RedotPay’s CEO: Fees Up To 70% Lower, Card Volumes Breaking Records —And Regulation Is The Reason Why
In Brief
RedotPay CEO Michael Gao explains how regulation, MiCA and stablecoins are reshaping global payments, institutional adoption and finance.
Most conversations about stablecoin regulation circle the same anxious questions: who gets licensed, which coins survive MiCA, whether the GENIUS Act changes the US market’s trajectory.
Michael Gao, CEO and Co-Founder of RedotPay, is thinking at a different altitude. Running a payments platform with over 8 million users across more than 100 markets — spanning crypto natives in Brazil, remittance senders in Southeast Asia, and inflation-hedgers across Africa — he has something most people in this debate lack: actual data on how stablecoins behave in the wild, across regulatory environments, at scale.
In this conversation, the expert makes the case that the displacement-versus-coexistence debate is the wrong frame entirely, that the market is underestimating regulators’ willingness to find common ground with industry, and that by 2030 the most consequential thing about stablecoins may be that nobody calls them that anymore. What follows is a conversation about all of that — and about what it actually takes to build for the next billion users, in real markets, under real regulatory pressure.
MiCA, Hong Kong’s stablecoin ordinance, the GENIUS Act — the past 18 months have brought substantial regulatory movement. Which of these has most tangibly changed how stablecoin payment firms operate? What is the market still underestimating?
Instead of calling out one particular regulatory development, I’d point to the broader macro change instead. This is that stablecoins are undeniably being recognized, across regulatory jurisdictions and a range of market participants, as critical infrastructure for the future of finance.
Different jurisdictions are taking different approaches that best suit them from a risk and customer protection standpoint. All of them are taking some form of industry input as they develop fit-for-purpose regulatory frameworks. For example, Hong Kong emphasizes retail investor protection and reserve integrity while the GENIUS Act in the US emphasizes federal issuer licensing and strict 1:1 reserve requirements. This takes time, and the industry should be patient.
Our philosophy is to collaborate as much as possible with regulators and be a voice in the industry on behalf of the stablecoin sector. Trust is built slowly and collectively. If there’s anything the market is underestimating, I’d say it’s the ability for market participants, regulators, and the community to find common ground where innovation provides value to customers while they are also protected.
MiCA is the most detailed stablecoin regulatory framework any payments firm has had to map itself against. Operationally, what does it reveal about where other regulators still differ?
MiCA places emphasis on ensuring that stablecoins used by regulated market participants meet requirements for reserve integrity, redemption rights, and public disclosure. It’s common to see similar requirements across other regulatory frameworks.
However, the differences lie in implementation and the preferences of each regulator. Rather than interpreting these as gaps, it’s more useful to understand that every market brings its own unique circumstances that need to be addressed. The same principles are being applied across jurisdictions, with stablecoins increasingly recognized as an integral part of financial rails.
There’s a persistent narrative that stablecoins will displace card networks and correspondent banking. Is that the right framing for 2026, or are stablecoins better understood as a settlement layer running alongside existing rails?
Rather than framing this as stablecoins versus existing rails, the more accurate observation is that the two are increasingly working together. Stablecoins function as a settlement layer, compressing the time and cost of moving value, while card networks and correspondent banking continue to provide the distribution, trust infrastructure, and consumer protections the ecosystem depends on. These are complementary, not competing.
Regulatory developments like MiCA reinforce this. When stablecoin issuers operate under reserve requirements, redemption obligations, and supervisory oversight, they are not routing around the financial system; they are becoming a more integrated part of it. The displacement scenario assumes stablecoins stay outside that framework. In reality, they are being pulled into it. The right framing isn’t “stablecoins versus the rails” — it’s stablecoins and the rails working together.
The EU is already running a live test of issuer-market consolidation — USDT delistings under MiCA, Circle positioning USDC as the compliant default. As a payments platform sitting above the issuer layer, how do you read that dynamic?
We need breadth and diversity across the industry, and this is just as important for stablecoins as well. USD stablecoin projects are proliferating, as are stablecoins tied to local currencies. This is a good thing. Our job is not to pick winners or to take sides — it’s to go where the compliant liquidity is. When this affects users, we have a responsibility to make sure changes are applied in an orderly and responsible way.
Take someone in an emerging market whose savings are being eroded by local currency inflation. They need reliable, affordable access to reputable, regulated stablecoins as a stable store of value and a way to move money through everyday payment flows. Serving customers in that situation — by connecting them to compliant liquidity in both digital dollars and local currencies — is our mission, and it’s why diversity in the stablecoin ecosystem matters just as much to us as compliance does.
In much of the emerging world, dollar stablecoins have become one of the most effective dollarization tools available. What are you seeing on the ground in the markets you operate? How do you expect governments and central banks to respond as that trend accelerates?
Stablecoins have become one of the most practical ways for people to hold and move dollars for everyday needs — protecting income from inflation, sending remittances without heavy fees and delays, paying easily where local banking options may be limited. The reason it’s mostly dollars is straightforward: that’s where the most liquidity and availability currently sits.
We expect that as the market evolves, central banks and governments will move to balance sovereign interests with the financial flows enabled by blockchain. As more payments happen on-chain, those rules will naturally expand to cover on-chain activity as part of the regular financial system. Some will build frameworks to accommodate it, others might resist. But the underlying demand isn’t going away.
RedotPay sits across card and transfer behaviour in over 100 markets. What does that data show about how stablecoin usage differs across markets? Is there a segment that has surprised you?
What stands out to us is that there’s no single “stablecoin user.” The behavior is genuinely different market to market. In Brazil, small businesses use stablecoins to pay suppliers abroad. In parts of Africa, people use stablecoins to avoid currency volatility. Among overseas workers, stablecoins are a way to send money to family more affordably and quickly.
Stablecoins are appearing in corporate treasuries, B2B settlement, and institutional flows. Where is institutional demand most significant today? Does regulatory clarity like MiCA’s move the needle on adoption?
Institutional demand is strongest where stablecoins clearly improve how money moves. Western Union is a good example — they have plans to use stablecoins on Solana for treasury and settlement.
Regulatory clarity in any market moves the needle on institutional adoption. Every advancement removes barriers for institutions to cement partnerships with issuers, build on-chain products, and expand what they can offer local customers.
That’s exactly the space where RedotPay Connect sits. On the B2B side, we let merchants and enterprises accept stablecoin payments from leading wallets and settle instantly in local currencies, with fees up to 70% lower than traditional card and bank rails. In practice, a merchant can take USDC or USDT at checkout and see local currency in their books without touching crypto custody or volatility — plugging directly into the same on-chain settlement pattern that’s driving institutional adoption more broadly.
If regulatory frameworks globally deliver the clarity they’re promising and stablecoin payments go mainstream — what does that market look like by 2030?
By 2030, the biggest shift is simply what people expect. Money moving instantly, across borders, will feel normal, and a “two-day transfer” will feel as strange as waiting for a web page to load over dial-up. You’ll pay in whatever currency you happen to hold, and the other side will receive whatever they prefer, with all the currency switching and settlement happening quietly in the background.
The part that’s hardest to explain today is that most people won’t think of themselves as “using stablecoins” at all. It will be like the internet or contactless cards: early on, you had to understand clunky protocols or new card tech, but now you just click a link or tap to pay. Stablecoins will be the rails, but the everyday experience will just be “pay instantly, from anywhere” — without needing to know what’s under the hood.
What is the next major milestone for RedotPay, and how does a more regulated global environment shape your expansion priorities?
We’re proud to have the largest and most diverse user group in our category, with over 8 million users from around the world. We have a responsibility to advance financial inclusion for our users, many of whom rely on us for access to versatile payment methods and US dollar exposure.
Stablecoin-powered card volumes are breaking records because we’re reaching the tipping point between product readiness and market demand. Our next phase of growth will be defined by investments in our licensing and regulatory roadmap, compliance build-out, and product development. A more regulated environment is good for the crypto industry — it builds trust and expands the number of people who can benefit from stablecoin payments. We’re very excited to be part of this future.
Disclaimer
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About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
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Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
