OSN Opens a New Blockchain Payment Rail Between the UAE and Philippines | Partner Content
Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 18, 2026 at 05:01 UTC  |  12:32  |  CoinDesk
Speakers
Shaun Lee — Co-founder of OSN (Open Stable Network)

Summary

  • Trade Flow Shift: Global trade flows are structurally shifting from "West-to-East" to "China-to-ASEAN/Middle East," necessitating new financial rails that bypass traditional Western banking bottlenecks.
  • Stablecoin Normalization: Currently, 99% of crypto stablecoin volume is USD-denominated, whereas real-world cross-border trade is only ~60% USD. Lee predicts a mean reversion where local currency stablecoins gain significant market share to match real-world trade composition.
  • Regulatory Moats: Governments (UAE, Philippines, Japan, Singapore) are establishing stablecoin regimes not just for clarity, but to protect sovereign currency dominance, forcing a move away from generic USD-pegged assets for local settlement.
  • Infrastructure Gap: The "last mile" of crypto payments (on/off-ramps and KYC/AML) remains the primary friction point; the next wave of value accrual is in API-driven infrastructure that automates B2B settlements rather than manual OTC desks.
Trade Ideas
Ticker Direction Speaker Thesis Time
EMERGING MARKETS /CHINA
LONG Shaun Lee
Co-founder of OSN (Open Stable Network) 		"Trade flows... are shifting predominantly from the west to the east primarily coming from China to ASEAN countries... as well as to the UAE." The macroeconomic trend is moving away from Western-centric trade corridors toward an intra-Asian and Middle Eastern bloc. As volume grows in these corridors (UAE-Philippines, China-ASEAN), the underlying economies and their payment volumes will outperform Western counterparts. LONG. Capitalize on the macro rotation of capital and goods into these specific regions. Geopolitical escalation in the South China Sea or Middle East disrupting these specific trade routes. 1:14
STABLECOINS /CRYPTO PAYMENTS
LONG Shaun Lee
Co-founder of OSN (Open Stable Network) 		"You need to build infrastructure to solve that... having the infrastructure in place not only to facilitate US dollar stable coins but as well as facilitating local currency staples becomes critically important." As regulators in non-US jurisdictions (UAE, Philippines, Japan) enforce local currency sovereignty, volume will shift from generic USD rails to compliant, local-currency stablecoin infrastructure. Companies building the "last mile" API connections between blockchains and local banking systems will capture the fees from this volume migration. LONG. The sector is pivoting from speculative trading (USD-denominated) to real-world commercial settlement (Local-denominated). Over-regulation stifling adoption or banking partners de-risking from crypto infrastructure providers. 2:30
USDT
WATCH Shaun Lee
Co-founder of OSN (Open Stable Network) 		"In the stable coin sense right now is probably 99% US dollar... those two numbers [real world trade vs crypto usage] are going to normalize at some point." Currently, USD stablecoins have a near-monopoly (99%). If the market normalizes to match real-world trade flows (where USD is ~60%), USD-pegged assets like USDT could see a relative decline in market share dominance as local currency stablecoins rise to fill the 40% gap. WATCH. While total volume may grow, the *dominance* of USD-only rails is challenged by the rise of sovereign-backed local stablecoins. The network effect of the USD is stronger than anticipated, rendering local stablecoins illiquid. 4:35