The Turning Point of Next-Generation Payments: A Discussion with Circle, JP Morgan, and Solana at WebX2026

The Turning Point of Next-Generation Payments: A Discussion with Circle, JP Morgan, and Solana【WebX2026】

Yam Ki Chan × Oliver Harris × Lou In

Are stablecoins and tokenized deposits "competitors" or "complementary"? This question served as the axis for a discussion among Circle's Asia MD, the head of JP Morgan's digital asset division Kinexus, and the APAC head of the Solana Foundation. The common conclusion reached by the three was that it is not a binary opposition of which is the winner, but rather a reality where the optimal means differ based on use cases and stakeholders. The next challenges being posed are "integration into infrastructure" and "agentic commerce".

Competitors or Complementary?—The Conclusion of Coexistence

"Are stablecoins and tokenized deposits opposing design philosophies, or do they complement each other?" When moderator Omkar Godbole posed this question, the responses from the three were surprisingly unanimous.
Oliver Harris
The answer is coexistence, but for clearly different use cases. Tokenized deposits, or deposit tokens, are liabilities of commercial banks placed on public blockchains. They do not disrupt the singularity of money. I see them growing as institutional investors transition to on-chain. On the other hand, stablecoins are establishing product-market fit as a means of payment, particularly on the retail and consumer side. As bearer payment methods, they excel in P2P cross-border transactions. Both coexist while addressing the different needs of various stakeholders.

Implementation Cases in Asia

In response to the question, "What is the state of adoption in Asia and the biggest barriers?" Yam Ki Chan highlighted Circle's regulatory compliance efforts and actual use cases that are already in motion.
Yam Ki Chan
We should discuss regulations before technology. This is a regulated business. Circle is the largest regulated issuer of digital dollars (USDC) and complies with regulations in the U.S. and as the only global issuer in Europe. In Singapore, we have obtained approval from the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore), and we are the first stablecoin approved by Japan's Financial Services Agency. The core of our construction method is to connect with banking infrastructure in a way that banks hold reserves and deposits in collaboration with regulators.
The essence of the problem we are solving is the cost of moving funds. In many organizations in Asia, international payments in dollars take T+1 to T+3. If you have an account with JP Morgan, you can process it faster internally, but many companies cannot have a transaction account with the world's largest bank. For example, Japanese companies have started to conduct internal treasury payments between Tokyo and London using USDC in under an hour (previously 2-3 days). Singapore's Nium uses USDC for fund settlements with Visa, reducing pre-funding time from seven days to almost instant. Payment service company Tunes improved remittances to partners in emerging countries like Ghana from T+3 to T+0.

The Biggest Barrier of Infrastructure Integration

When asked, "What is the biggest reason for slow adoption?" the three unanimously agreed that it is not the technical limitations of blockchain but the difficulty of integrating with existing systems.
Lou In
The co-founder of Solana comes from the telecommunications industry and has placed high throughput and low latency at the core of the design philosophy from the start. The goal is to achieve performance that can compete with financial infrastructures like Nasdaq and to expand payment use cases beyond that. Currently, Solana demonstrates high processing performance, but when major financial institutions start moving large transaction volumes on-chain, or when AI agents and robotics begin generating data and attestations on-chain, it will be a true test for all blockchains. Nevertheless, we believe we are prepared to handle it.

Session Summary

"In five years, will stablecoins and tokenized deposits coexist alongside traditional payment rails, or will they converge into one form?" In response to this question, Yam Ki Chan said:
"In five years, I hope these terms themselves will disappear. Now that e-commerce has become commonplace, we no longer think every morning, 'Let's shop using e-commerce today.' Similarly, I want to aim for a world where awareness of the technology that moves money has faded. If the cost of moving funds approaches zero, more small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals, including those in emerging countries, will have access to economic activities. That is financial inclusion and the expansion of economic prosperity."