Rethinking Cross-Border Payments in 2025
By kenny hua chan head and general manager at straitsx
How stablecoins are reshaping global commerce and unlocking new revenue streams for merchant acquirers
A Turning Point for Global Payments
2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year for digital finance. Amid shifting geopolitical tides, regulatory breakthroughs, and evolving consumer expectations, stablecoins are emerging as the quiet force behind a new wave of payment infrastructure, with major players already making moves. Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge — a stablecoin-focused payments startup — underscores how seriously incumbents are betting on this shift. It's a strong signal that stablecoins aren't just a fringe innovation, but a foundational layer for next-generation payment systems.
What makes stablecoins so viable? They combine crypto's speed and programmability with fiat's trust and stability, particularly when issued under robust regulatory regimes. Unlike legacy payment rails, which can take days and multiple intermediaries, on-chain stablecoin transfers settle in seconds, with near-zero fees, 24/7 availability, and full transparency. In 2024 alone, stablecoin transactions exceeded $27.6 trillion, surpassing the combined transaction volume of Visa and Mastercard. This staggering figure signals more than adoption - it reflects a shift in how money should be moved across borders in an increasingly connected world.
And now, regulations are catching up as stablecoins — especially reserve-backed ones issued by licensed entities — gain traction as viable, regulated payment infrastructure. Under the Trump administration, the US is leaning into dollar-backed stablecoins this year as a means to amplify USD global dominance with legislative efforts, such as the STABLE and GENIUS Acts, advancing to provide a comprehensive framework for USD-denominated stablecoins. Europe’s MICA framework-
now in effect- also introduces stringent measures of crypto-assets regulations, including enhanced authorisation processes, detailed token issuance rules, and AML protocols. Singapore is also leading the charge with its upcoming stablecoin regulatory framework finalised in 2023, setting clear and comprehensive requirements for single-currency stablecoins.
This macro momentum is more than policy—it’s laying the foundation of stablecoins' real-world use cases and creating new opportunities. As these frameworks mature, they will enable stablecoins to become mainstream enablers of regulated, borderless payments.
With EY projecting cross-border payment volumes to hit $290 trillion by 2030, the demand for modern, interoperable, and inclusive payment rails has never been more urgent. Stablecoins — particularly reserve-backed ones issued by licensed entities — are uniquely positioned to meet this demand at scale, with the biggest opportunities emerging where legacy systems fall short: cross-border payments.
The Cross-Border Opportunity for Merchant Acquirers
Despite the globalisation of commerce, traditional cross-border payment systems remain costly, fragmented, and slow. High fees, multiple intermediaries, and FX conversion delays continue to plague businesses, especially SMES and those in emerging markets.
Stablecoins provide a transformative solution by enabling instant, low-cost, multi-currency transactions that instantly settle on-chain across time zones. Whether it’s a marketplace paying overseas sellers, a merchant receiving funds from tourists, or a fintech platform disbursing payouts globally, stablecoins streamline the process from end to end.
But the infrastructure behind these stablecoin rails matters just as much. Merchant acquirers need more than just blockchain; they need regulated APIs, and settlement mechanisms that integrate with local and international banking networks. This is where API services like those offered by StraitsX come in: through a single integration, platforms can access Singapore’s FAST and PayNow systems for SGD, as well as global SWIFT rails for USD, streamlining both fiat and stablecoin flows.
The result? Real-time settlement and named virtual accounts (VAs) for POBO/COBO flows all within one interface.
For merchant acquirers, this opens up three major advantages:
Real-time local currency settlement, removing the friction of FX delays and improving merchant cash flows.
24/7 transaction capability, allowing businesses to operate and reconcile payments continuously — even on weekends and holidays.
Faster expansion into new markets with no need for local bank accounts or payment infrastructure, ensuring low cost and faster time to market entry.
As regulation and technology converge, businesses that embrace stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure will have the competitive advantage to cater for the next wave of global commerce with faster settlements and more cost-efficient operations. However, these benefits are no longer theoretical — stablecoins are already powering cross-border retail payments at scale, with Singapore offering a ground-breaking example.
Case Study: Unlocking Cross-Border Retail with Alipay+ and Grab
StraitsX announced a trailblazing partnership with Alipay+ and Grab at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2024 to enable seamless cross-border retail payments powered by XSGD. Launched as part of the third phase of Project Orchid — the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s explanatory project into programmable digital Singapore dollar — the initiative showcased the potential of Purpose Bound Money (PBM) to enable conditional payments and automated settlement logic.
This initiative allows tourists from countries supported by the Alipay+ wallet network to pay at local Grab merchants in Singapore using their native mobile apps and respective local currency. Merchants receive real-time settlement in Singapore dollars (SGD) through XSGD — eliminating FX friction, settlement delays, and the need for separate integration with foreign payment providers.
The plug-and-play model streamlines cross-border commerce for merchant acquirers, removing infrastructure barriers and unlocking new revenue opportunities to serve international customers more effectively, particularly in tourism-heavy sectors.
For merchants, it improves cash flow and reduces FX risk while maintaining a simple and familiar customer experience. On the other hand, it offers a seamless, transparent experience for consumers, allowing them to transact in their own currencies while enjoying real-time rates and instant confirmation.
Ultimately, the collaboration demonstrates how regulated stablecoin infrastructure can be integrated to effectively power the next generation of payments. It complements existing financial systems while reducing friction, expanding access, and enhancing user experience.
Looking Ahead: A Borderless Future, Built Now
As digital finance matures, stablecoins are becoming the backbone of a more inclusive, programmable, and globally interoperable payments ecosystem. They are not a replacement for traditional financial rails, but an enhancement that solves for speed, access, and scale.
At StraitsX, we're building this future today. The group holds a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence under the Payment Services Act, issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) — authorising us to carry out 6 of the 7 regulated payment services in Singapore. This places us among the most comprehensively licensed digital payment providers in the country, enabling StraitsX to deliver a robust, end-to-end infrastructure powered by stablecoins. Our stablecoins - XSGD and XUSD — are two of only three to be recognised as compliant with the upcoming Single-Currency Stablecoin (SCS) framework proposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), offering regulated, fully-reserved options for businesses and platforms.
With our suite of enterprise APIs, global platforms can embed real-time, compliant payment capabilities directly into their apps. From issuing named virtual accounts in SGD or USD to enabling 24/7 stablecoin on and off-ramping, our APIs abstracts away the complexities of global payments. Clients can onboard fast, skip heavy banking integrations, and still access competitive infrastructure powered by tier-1 banking partners.
The AliPay+ and Grab collaboration is one example of how StraitsX is committed to advancing real-world stablecoin applications — bridging traditional payments with blockchain- native infrastructure to simplify and scale global commerce.
Whether it’s through enabling merchant acquirers to scale across borders or helping regional platforms unlock new liquidity flows, our mission is simple: to power real-world value exchange through regulated, blockchain-native payments infrastructure.
What’s clear is that cross-border commerce is no longer constrained by geography or traditional rails. With stablecoins, it’s instant, global, and ready for the future.