Singapore MetaComp Secures Tens of Millions of Dollars in Pre-A+ Funding Round: Monthly GMV Exceeds $1 Billion, Net Profit Turned Positive

“A brand new, complex, yet fascinating world.”

Text | Ren Qian

Exclusive news from “Hidden Currents Waves”: Singapore-based fintech company MetaComp recently secured several tens of millions of dollars in Pre-A+ funding, invested by a well-known internet giant strategic investor, Spark Venture, and other institutions, with existing shareholders participating simultaneously. Just three months ago, MetaComp completed a $22 million Pre-A round funded by top-tier US dollar institutions.

It is understood that MetaComp achieved full-year net profit positivity in 2025. After this round of financing, combined with other sources of cash flow from operations, the company’s immediate liquidity exceeds $100 million.

MetaComp’s Co-President Chen Peiling has 16 years of legislative experience in Singapore and previously served as President of Singapore-China Business Council. The other Co-President, Eddie Hui-Bon-Hoa, is also the company’s COO, with previous roles including Asia COO at Société Générale.

This funding occurs against the backdrop of MetaComp and related companies providing cross-border payment and wealth management services to clients in over 30 countries and regions worldwide, with monthly payment transaction volume exceeding $1 billion and assets under management surpassing $500 million. It directly brings a “middle ground” between traditional SWIFT systems and the crypto world—industry insiders call it Web2.5.

In the traditional Web2.0 fiat currency world, especially for large enterprises expanding overseas in developed countries, tools like APIs, payment channels, custodians, and compliance service providers are readily available. But in emerging markets like Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia where traditional payment systems are relatively weak, the pain points of cross-border payments are no longer just about rates and speed: transaction-based access mechanisms exclude many small and medium-sized enterprises from efficient payment infrastructure, forcing them to frequently switch payment platforms at higher costs.

Web2.5 is designed as a “convergence space” to address these real-world pain points of SMEs in cross-border payments—a hybrid payment architecture that connects and is compatible with both traditional financial systems and blockchain networks. Simply put, the system supports instant T+0 settlement between fiat and stablecoins, enabling conversions such as fiat-to-fiat, fiat-to-stablecoin, stablecoin-to-stablecoin, and fiat-stablecoin-fiat.

But MetaComp’s ambitions go beyond payments. It aims to become the “Ant Financial of the Web2.5 world,” starting with payment channels and extending into a more sticky and valuable integrated asset management platform.

Looking at the global fintech landscape, the “dream makers” of payments + wealth management are rare, especially in the Web2.5—an even more complex new world. The combination of licensing for payments and wealth management, underlying technology, and most importantly, compliance, are clear entry points, requiring a comprehensive ecosystem and team-building.

It is understood that MetaComp and related companies have been applying for licenses in Singapore since 2019. They have now obtained ten licenses covering digital asset trading and custody, cross-border payments, securities, trusts, futures, custody, fund management, and RWA Token exchanges. Starting in 2025, they plan to apply for licenses in Hong Kong, Switzerland, UAE, and Canada.

Notably, to support the hybrid Web2.5 payment + wealth model—including stablecoins, fiat, securities, and RWA Tokens—all core infrastructure and platforms, such as the bank system CoreX, multi-cloud MPC wallet WalletX, foreign exchange smart routing system StableX, AML system VisionX, and future-oriented trading agent AgentX, are self-developed.

In the Web2.5 world, how does money flow? Is this truly a fundamental overhaul of global capital and wealth transfer? How is compliance effectively addressed? How will stablecoins coexist with fiat payment services in the future? How do traditional wealth products and RWA Tokens interconnect? On the occasion of MetaComp’s funding, we spoke with Co-President Chen Peiling.

Below is the interview, edited—

Part 01

Self-developed infrastructure for payments and wealth

“Hidden Currents”: Can you summarize MetaComp’s core positioning in one sentence?

Chen Peiling: MetaComp and its affiliates are building a future-oriented Web2.5 integrated platform for global enterprises, financial institutions, and ultra-high-net-worth clients, offering hybrid payments with fiat and stablecoins, and hybrid wealth management with traditional securities and RWA Tokens, further enhancing compliance and interaction efficiency through AI-driven transformation.

“Hidden Currents”: I heard your current client base is mostly globalized enterprises, with monthly transaction volumes already reaching $10-15 billion.

Chen Peiling: Precisely, we serve outbound companies in global markets, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—such as manufacturing, gaming, and their associated digital marketing, advertising, and cloud service firms. This is currently our largest business segment. The $10 billion monthly transaction volume is just the beginning, indicating strong demand.

In simple terms, enterprises sell goods to Africa, Latin America, or Asia, and the buyers pay in their local currencies or circulating stablecoins. Meanwhile, exporters in Hong Kong or Singapore need offshore RMB or USD. Previously, they used traditional channels—slow and costly. Now, because local currencies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia are volatile, many buyers hold large amounts of stablecoins as hard currency reserves. Our role is to help merchants collect these funds compliantly and facilitate fiat repatriation.

“Hidden Currents”: Why are stablecoins particularly suitable for Africa, Latin America, and Asia markets? What specific pain points do they solve?

Chen Peiling: It all starts with the limitations of the SWIFT system. Technically, SWIFT could be fast, but why isn’t it? For example, cross-border payments from Mexico to Singapore: the Mexican peso first converts to USD, then goes through intermediary banks in SWIFT, then converts to local currency or offshore RMB. This process usually takes 2-5 days.

The delay isn’t a technical issue but a profit and cost issue. When $7 trillion of foreign exchange transactions flow daily globally, the funds held in intermediary banks incur zero cost for banks—they profit from interest rate spreads. Although the funds don’t earn interest during transfer, banks can use them for other business. This historical accumulation generates huge income. Additionally, they make money through FX trading and derivatives—each step charging fees—profiting significantly.

This isn’t good for enterprises. Stablecoins change this landscape. Converting Mexican pesos into USD stablecoins and then directly to local currency in Singapore shortens the process to about 20 minutes, cutting costs by over half.

The key point is, within a single country, stablecoins are rarely needed—because domestic banking systems in China, Singapore, and the US are highly efficient. But between countries, especially in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia, using USD plus SWIFT is inefficient. That’s where Web2.5 presents an opportunity.

“Hidden Currents”: Do the terms “between countries” and “Africa, Latin America” imply a limited customer scope?

Chen Peiling: On the contrary. Data from major companies shows their international growth is shifting from Europe and the US toward Africa, Latin America, and Asia. This is also why we’ve secured investments from large firms in two funding rounds. China’s exports to Europe and the US have limited stablecoin value—hence the mixed opinions on stablecoins.

“Hidden Currents”: The entire payment chain is complex and relies on strong technical capabilities. How do you develop your core engine and compliance architecture?

Chen Peiling: All self-developed. Initially, we wanted to buy a core banking system, but found none that covered fiat, stablecoins, securities, and RWA Tokens. So, starting in 2020, we developed our multi-cloud MPC wallet WalletX and our Web2.5 core banking system, now upgraded to version 2.1.

A milestone is the launch of StableX in 2025. It’s the infrastructure for Web2.5 cross-border payments and FX liquidity, supported by the StableX engine and VisionX engine.

StableX is a cross-border B2B FX and liquidity routing engine supporting fiat-to-fiat, fiat-to-stablecoin, and stablecoin-to-stablecoin conversions with zero delay (T+0), optimizing cost and time.

Another is the AML risk engine VisionX, which provides end-to-end transaction monitoring across traditional finance and Web3, offering real-time identity verification and risk views for blockchain and off-chain financial systems. It integrates multiple KYT tools, making transactions safer and frictionless. In short, we connect fiat and crypto data flows for comprehensive compliance monitoring.

“Hidden Currents”: AI models are transforming many industries, but in finance, high precision, security, and compliance are essential. Without financial licenses, AI companies find it hard to develop in this space. How do you tackle this?

Chen Peiling: We completed a small-scale test of an LLM-powered AgentX for client exchange and payment in November last year, directly serving clients via Agent, calling our Web2.5 core banking system, and using Web2.5 API gateways to traditional banks for fiat payments or MPC wallets for stablecoins. We’re now testing financial security of Agent and developing other financial services like account opening, compliance, and wealth management using the latest Agent and Skills tech.

We believe that future Web2.5 payment + wealth services will be reshaped by Agent + Skills. But doing this well is tough—requiring cutting-edge AI, industry knowledge, licensing compliance, and integration with traditional systems via API gateways. We are one of the few Asian fintech firms with this foundation, and it will be a key focus for our R&D in 2026-2027.

“Hidden Currents”: Since liquidity is so strong, why are you raising funds now?

Chen Peiling: MetaComp was already profitable in 2025. Initially, we used self-funding to obtain licenses, develop systems, and grow transaction volume to over $10 billion monthly. Our performance proves we can build a Web2.5 Ant Financial.

The launch of StableX in 2025 was timely—amid new global regulations on stablecoins and digital assets, the integration of Web2.0 and Web3.0 in payments is accelerating. Industry stakeholders are eager to solve integration challenges. That’s the big premise.

For a long time, finding suitable partners was our biggest challenge in launching StableX. External funding is partly driven by this. Our investors are not just financial—they have potential business collaborations, aiming to build an institutional-level ecosystem covering banks, cross-border payments, and stablecoins.

“Hidden Currents”: The stablecoin industry has seen many changes in recent years. What’s the current node?

Chen Peiling: If you ask traditional banks or PSPs, they might not see stablecoins as a fast-growing future. But we see a vibrant cycle.

Breaking down the financial system into tiers: the base is “counter service” (transaction banking), then FX, then fixed income, then bonds, equities, derivatives, and at the top hedge funds and PE/VC. When no major technological change occurs, everyone aims for the top tiers. But when a major tech revolution happens, the lower tiers—like settlement—become attractive again, transforming into new growth points. Over time, this influence propagates upward.

The last revolution was the internet, which allowed Ant Financial to rebuild payments (Alipay), fixed-income (Yu’e Bao), and lending (Huabei/Jiebei) across provinces. Now, blockchain technology offers a chance to replicate this process across Africa, Latin America, and Asia using stablecoins—recreating the “Ant Financial” journey in Web2.5 payments, fixed income, lending, and wealth management.

Part 02

Financial super-integrator

“Hidden Currents”: Most fintech companies start with payments and only do payments. Is your ambition a bit bigger?

Chen Peiling: Take Revolut in the UK, valued at $75 billion—about ten times the valuation of major domestic payment giants. Why? Because Revolut isn’t just a bank account; it’s evolved into a “super app” with card payments, FX trading, stocks/ETFs, crypto, precious metals, and more. Its 2024 revenue grew about 72%, with valuation rising 70% this year.

Finance’s essence is “skim and earn interest spreads.” Payments are channels; wealth management creates higher stickiness and value. Both Ant and Revolut prove this. From the start, we saw this clearly and applied for a full set of licenses. Why not dream bigger?

“Hidden Currents”: It’s clear that over the past five years, your licensing, staffing, infrastructure, and system development have all targeted Web2.5 payments + wealth.

Chen Peiling: We openly admit—we’re building a stablecoin version of “Ant Financial” in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

On payments, our StableX engine uses real-time rates and channel costs, employing strategies and AI algorithms to automatically choose the optimal path (USD channel or stablecoin channels).

On wealth management, it’s a huge pain point. In traditional cross-border remittances, funds in transit earn no interest for days. We launched Web2.5 wealth management: when clients’ funds arrive in our accounts—even if only for hours—we can help them buy US Treasury tokens or gold tokens, enabling T+0 redemption and yield. For institutional and UHNW clients, we also offer long-term fixed income settled in fiat or stablecoins, or digital asset pledge loans and fund products.

“Hidden Currents”: Since Stripe’s largest acquisition was Bridge ($1.1 billion), also a stablecoin infrastructure company, it shows importance. Are you competitors with Stripe, Airwallex?

Chen Peiling: We’re in a parallel or complementary space. Stripe and Bridge mainly serve Europe and the US, where credit card systems are highly developed, and stablecoins have limited marginal benefit. Our focus is Africa, Latin America, and Asia, where financial infrastructure is weaker, and stablecoin payments can leapfrog.

As for companies like Airwallex, they excel in front-end customer acquisition and B2B services. But for underlying cross-border settlement involving stablecoins and complex fiat conversions, they can integrate our infrastructure. We provide the “pipes” and compliance network—the missing link in stablecoin settlement.

“Hidden Currents”: But the wealth management model in Web2.5 remains abstract for most, especially traditional outbound entrepreneurs.

Chen Peiling: They just lacked better solutions. Our current asset management scale is $500 million. When we connect payments and wealth management, we see many clients—especially enterprises and UHNW—who want heavy service.

For example, a cross-border trade settlement company focusing on Africa and Southeast Asia has many clients who hold stablecoins but don’t convert immediately. We offer stablecoin wealth management directly, which is practical and attractive. We also list many quality fiat wealth products. Clients can manage traditional and on-chain financial products on one platform, capturing both yields.

In increasingly complex geopolitical situations, resilient financial services are essential. If traditional financial channels become harder due to politics, and business and wealth preservation are at risk of halting, clients might shift to Web3.0 backup solutions. Our Web2.5 platform aims to be a seamless bridge between Web2.0 and Web3.0.

“Hidden Currents”: Why has no one done this before?

Chen Peiling: The timing wasn’t right. Previously, payments and wealth management were mostly separate (except a few like Ant and Revolut). Web2.0 and Web3.0 worlds were disconnected.

First, Web2.0’s compliance requirements differ greatly from Web3.0’s. Only as regulation matures and licensed institutions emerge can integration happen. Our own experience makes us respect companies like Ant and Revolut—they’ve built different license, personnel, infrastructure, and risk frameworks. Achieving stablecoin and fiat payment and wealth integration is very difficult. But once we succeed, our barriers will be very high.

“Hidden Currents”: Regarding compliance, traditional financial institutions often avoid crypto payments due to AML concerns. How do you address this?

Chen Peiling: That’s a misconception. Blockchain is actually more transparent than traditional finance. In banks, you know who the customer is, but once funds cross borders multiple times, it becomes a black box. On blockchain, the fund flow is transparent—wallets are anonymous, but the flow is visible.

We aim to bridge this gap. Our VisionX engine combines Web2.0 bank screening with Web3.0 on-chain analysis. We spend heavily on AML databases—among the most advanced in the industry.

Simply put, give me a wallet address, and I can see its current state and trace back through 100 layers of interactions. Even if it interacted with a sanctioned entity at the fifth layer, we can assess the risk penetration.

This makes us one of the few compliant institutions capable of handling such funds. We spent three and a half years applying for licenses in Singapore, with heavy investment and no revenue during that period, creating a high barrier.

“Hidden Currents”: How do you acquire clients?

Chen Peiling: So far, most clients come from demand-driven referrals. We don’t have time to educate—they come with high awareness: “I want to do this, can you do it?” Our answer: “Yes, open an account.”

“Hidden Currents”: Do you think stablecoin payments are moving toward mainstream? What’s the tipping point?

Chen Peiling: Not yet. Like EVs, when penetration hits 15-25%, the trend becomes irreversible. Although we’re not there yet, in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia, the trend is clear. For example, in Nigeria, due to currency devaluation, acceptance of stablecoins is very high—demand-driven innovation.

When stablecoin penetration reaches a critical point, it’s no longer optional but necessary.

“Hidden Currents”: What kind of company do you want MetaComp to become?

Chen Peiling: We aim to be the licensed Web2.5 Ant Financial for Africa, Latin America, and Asia—offering integrated compliant payment and wealth services. In the future, an outbound enterprise opening an account with us will get: local bank accounts in multiple countries + stablecoin accounts + credit cards + automated wealth yields + real-time pledge and lending. We don’t need to be the most glamorous brand; as long as enterprises feel “faster local banking, quicker money transfer, lower costs, earning interest or appreciation, access to loans, and backup options amid geopolitical complexities,” we deliver value.