OKX eyes emerging markets with yield-offering stablecoin savings and payments app

OKX Money lets users hold, send and spend dollar-backed stablecoins, with qualifying USDG balances earning up to 10% APY. Crypto exchange OKX has launched OKX Money, a stablecoin savings and payments app, in parts of Latin America, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, that will pay some customers as much as 10% yield. The app allows users to fund accounts using more than 50 supported currencies, with deposits converted into dollar-backed stablecoins, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph. Users can hold USDG, USDC or USDT, send funds and spend with virtual or physical cards. Qualifying customers can earn an annual percentage yield (APY) of up to 10% on eligible USDG balances without staking or a lockup. A spokesperson for the exchange told Cointelegraph that the rollout is happening market by market, in line with local requirements, with the relevant legal entity and regulatory framework varying by jurisdiction. OKX did not disclose its specific initial launch markets. Related: OKX, NYSE parent file to launch tokenized US stock platform The exchange joined Paxos’s Global Dollar Network in July 2025, giving its users access to USDG for trading and transfers. Stablecoins are increasingly being used outside crypto trading. Cross-border stablecoin flows rose 77.5% to $220.3 billion in the 12 months ending June 2026, according to Chainalysis, which cited trade, remittances and savings as use cases. “Customers can qualify for a higher tier by meeting a 30-day average deposit threshold, exceeding a 30-day spending amount or achieving a higher Exchange VIP status,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said rates and eligibility vary by region and customer and declined to comment when asked how the yield is funded. Earlier stablecoin yield products included Anchor Protocol, which offered returns of up to 20% on TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin whose dollar peg depended on conversion into the linked LUNA token. UST lost its peg in May 2022, and both tokens subsequently collapsed. By contrast, USDG, USDC and USDT are fully backed by asset reserves, according to their issuers. Some of the latest stablecoin reward programs share reserve income or offer exchange-funded loyalty rewards. Paxos’s Global Dollar Network distributes earnings from USDG reserves to partners. Those reserves include US Treasury bills, money market funds and cash. The US GENIUS Act includes a ban on payment stablecoin issuers paying interest or yield, while banking groups have pushed for restrictions on exch