A tourist from Seoul lands in Singapore, craving laksa. She opens KakaoPay—the same app she uses for coffee back home—scans a QR code at a hawker stall, and pays instantly. The merchant gets Singapore dollars in real-time. No currency exchange. No foreign transaction fees. No three-day settlement delays.

A Malaysian using Touch ‘n Go buys bubble tea at Toast Box. The payment flows through three countries, two currencies, and multiple networks. It feels like buying coffee at home.

This is happening right now across 130,000 merchants in Singapore. Twelve international wallet apps from nine countries. Real-time foreign exchange conversion. Instant settlement in local currency.

It may seem like any other payment technology on the front-end. But the efficiency is powered by rails built on the blockchain.

The rails making this possible? StraitsX‘s stablecoin bridge connecting Grab and Alipay+.

The case study that changes everything

The Grab-Alipay+ integration solves a problem every traveler knows: payments abroad are broken. Traditional options suck. International cards charge 2-3% fees plus terrible exchange rates. Cash requires planning and carries risk. Local payment apps don’t work for tourists.

StraitsX’s rails collapse this entire pain point. Tourists pay in their home currency through familiar apps—Alipay CN, KakaoPay, Touch ‘n Go. Merchants receive Singapore dollars instantly. The complexity disappears behind clean interfaces.

The scale proves the demand: major F&B chains like CHAGEE and BreadTalk have integrated. Over 130,000 GrabPay merchants now accept international wallets seamlessly. Real-time settlement eliminates the cash flow delays that plague cross-border payments.

This isn’t just a Singapore story. It’s a proof of concept for regional payment networks that could connect all of Southeast Asia through programmable rails.

The $238 billion payments awakening

While everyone talks about AI disrupting everything, stablecoins quietly processed $27.6 trillion in 2024. More than Visa and Mastercard combined. The market hit $238 billion in May 2025, with non-USD stablecoins surging 30%.

This is the structural inflection point. Stablecoins aren’t becoming mainstream—they already are mainstream. What’s changing is regulatory clarity and institutional adoption.

The US is advancing its Stable Act. The EU’s MiCA framework is live. Singapore finalized its stablecoin rules in 2023. Hong Kong just passed its stablecoin bill. This isn’t regulatory uncertainty—it’s regulatory convergence.

Stripe bought Bridge. MasterCard partnered with MoonPay. Visa invested in BVNK. Meta re-entered stablecoins. When payment giants stop fighting the future and start building it, the game has changed.

Stablecoins now support instant, cross-border, 24/7 programmable value exchange that traditional systems can’t deliver. The Grab-Alipay+ integration is just the beginning.

StraitsX: Payments rails, not features

Most stablecoin companies are building tokens. StraitsX built rails.

Over $10 billion in settled transactions through XSGD and XUSD. Licensed as a Major Payment Institution in Singapore across 6 of 7 regulated activities. Partnerships with Binance, Grab, and Ant International.

The regulatory foundation matters more than the technology. Anyone can fork a stablecoin contract. Not everyone can get a Major Payment Institution license. That license enables integration with traditional banking and institutional clients.

The rails-first approach is why StraitsX enables experiences like the Grab-Alipay+ integration. They’re not competing with payment apps—they’re powering them.

The compound effect

StraitsX aims to replicate this model across Asia, connecting merchant acquirers and wallet issuers through stablecoin-enabled rails. Each new integration makes the network more valuable for everyone.

When your rails enable seamless experiences that were previously impossible, you compete on capability, not price. The Grab-Alipay+ integration becomes proof for the next partnership.

Traditional cross-border payments are broken by design. Multiple intermediaries, fees, delays. StraitsX’s rails collapse this into real-time, programmable settlement.

The future isn’t replacing existing systems—it’s connecting them. Payment rails that span countries while maintaining regulatory compliance. Always-on cross-border commerce that feels natural.

StraitsX is positioned as the bridge that enables this network. The backbone for Asia’s next-generation cross-border value networks.

This is money that moves at the speed of code, enabling experiences that traditional rails simply cannot deliver.