
Airwallex CEO Voices Skepticism on Stablecoins

Lim Qiaoyun
Airwallex CEO and co-founder Jack Zhang recently weighed in against stablecoins with a long LinkedIn post. His comments have surely set off a firestorm of discussion within the fintech community. Zhang's comments come on the heels of Airwallex's announcement last month of a US$300 million funding round. His post serves up an unvarnished look at just how useful cryptocurrencies really are. In particular, he zeroes in on stablecoins. He describes their real-world utility and their lower volatility relative to other crypto assets.
Zhang recently shared his philosophy on stablecoins in a LinkedIn post. The post, which can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7337506202332839938/, has been described as a "welcome moment" of candour.
"After 15 years, I still haven't seen a single use case where crypto has meaningfully helped solve a real problem" - Jack Zhang
Stablecoins are crypto tokens specifically designed to maintain a fixed value. They do this by being backed one-to-one with a fiat currency, such as the US dollar. As a result, many people see them as a safe place to start their cryptocurrency journey. They alone can offer powerful transaction and remittance benefits.
Zhang is still skeptical about their use cases. His homegrown company, Airwallex, isn’t classified as a stablecoin, either.
With Zhang at the helm, Airwallex raised US$300 million in funding just last month. In spite of all this drama, the company has built a fantastic core business that provides international payment solutions to everyday consumers.