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At Taipei Blockchain Week, Kaia Foundation Chairman Sam Seo made it clear that the chain’s priority is stablecoins. Positioned as a “stablecoin-first” blockchain, Kaia is betting that digital currencies backed by local fiat will drive adoption of web3 across Asia.
BitPinas sat down with Seo at the sidelines of the blockchain conference to discuss the current and future plans of Kaia in Asia.
The Asian Payments Dilemma
On stage, Seo pointed to what he called the “Asian payments dilemma.” Cross-border transactions in the region are costly and slow, with remittance fees averaging 6 to 8 percent and settlement times stretching three to five days.
“Asia’s dynamic economy is held back by a fragmented, slow, and expensive financial infrastructure,” one slide read. Fewer than 27 percent of adults in developing Asia have access to a formal financial account, highlighting the scale of exclusion.
Kaia’s pitch is to solve this through stablecoins.
The network is building an “orchestration layer” that connects different national stablecoins and makes cross-border settlement seamless. His diagram showed how a transfer from Taiwan to Indonesia, for example, could bypass USD intermediaries and rely instead on local stablecoins.
Local Stablecoins Still Nascent
In a follow-up interview with BitPinas, Seo admitted adoption is still nascent.
“At the moment, local stablecoins just started, so the volume and usage are still limited,” he said.
“Compared to USDT or USDC, it’s very, very little. But governments in most countries are pushing a lot, and financial institutions are really interested in adoption. They want to protect their currencies from USD-driven flows. I really believe usage of local stablecoins will increase in the near future.”
Sam Seo, Chairman, Kaia Foundation
From Competitors to One Chain
Kaia itself was born from a merger of two blockchain efforts: Klaytn, backed by Kakao in Korea, and Finschia, backed by Line in Japan. Seo recalled how both began separately in 2017–2018, each aiming for mass adoption of web3 through their messaging apps.
“Their goals were almost the same. Both wanted to provide new services to their messaging users. But they were doing it separately,” he said.
“In 2023, leaders from both sides sat together and realized, okay, we are doing basically the same thing. Why don’t we work together?”
Sam Seo, Chairman, Kaia Foundation
That merger gives Kaia a large base to build on. KakaoTalk and Line together serve around 250 million monthly active users across Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Expansion Beyond Core Markets
Seo said Kakao and Line’s reach are a unique advantage, but for markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, partnerships are essential.
“We are closely discussing with local teams, crypto exchanges, and even traditional businesses,” he explained.
“We have some RWA tokenization projects in Indonesia. For regions where Line and Kakao are not strong, we can provide the SDK and technical infrastructure, while local partners bring the users.”
Sam Seo, Chairman, Kaia Foundation
It is not lost on Seo that Kaia has a number of competitors, including TON, the blockchain focused on Telegram, a mobile wallet with 900 million users. Still, the Chairman thinks there’s enough differentiation and the positioning of Kaia is unique:
“We are targeting different regions and different users. Our specific strategy is focusing on stablecoins, because Asia is fragmented by culture, language, and currency. We want to connect these things.”
Sam Seo, Chairman, Kaia Foundation
What’s Next for Kaia
Looking ahead, Seo revealed that Kaia is preparing to launch a stablecoin SDK, with announcements planned at upcoming events including Korea Blockchain Week and Token 2049. He also confirmed partnerships with Google Cloud and Taiwan Mobile, part of efforts to strengthen Kaia’s presence in Taiwan.
As the interview wrapped, this author asked Seo to give a Bitcoin price prediction for December 2025. He declined to give a number but was optimistic:
“It’s difficult to give a specific number, but I believe Bitcoin will be higher than it is today. More institutions and even governments are showing interest in reliable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. With more capital entering the industry, a large portion will flow into Bitcoin”
Sam Seo, Chairman, Kaia Foundation
This interview is published on BitPinas: Interview: Kaia Positions Itself as Asia’s Stablecoin-First Blockchain
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