Stablecoins, cross-border payments, compliance and operational security took center stage at the Institutional Onchain Finance Summit 2026 in Singapore, where industry executives discussed the infrastructure needed to support the next phase of institutional adoption.
Held on Oct. 6 during TOKEN2049 Week, the summit was jointly hosted by Cregis, together with FOMO Pay, Stable and Width, bringing together executives from digital asset infrastructure, payments, financial services, stablecoins and cybersecurity.
The summit opened with Jason Ma, COO of Cregis, who delivered a keynote titled A Solid Foundation for Your Business on Chain. Cregis has built its infrastructure around the operational needs of businesses using digital assets, spanning wallet infrastructure through Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS), fund-flow orchestration through Rails, and custody and governance capabilities. Its Wallet-as-a-Service and Payment Engine products support a range of enterprise digital asset operations.
The focus then turned to one of the most established use cases for stablecoins: cross-border payments.
In a panel moderated by Chiara Munaretto cofounder of Stablecoin Insider, Leandro Noel, Founder and COO of Avenia; Andres Kim, Regional Expansion Lead at Tether; Eddie Hui, Co-President and COO of MetaComp; and Zack Yang, Co-Founder of FOMO Pay examined where stablecoins address practical pain points in cross-border transactions.
Cost, settlement speed and predictability emerged as recurring concerns. Traditional cross-border payments can involve multiple intermediaries, variable fees and limited visibility into the status of a transfer. Stablecoins offer round-the-clock settlement and onchain visibility.
The panel did not frame stablecoins as a replacement for local payment systems. Andres Kim pointed to South Korea, where domestic payment infrastructure remains important, while stablecoins can provide an additional rail for the cross-border leg of a transaction. Leandro Noel described stablecoins more broadly as a potential “global ledger,” allowing companies to connect markets without rebuilding the same financial infrastructure in every jurisdiction.
Brian Mehler, CEO of Stable, addressed the payment infrastructure behind that use case in his keynote, “Global Payments, Made Stable,” outlining Stable’s approach to stablecoin-based payments and global money movement.
Adoption also brings a new layer of complexity. As more issuers and jurisdictions introduce stablecoins, businesses face a growing mix of assets, networks and liquidity pools. Zack Yang noted that while stablecoins can simplify fragmented payment operations, the stablecoin market itself is becoming more fragmented.
That fragmentation puts greater pressure on compliance as stablecoins move deeper into payment flows. Chye Kit Chioh, CEO and Co-Founder of Width, addressed the issue in his keynote, The Future of Compliance 2027 and Beyond: AI, Automation, and the Shift to Real-Time Risk Intelligence, focusing on automation and real-time risk management.
The issue is also featured in the stablecoin panel. Cross-border transactions can span local payment systems, stablecoin conversion and multiple regulatory jurisdictions, creating a need for closer coordination among banks, payment providers, stablecoin companies and regulators. Panelists also called for regulators to gain more practical experience with real-world stablecoin use cases.
A second panel, moderated by Alevtina Labyuk, Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer at BeInCrypto, examined the security challenges accompanying institutional onchain activity. Michael Chen, Non-Executive Director at 1exchange; Jason Jiang, Chief Business Officer at CertiK; Dmytro Matviiv, CEO of HackenProof; and Alexandra Wang, Head of Partnerships at ZAN discussed how security risks now extend well beyond smart contract codes.
The panel agreed that audits have become a baseline requirement, but provide only a point-in-time assessment. Key management, access controls, signing policies, vendor oversight and incident response are becoming equally important. Jason Jiang highlighted continuous monitoring, anomaly detection and fund tracing, while Michael Chen focused on operational controls around transaction authorization and asset management.
AI agents introduced another set of questions around authorization and accountability. While AI can improve monitoring and automate financial decisions, panelists said institutions will need clear limits on what an agent can execute, particularly when transactions are irreversible. The discussion also highlighted the need for stronger mechanisms for traceability, dispute handling and fund recovery as institutional participation grows.
The summit also looked at the broader architecture for institutional finance. Eric Chen, CEO and Co-Founder of Injective, presented Injective’s Institutional Stack, outlining Injective’s approach to infrastructure for institutional financial applications.
Across the two panels and four keynotes, a common picture emerged: stablecoins are moving into payments, compliance is becoming more closely tied to transaction flows, and institutional security is extending into day-to-day operations.
For companies using digital assets, the practical question is how to fit these capabilities into existing financial and operational systems while maintaining control over payments, compliance, security and treasury functions.
Founded in 2017, Cregis now serves more than 4,000 businesses across more than 50 countries and has processed more than $300 billion in cumulative transaction volume. Its infrastructure covers enterprise wallets, payments and fund-flow operations, with the company continuing to expand its capabilities for institutional asset management and governance.
