On the eve of the Token2049 Summit on September 30th, OKX's Alphas Summit, titled "The New Money Era," became a popular industry event. OKX Founder and CEO Star Xu, OKX CMO Haider Rafique, and OKX SG CEO Gracie Lin appeared together to discuss the future trends of on-chain payments. This was also the first time he publicly addressed a payment topic of primary concern to users, sharing his insights on OKX Pay.

The following is the content of the roundtable discussion (edited):

Vision for the future of crypto payments

Haider Rafique: I'd like to kick off today's roundtable discussion with a concept that's been brewing in my mind. Let's not talk about trading, exchanges, or markets for a moment. Consider this: the industry currently processes trillions of dollars in daily trading volume, leveraging billions of dollars in liquidity in just a day or even an hour. It's a staggering scale. But the funny thing is—most of you still can't buy a burger directly with cryptocurrency. Yes, it's just the simplest everyday purchase.

I have a ton of credit cards in my pocket and a phone full of fintech apps. But even after all my years in crypto, the reality is, I don't use a crypto app to buy a pizza, a Blue Bottle coffee, a Grab ride, or anything else I do for everyday purchases. Why is that? Part of the reason is that our existing fintech apps, including credit and debit cards, are already "good enough." Of course, everyone knows there are gaps in the market that crypto payments could fill. But the reality is, even though most of you have crypto apps on your phone, very few actually use them for everyday payments.

So, with this in mind, I'd like to ask Star a question: As an industry pioneer, you've witnessed the development of crypto payments firsthand and watched many companies attempt to compete with traditional fintech companies. Could you summarize your vision for the future of crypto payments? How do you envision it becoming a true part of our daily lives?

Star Xu: I believe that one of the crypto industry's greatest achievements over the past 12 or 13 years has been Bitcoin. We've successfully made Bitcoin a global asset, with its market capitalization exceeding even that of Bitcoin and gold ETFs. The second greatest achievement of the crypto industry is stablecoins. Today, we see over $300 billion in stablecoins circulating on-chain. I believe that within the next one to two years, the market capitalization of stablecoins will reach $1 trillion to $2 trillion.

Before the internet, for thousands of years, human payments were based on peer-to-peer transactions. For example, if you held gold, silver, or even currency at home and paid a merchant, you had complete control over your money. But in the digital age, most of our money is held by financial institutions. If a financial institution encounters risk, we can only recover a portion of our funds through insurance. This situation is not ideal. I believe that cryptocurrencies, blockchains, and stablecoins offer new opportunities to return payments to their original peer-to-peer form.

At the same time, this payment method is both inexpensive and efficient. For example, if you use a credit card within a country, the transaction fee is very low; however, when you make a cross-border payment, the fee can reach 1, 2, or even 3%. Stablecoins are inherently global, and peer-to-peer payments don't compromise security or compliance. I believe they will become the infrastructure of the future of payments.

Technology is rapidly advancing. For example, multi-signature technology can make your crypto wallet as secure as a bank account. Numerous on-chain monitoring tools allow crypto companies to conduct anti-money laundering operations more efficiently and promptly than traditional banks. Therefore, I believe stablecoin payments will rapidly become part of our lives in the coming years.

OKX Pay's applications in daily life

Haider Rafique: I have a question: I just arrived in Singapore three days ago. After arriving at the airport, I took a Grab and went to the office. However, I am a little confused - why can't I use my cryptocurrency stablecoin to pay for this Grab fare?

Gracie Lin: We're still working on this. Unfortunately, you can't pay for Grab rides with stablecoins yet. But we can now do a lot of other things, and I'm super excited because today we just announced the launch of OKX Pay in Singapore. This has been months in the making, and we've been working closely with our friends at Grab, so I'm glad you mentioned Grab. We want to bring OKX Pay to users in Singapore, and to tourists visiting Singapore. So next time you're in Singapore, you can buy a burger or a coffee with stablecoins right in the OKX app and experience peer-to-peer payments. What I really love is that this product combines all the advantages of stablecoins, self-custody, multi-sig, and regulatory compliance, while seamlessly integrating into everyday life, making payments simple and natural.

Next time, I'll use my OKX Pay app to buy you a Blue Bottle coffee. It's completely powered by stablecoins, a payment method backed by stablecoins. So we're really excited about this. The future has arrived, the New Money Era has arrived, and so has our New Money app.

Haider Rafique: Thank you, Gracie. So tell me, I have the OKX Pay app, what happens next? Let's explain to everyone here: when you go to a store today that accepts OKX Pay, what happens? How does it work?

Gracie Lin: Let's take a merchant that supports GrabPay as an example. When you walk into a store, you'll see a QR code. If you see that the merchant supports GrabPay, all you have to do is pull out your phone, open the OKX Pay app, switch to the "Payments" tab, and scan the QR code to pay. When paying, you simply select your stablecoin, such as USDC or USDT, and the transaction is complete. It's that simple.

We've talked before about the convenience of cross-border payments. That's the beauty of it; you don't have to pay high fees. Using your stablecoin in Singapore will cost you very differently from using a credit card. Hopefully, one day, you won't need a credit card anymore, and can use OKX Pay for all your payments.

Haider Rafique: One thing I've noticed while traveling around the world—whether you're in Europe or Asia—is that if you use a traditional credit or bank card, at the payment terminal, you're faced with a choice: which currency to settle the transaction in. In my experience, it's sometimes US dollars, sometimes Singapore dollars, or the merchant's local currency. So, when I use the OKX Pay app, do I have to make these same choices? How does it work?

Gracie Lin: You don't have to make those choices. You simply use a stablecoin, like USDC/USDT. And using it abroad is no different than using it at home. That's the beauty of it. Whether your merchant is crypto-ready or not, it doesn't matter. The backend automatically processes the payment, and the merchant receives the currency they want.

This demonstrates the key to true innovation adoption: if it doesn't require significant behavioral change from users, it's more likely to be accepted. This was also our starting point when designing OKX Pay—focusing on our customers' daily lives and ensuring the payment process is as simple and natural as possible. In fact, OKX Pay is the first solution of its kind in Singapore—the first to support direct crypto payments with stablecoins via QR code scanning, and the first to offer such a solution in the onshore market. This clearly demonstrates the importance of Singapore as a strategic market for OKX.

Will on-chain payment become a future trend?

Haider Rafique: We've worked very closely together, and I'm very familiar with your vision and your passion for moving everything onto blockchain. Could you explain in layman's terms, both for the audience and those watching online, why you believe on-chain payments will be the future?

Star Xu: Actually, starting today, we're launching our on-chain payment service in Singapore and will gradually expand it over the coming months. For Singaporean users, if they hold their assets in stablecoins in OKX Pay, they will earn an annualized yield of approximately 4%. Additionally, when users make offline payments, approximately 80% of merchants in Singapore will accept PayNow QR code payments, and they can earn 3% to 4% cashback. We'll also be co-branding a debit card with the McLaren F1 team, which users can use in Singapore and even globally. In the future, we plan to quickly expand this service to more markets, including Brazil, Europe, and the US. Our vision is that in a few years, users will be able to travel the world freely, earning higher returns than banks and enjoying more cashback on every transaction, simply by using their stablecoins and the OKX app.

Haider Rafique: That's a really good start. If I keep my money in a bank account in the US, I earn almost no interest. If I keep it in a fixed-term account, I might earn 4%, but that means my funds are essentially locked up and I can't do anything else with them. So, your vision is that people can convert their funds into stablecoins and store them on OKX Pay, and they'll automatically generate interest without the user having to do anything, right?

Star Xu: Yes. Especially after the new US Genius Act, I think earning interest on your assets will become a fundamental right. No one should be able to steal our interest.

Why does OKX Pay adopt self-custody?

Haider Rafique: Absolutely right! That's a great point. OKX Pay already supports some stablecoins, but new ones have been released almost weekly over the years. How will you consider supporting these stablecoins on OKX Pay?

Star Xu: I believe that OKX itself is not a stablecoin issuer, but we are striving to become a liquidity hub for all stablecoins. This is why we launched our stablecoin strategy. Today, users can seamlessly use different stablecoins, such as USDT, USDC, and PYUSD, within the OKX app, achieving integrated on-chain stablecoin payments and earnings.

Haider Rafique: There are many crypto payment applications in the current cryptocurrency market. Most of them are custodial services. OKX Pay, on the other hand, is purely self-custodial, and you designed this product in a more unique way. I'd like you to explain your vision and why you chose a self-custodial approach for OKX Pay while maintaining practicality.

Star Xu: If stablecoin payments are to truly become part of everyday retail and people's lives, we must apply for various licenses globally and work closely with regulators. Self-custody remains a thorny issue for regulators, but we firmly believe that self-custody is a user's right—no one should access their assets without their permission. Therefore, we've created a solution that balances all these considerations: First, users must pass OKX's due diligence and compliance oversight; second, users hold their own private keys, and OKX cannot access their funds without their permission. Furthermore, all of this is built on our newly launched Ethereum Layer 2 platform, X Layer. X Layer will serve as the infrastructure for OKX Pay, ensuring true self-custody of funds while meeting regulatory requirements. With X Layer, our payments can be global, peer-to-peer, cost-consistent, and more efficient.

Haider Rafique: Thank you! I know most of us are here today to discuss trading. But if you think about a traditional brokerage in the US, like opening an account at Fidelity or Charles Schwab, you're likely given a debit card so that when you settle your positions, your USD or fiat currency can be used in your daily life. So, for OKX, offering a similar product to our traders is a very natural step. This way, when you trade and settle in the market, you can easily access funds using stablecoin assets. I hope you found this helpful, and I hope you enjoyed Star's vision and Gracie's important announcement for Singapore. Thank you very much, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming sessions.

Disclaimer

This article is for reference only. It represents the author's views and does not necessarily reflect the position of OKX. It is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or recommendations; (ii) an offer or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold digital assets; or (iii) financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins and NFTs) carries a high level of risk and may fluctuate significantly. Past returns are not indicative of future returns, and past performance is not indicative of future results. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is appropriate for you based on your financial circumstances. Please consult your legal, tax, or investment professionals regarding your specific circumstances. You are solely responsible for understanding and complying with applicable local laws and regulations.