Can bypassing Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) regulations allow crypto purchases by card? Oding Ding introduces the Wallet Pro service for buying crypto with U.S. debit cards

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

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

From e-commerce to fintech, OwlTing’s cross-border payments strategy shows its ambitions

Taiwanese blockchain company OwlTing (OwlTing) successfully went public on the Nasdaq in the United States last year through a direct listing (Direct Listing) method, with stock ticker OWLS.

The company’s transformation trajectory has been quite striking. It began in the early days as an e-book platform called “eBookker,” later expanded into small-farmer e-commerce and blockchain provenance tracking systems. Over the past decade, OwlTing has continuously tried to put blockchain technology into practice—from early efforts helping the government establish records for tracking forest product origins, to later applying the technology to booking inventory management in the hospitality industry. At this stage, OwlTing is fully shifting its focus to fintech and has launched its flagship payment flow service product, OwlPay.

The company has positioned itself as a fintech company. Through partnerships with international investment institutions such as Japan’s SBI, it aims to build the foundation 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 that traditional banks’ cross-border settlement takes days and involves overly complex processes. What OwlTing shows to the market is its vision to build an Asia-based payments giant like Stripe. Its development logic is to extend blockchain’s feature of preventing “double spending” from agriculture provenance tracking and hotel inventory management to payment settlement. This strategy—shifting from real-world applications to core financial services—enables it to demonstrate a distinctive business path in a fiercely competitive blockchain industry.

Wallet Pro connects international payment rails, and its technical architecture enables cross-border buying of crypto

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

Using blockchain technology, Wallet Pro allows 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 connects directly to the Visa Direct system, and it clearly indicates support for transactions using “U.S.” signature debit cards.

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

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

Avoiding domestic regulatory limits, offshore service entities challenge the legal jurisdiction boundary

The U.S. signature card crypto-buying service launched by OwlTing has sparked in-depth market discussions about regulatory boundaries. Because 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 backdrop of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission strictly prohibiting domestic bank cards from conducting virtual asset transactions, OwlTing’s model provides a technical solution. This business is determined to be cross-border services provided by an offshore company, rather than a mere domestic business. Therefore, 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 businesses providing services within Taiwan. For businesses where domestic companies operate offshore and connect to foreign financial systems, it usually falls outside its jurisdiction. When users use U.S. signature debit cards, the resulting transaction activity occurs under the U.S. financial regulatory framework, not within Taiwan’s jurisdiction.

This “offshore services, domestic usage” model is a strategy adopted by many fintech companies with international backgrounds. OwlTing’s CEO has responded to external doubts with a firm stance, emphasizing that if media 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, the OwlTing Group issued a clarification to 《Crypto City》 today (4/13), addressing the following two points:

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

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

Virtual Asset Service Act draft approved, a new path for offshore players to enter the market

On April 9, 2026, the Executive Yuan officially approved the draft of the 《Virtual Asset Service Act》, marking a new stage for Taiwan’s virtual asset industry entering lawful, regulated management. The bill will subdivide virtual asset service providers into seven major categories: trading platforms, exchange operators, transfer service providers, custodians, issuers, investment advisers, and other announced service providers, among others, implementing a licensing-and-permit system across the board.

The new law imposes strict requirements on asset custody. It explicitly states that stablecoins may not be issued with interest, and it establishes penalty provisions of up to 200 million yuan for conduct involving fraud. The publication of this law aims to strengthen business operation and protect the rights and interests of traders. For domestic operators, it represents a significant compliance challenge.

• Related news: 2026 latest》Virtual Asset Service Act draft cheat sheet: stablecoins, licenses, and penalties—full breakdown

In an environment where compliance thresholds are raised, OwlTing’s offshore detour model has triggered open-ended thinking about future market competition. As Taiwan’s virtual asset regulations become increasingly strict, will this approach—using the identity of offshore entities and connecting to international financial infrastructure—become the standard practice for other offshore players to enter Taiwan’s market?

When domestic operators must bear high compliance costs and business constraints, 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 technology and cross-border financial networks is continually challenging traditional, location-based regulations. Market participants will keep testing how accommodating the regulations are, seeking a balance between innovation and compliance.