Binance CEO Richard Teng: Stablecoins Are the Future of Cross-Border Payments as Hong Kong Grants First Issuer Licenses

Binance CEO Richard Teng has made a bold case for stablecoins as the leading solution to the inefficiencies plaguing cross-border payments, calling for on-chain compliance infrastructure to unlock global-scale adoption — as Hong Kong moves to become one of the world's first jurisdictions with a licensed stablecoin framework.Stablecoins vs. traditional banking: the cost caseSpeaking at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, Teng argued that the global financial system still runs on outdated rails — SWIFT and correspondent banking networks that make international transfers slow and expensive. Average remittance fees hover around 6.5%, and for smaller transfers the cost can reach as high as 11%, he said."Stablecoins represent that alternative. It's totally built on blockchain. If you do a transfer on stablecoin, it's instantaneous at a fraction of the cost."— Richard Teng, CEO, BinanceTeng noted that stablecoin transfer fees typically fall well below 1%, meaning significantly more value stays with the sender and recipient rather than being absorbed by financial intermediaries. He added that stablecoin transaction volume has already surpassed Visa's, while stablecoin market capitalization has grown more than 50% year over year.Regulatory fragmentation remains the biggest barrierDespite growing adoption, Teng identified regulatory fragmentation as the primary obstacle to mainstream stablecoin use. While countries including the United States, the European Union, Japan, the UAE and Hong Kong are each developing clearer stablecoin rules, compliance requirements differ significantly across jurisdictions — creating friction for users moving assets between networks.Teng's proposed solution: embed compliance features such as allowlists, blocklists and travel rule requirements directly into blockchain infrastructure at the protocol level."This is not working today because of fragmentation. We think that building it on-chain at the core solves that problem for the larger scale ahead."— Richard Teng, CEO, BinanceHe emphasized that exchanges are less focused on which blockchain a user chooses and more concerned with whether that network can meet regulatory standards — pointing toward a future chain-agnostic system where global transactions become seamless regardless of underlying infrastructure.Hong Kong grants first stablecoin issuer licensesTeng's remarks come as Hong Kong takes a landmark step in digital asset regulation. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has granted its first fiat-backed stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial under the city's new Stablecoins Ordinance. Anchorpoint Financial is a joint venture backed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT.The licensed firms are expected to launch Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoins later this year, targeting use cases including cross-border payments, merchant transactions and digital asset trading. The move positions Hong Kong as a leading regulated digital asset hub amid a global race to establish clear crypto frameworks.UX remains a critical hurdle for mass adoptionBeyond regulation, Teng highlighted a persistent user experience gap that continues to hold back mainstream Web3 adoption. He estimated that while roughly 600 million people globally have some exposure to crypto, only 30 to 40 million actively use blockchain applications directly.The complexity of choosing networks, managing bridges and understanding gas fees continues to deter non-technical users, he said, noting that Web3 products still face far higher drop-off rates than traditional internet applications."Most of the people who are not crypto-native or not digital-native wouldn't want to be bothered with which chain can I transfer on. They want to be chain-agnostic."— Richard Teng, CEO, BinanceTeng's comments underline an emerging consensus across the crypto industry: that the path to mass stablecoin adoption runs through both simplified UX and harmonized global regulation — and that progress on both fronts is accelerating.