Singapore’s largest super‑app is stepping into crypto at the checkout counter.
OKX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, said on Tuesday it had rolled out a service letting customers pay GrabPay merchants in stablecoins. The move makes Singapore the first market where GrabPay’s merchant network will accept direct stablecoin payments, a milestone in the city‑state’s push to test digital assets in daily retail.
The feature, called OKX Pay, allows users to spend either USDC or USDT, two of the largest dollar‑backed stablecoins. Payments are first converted into XSGD, a Singapore‑dollar stablecoin issued by fintech StraitsX, before merchants receive funds in local currency. The design means GrabPay merchants are insulated from crypto’s volatility and see their settlement in Singapore dollars.
Stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies — have drawn interest worldwide for their ability to move money cheaply and quickly. But their use in physical retail has been limited. Singapore has been trying to change that. In 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) became one of the first regulators to lay down a formal rulebook for “single‑currency stablecoins,” setting standards for backing, redemption rights and transparency. That framework created room for regulated issuers like StraitsX to scale XSGD into real‑world payments.
The country also built the SGQR system, a unified QR code standard that lets a merchant display one code to accept multiple wallets. It’s this infrastructure that allows a crypto wallet like OKX Pay to plug into GrabPay’s network without requiring merchants to change their checkout flow.
Grab, founded in Malaysia and now headquartered in Singapore, has turned into Southeast Asia’s leading ride‑hailing and payments super‑app. Its wallet arm, GrabPay, holds a Major Payment Institution licence from MAS, authorizing it to issue e‑money and acquire merchants. It already processes millions of QR transactions daily across Singapore, from hawker stalls to retail chains.
StraitsX, part of fintech group Fazz, has issued XSGD since 2019 and was an early participant in MAS’s “Purpose Bound Money” trials, which tested programmable payments and settlement. GrabPay was also a pilot partner in those initiatives. That long‑running collaboration now underpins the swap mechanism that converts USDC and USDT into Singapore dollars at the point of sale.
For OKX, the expansion deepens its Singapore footprint. The exchange has sought to rebrand itself beyond trading, positioning OKX Pay as a digital wallet for everyday use. Last year, the company secured its own Major Payment Institution licence in Singapore, granting it the ability to offer digital payment token services. It has since added SGD deposit and withdrawal options via the local FAST and PayNow networks, tightening its links with traditional finance.
Other merchants in Singapore have already dipped a toe into stablecoin acceptance. Department store chain Metro began accepting token payments earlier this year. But the OKX–GrabPay tie‑up is the first to put stablecoins directly into one of the country’s most widely used retail wallets.
For consumers, the service promises a frictionless way to spend crypto without thinking about conversions. For merchants, settlement remains in local currency. For Singapore, it’s another experiment in weaving regulated digital money into everyday payments.
Whether stablecoins gain real traction at checkout remains to be seen. But the partnership signals that Singapore’s blend of regulatory clarity and payment infrastructure is giving global crypto players like OKX a launchpad to take digital assets beyond trading screens and into the cash registers of daily life.