Stellar’s Mid-2025 Triumph: AEON Partnership Unlocks 20M Stores for Stablecoin Payments in Southeast Asia

4 min read

Oct 29, 2025

Blog

Stellar’s Strategic Leap: Partnering with AEON for SE Asia Domination

Stellar ($XLM), the blockchain champion of borderless payments, scored a massive win in mid-2025 with a partnership that could redefine retail crypto adoption. On April 17, 2025, AEON Group, Southeast Asia’s retail behemoth with over 10,000 brands and 20 million QR-enabled stores, announced a collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF). This tie-up integrates $XLM and Stellar-native USDC into AEON’s Crypto Payment solution and AEON Pay app, letting users shop seamlessly with stablecoins at physical and online spots across the region. For crypto beginners, it’s like Venmo meets Visa, but global and instant, no banks, no borders. Starting with a pilot in Malaysia in H2 2025, this could blanket SE Asia, Africa, and LATAM, turning everyday shopping into a crypto playground.

The Nuts and Bolts: How AEON Pay + Stellar = Frictionless Crypto Spends

Moreover, AEON Pay, the Web3 mobile wallet powering this, now supports $XLM and USDC for real-world buys, scan a QR, pay with crypto, done. Imagine grabbing groceries at an AEON store in Singapore or Bangkok: Your phone handles the swap from crypto to fiat backend, settling in seconds for a penny. Specifically, this builds on Stellar’s rails for low-cost, high-speed transfers, dodging the 6-7% fees of traditional cards or wires. As AEON noted, “By integrating Stellar assets, we’re empowering businesses and consumers with efficient, inclusive options.” Additionally, it taps into Stellar’s ecosystem, like anchors for fiat on/off-ramps, making crypto as easy as cash. Therefore, for SE Asia’s 670 million people, many unbanked, it’s a gateway to financial freedom, one QR code at a time.

Velo/Lightnet’s Turbo Boost: 5-Second EU-Asia FX Magic

Furthermore, the real fireworks come from Velo Protocol and Lightnet, Stellar-backed powerhouses accelerating this rollout. Velo, built on Stellar’s consensus for 1,000+ TPS, teams with Lightnet (a Singapore fintech backed by UOB and CP Group) to enable EU↔Asia foreign exchange in just 5 seconds. For example, a European shopper pays in euros at an AEON store; Velo’s federated credits (like USDV stablecoins) bridge it instantly to local currency, compliant and cheap 90% less than SWIFT. This complements Stellar’s $4.2B quarterly payments volume, targeting Asia’s $396B remittance market. As Lightnet’s AI-powered settlement shines, it cuts fraud and boosts speed, making AEON’s 20M stores a testing ground for global crypto commerce. Thus, for migrants wiring home, it’s not hype, it’s money arriving before dinner.

Tying in Africa: Flutterwave and Tempo’s EU-Africa Corridors

Equally important, this SE Asia push echoes Stellar’s Africa wins, rounding out a global payments web. Back in 2021, Stellar linked with Flutterwave (Africa’s payments unicorn) and Tempo (EU anchor) to launch Europe-Africa remittance corridors using Stellar USDC. Now, with expansions to more African nations, it simplifies $831B in yearly flows, euros to naira in minutes, landing in local banks. Flutterwave’s CEO Olugbenga Agboola highlighted the cost savings: “Sending to sub-Saharan Africa is priciest globally, Stellar fixes that.” For instance, Tempo’s corporate tools pair with Flutterwave’s network for Pan-African infrastructure, now amplified by AEON’s scale. Hence, as Stellar connects EU-Asia-Africa dots, unbanked users from Dakar to Jakarta gain affordable access, a unified corridor for the world’s migrants.

Stellar’s Horizon: From Retail Pilot to Global Ripple

Ultimately, AEON’s 2025 partnership isn’t isolated, it’s Stellar weaving a web of instant, inclusive finance across continents. For $XLM holders, it’s demand dynamite: More store spends mean more network buzz, with XLM eyeing $0.50 amid 396% surge predictions. Newcomers, it’s crypto in your pocket, literally, via AEON Pay. Platforms like Lumexo make trading $XLM or USDC a breeze with low fees. As Q4 2025 pilots launch, watch SE Asia’s 20M stores spark a payments renaissance. In short, Stellar + AEON isn’t expanding, it’s exploding barriers, one scan at a time.

Sources

Data articol: October 29, 2025