While AI rapidly streamlines daily life, the realm of cross-border finance, especially for Business-to-Business (B2B) transaction, remains notably slow and inefficient. Inter-enterprise international wire transfers still take days or even weeks to complete. It’s a pain point for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in emerging markets.

Jaclyn Tsai, Honorary Chairperson of the Taiwan FinTech Association (TFTA) and Chairperson of the Asia FinTech Alliance (AFA), argues that the next decade of global supply chain development will require the integration of logistics, financial infrastructure, payment flows, and real-time information interoperability.

In an interview with the Mandarin podcast Web3 Go West, hosted by XREX Group, Tsai emphasized that such integration is essential to building a next-generation “Payment Flow Operating System” (Payment Flow OS), in which blockchain technology and stablecoins will play an indispensable role. She further noted that the most impactful applications of stablecoins lie in supply chain and cross-border payments. As Taiwan plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain, Tsai stressed that this is an opportunity the nation must seize—not merely as a participant, but as a leader.

Taiwan’s Strategic Juncture: Integrating FinTech to Build Supply Chain’s ‘Payment Flow OS’

AI has brought significant transformation to the financial industry and global supply chains. However, many still do not see blockchain and cryptocurrencies as integral parts of the supply chain ecosystem. To date, AI and blockchain technologies have largely evolved in parallel, with limited integration between them.

Tsai advocates for the combined application of AI and blockchain, specifically calling for FinTech to be “embedded” into logistics to build the supply chain’s “Payment Flow OS” for the next decade. She believes that integrating the three flows — goods, information, and payments — holds the key to enhancing the future competitiveness of the global supply chain. Given Taiwan’s prominence in global manufacturing, she argues that Taiwan should not only take the lead but also serve as a global demonstration site.

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TFTA hosted the FinTechOn & AFA Summit in September this year. During the event, Tsai highlighted three core directions for building the supply chain’s future Payment Flow Operating System (Payment Flow OS):

• Stablecoins and Digital Payments:
  Stablecoins and digital payments shorten transaction time from weeks to seconds, dramatically reducing funds in transit.
• Tokenization Technology:
  Tokenization turns invoices and receivables into financing opportunities, unlocking new liquidity for businesses.
• AI Credit Models and Blockchain:
  AI-driven credit models enable fairer access to funding for SMEs, while blockchain and digital identity technologies foster trust, transparency, and security. Integrating digital identity into the blockchain layer also embeds verification directly into transactions, helping to prevent fraud and scams.

Wayne Huang, Co-founder and Group CEO of XREX, noted that the value and functionality demonstrated by stablecoins in cross-border payments during the pandemic have driven many countries to actively pursue legislation, interoperability, and mutual recognition frameworks — citing the U.S. GENIUS Act as a notable example.

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Challenges to Adoption: ‘Trust’ and ‘Regulation’

A major pain point in supply chain finance is funds in transit. For a single major Taiwanese supply chain vendor with daily transaction volumes in the trillions, funds in transit can reach hundreds of millions of New Taiwan Dollars in a single day. This capital is tied up for extended periods, generating no interest an inefficiency inherent to the current SWIFT system.

While stablecoins are technically proven to enable faster and cheaper cross-border transfers, adoption remains low. Tsai asserts that technology is not the barrier; the core issues are “trust” and “regulation”.

Tsai shared her insights from engaging with supply chain firms. She observed that while large corporations regard the existing SWIFT system as reliable and low-risk, many SMEs still perceive blockchain and cryptocurrencies as distant or irrelevant to their businesses.

As most global supply chain companies are publicly listed, many remain cautious about adopting stablecoins without clear regulatory frameworks. Tsai urges these companies to start planning and learning now to secure their future competitiveness as global regulatory standards for blockchain and cryptocurrencies continue to take shape. The U.S. GENIUS Act serves as a good example.

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Key Challenges and a Three-Pillar Solution

Tsai further identified several critical challenges in embedding FinTech into the emerging Payment Flow OS for the global supply chain:

• Trust Deficit – Building confidence among supply chain vendors remains a fundamental challenge. Many stakeholders must be convinced that new financial technologies can genuinely reduce costs and improve operational speed.
• Infrastructure Investment – For SMEs in particular, integrating internal ERP, logistics, and financial systems demands substantial investment in upgrades and new infrastructure. However, this transformation also presents new business opportunities for system integrators and service providers.
• Stablecoin Selection – For Taiwan’s globally connected supply chain, determining whether to adopt USD stablecoins or New Taiwan dollar (NTD) stablecoins is a key strategic decision. Tsai underscores the importance of issuing NTD stablecoins that are internationally connected and interoperable.
• Regulatory Interoperability and Standardization – While Taiwan gradually develops its regulatory readiness, achieving cross-border regulatory alignment is essential to ensure system compatibility, interoperability, mutual recognition, and trust across jurisdictions.

Winston Hsiao, Co-founder and Group Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of XREX Group, further emphasized that a complete supply chain finance ecosystem requires transparent and traceable financial flows to enable the assetization of trade transactions. As blockchain-native financial institutions are unable to provide financing services directly, effective division of labor and close collaboration with traditional financial institutions become indispensable.

To address these challenges, Tsai proposed the guiding principles of “Mutual Trust, Mutual Interoperation, and Mutual Recognition.” She underscored that interoperability and recognition are fundamentally built upon standardization. The most pragmatic path, she suggested, is for the industry to first establish consensus on best practices, and then jointly engage with regulators in respective jurisdictions. This, she noted, is the core mission of the Asia FinTech Alliance (AFA), which brings together 15 economies across Asia to collectively advance regulatory harmonization.

Stablecoin Outlook for 2026: Three Major Trends

Looking ahead to the development of stablecoins in 2026, Tsai highlighted three key outlooks:

• Regulatory Implementation – Major economies are expected to clarify and formally implement their stablecoin regulatory frameworks. This regulatory certainty will likely encourage large enterprises, including supply chain firms, to adopt compliant stablecoins.
• Infrastructure Launch – The development of internal supply chain system integration, such as embedding FinTech into ERP systems and building cross-border Payment Flow infrastructure, will accelerate. This transformation is also expected to generate new business opportunities for system construction and service providers.
• Trust Alliances and Standardization – Tsai emphasized the need for cross-border trust alliances to promote standardization and facilitate data exchange for stablecoin reserves, disclosure, and auditing, including adherence to the Travel Rule. Such standardization is critical to fostering international interoperability and cooperation.

Concluding her outlook, Tsai called on Taiwan to seize this first-mover advantage and take a leadership role in establishing international standards through global collaboration, ensuring its prominence in the next phase of global supply chains.

About XREX Group

XREX Group is a blockchain-enabled financial institution working with banks, regulators, and users to redefine banking together. We provide services to businesses in or dealing with emerging markets, and novice-friendly financial services to individuals worldwide.

Founded in 2018, XREX offers a full suite of services such as digital asset custody, wallet, cross-border payment, fiat-crypto conversion, cryptocurrency exchange, asset management, and fiat currency on-off ramps.

Sharing the social responsibility of financial inclusion, XREX leverages blockchain technologies to further financial participation, access, and education.

XREX Singapore operates under the Major Payments Institution (MPI) license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). XREX Taiwan is a regulated VASP that completed its Compliance Declaration on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) with Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in March 2022. It passed its AML registration with the FSC in September 2025, becoming one of nine approved VASPs.