Stablecoins, tokenised bank deposits and instant-payment networks are competing to become Asia’s default way of moving money. The winner could determine who controls the region’s transaction fees, financial data and digital liquidity.
At 11.47 pm on a Friday, a Malaysian business owner discovers that an overseas supplier must be paid before production can begin.
The money is available. Yet the transfer may still encounter banking cut-off times, intermediary institutions and compliance checks.
In an economy that operates continuously, money can still move as though the world closes for the weekend.
That mismatch has created one of the most important, and least visible, contests in finance.
Stablecoin issuers want money to travel across blockchains. Banks are converting conventional deposits into programmable digital tokens. Central banks and payment operators are linking instant-payment systems across borders.
All three approaches promise faster, round-the-clock payments. The real contest is over who controls the infrastructure beneath Asia’s next generation of commerce.
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