Katherine Ng

As the 2025 ASEAN Summit concludes, regional leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to policy frameworks that foster economic integration and sustainable growth. For decades, ASEAN's collaborative approach to governance has steered the region through challenges and opportunities, creating an environment where innovation thrives alongside traditional systems. This policy stewardship has been instrumental in transforming how the region connects—physically, digitally, and financially.The journey from scaling the movement of people to scaling the movement of money in ASEAN reveals how digital transformation creates regional connectivity and economic opportunity. The Grab Chapter: Creating New Mobility SystemsTen years ago marked the starting line of a journey few believed in. As part of Grab's early launch in Indonesia in 2015, the company faced significant market resistance from established transportation providers. This wasn't merely a business challenge; it represented a fundamental test of the vision to transform mobility across ASEAN.In Jakarta's bustling streets, the transportation landscape was dominated by established providers with decades of market presence. The Grab team found itself in the challenging position of demonstrating that digital transformation represented opportunity rather than threat."If we can't work within the existing system, we'll need to build something so compelling that consumers and drivers will create a new system," noted a Grab executive during a strategy meeting. "This isn't about competing with traditional providers—it's about creating a new market altogether, and investing in market education."This perspective shift became Grab's north star. Rather than positioning GrabTaxi as a taxi alternative, the company emphasized its unique attributes: the convenience of booking from anywhere, the transparency of fixed pricing, and the safety of knowing driver details in advance. The service wasn't just offering transportation; it was offering a fundamentally different experience.The challenges were substantial and multifaceted. Beyond industry resistance, Grab faced regulatory uncertainty in a country where ride-hailing services existed in a legal gray area. Financing presented another significant hurdle, as convincing drivers to join the platform meant helping them acquire smartphones—a capital-intensive proposition in a market where interest rates were high and access to credit was limited.Throughout this period of market friction and adaptation, what sustained the team was an unwavering belief in the transformative potential of the service. The vision extended beyond immediate obstacles to how digital platforms could address fundamental inefficiencies in urban mobility across Southeast Asia.By 2019, which marked Softbank's $1.46b funding into Grab, the landscape had shifted dramatically. What began as market resistance had evolved into coexistence, with traditional and digital transportation models operating in increasingly interconnected markets.Fast forward to 2025, these same transportation companies are now proudly partnering with Grab, with over 500,000 small businesses joining Grab's platform in 2024 alone. What began as resistance has evolved into collaboration, a testament to the power of pioneering against the odds and persisting when possibilities seemed invisible.The AirAsia Chapter: Policy as a CatalystBefore the Grab chapter began, perspectives on ASEAN's potential were shaped by experiences at AirAsia's CEO office. This period provided invaluable insights into how policy frameworks could catalyze regional integration and economic growth. Working closely with visionary leadership at one of Southeast Asia's most disruptive airlines, the focus was on advocating for the ASEAN Open Skies Policy—a framework that would fundamentally transform regional connectivity.The concept of Open Skies was revolutionary for a region historically characterized by protectionist aviation policies. Each ASEAN member state had traditionally guarded its airspace and national carriers, resulting in limited routes, high fares, and missed opportunities for tourism and trade. The vision behind Open Skies was ambitious yet simple: create a single aviation market across ASEAN that would allow any carrier based within the community to operate international routes within the region without nationality restrictions.This represented the first major step in the evolution of ASEAN mobility—enabling the faster, more efficient movement of people across borders. It laid the foundation for subsequent transformations in how goods and eventually money would flow through the region.My role in advocating for this policy involved extensive stakeholder engagement across multiple countries. The resistance we encountered mirrored what I would later experience at Grab: established players viewed liberalization as a challenge rather than an opportunity, while regulatory bodies expressed concerns about surrendering control of strategic assets.The protectionist mindset we were working to overcome required shifting the conversation from zero-sum competition to regional prosperity—demonstrating how increased connectivity would benefit all member states through tourism growth, trade facilitation, and investment attraction.The academic research now confirms what we observed anecdotally. A comprehensive study published by the Transport Policy Journal analyzed the effect of the Open Skies Agreement on international air traffic movements, finding that the policy boosted the surge of both low-cost carriers and full-service carriers to and from the ASEAN region.The economic ripple effects extended far beyond the aviation sector. The Open Skies Policy became a catalyst for broader regional integration, contributing to a 45.2% increase in intra-ASEAN trade between 2007 and 2017. Foreign direct investment costs decreased, resulting in a 62.9% increase in FDI from 2010 to 2017.Working on the Open Skies initiative taught me several lessons that would prove invaluable in my subsequent pioneering efforts. First, policy frameworks, while seemingly abstract, can have profound real-world impacts when designed with clear economic objectives. Second, regional solutions often require balancing national interests with collective benefits. Finally, patience and persistence are essential when driving structural change; transformative policies rarely deliver immediate results but can reshape economies over time.The policy's success validated a core belief that would guide my career: that ASEAN's strength lies in connectivity—whether physical, digital, or financial. The region's diversity, often cited as a challenge, can become its greatest asset when barriers to movement, trade, and collaboration are systematically reduced.The Blockchain Chapter: Scaling Money Movement in ASEANFast forward to 2025. The same pioneering spirit that drove early efforts at Grab and informed policy advocacy at AirAsia is now evident in blockchain initiatives across ASEAN. This evolution echoes earlier digital transformation experiences. Just as traditional transportation providers eventually embraced digital platforms, traditional financial institutions that once viewed blockchain technology with skepticism are now exploring partnerships and integration opportunities.Recent developments include stablecoin payment systems for industry association membership dues, led by Web3 venture builder Katashe Solutions, attracting attention from cryptocurrency publications like Bitpinas, the Philippines' leading digital asset media outlet. This cross-border interest demonstrates the regional integration potential of blockchain technology—Philippine media covering Singaporean fintech developments implemented by diverse ASEAN professionals.Meanwhile, in Indonesia, an IDR-backed stablecoin is emerging as a serious contender for digital sovereign currency status, with the potential to revolutionize domestic and international transactions. Industry experts and ecosystem builders are actively developing frameworks to support this evolution.To appreciate the significance of this innovation, it's important to understand the unique financial challenges that have historically characterized the ASEAN region. Despite remarkable economic growth over the past decades, financial inclusion has remained elusive for millions. The World Bank estimates that approximately 290 million adults across Southeast Asia remain unbanked or underbanked, lacking access to basic financial services that most developed economies take for granted.Traditional banking infrastructure has struggled to serve this population effectively, constrained by geographical challenges, documentation requirements, and high operational costs in low-density areas. Meanwhile, cross-border transactions within ASEAN have been plagued by high fees, lengthy processing times, and exchange rate volatility—friction points that impede the region's economic integration despite policy efforts to promote trade and investment flows.Stablecoins—cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value by pegging to established currencies like the US dollar—offer a compelling solution to these longstanding challenges. Unlike speculative cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, stablecoins combine the stability of traditional currencies with the efficiency and transparency of blockchain technology.The Evolution of ASEAN MobilityThis evolution reflects a broader transformation in how ASEAN moves—from the physical movement of people through transportation, the efficient movement of goods through e-commerce, to the frictionless movement of money through stablecoin innovations. Each stage builds upon and accelerates the previous one, creating an increasingly integrated regional ecosystem.The numbers tell a compelling story of digital growth. ASEAN's digital economy, valued at approximately $300 billion today, is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030 according to the World Economic Forum. A progressive Digital Economy Framework Agreement could potentially double this figure.At the heart of this transformation is ASEAN's demographic advantage. The region boasts a population of 700 million, characterized by youth, increasing education levels, and growing digital fluency. For many young Southeast Asians, digital technologies are fundamental components of daily existence.The common thread connecting these experiences is that progress in ASEAN often begins at points of friction—where existing systems fail to meet evolving needs. Whether transforming transportation, democratizing air travel, or revolutionizing financial transactions, the pattern remains consistent: identify inefficiencies, build solutions creating tangible value, and persist through initial resistance.

Every year, millions of people travel through Singapore's Changi Airport. In 2024, 67.7 million people passed through its terminals. Ranked the World’s Best Airport by Skytrax, Changi’s reputation is built upon an ecosystem that includes customs, immigration, security, airlines, retail, and a wide range of service providers, all working together across a common foundation. Together, they enable the large-scale movement of people with precision and consistency.Today, Singapore is applying this same systems-level thinking from a global aviation hub to something even more complex: the movement of money itself.At the heart of this shift is a simple but radical truth: money is no longer just a medium of exchange or a store of value. Money is not just powered by technology. In blockchain-based systems, money becomes technology itself. Money doesn't just flow through systems: it becomes the system, carrying its own logic and executing trust through code.This redefinition enables capital to become programmable, accountable, and transparent, operating as a system that never sleeps and constantly adapts. Trust is no longer assumed, but encoded in blockchain logic and enforced through smart contract code. This allows peer-to-peer transactions to scale with people’s needs, down to fractions of a cent per transaction, laying the foundation for truly inclusive finance. Imagine paying your contractors in Africa and the Philippines from Singapore with the same stablecoin, same fee; no middlemen. This isn’t hypothetical. It’s already happening.This transformation demands a new kind of stewardship. Not the stewardship of physical assets or traditional institutions, but the stewardship of trust itself in its most programmable form. Risk controls would still apply. Code would still be subject to human oversight. The level of automation unlocked by blockchain technology reflects a paradigm shift similar to what we are beginning to see with artificial intelligence.Decentralized, peer-to-peer finance may run on open protocols much like the internet, but its real-world impact depends on the governance frameworks behind the technology. The stewardship challenge of our time is not technical. It is about how we govern for trust at scale, across emerging digital ecosystems with clarity, accountability, and inclusion.Just as Changi Airport thrives through coordinated interaction among its ecosystem of stakeholders, the financial infrastructure of the future will rely on how its layers of trust communicate, verify, and execute across both public and private systems. Airlines operate within shared international codes and publicly supported infrastructure because air travel is treated, at least in part, as a public good. Finance, too, can be designed this way: open, interoperable, and built to serve everyone.This future is what Singapore has been quietly anticipating and building for: a series of modular, blockchain-based initiatives that function as living blueprints for financial architecture. Project Ubin, launched in 2016 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), explored cross-border digital currencies and evolved into Partior, a blockchain-based clearing network now processing real transactions between major financial institutions. Project Orchid explored programmable money, currency that could be designed for specific purposes and time periods, paving the way for innovations like Grab's Web3 wallet. Project Guardian brought institutional players like Franklin Templeton and DBS together to pilot the tokenization of real-world assets, demonstrating how traditional investment products could operate with blockchain-native transparency and efficiency.These initiatives are not isolated pilots. Together, they form the early architecture of what is becoming an “onchain state”: a national ecosystem where financial products, policy, and people converge on transparent, programmable infrastructure.The numbers from Singapore’s Onchain State Report tell a compelling story of institutional confidence. In 2024 alone, MAS issued thirteen new Digital Payment Token licenses, bringing the total to twenty-nine certified players in the ecosystem. Seventy-five percent of local Web3 companies plan to expand their teams this year, signaling market confidence even amid global economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs concluded 2024 with over $101 billion in assets, representing not speculation but infrastructural investment in custody, settlement layers, and the rails that support institutional adoption.Underlying these developments is a broader transformation in global capital markets. Today, only $25 trillion in global securities are eligible to be used as collateral in financial markets. Through tokenization and smart contract logic, over $230 trillion in assets could potentially be unlocked, creating liquidity and efficiency at scale.The question is no longer whether this transformation will happen. Singapore’s leadership and institutional adoption already point the way. The real question is whether we will shape this new financial architecture with intention and purpose, or watch its foundations be laid without us.

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Katherine Ng

Scaling the Movement of People and Money: ASEAN’s Digital Evolution

Rise of the Onchain State: How Singapore is Scaling the Movement of Money