Traditional payment collides with encryption, the "stablecoin useless theory" sparks controversy.

Written by: Shenchao TechFlow

With the giant stablecoin issuer Circle going public on the NYSE, the “stablecoin craze” continues to unfold in the financial sector.

More and more people are becoming interested in stablecoins, and some companies in traditional industries that are already somewhat related to stablecoins have a lot to say about it.

Last weekend, Jack Zhang, the founder and CEO of the cross-border payment platform Airwallex, criticized stablecoins on Twitter, claiming that they have no advantages compared to traditional payment methods.

This statement immediately sparked a lot of discussion, let’s take a look at what happened.

The Uselessness of Stablecoins

On June 7, Jack Zhang questioned the ability of stablecoins to reduce foreign exchange costs in cross-border payments in a Thread, stating: For transactions from USD to EUR, the conversion costs of stablecoins are higher than those of traditional markets.

Because traditional payments have fees as low as 0.01% or below in the currencies of G10 countries (such as USD/EUR), and can be processed in real-time.

It’s not enough to just compare costs and efficiency. Jack Zhang continues to criticize: over the past 15 years, he hasn’t seen any real value in cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, which simply can’t compare to practical tools like AI that we use daily. Regarding the use case of stablecoins in Latin America, he believes it’s merely a form of “regulatory arbitrage.”

What is the background of Air Cloud Exchange, which claims to be no less than stablecoins?

If you are familiar with Air Cloud Exchange, then perhaps you would not be surprised by Jack Zhang’s remarks.

Airwallex is a cross-border payment platform established in 2015, headquartered in Singapore. It specializes in helping businesses achieve low-cost and efficient cross-border payments.

Founder and CEO Jack Zhang was born in China and moved to Melbourne, Australia during his teenage years. The inspiration for founding Airwallex came from his own experience of being hit by high foreign exchange fees when he ran a coffee shop, so he decided to create a cross-border payment platform himself.

The advantages of Kongzhong Yunhui can be summarized as “compliance + funding.”

Hold compliant licenses in major global markets such as China, the United States, Europe, and Latin America. At the same time, KONGYUNHUI will utilize a centrally managed fund system, commonly known as a “fund pool”, to optimize fund flow.

Specifically, Air Cloud Exchange manages all users’ funds centrally. When cross-border remittances occur, it does not settle directly through banks, but rather through its own fund pool for unified dispatch. Throughout the entire chain, Air Cloud Exchange plays an intermediary role, pooling customers’ funds together and leveraging economies of scale and internal optimization to reduce costs, thus creating its own advantage of low-cost and high-efficiency cross-border payments.

In May 2025, Skyhub closed a $300 million funding round at a valuation of $6.2 billion, raising more than $1.2 billion from multiple pension funds and with Visa Ventures as a strategic investor. According to public information, the annualized revenue of Aircloud Exchange in March 2025 reached $720 million. The pooling model has really helped it gain a foothold in the cross-border payment market, successfully attracting a large number of customers’ payment needs. More than $130 billion in transactions are processed annually worldwide.

In ten years, Airwallex, which has secured massive financing, has undoubtedly established itself as a unicorn in the Web2 payment space. As a beneficiary of traditional payments, there is inevitably a sense of “the regular army looking down on the unconventional” regarding the impact that stablecoins have on traditional payment systems.

What do cryptographers say?

Jack Zhang’s negative attitude towards stablecoins is clear, and his words are somewhat unrestrained. Such remarks have sparked dissatisfaction among many, leading to a backlash in the crypto community.

Huma Finance Co-Founder Richard Liu: You don’t realize the fundamental issue with the payment system.

Don’t deceive yourselves into thinking that you (Air Cloud Exchange) have reduced forex costs to the limit. Your clients are still paying for fees and high limits, and the root problem is that you are still relying on an outdated and predatory banking system.

Danny @agintender: Why not eat meat porridge?

The reason you think the conversion cost of stablecoins is higher than that of traditional fiat currencies is that you only see regions where transfers are convenient and unrestricted. For people in countries with strict foreign exchange controls, stablecoins are often the only viable option.

I think the customer groups we serve are completely different - your customers don’t feel this pain point and may even dislike our approach; whereas my customers can’t afford that kind of “luxury” and have no choice but to rely on stablecoins.

heliuslabs CEO Mert: You are also quite bad.

The capital flow efficiency of your platform is quite poor, so I prefer cryptocurrencies.

Mask Network CEO @suji_yan: Hehe…

Can your company try transferring 10 million dollars in ten seconds? :）

Wublockchain chief editor Colin Wu: Stablecoins are more convenient, and the barriers for beneficiaries will eventually be dismantled.

Twitter user Earning Artist: Jack talks about this from the perspective of his strongest moat “compliance”.

Twitter user 加密韦陀 @thecryptoskanda: The butt decides the head.

Simon Taylor: The appeal of stablecoins lies in their speed and transparency; Jack’s focus on fees is too narrow.

Is Cloud Exchange really cheaper and more efficient?

Jack Zhang begins by using cost comparisons to prove that stablecoins have no advantages. However, the scenario he mentioned was limited to “B2B cross-border payments in G10 countries”. In the wider payment segment around the world, Aircloud Exchange cannot collect everything. However, for individual users or more audiences in underdeveloped areas, they simply cannot enjoy the so-called fast and cheap service of Aircloud Exchange.

Twitter user @rachzoooo mentioned: The funding pool operation model of Air Cloud Exchange is similar to Wise, which establishes local entities and accounts in various locations to process transactions using local payment rails, allowing funds to be transferred without truly “cross-border”. This enables Air Cloud Exchange to offer faster and cheaper transfer services compared to the expensive and slow SWIFT.

In a report by a16z titled “How stablecoins will eat payment, and what happens next”, it points out that stablecoins are indeed more efficient than local paths like ACH, while providing near-instant global settlement, 24/7 availability, and extremely low costs.

Summary

Stablecoins are indeed useful, but standing from different perspectives will naturally lead to completely different views.

In developed regions, payment systems are already sufficiently advanced, so there isn’t much room for stablecoins to play a role. However, the main users of stablecoin services are not from developed mainstream countries; the demand for stablecoins is continuously growing among users in Latin America and Africa.

Relying on the traditional payment system to enjoy life and discussing grandly from their comfort zone, they are unwilling to face the real demand for stablecoins in emerging markets. Jack Zhang, as a beneficiary, has been criticized for his behavior of attacking from within the mature financial payment system as a “butt determines the brain” approach.

From an external perspective, this debate is also a microcosm of the confrontation between traditional finance and cryptocurrency: Jack stands with tradition, while the crypto circle bets on the future, and it seems that there is no absolute right or wrong from different positions. The GENIUS Act grants stablecoins M1 status, and the consecutive FOMO after Circle’s listing has already shown sufficient market confidence in stablecoins. As stablecoins continue to expand, more friction and integration between crypto and traditional finance payment are still on the way.