Crypto payment is experiencing rapid growth in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, regions with inefficient traditional financial systems.
In these emerging markets, including over 10 countries such as Vietnam, Philippines, Nigeria, and Brazil, users can use AEON Pay payment solutions to make QR code or transfer payments with cryptocurrencies at daily consumption venues like KFC, Starbucks, Apple, Uniqlo, 7-Eleven, and Nike.
It is reported thatAEON Payis a mobile crypto payment solution under the AEON payment protocol, currently covering 20 million online and offline merchants and thousands of global brands. It allows merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments through QR codes without changing hardware devices and complete instant settlements. In the future, the solution will also support NFC contactless payments.
Why is crypto payment rapidly rising in emerging markets? How does AEON Pay penetrate real consumption scenarios in these markets?
Crypto Payment Opportunities in Emerging Markets
Bitcoin was initially used to purchase pizza. Unfortunately, after more than a decade of development, cryptocurrencies are still mainly used for investment, speculation, or cross-border transfers, rarely entering everyday consumer payments.
The reason is that while cryptocurrency payments have many advantages like instant settlement and no regional restrictions, they also face challenges.
On one hand, regulatory uncertainty or distrust of cryptocurrencies means many regions have not widely accepted crypto payments. On the other hand, in regions with developed financial infrastructure and internet, traditional online payments have already dominated user mindshare, and crypto transactions remain unfamiliar to many outsiders, lacking a more mature crypto payment solution to replace traditional banking and internet payment methods.
However, the "payment dilemma" in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America provides fertile ground for crypto payment implementation.
In emerging markets like Southeast Asia, especially in rural areas of Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam, traditional banking services are limited due to economic underdevelopment, insufficient infrastructure, and geographical constraints, with many people lacking bank accounts. Additionally, these regions have numerous cross-border workers facing high-cost, low-efficiency cross-border transfer problems.
In Latin America, countries like Argentina and Venezuela have experienced economic instability and high inflation that weaken local currency purchasing power, necessitating tools to combat currency depreciation and financial instability.
Cryptocurrency payments have low financial infrastructure requirements, needing only a smartphone to complete transactions, covering populations traditional finance cannot reach, unrestricted by geography, and enabling low-cost instant settlements. Stablecoins anchored to the US dollar further make them a "safe haven" in inflationary countries.
Therefore, in these regions with low financial efficiency and severe inflation, crypto payments are not just an "alternative" but almost a necessity.
Moreover, these emerging markets have a high proportion of young populations with high mobile internet acceptance, making them more receptive to crypto technology, with relatively relaxed regulatory environments. The promotion cost of crypto payments is lower. AEON Pay's strategy of "surrounding cities from rural areas" by entering emerging markets can be considered a wise move.
How Does AEON Pay Implement "Seamless" Crypto Payments?
Although education costs are low in these emerging markets, for groups already accustomed to mobile internet experiences, crypto payments still require lower barriers and convenient experiences.
AEON Pay did not choose to develop an independent wallet or payment tool but instead built a universal underlying payment network to integrate crypto payments "seamlessly" into daily life.
On the merchant side, AEON Pay does not require merchants to replace terminal hardware, instead integrating through local existing payment code systems or bank transfer systems. For example, supporting VietQR national QR payment system in Vietnam and accessing NBISS bank transfer system in Nigeria, enabling AEON Pay to quickly expand to over 20 million merchants.
On the user side, users can initiate payments through AEON Pay's Telegram mini-program or use the AEON Pay dApp at common crypto wallet and exchange entrances without downloading additional apps.
Previously,AEON partnered with Bitget Wallet, launching AEON Pay dApp on Bitget Wallet and providing native Web3 mobile payment functions for Bitget Wallet's 60 million users, making Bitget Wallet the first self-hosted wallet natively supporting Vietnam's national QR payment system (VietQR).
Additionally, AEON Pay has recently partnered withBybitandKuCoin, natively integrating its offline crypto mobile payment capabilities into exchanges, enabling Bybit and KuCoin's millions of users to use crypto payments via Bybit Pay and KuCoin Pay by scanning QR codes, covering 20 million local merchants and global brand stores like McDonald's, Starbucks, and Uniqlo.
Furthermore,AEON Pay has collaborated with global crypto payment network Mesh, integrating its API. Users can directly use account balances from exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, or complete online and offline payments through personal wallets like MetaMask, Phantom, and Trust Wallet.
Currently, AEON Pay has partnered with mainstream public chains like BNB Chain, TON, Polygon, Avalanche, wallets like Bitget Wallet and TokenPocket, exchanges like Bybit and KuCoin, and stablecoin issuers like Tether, World Liberty Financial, and Ripple.
AEON is building an ecosystem collaborative system of "public chains + wallets + exchanges", achieving horizontal and vertical ecosystem integration through partnerships with mainstream platforms, allowing users to complete "seamless" payments through existing channels without trusting a "new brand".
Next Stop for Crypto Payments: AI-Driven Fully Automated Intelligent Settlement
By entering emerging markets with "high inflation + low trust" like Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and quickly implementing a seamless approach using "chain + wallet + exchange" ecosystem collaboration, AEON is poised to first build a network effect for crypto payments.
But replacing traditional mobile payments is just the beginning. In the wave of AI, AEON is also laying out AI-driven payment solutions, committed to building a fully automated intelligent settlement experience that provides users with more convenient and low-cost cross-border settlement methods.
In May this year,AEON launched the AI Payment protocolto promote AI autonomous payment implementation in real business scenarios. AEON has already collaborated with PIN AI, SendAI, and others. For example, after integrating the AI Payment protocol into the PIN AI ecosystem, its AI Agent gains the ability to independently complete payments through cryptocurrencies when accessing owner data and executing daily tasks like taxi-hailing and ticket booking.
AEON states thatit expects to open up automatic payments for AI Agents in 80% of global online and offline payment scenarios by 2026and plans to become the industry standard for AI Agent payment and verification.
