Crypto exchange OKX launched OKX Money, a standalone app that lets users convert more than 50 local currencies into U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins, at its OKX Now Product event in Singapore on Tuesday.
How OKX Money works
The app lets customers fund accounts using more than 50 supported currencies, with deposits converted into dollar-backed stablecoins. OKX Money supports three stablecoins — Paxos’s USDG, Circle’s USDC, and Tether’s USDT — and offers up to 10% annual yield on eligible USDG balances, plus virtual and physical cards with no foreign-exchange markup and referral rewards.
Built for emerging markets
OKX is aiming the product at emerging markets across Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, where the company argues currency swings, limited banking access, and foreign-exchange fees make it difficult to “protect savings and spend globally.”
“The key gap for people and institutions is settlement,” Haider Rafique, OKX’s global managing partner, told Fortune. He cited a small business waiting days for a bank to settle a payment and a traveler whose credit limit is frozen by pending hotel deposits. “I grew up in Pakistan. I still have all the receipts of my mom and dad sending me money through Western Union,” he said.
Stablecoin competition heats up
The launch lands as roughly 97% of global stablecoin market value is tied to the U.S. dollar, a dominance that has drawn attention in Washington, where officials hope dollar-backed tokens will fuel demand for U.S. assets. OKX’s push into stablecoin savings and payments follows a wave of similar products, from Changer+’s stablecoin-first self-custodial wallet to Open Standard’s OUSD for Stripe businesses.
Rafique said he would welcome an Asian rival to the dollar stablecoin. “Every nation should be thinking about this technology,” he said.
