Stablecoin transactions become less visible in Southeast Asia as the cryptocurrency card market expands.

StraitsX, a company based in Singapore, has experienced significant expansion in its stablecoin card initiative, achieving a 40-fold increase in transaction volume and an 83-fold rise in card issuance between 2024 and 2025.

What to know:

• StraitsX, a company based in Singapore, has experienced significant expansion in its stablecoin card initiative, achieving a 40-fold increase in transaction volume and an 83-fold rise in card issuance between 2024 and 2025.
• The company’s infrastructure supports stablecoin-backed cards for partners such as RedotPay, which managed over $2.95 billion in card volume in 2025, facilitating smooth transactions in local currency.
• StraitsX aims to render its stablecoin layer inconspicuous, with ambitions to broaden its footprint in Southeast Asia and beyond, as well as to enable machine-to-machine micropayments on the Solana blockchain using its forthcoming stablecoins, XSGD and XUSD.

When a traveler from Bangkok taps to make a payment in Singapore with their Thai e-wallet, few consider the mechanisms facilitating that transaction.

However, for StraitsX, the Singapore-based firm responsible for the stablecoin infrastructure operating behind the scenes, that seamless experience is the intended outcome.

During the fourth quarter of 2024 and the same timeframe in 2025, StraitsX experienced a 40-fold increase in its card transaction volume, as informed by the company’s co-founder and CEO Tianwei Liu in a conversation with CoinDesk.

The issuance of cards escalated even more dramatically, with an increase of 83 times. This data indicates one of the fastest-growing stablecoin card initiatives in Southeast Asia.

These figures, while impressive, should be viewed in context. A significant partnership for StraitsX, with RedotPay, only began a soft launch in late 2024, implying that Q4 of that year reflects relatively modest baseline volumes.

In the wider crypto card sector, Artemis Analytics estimates that global monthly volumes surged from approximately $100 million in early 2023 to over $1.5 billion by late 2025, representing a 106% compound annual growth rate, indicating that StraitsX is benefiting from an overall upward trend rather than simply outshining a stagnant market.

Data from Dune Analytics reveals that total on-chain crypto card spending increased by 420% in 2025, rising from roughly $23 million in January to $120 million by December, with Visa capturing more than 90% of the on-chain card volume. Visa’s spending linked to stablecoin cards alone reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate by Q4 2025, marking a 460% year-over-year growth.

Notably, RedotPay, one of StraitsX’s BIN sponsorship partners, processed over $2.95 billion in card volume in 2025, exceeding four times the combined volume of its 13 nearest competitors, based on available data. This positions StraitsX’s infrastructure at the core of the category’s leading player.

The key question is whether these early-stage growth rates can be sustained as the card base matures and the novelty of stablecoin-backed spending gives way to competition on features, rewards, and costs.

The company’s primary offering operates in the background. Rather than creating a consumer-facing application, StraitsX supplies the infrastructure for others to develop upon. It serves as a Visa BIN sponsor, enabling partners like RedotPay and UPay to issue cards.

When customers tap or scan to make payments with these cards, stablecoins settle the transaction in real-time, with local currency instantly received on the other side.

"No user cares about whether a payment runs on stablecoins or fiat; they only care if the payment goes through," Liu stated.

This perspective shapes the company’s strategy: to make the stablecoin layer unnoticeable. StraitsX has processed nearly $30 billion in cumulative stablecoin transactions, but its goals extend beyond mere volume. Liu envisions stablecoins functioning like fiber-optic cables: omnipresent yet unnoticed.

By the end of March, StraitsX plans to release its two stablecoins, XSGD and XUSD, on the Solana blockchain. This launch, in collaboration with the Solana Foundation, represents the first instance of both tokens operating natively on a high-speed blockchain.

The tokens will utilize the x402 standard, which facilitates machine-to-machine micropayments.

"When fees approach zero, you can suddenly transfer very small amounts of money, very frequently," Liu remarked. "Payments begin to resemble internet data flows, continuous, low-cost, and directly integrated into applications."

XSGD currently leads the non-USD stablecoin sector in Southeast Asia, holding more than 70% market share. It maintains a 1:1 peg with the Singapore dollar, supported by monthly audits. This peg gained additional significance earlier in the year when the Singapore dollar reached an 11-year peak against the U.S. dollar.

Looking beyond Singapore

Now, StraitsX is setting its sights beyond Singapore. A cross-border corridor with Thailand is scheduled to launch under Project BLOOM, a regulatory initiative from Singapore’s central bank.

This system will enable Thai travelers to scan QR codes in Singapore via KBank’s Q Wallet and pay merchants in their local currency. The transaction will covert between Thailand’s Q-money and StraitsX’s XSGD in the background, another stablecoin-powered payment operating discreetly.

Liu stated that the model adheres to a well-known approach. For example, integrations with GrabPay and Alipay+ required no retraining for users. Nevertheless, the company has witnessed a 400% increase in merchant transaction volume and a sixfold rise in the number of unique users engaging with those merchants month-over-month.

Similar initiatives are planned for Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Like driving an electric car

Visa, one of StraitsX’s key partners, views this transition as a natural progression in payments. Adeline Kim, Visa’s country manager for Singapore and Brunei, informed CoinDesk that stablecoin-backed cards do not alter the customer experience.

The cards function similarly to traditional ones, complete with chargeback protections and fiat settlements.

"It’s akin to driving an electric car versus a gasoline-powered vehicle on the same road," Kim explained. "The vehicle differs, but the road signs, toll booths, and regulations remain unchanged."

The growth aligns with a recognizable trend across the sector. Full-stack crypto card issuers, such as Rain and Reap, which possess direct Visa principal membership and manage their own settlement processes, have expanded rapidly. Rain has reached over $3 billion annualized, while Reap has surpassed $6 billion.

Remittances represent a significant use case. The World Bank estimates that sending $200 internationally still incurs an average cost of 6.49%. With stablecoins, those costs significantly decrease.

Looking forward, Kim anticipates that stablecoin cards will evolve beyond mere utility. She expects future offerings to feature real-time spending insights, cross-border benefits, and reward systems tailored to user habits.

For Liu, the definition of success lies in invisibility. The optimal stablecoin infrastructure, he asserts, is one that goes unnoticed by users. The transaction simply executes seamlessly.