Can you bypass FSC regulations to buy crypto with a credit card? Odin Ding launches a U.S. debit card crypto purchase service, Wallet Pro

OwlTing has launched the OwlPay and Wallet Pro services. By partnering with international payment giants, it uses stablecoin technology to enable B2B cross-border payments, and leverages the advantages of offshore entities to connect with the international financial system.

【This article was published at 13:00 on 4/13, with the last updated time at 22:30 (supplement: OwlTing Group’s statement in the third paragraph of this article)】

From e-commerce to fintech, OwlTing’s cross-border payment rollout shows strategic ambition

Taiwan’s well-known blockchain company OwlTing (OwlTing) successfully went public on the Nasdaq in the United States last year via a Direct Listing, with the stock ticker OWLS.

The company’s transformation journey is quite significant. In its early days, it started out with the e-book platform “EbookAce,” and later expanded into small-farmer e-commerce and blockchain traceability systems. Over the past decade, OwlTing has continued to try to bring blockchain technology into practice—ranging from helping the government build records for forestry product traceability in the early stage, to subsequently applying the technology to reservation inventory management in the hospitality industry. At its current stage, OwlTing is shifting its focus entirely to fintech, launching its flagship payment and cash-flow service product OwlPay.

The company has positioned itself as a fintech company and, through partnerships with international investment institutions such as Japan’s SBI, aims to build the infrastructure for stablecoin payments. OwlPay focuses on enterprise-grade B2B cross-border payments, using stablecoin technology to increase transfer speed and reduce transaction fees, with the goal of addressing the predicament of traditional banks taking days to complete cross-border settlement and involving overly complex programming. The vision OwlTing presents to the market is to build an Asia-based payments giant like Stripe. Its development logic is to extend blockchain’s feature of preventing “double spending,” moving from agricultural traceability and hotel inventory management to cash-flow settlement. This strategy of shifting from real-world applications to core financial services enables it to demonstrate a unique business path in a highly competitive blockchain industry.

Wallet Pro connects international payment infrastructure, and its technical architecture enables buying crypto across borders

Wallet Pro, the personal payment wallet launched by OwlTing, is an important move as it enters the virtual-asset retail market. The core competitiveness of this product is built on its partnership with international payments giant MoneyGram, with use cases focused on overseas migrant remittances and individuals’ cross-border cash-flow.

Wallet Pro uses blockchain technology to allow users to buy $USDC stablecoins with cash at specific physical retail locations and then make international transfers. The biggest technical highlight of this product is that its architecture is directly connected to the Visa Direct system, and it clearly indicates support for transactions using “U.S.” signature debit cards.

This model showcases OwlTing’s offshore-entity advantage as a publicly listed U.S. company. Through direct connectivity with international card networks, Wallet Pro can handle cash flows originating from U.S.-issued card issuers, thereby enabling integration between virtual-asset settlement systems and traditional fiat-currency settlement systems.

Although the service is currently designed for signature cards issued in the United States, its core technical logic demonstrates the possibility of providing users with asset-conversion paths via offshore compliant channels. This design reflects the company’s flexibility in product strategy, and it also attempts to find more efficient funding channels for the use of virtual assets within the existing international financial network.

Avoiding domestic regulatory constraints, offshore service entities challenge the boundaries of legal jurisdiction

OwlTing’s U.S. signature-card buy-crypto service has sparked in-depth market discussions about the regulatory boundary. Since this business directly connects to the Visa Direct system and supports U.S. signature debit cards, its nature is that of an offshore transaction service.

Against the policy backdrop in Taiwan in which the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) strictly prohibits domestic banks’ card transactions for virtual-asset trading, OwlTing’s model offers a technical solution. This business is deemed to be cross-border services provided by an offshore company, not simply domestic business, so it can operate outside the specific regulations currently applied to Taiwan virtual-asset service providers (VASPs).

The FSC’s regulatory scope mainly focuses on domestic companies and providers offering services within Taiwan. For businesses where a domestic company operates offshore and connects with foreign financial systems, they are typically beyond its jurisdiction. When users use a U.S. signature debit card, the resulting transaction activities occur under the U.S. financial regulatory system, not within Taiwan’s jurisdiction.

This “offshore service, domestic use” model is a strategy adopted by many fintech companies with international backgrounds. OwlTing’s CEO has responded to outside doubts with a tough stance, emphasizing that if media outlets or individuals distort information, it may constitute misleading market behavior. This reflects the company’s determination to maintain the legality of its cross-border business and its market image.

OwlTing Group statement

Regarding the relevant business structure, OwlTing Group today (4/13) published a clarification with 《Crypto City》 addressing the following two points:

1. Emphasize that the OwlPay USD stablecoin signature debit card functionality is currently only available to U.S. users; it is not launched within Taiwan and is not open to Taiwan users. This service must be used through eligible bank signature debit cards issued in the United States, and it includes a complete KYC identity verification mechanism.
2. This service is independently executed within the United States by OwlTing USA, Inc., an American subsidiary of OwlTing Group; its business activities are fully governed by U.S. federal and state-level financial regulations, including the anti-money-laundering compliance requirements under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

OwlTing also reiterates that the Group complies with local laws and regulations in markets worldwide. If it ever promotes any related financial services in Taiwan in the future, it will obtain complete approvals from the competent authorities in advance. This legal distinction of “offshore services, domestic entities” clearly defines the territorial nature of its services.

The Virtual Asset Service Act draft gets approved, opening a new path for offshore providers to enter the market

On April 9, 2026, the Executive Yuan officially approved the draft of the “Virtual Asset Service Act,” symbolizing that Taiwan’s virtual-asset industry is entering a new phase of regulated management under the rule of law. The bill categorizes virtual-asset service providers into seven major groups: trading platforms, exchange operators, transfer service providers, custody providers, issuers, investment advisers, and other announced providers, among others, and it fully adopts a licensing-and-permit system.

The new law imposes strict requirements on asset custody. It explicitly states that stablecoins may not be issued with interest, and it establishes severe penalty provisions of up to 200 million yuan for conduct involving fraud. The publication of this legislation aims to improve business operations and safeguard the rights and interests of traders. For domestic providers, it is a major compliance challenge.

• Related news: 2026 latest》Virtual Asset Service Act draft quick guide: full analysis of stablecoins, licenses, and penalties

In an environment where compliance thresholds are raised, OwlTing’s offshore detour model has prompted open-ended thinking about future market competition. With Taiwan’s virtual-asset regulations becoming increasingly stringent, will this approach of using offshore entity identities to connect with international financial infrastructure become the standard for other offshore providers entering Taiwan’s market?

When domestic providers must bear high compliance costs and business restrictions, if service providers with international backgrounds continue to offer more flexible funding options through technical means, it will have a profound impact on the local regulatory framework and market structure.

The integration of decentralized technologies and cross-border financial networks is continuously challenging traditional locality-based regulations. Market participants will continue testing the degree of regulatory inclusiveness, seeking a balance between innovation and compliance.