Editor’s note: TNGlobal’s reporter attended the Stripe Tour Singapore 2025 (sponsored).
FinTech giant Stripe is banking on AI and the adoption of stablecoin as the company grows its footprint in Asia Pacific.
“We are optimistic (on the adoption of stablecoin) but we also know that this is still relatively early days. We know the prevalence of the use of stablecoins in Asia Pacific, across the region,” said Sarita Singh, Regional Head and Managing Director for Southeast Asia, India, and Greater China at Stripe.
Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a currency, commodity or financial instrument to reduce price volatility. They are commonly used as a more stable medium of exchange, such as for payments and trading, according to earlier reports.
“56 percent of organizations are using it in some way already. The thing to clarify though, is we do not see stablecoins as an asset class. It’s a transaction medium. That’s the key distinction with how Stripe views stablecoins as an enabler for this democratization,” she told TNGlobal in a recent interview at Stripe Tour Singapore 2025.
“We are very focused on these two (stablecoin and AI), because we are seeing that these are real, tangible tailwinds,” she added.
Stripe also noticed businesses in Asia are eager to adopt stablecoins and AI, according to Sarita.
“Asian businesses are really pushing us at the moment, around stablecoins and AI, which is why we have talked about it so much today because these two things are seen as both driving efficiency as well as the growth levers,” she said. “That’s how AI and stablecoins really roll up to meet those strategic requirements.”
Stripe is very focused on both stablecoin and AI, according to Sarita.
“We are using AI in our own solutions and building them rapidly. We are using AI internally as employees. We are rapidly adopting it ourselves, enabling AI companies to build scale and grow really quickly,” she said.
“Stablecoin is the democratization of money movement, whether it’s for treasury services or payments. Essentially, it’s about speed, cost and efficiency. That speed, cost and efficiency should not be in the hands of just a few,” she said.
Stablecoins offer a global, programmable platform for borderless financial services, where a single integration can unlock customers in dozens of countries at once. According to Stripe, Asia is strongly positioned to lead the way in weaving stablecoins into the fabric of internet commerce due to high adoption rates and positive regulatory momentum.
Hong Kong’s stablecoin ordinance took effect on Aug 1 as the financial center positions itself as one of the first markets globally to regulate fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, according to media reports.
Last month, Singapore’s financial regulator said it had finalized rules for stablecoin, CNBC reported.
In Malaysia, the central bank has launched a new Digital Asset Innovation Hub to support the development of digital assets and financial technology in the country. The focus includes programmable money and a ringgit-backed stablecoin.
The stablecoin market is valued at around $125 billion, with two tokens — Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC — dominating roughly 90 percent of the market cap value, according to CNBC‘s report.
Elsewhere in the US, President Donald Trump on July 18 signed the GENIUS Act into law, setting federal rules and guidelines for cryptocurrency tokens pegged to the US dollar known as stablecoins, Reuters reported last month. This US law could pave the way for the digital assets to become an everyday way to make payments and move money, according to experts.
The use of stablecoins, designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 US dollar peg, has exploded in recent years, notably among crypto traders moving funds to and from other tokens, such as bitcoin and ether. Now, a slate of companies are entertaining their own stablecoin strategies to capitalize on the promise of instant payments and settlement that stablecoins offer, the report added.
Meanwhile, Stripe’s research also finds almost half (46 percent) of surveyed businesses are planning to start using stablecoins within 24 months.
Stripe said it is already processing stablecoin payments from over 120 countries and acquired stablecoin infrastructure provider startup Bridge and crypto wallet provider Privy.
Businesses seek operational efficiency, cost control & growth amid uncertainties
Sarita also noted that businesses are seeking various solutions to drive greater operational efficiency, to better control cost and to look for new pockets of growth globally especially in the current global trade environment where there are a lot of uncertainties. Some are looking to diversify their risks and to grow their revenue.
“We are more than just a payment company. In addition to payments, [we provide] billing, revenue and finance automation, tax solutions. And then underpinning all of that which helps organizations as they are going cross border is the tax compliance, regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, etc… That’s all built and architected into our solution offerings,” she explained.
“Our users are asking us to [help them] grow cross border, drive operational efficiency, in a regulatory adhering way,” she added.
Headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, Stripe processes over $1.4 trillion of payments annually, equivalent to 1.3 percent of global GDP. In February, Reuters reported that Stripe was valued at $91.5 billion in a tender offer for employees and shareholders.
Stripe users include half of the Fortune 100, 80 percent of the Forbes Cloud 100 and 78 percent of the Forbes AI 50.
In Asia, Stripe supports a broad range of businesses, from fast-growing startups to major enterprises, including Aspire, Luckin Coffee, Manus AI, Shoplazza and StarHub, among others.
Fintech giant Stripe to power global internet commerce growth from Asia with stablecoins & AI