🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

StraitsX growth comes from one big partner plus hard-to-get licenses

• Much of StraitsX’s growth ties to RedotPay, which ran over US$2.95 billion in card volume in 2025. That total is more than four times the combined volume of its 13 closest competitors 1.
• StraitsX operates on a regulated base through Major Payment Institution (MPI) licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator 2.
• These licenses let StraitsX’s licensed entities offer payment services, including digital payment token services. StraitsX issues stablecoins such as XSGD and XUSD, and MAS has acknowledged XUSD as compliant with the forthcoming stablecoin regulatory framework. That framework includes at least 100% reserve backing plus an independent external audit 2, 3.
• This setup raises the bar for new entrants and frames StraitsX as regulated financial infrastructure rather than a pure tech vendor 2.

Stablecoin payments work best when people barely notice them

• StraitsX co-founder and CEO Tianwei Liu said the aim is to make the stablecoin layer “invisible,” so the focus stays on whether the payment clears 1.
• Partners can issue cards on the Visa network. The cards behave like familiar payment cards with chargebacks and fiat settlements, while stablecoins handle settlement behind the scenes 1.
• A similar approach powers the QR payment corridor with Thailand. Thai travelers can scan QR codes in Singapore using KBank’s Q Wallet, a mobile wallet from Thailand’s Kasikornbank, while conversion between Thailand’s Q-money and StraitsX’s XSGD runs in the background 1.