Most people tapping to pay have no idea a stablecoin just moved their money. That invisibility is exactly the point — and it is quietly becoming the backbone connecting Asia's payment systems to the Gulf. Joining me is Tianwei Liu, CEO and Co-Founder of StraitsX. Tian, welcome to Wall Street to Mena. In plain terms, what does it mean for a stablecoin to be invisible inside a payment?
Thank you for having me. We believe that the best payment infrastructure is the one you do not have to think about. Being invisible means it does not need to replace the payment experience — it needs to improve it from behind the scenes. A stablecoin-backed card is a very good example of what a lot of people in this space call a stablecoin sandwich solution — where stablecoin is effectively set between two fiat payment systems, connecting them and making them more efficient without the underlying user understanding that it is involved. Users can spend their stablecoin at all 175 million Visa and Mastercard merchants by simply tapping — the same familiar experience. Merchants settle in the fiat currency they are used to. The whole system works seamlessly without any change in user behaviour.
Why does cross-border payment infrastructure need blockchain at all? What was actually broken about the old system?
I would not use the word broken. Blockchain does not need to replace every part of financial infrastructure — it needs to replace the parts where you should expect it to be always on, programmable, and where it actually matters. The existing payment system was not designed for an always-on internet-native economy. Banks pretty much only work about one quarter of the 24/7 hours we have. They do not work on weekends. They usually end at 3pm or 5pm. Stablecoin helps change that because being on-chain means being connected 24/7 — which is what a lot of payment flows are expected to work at in the speed of the internet today.
What is the real bottleneck left in moving money between Asia and the Gulf?
The biggest challenge is not about moving information — it is moving value efficiently. Both markets have sophisticated financial systems with cross-border infrastructure, different currencies, FX markets, and multiple intermediaries involved. The opportunity for stablecoins is to create a common settlement layer across this fragmented market. But the stablecoin itself is not the entire solution. Moving stablecoin cross-border is one part. Making the value usable at the destination is another. The winner will be the platform that connects these pieces — compliant local on and off ramps, local liquidity, and a familiar card-based spending layer.
How close are AI agents making micropayments to each other to everyday reality?
It is still early, but infrastructure is already being built. Most use cases we see today are related to micropayments and programmable on-chain payments — usually used between APIs, allowing agents to talk to agents in more effective ways. Stablecoin is definitely one of the most effective ways for this interaction. However, for day-to-day interaction, most people have not been able to engage with that yet because there is still a gap. At StraitsX, we have been piloting what we call human-delegated payments — equipping agents with a Visa debit or credit card that can help complete e-commerce transactions on behalf of users.
Why work through existing apps people already trust instead of building a new consumer platform?
I am not too sure anyone wants another app. If I open my phone today, I sometimes have to search for most of the apps I download on a daily basis. Consumers do not want another financial system — they just want a better experience. The adoption we have seen over the last 12 to 18 months proves it. A stablecoin-backed card looks and feels like a normal card transaction, while stablecoin sits underneath the funding and settlement. The user can hold stablecoin but spend it through a familiar card network. Both users and merchants do not have to hold stablecoin if they do not want to. That is what shapes adoption — using something already familiar, with a brand already trusted.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
