Future of Digital Assets and TradFi in Singapore & APAC: Coexisting or Competing?

In May 2025, DCS Card Centre, in partnership with Visa, launched DeCard, a next-generation credit card designed to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets. Users can deposit either Singapore dollars or selected stablecoins such as USDT and USDC into their DeCard, and spend the assets wherever Visa is accepted. It provides a regulated and practical way to bring stablecoins into everyday life.

What makes this product especially notable is its compliance-first approach in one of the world’s most tightly regulated financial hubs. Although crypto is not legal tender in Singapore, stablecoins fall under a clear framework, creating a pathway for experimentation with hybrid finance. This development highlights a broader trend: the gradual convergence of digital assets and traditional financial infrastructure, not only in Singapore and APAC but globally.

Today, we’re sitting down with Elsa Qiu, Managing Director, Payments & Innovation at DeCard, to discuss this convergence: what it means for users, businesses, and regulators, and how the future of fiat and digital assets might unfold.

THE SUMSUBER: Elsa, thank you for speaking with us today. To start, what do you think drove the need for a product like DeCard? Was it primarily user demand, regulatory opportunity, or a signal of market maturity in Singapore?

ELSA: Definitely, DeCard was born from the Web3 community—people who already hold stablecoins and have been active in the crypto space for some time. In traditional finance—fiat payments and credit cards—card products are already very mature. However, in Singapore and across APAC, many users hold stablecoins and crypto and are looking for secure, compliant, and convenient solutions to off-ramp: to turn their stablecoins into fiat for everyday use.

We’ve seen growing concern over fraud cases in the market, which is why the community and stablecoin holders are constantly searching for trustworthy OTC partners. Unfortunately, some OTC partners operate “under the table” or without proper compliance, leading to frozen bank accounts or even scams. So, having a secure and compliant way to spend what they already hold has become critical—a real pain point in APAC in general and specifically in Singapore.

While licensed exchanges in Singapore do provide off-ramp services, these often come with restrictions such as spending limits and long settlement times. Hybrid fiat-stablecoin products solve this — they let users deposit their stablecoins, which can then be spent instantly anywhere Visa is accepted.

DeCard is powered by DCS, which is licensed, and we work with a DPT-licensed provider in Singapore for off-ramping. Users simply tap via Apple Pay or use a physical card for offline payments. This closes the loop to deliver secure, convenient spending for the Web3 community and stablecoin holders.

THE SUMSUBER: Singapore seems to be leading the way in compliant off-ramps. Which markets do you think could follow suit and embrace hybrid fiat–stablecoin products—or even extend them to more volatile crypto assets?

ELSA: I’d say two markets stand out as next in line to become more crypto-friendly: South Korea and Hong Kong.

South Korea is making moves; it’s reducing corporate taxes for crypto companies starting 2025, licensing major crypto players, and working on legal clarity for digital assets. Hong Kong is also evolving fast—it has upgraded its licensing regime for virtual asset platforms (including allowing retail access), launched spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, and is drafting stablecoin regulation as part of its bid to become a regional crypto hub. 

We’re also seeing gradual regulatory progress in Indonesia and Vietnam as both markets continue to define their approaches.

THE SUMSUBER: Hybrid products are innovative but still face vulnerabilities, like volatility and technical dependencies. How do you see the industry addressing these risks over the next few years?

ELSA: This is exactly why we started DeCard with stablecoins and have not yet expanded into more volatile digital assets. We see significant uncertainty around other types of digital assets, and in some jurisdictions, regulations can indeed pose a challenge. However, we don’t view compliance itself as a barrier—the real challenge is execution.

For any hybrid product, the goal is to build a strong foundation of design-thinking compliance, integrating regulatory requirements directly into the product architecture from day one. This applies not only to our own infrastructure, processing, and issuing, but also to wallet custodians and partners. It’s better to work exclusively with licensed entities to minimize both compliance and fraud risks.

On the infrastructure front, we’re already seeing promising innovations around stablecoins and smart contracts—for example, Project Ubin and projects at the BIS Innovation Hub Centre)—and we expect even more progress in this area over the next few years.

THE SUMSUBER: Let’s touch on fraud, because it’s rising globally, and user trust depends heavily on how a company combats it. Fraud is a cross-cutting challenge in both traditional and digital finance. In the case of hybrid products, how significant is the fraud risk, how attractive are they to criminals, and what safeguards (KYC, monitoring, etc.) do you find most effective?

ELSA: The rise in fraud has indeed been significant. Hybrid products, by design, sit at the intersection of different financial systems, and the conversion points between fiat and digital assets can open new attack vectors. Criminals often exploit gaps between regulatory regimes—moving funds across jurisdictions where oversight or enforcement is weaker. That’s why, for products like DeCard, a single-layer approach is never enough.

The most effective strategy is a multi-layered defense, combining the best of traditional finance security with crypto-native intelligence. It goes like this: first, partner only with licensed, secure providers. This fulfills regulatory compliance guidance and leverages their expertise for on-chain Web3. Then, adopt smart transaction monitoring, fraud risk analysis, KYC, KYB, and ongoing monitoring—these are key. I believe it’s also important to develop internal risk factoring and risk scoring. 

Ultimately, fraud prevention is an ongoing process—risk factors evolve quickly, and so must we. Fraudsters are using increasingly smart technologies, so our defences must be smarter still.

THE SUMSUBER: You’re right, fraudsters are often among the first to adopt new technologies and products. Turning to legitimate users now, do you think consumers in Singapore and APAC are ready to embrace hybrid (fiat–stablecoin) payment products, or is user education still a major hurdle? What picture are you observing at the moment?

ELSA: We’re seeing encouraging signs of readiness in Singapore and APAC. Awareness of digital wallets and cashless payments is already high, so hybrid products feel like a natural next step. That said, user education on how these products work and how to use them safely is still crucial to build trust and adoption.

THE SUMSUBER: And which user segments are leading the adoption curve: retail consumers, crypto-savvy early adopters, or businesses seeking efficiency in payments?

ELSA: Yes, pretty much all of the above! Crypto-native users are definitely the first adopters. There are also early adopters like tech-savvy businesses—not only consumers but also Web3 startups—that operate in both the crypto and TradFi worlds and value the efficiency of payment and treasury management. 

Another strong segment is cross-border operators: frequent travelers, remote workers, and SMEs that deal internationally. They appreciate this kind of balanced functionality without thinking, “Oh, how do I spend my crypto here?” in jurisdictions where crypto is not a legal tender, or having to find intermediaries under the table. For them, it’s a convenient way to spend and transmit their money, and hybrid products are a better payment tool.

This also signals the beginning of mainstream adoption, in my opinion. But early adopters are those who need to spend their stablecoins seamlessly.

THE SUMSUBER: And traditionalists—government institutions, healthcare providers—are still a bit doubtful, aren’t they?

ELSA: They are conservative, it’s true, at the current stage. Innovations take time to be adopted by the masses. But it starts from the core—from people with pain points that are addressed by these innovations. Stablecoins are crucial for cross-border payments and many SMEs, and they clearly see this need for transition.

In countries like the Philippines or Vietnam, banking rates may be higher, and many people don’t have bank accounts. Instead, they use stablecoins. By using a fiat–stablecoin product, they can be more cost-efficient, which creates real added value.

However, for any financial institution, including hybrid ones, the crucial factors are compliance and security—and finding compliant and secure partners. With this stability, adoption will continue to expand.

THE SUMSUBER: More broadly, how do you think the relationship between fiat and digital assets will evolve? Are we moving toward full convergence, continued competition, or a lasting dual-system? And what do regional regulatory trends have to do with it?

ELSA: I definitely believe we’re moving toward a hybrid model—one where fiat and digital assets coexist and complement each other. I would compare it with the card business here: at the beginning, we only had physical cards. Gradually, Tap to Pay and other contactless payment options emerged. Now, QR payments are everywhere in Singapore. We started with paper cash, and now we’re highly digitized, using digital money for transfers and daily payments.

Cash use continues to decline globally as consumers and businesses shift to digital channels. For example, the global digital remittance market alone reached about $185.2 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $339.9 billion by 2030. At the same time, the much larger digital payments market—covering debit cards, contactless transactions, and online/mobile payments—is expanding into the trillions, reflecting a steady move away from cash worldwide.

There are driving factors, of course, like the global pandemic, when businesses and consumers went cashless. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the shift toward contactless payments, with QR codes playing a pivotal role. Singapore has since emerged as a leader in QR payments.

But in both the short and the long run, I’m sure a hybrid model is the future, and TradFi and crypto spaces will coexist. This duality creates additional options and convenience for everyone—both users and businesses. 

THE SUMSUBER: So, the future is diversity of payment options, isn’t it? There will be more options to satisfy everyone’s needs. Singapore is unique here, of course, but will this trend for diversity spread across other APAC countries and globally?

ELSA: In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a regulatory sandbox a while ago for technological experiments, because all innovations are welcome here, including blockchain tech. Gradually, this has provided the ground for important acts like the Payment Services Act and other acts, as well as relevant license issuance. We’re now seeing other countries picking up this trend. Hong Kong, for example, has introduced stablecoin licensing. Vietnam has also announced upcoming regulatory updates, as have Taiwan and Thailand. We see a positive trend for regulatory compliance updates in APAC within the crypto and financial sectors. But again, proper licensing and compliance are crucial for any innovation to develop in a healthy way, and for now, Singapore is leading in this field.

THE SUMSUBER: So the fiat–crypto relationship is very much about the coexistence and mutual support of regulations and innovations, rather than competition, right?

ELSA: Definitely. I see technology, the financial system, and regulations becoming more deeply and strategically intertwined. This alignment will create a stronger foundation for sustainable growth and wider adoption of hybrid and other diverse financial products across APAC and beyond.