On June 26, Metal, a settlement network for tokenized finance, announced the completion of a seed funding round led by cross-border payment giant Airwallex and its affiliated fund, Capital49.
This investment has drawn significant attention not only because Airwallex is a major fintech player in the global cross-border payments sector, but also because its founder, Jack Zhang, was—just a year ago—one of the most vocal critics of stablecoins.
In June of last year, Jack Zhang publicly stated that stablecoins failed to reduce remittance costs between major currencies and argued that cryptocurrency had not demonstrated clear, practical use cases over the preceding 15 years. He contended that if users ultimately needed to receive funds in bank accounts—whether in Euros, British Pounds, or other fiat currencies—the cost of converting stablecoins into local currency could exceed that of traditional interbank foreign exchange markets. These views sparked heated rebuttals from leaders across the crypto industry.
The contrast between his skepticism a year ago and his substantial investment today reflects a fundamental consensus reached by global traditional financial giants regarding the encroachment of crypto: while one might remain bearish on speculative narratives, it is impossible to ignore the generational revolution in settlement efficiency driven by stablecoins and tokenized networks.
I. What is Metal?
To understand Jack Zhang’s shift in stance, one must first understand Metal’s mission.
According to public information, Metal is a global settlement network and Layer-1 blockchain designed for tokenized finance. It offers native support for AI agent transactions, features built-in identity verification (KYC) and permissioning systems, and ensures institutional-grade compliance and privacy.
Its ambitions extend beyond stablecoin payments; it aims to underpin the tokenized settlement of a wide range of financial products—including stocks, bonds, and funds—thereby supporting institutional trading markets valued in the tens of trillions of dollars.
Regarding the team, Metal co-founder Loong Wang previously founded the renowned cross-chain protocol Ren Protocol and possesses deep technical expertise in distributed systems and on-chain settlement. Meanwhile, co-founder Catherine Porter formerly served as the Global Head of Partnerships for Meta’s Libra project (later renamed Diem), which once made global headlines. Through this investment, Airwallex will introduce tokenized financial products to its payment network, encompassing not only stablecoins but also a range of assets such as tokenized bank deposits, money market instruments, and securities.
Airwallex’s core capabilities lie in global accounts, local collections, foreign exchange (FX), corporate payments, and cross-border clearing. While Metal provides an on-chain settlement layer, Airwallex contributes fiat on-ramps, a corporate client base, compliance infrastructure, and global payment use cases.
Just this month, Airwallex announced the completion of a $320 million Series H funding round, pushing its valuation to $11 billion; flush with capital, the company plans to build an AI-native financial operating system.
This is indeed a strategic investment and partnership that creates a win-win scenario—a common occurrence in the business world. However, what makes this instance unique is that, only a year ago, Airwallex’s founder was openly critical of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
II. Jack Zhang Remains Unconvinced
In June 2025, Jack Zhang posted on X: "Investors often ask me about stablecoins and how they might reduce FX fees. But if you are sending USD to EUR, and the recipient ultimately requires the funds in a Euro bank account, I fail to see how stablecoins can lower costs—the expense of converting from a stablecoin into the recipient's currency is far higher than in traditional interbank FX markets."
"Cryptocurrency is a sector I’ve never quite understood. Over the past 15 years, I haven't seen where cryptocurrency has truly added value. Even with the lower volatility of stablecoins, I don't see the benefit for B2B transactions—unless used in very niche currency markets, which inherently suffer from extremely low liquidity," Jack Zhang added.
https://sites.google.com/view/bitcoinnewsbitcoin/At the time, industry leaders in the crypto space engaged in a heated debate, championing the practical applications and value of stablecoins; yet, Jack Zhang remained unconvinced and stood by his views. Many observers characterized his stance as a defensive move by an incumbent of the traditional financial system—given that Airwallex’s core competitive advantages are its licenses across various jurisdictions and its global liquidity pools, the rise of stablecoins posed a natural threat to its business model. Jack Zhang is now demonstrating through his actions that his perspective on stablecoins is shifting. However, facing a wave of mockery from the crypto community, he has been careful to emphasize that his stance on cryptocurrency itself remains unchanged—maintaining that stablecoins do not fall into the category of cryptocurrency.
https://sites.google.com/view/Bitcoindiscussioncommunity/"Stablecoins are fiat currencies tokenized on the blockchain; unlike cryptocurrencies, they are backed 1:1 by underlying reserve assets, making them fundamentally different from unsupported crypto tokens," Jack Zhang stated today in response to a sarcastic remark from Dragonfly investor Omar Kanji.
Regardless, this remains positive news for the stablecoin and crypto-payment sectors.
**III. Stablecoins and Crypto Payments Are Rapidly Gaining Mainstream Acceptance**
Airwallex’s investment in Metal is not an isolated case; over the past year, the traditional financial system has been racing to establish a foothold in the stablecoin payment space.
Stripe has acquired both Bridge and Privy to bolster its stablecoin payment and wallet infrastructure; Mastercard acquired BVNK to enter the corporate stablecoin payment market; and major banks—including JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—have reportedly planned to launch tokenized networks to counter competition from crypto companies offering 24/7 settlement. a16z views these moves as a signal that the migration of finance onto the blockchain has crossed a critical threshold.
Meanwhile, the rhetoric from traditional financial leaders is also shifting.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has long been skeptical of crypto; however, following the bank's launch of JPMD—a USD deposit token for institutional payments—he acknowledged that stablecoins are "real" and stated that JPMorgan must participate to understand their evolution.
Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, holds a view closer to Jack Zhang’s revised stance: while stablecoins may not necessarily disrupt card networks in US domestic retail payments, they offer a means to access US dollars and modern financial tools in emerging markets across Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
Collectively, these examples illustrate that stablecoins are being redefined by traditional finance. They are no longer merely USD substitutes on exchanges; instead, they serve as a unified interface for corporate treasury management, cross-border payments, on-chain assets, bank deposits, and USD liquidity.
For Airwallex, stablecoins have ceased to be a theoretical question of utility and have become a strategic question of market positioning. As stablecoins continue to evolve, corporate clients of the future may require not only traditional multi-currency accounts but also stablecoin accounts; they will need not just local banking capabilities for collections but also on-chain USD settlement.
This shift will redefine the competitive landscape for payment companies. In the past, competition centered on licenses, local banking networks, foreign exchange costs, and API capabilities. Looking ahead, the battleground will expand to include stablecoin settlement, on-chain compliance, wallet infrastructure, and on-chain liquidity management.
Airwallex’s investment in Metal does not signal a sudden "conversion" to crypto; rather, it is a strategic move to secure an early ticket to a new game. While the company may continue to question the cost-effectiveness of stablecoins within G10 currency corridors, it cannot afford to ignore the structural opportunities they present in emerging markets, corporate finance, and on-chain settlement.
A year ago, Jack Zhang asked: "What is the actual utility of stablecoins?"
A year later, by leading the investment in Metal, Airwallex has provided the answer: at the very least, they are worth investing in—one cannot simply watch from the sidelines.
