With the giant stablecoin issuer Circle ringing the bell for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the “stablecoin craze” continues to extend 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 are expressing their thoughts.

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

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

The Uselessness of Stablecoins

On June 7th, Jack Zhang posted aThreadThere are doubts about the ability of stablecoins to reduce foreign exchange costs in cross-border payments, stating that for transactions from USD to EUR, the conversion cost of stablecoins is higher than that of traditional markets.

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

It’s not enough to just compare costs and efficiency; Jack Zhang continued to criticize: over the past 15 years, he hasn’t seen any actual value in cryptocurrency, including stablecoins, which simply cannot compare to practical tools like AI that are used daily. As for 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, claiming to be no less than stablecoins?

If you are familiar with Air Cloud Exchange, then you might 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 AirCloud Exchange came from his own experience of being ripped off by high foreign exchange fees while running a coffee shop, so he decided to create a cross-border payment platform.

The advantages of Air Cloud Exchange can be summarized as “compliance + funds.”

It holds compliance licenses in major global markets such as China, the US, Europe, and Latin America. At the same time, Air Cloud Exchange will use a centralized fund management system, commonly known as a “fund pool”, to optimize fund flow.

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

In May 2025, AirCloud Exchange completed a $300 million financing round at a valuation of $6.2 billion, with a total financing amount exceeding $1.2 billion. The investors include several pension funds, and Visa Ventures also participated as a strategic investor. According to public information, AirCloud Exchange’s annual revenue reached $720 million in March 2025. The fund pool model has indeed helped it secure a place in the cross-border payment market, successfully attracting a large demand for customer payments. The global annual transaction amount processed exceeds $130 billion.

In ten years, Airmoney, which has secured massive financing, has undoubtedly established itself as a unicorn in the Web2 payment sector, holding a significant position in the global payment landscape. As a beneficiary of traditional payment systems, there is inevitably a sense of “the regular army looks down on the unconventional paths” regarding the impact of stablecoins on traditional payments.

What do encryption people say?

Jack Zhang’s clear denial of stablecoins has been harsh and unrelenting. Such statements have caused dissatisfaction among the public, and the encryption community has responded fiercely.

Huma Finance Co-FounderRichard LiuYou are unaware of the fundamental problem of the payment system.

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

Danny @agintenderWhy not eat meat porridge?

The reason you think the conversion cost of stablecoins is higher than that of traditional fiat currency is simply because you only see areas 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 client groups we serve are completely different—your clients do not feel this pain point and may even dislike our approach; while my clients cannot afford that kind of “luxury” and have no choice but to rely on stablecoins.

heliuslabs CEO mertYou are quite bad too.

The fund circulation efficiency of your platform is quite poor, so I prefer encryption coins.

Mask Network CEO @suji_yan：呵呵……

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

Wublockchain Editor-in-ChiefColin WuStablecoins are more convenient, and the barriers for the beneficiaries will eventually be dismantled.

Twitter userEarning ArtistJack is discussing this matter from the perspective of his strongest moat, “compliance.”

Twitter user encryption Veda@thecryptoskanda: The butt decides the head.

Simon TaylorThe charm of stablecoins lies in speed and transparency; it’s too narrow-minded for Jack to only focus on fees.

Is Air Cloud Exchange really cheaper and more efficient?

Jack Zhang starts by demonstrating that stablecoins have no advantages through a cost comparison. However, the scenarios he mentions are limited to “B2B cross-border payments in G10 countries.” In the broader payment segments around the world, Air Cloud Remittance cannot cover everything. Moreover, for individual users or audiences in underdeveloped areas, they cannot enjoy the so-called fast and cheap services of Air Cloud Remittance at all.

Twitter user @rachzooooIt is mentioned that the fund pool operation model of AirCloud Exchange is similar to Wise, by establishing local entities and accounts in various places, and using local payment rails to process transactions, allowing funds to not truly “cross borders.” This enables AirCloud Exchange to provide faster and cheaper remittance services compared to the expensive and slow SWIFT.

In a16z’s report “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

Whether stablecoins are useful or not will definitely have completely different opinions from different perspectives.

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

Relying on the traditional payment system to enjoy the good life, standing in his comfort zone to speak grandly, unwilling to face the real demand for stablecoins in emerging markets. Jack Zhang, as a beneficiary, is also criticized for his behavior of attacking from within the mature financial payment system as “the butt decides the brain.”

Looking from an external perspective, this debate is also a microcosm of the clash between traditional finance and encryption: Jack stands with traditional finance, 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 the status of M1, and the continuous FOMO after Circle’s listing has already shown the market’s sufficient confidence in stablecoins. As stablecoins continue to expand, there will be more friction and integration between encryption and traditional financial payments on the road ahead.

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