StraitsX, a payments infrastructure for digital assets developed by Singapore-based fintech firm Xfers, has surpassed the S$2 billion (US$1.48 billion) mark in digital assets-related transactions for this year alone.

Aymeric Salley, head of StraitsX, says: “The growth in transactions shows that investors are increasingly exploring digital assets as an alternative form of investment that offers liquidity and returns.”

Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Global CBDC Challenge has shortlisted StraitsX and SEBA Bank “to explore innovative retail CBDC (central bank digital currency) solutions to enhance payment efficiencies, and we intend to intensify our efforts working hand-in-hand with both regulators and digital assets market participants to enable such transformation”, he notes.

In October 2020, StraitsX launched Southeast Asia's first stablecoin – the StraitsX Singapore Dollar (XSGD), a digital token available on Ethereum and the Zilliqa blockchain that is backed one-for-one by the Singapore dollar. XSGD is supported on various digital asset platforms including decentralized finance applications such as Zilswap, Uniswap and DFX Finance. As of September 2021, XSGD crossed over S$1.5 billion in on-chain transaction value.

“At StraitsX, we strive to enable and accelerate access to digital assets in Asia and beyond. With the help of our valuable partners, we have seen tremendous growth in digital asset-related transactions and the adoption of XSGD. We hope to continue to bring value to our users in Southeast Asia through the StraitsX platform and the StraitsX stablecoins," Salley adds.

The StraitsX platform has been redesigned to enable faster and more efficient navigation. The new platform enables individual users to transfer, mint and redeem XSGD with a connected bank account, in addition to spending their XSGD with various digital asset platforms.

Businesses can also leverage application programming interfaces (APIs) to collect, disburse and reconcile funds from their end-users. StraitsX currently supports over 10 digital asset platforms in Singapore through its API solution.

“With the increase of user adoption towards access to digital assets, we feel that we can better serve this market by separating StraitsX as a standalone brand dedicated to accelerating access to digital assets in Southeast Asia. This brand update aims to improve user experience and better communicate our mission to bring access to digital assets in Southeast Asia,” Salley adds.