In this episode of Stableminded, This Week in Fintech's stablecoin-focused series, Drew Rogers sits down with Kirt McMaster, Founder and CEO of Playtron, the gaming operating system company building Game Dollar to capture the $200B gaming payments opportunity.

Kirt brings unique expertise from building Boost Mobile, which eventually sold to Dish for $1.2B in 2020, where he learned that successful market penetration requires vertical focus rather than generic competition. He also co-founded Cyngn, an Android operating system with 50M+ active installs, giving him deep experience in both mobile OS development and taking on technology giants.

Playtron raised $11.2M from Circle Ventures, Polychain Capital, Samsung Next, and Mysten Labs to build GameOS—a new gaming operating system that extracts the $100B PC gaming ecosystem from Windows. Their OX1 device build on SUI sold out before launch, proving demand for crypto-native gaming hardware that integrates multiple stores (Steam, Epic, GOG) in a console-like experience.

During the conversation, Kirt reveals why most stablecoin projects miss the real opportunity. His lesson from mobile virtual networks applies directly: "Look at where there's big, dedicated marketplaces and enthused customer bases and figure out how you can aggregate that." While most chase financial institutions, the consumer opportunity lies in passionate communities with unmet needs.

Game Dollar addresses gaming's specific economic challenges using M0's programmable infrastructure. Publishers can turn payment mechanisms into profit centers, using treasury yield for player rewards, game bundles, and discounts impossible with traditional rails. This contrasts sharply with Web3 gaming's failures: "Web3 gaming has mostly focused on financialization of games versus fun. People play games because they're fun."

The technical innovation centers on vertical integration impossible elsewhere. Valve's Steam blocks crypto integrations entirely, while Playtron makes them native. Their GameOS will eventually enable 5G carrier partnerships for $12/month gaming devices versus $450 Switch consoles, potentially expanding the market dramatically through mobile-style distribution.

Most compelling is Kirt's prediction that 10% of gaming's $200B annual transaction value could be stablecoin-based within a decade. "Stablecoins are the first true native, purebred internet dollar," he explains, and gaming provides the perfect entry point for mass adoption without crypto complexity.

The strategic approach proves that operating systems create trillion-dollar companies—iOS enabled both App Store and Apple Pay. GameOS positions Game Dollar as Playtron's economic layer while enabling external gaming marketplaces to benefit from the same infrastructure.

The partnership with M0 showcases how specialized infrastructure enables vertical innovation. M0 provides Treasury-backed programmable capabilities while Playtron handles gaming-specific distribution and application development.

Thank you to M0 for powering this season of Stableminded, Building Stablecoins. Learn more about building your own stablecoin at here.

Watch the full episode on YouTube below, or Spotify!