how a local entrepreneur can access a loan when no bank is willing to open its doors.
Just as many communities skipped landlines and went straight to mobile phones, or bypassed plastic credit cards in favor of mobile money, they’re now able to embrace blockchain-powered finance without waiting for conventional banks and their expensive infrastructure. Reliable connectivity, paired with systems that allow people to build transparent and portable credit histories, can unlock new pathways into the global financial system. By lowering barriers to both digital access and financial trust, these innovations have the potential to bring millions of previously excluded individuals into the formal economy.
People in emerging markets are showing how DeFi can actually work in real life. The way they use it every day is proving its value to the rest of the world. What starts as a lifeline in one place can become a breakthrough everywhere.
About the Author
Tae Oh is the founder of Spacecoin, where he leads the mission to deliver permissionless internet connectivity to underserved communities. Spacecoin is the world’s first decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) powered by low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, built to serve as the open protocol for global, trustless internet access.
Tae brings a unique background that blends deep technical expertise with a long-standing commitment to solving systemic issues around financial and digital exclusion. As the founder and CEO of Gluwa, Spacecoin’s parent company, Tae has spent over a decade building blockchain-based solutions aimed at expanding access to financial services. He also founded Creditcoin, a Layer-1 blockchain that has facilitated millions of on-chain microloans across emerging markets, helping individuals and small businesses build credit histories in places where traditional banking infrastructure is lacking.