logo
BT Money Hacks: Are Stablecoins a Smarter Way to Hold Your Cash?

BT Money Hacks: Are Stablecoins a Smarter Way to Hold Your Cash?

Business Times14-07-2025
They promise stability, speed, and low-cost transfers so what's not to like? But behind the slick branding, stablecoins are far from a sure bet.
In this episode of Money Hacks by The Business Times, host Howie Lim speaks with Amy Zhang, head of APAC at Fireblocks, and Koen Hoorelbeke, investment strategist at Saxo, to demystify what stablecoins really are and what role, if any, they should play in a typical investor's portfolio.
Singapore's Monetary Authority has just rolled out one of the most advanced stablecoin regulatory frameworks in the world, far ahead of peers like Hong Kong and the US. That's fuelling optimism but also raising questions about risks, use cases, and whether stablecoins are truly as 'stable' as advertised.
Why listen?
Because stable doesn't mean safe Stablecoins can still fluctuate in value, depending on demand and the exchange you're using.
Because Singapore's regulatory edge matters Clear rules mean more trust and opens the door to institutional adoption and better retail platforms.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
Because they're a payments game, not an investment Think low-cost, cross-border transactions. Not passive income or capital gains.
Because retail adoption is growing fast Especially in emerging markets, where stablecoins can offer dollar exposure in places where banking access is limited.
Because due diligence still matters Who issues the coin? How are reserves held? What happens when regulation shifts? These are the questions investors should be asking.
Listen now as Howie Lim cuts through the crypto gloss to help listeners understand how stablecoins work, where they fit into the financial landscape, and when to approach with caution.
Find more great content at bt.sg/podcasts . For feedback or episode ideas, email the team at btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.
---
Send us your questions, thoughts, story ideas, and feedback to btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.
---
Written and hosted by: Howie Lim (howielim@sph.com.sg)
With Amy Zhang, head of APAC at Fireblocks and Koen Hoorelbeke, investment strategist at Saxo
Edited by: Howie Lim & Claressa Monteiro
Produced by: Howie Lim
A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media
Follow BT Money Hacks podcasts every Monday:
Channel: bt.sg/btmoneyhacks
Amazon: bt.sg/mham
Apple Podcasts: bt.sg/oeXe
Spotify: bt.sg/oeGN
YouTube Music: bt.sg/mhyt
Website: bt.sg/moneyhacks
Do note: This podcast is meant to provide general information only. SPH Media accepts no liability for loss arising from any reliance on the podcast or use of third party's products and services. Please consult professional advisors for independent advice.
---
Discover more BT podcast series:
BT Mark To Market Podcast at: bt.sg/btmark2mkt
WealthBT at: bt.sg/btwealthbt
PropertyBT at: bt.sg/btpropertybt
BT Market Focus at: bt.sg/btmktfocus
BT Podcasts at: bt.sg/pcOM
BT Branded Podcasts at : bt.sg/brpod
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Long-time tech executive and Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies
Long-time tech executive and Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies

Business Times

time4 hours ago

  • Business Times

Long-time tech executive and Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies

[SINGAPORE] Lee Hui Li, managing director of Microsoft Singapore, has died, shortly after going on sabbatical from her role in May. Her age could not be independently verified. An obituary seen by The Business Times stated that Lee passed away on Thursday (Jul 24). The wake will be held at the Church of St Ignatius on King's Road from Friday, with the funeral scheduled for Monday, the obituary read. 'Hui Li was a visionary leader whose impact on Microsoft and the broader technology landscape in Singapore was profound. Throughout her career, Hui Li was known not only for her strategic brilliance, but for her warmth, authenticity, and unwavering belief in the potential of others and of Singapore,' a Microsoft spokesperson told BT. 'She mentored countless leaders, built inclusive teams, and inspired all of us to lead with purpose. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Hui Li's family, friends, and colleagues,' the spokesperson said. Lee was appointed managing director of Microsoft Singapore in March 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had announced a sabbatical in May, without disclosing a reason. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Before taking on the top Singapore role, Lee was general manager of Asia-Pacific enterprise commercial at Microsoft from July 2021 to March 2022, where she led regional sales and industry teams. Her career spanned 27 years and included senior roles at IBM, Symantec, Dell, HP and EY, according to her profile. Lee was based in Singapore and held a degree in economics from the National University of Singapore. In a December 2024 interview with BT, Lee outlined Microsoft's plans to accelerate artificial intelligence adoption in Singapore through customised, industry-specific solutions for large organisations. In a separate interview in April that year, she reflected on her experiences as a female, Asian leader in the male-dominated tech sector. She spoke of her commitment to building a workplace rooted in diversity and inclusivity, and to fostering an environment where differing perspectives are encouraged to challenge groupthink.

Sri Lanka orders Singapore shipowner to pay US$1 billion over marine disaster
Sri Lanka orders Singapore shipowner to pay US$1 billion over marine disaster

Business Times

time5 hours ago

  • Business Times

Sri Lanka orders Singapore shipowner to pay US$1 billion over marine disaster

[COLOMBO] Sri Lanka's highest court on Thursday (Jul 24) ordered a Singaporean shipping firm to pay US$1 billion in damages for causing the island's worst marine pollution when its vessel sank four years ago. The Supreme Court directed Express Feeders, the owners of the MV X-Press Pearl which sank off Colombo Port in June 2021 after a fire that raged for nearly two weeks, to pay the money within a year. 'The X-Press Pearl... shall make further compensation payments as may be directed by this court,' the 361-page judgement read. Environmentalists had brought the case to court, alleging that both government authorities and firm owners had failed to prevent the fire from becoming an unprecedented ecological disaster. The shipping firm initially apologised and paid US$7.85 million for the immediate cleanup and as compensation for fishermen who were deprived of their livelihoods following the catastrophic incident. They then obtained an order from London's admiralty court in July 2023, limiting their liability to a maximum of £19 million (S$32.8 million). Sri Lanka has appealed that decision. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The Sri Lankan government also filed a lawsuit against the ship's owners in the Singapore International Commercial Court, claiming unspecified damages. That case has been put on hold pending a decision from the admiralty court in London. There was no immediate response from the Singaporean owners or their local representatives. The vessel was carrying 81 containers of 'dangerous cargo', including acids and lead ingots, when it sank. Tons of microplastic granules from the ship inundated an 80-kilometre stretch of beach along Sri Lanka's western coast. Fishing was prohibited for months due to the plastic pollution. Sri Lankan authorities believe the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak, which the crew apparently knew about nine days before the blaze started. Ports in Qatar and India had refused to offload the leaking nitric acid, and the vessel arrived in Sri Lankan waters with the leak. AFP

AI ‘agents' aren't matching up to the buzzwords
AI ‘agents' aren't matching up to the buzzwords

Business Times

time7 hours ago

  • Business Times

AI ‘agents' aren't matching up to the buzzwords

THE biggest issue with the term artificial intelligence (AI) 'agent' is that everyone seems to have a different definition for what it means. Most often, it is used to describe an AI system that can act autonomously and work with outside applications to complete increasingly complicated tasks. The buzziest example from Asia has been Manus, which went mega-viral earlier this year. But it has also morphed into a marketing buzzword, slapped onto everything from products that surf the Web on their own to bots that will eventually achieve human decision-making skills – and could be coming for your job. In China, where reports of a new agentic tool seem to emerge every week, some firms have been accused of labelling their products AI agents just to capitalise on the hype. Against this confusing backdrop, SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son – known for adding zeros to his bold aspirations – says that he plans to deploy one billion AI agents within his company by the end of the year. Speaking at a business conference in Tokyo last week, Son waxed poetic about how these systems will be able to think for themselves, self-replicate and work 24 hours a day. They will participate in meetings, make phone calls and send e-mails, he said, and will evolve on their own. He envisioned a boon in productivity. A comparison he used was to give workers the power of Senju Kannon, a Buddhist figure with a thousand arms and eyes. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up It is part of the breathless praise, and stretched analogies, that have been heaped on AI agents from some of the tech sector's most influential voices over the past year. On Jul 18, after releasing new agentic features in ChatGPT, OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman said that watching the tool take on tasks 'has been a real 'feel the AGI (artificial general intelligence)' moment for me.' (Others have been less than impressed.) It is worth noting that AGI is yet another overused industry term, loosely defined as AI that is as smart or smarter than a human – but similarly spurs disagreements over what exactly that is. More than halfway through what has been widely heralded as the year of the AI agent, then, it is worth unpacking how we got here. And perhaps we need to find a better term than agent. These things are not James Bond. Behind the global push for agents is the hope that this next iteration of AI is what will finally fulfil the promise of making workers more productive (or redundant?), and bring about some returns on the sky-high investments. A McKinsey report published last month said agents are the key to break out of what it calls the 'generative AI (GenAI) paradox' – or data that indicates nearly eight in 10 companies are using GenAI, yet just as many 'report no significant bottom-line impact'. The report urged business leaders to reinvent their entire workflows to centre around agents, to boost operational agility and unlock new revenue opportunities. Still, it also warned that they 'introduce a new class of systemic risks', including the ominous 'controlled autonomy'. Not only does launching a billion agents in less than six months seem technically unfeasible, but this also makes it sound perilous. The reality is that the road to infusing human-like decision-making skills into AI programs is a long one. Cars have been around for well over a hundred years, but autonomous vehicles remain far from mainstream, despite loud predictions over the past decade that they are just around the corner. That does not mean it is all hype. It is the same for AI. It makes sense that agents built off large language models are good at solving text-based problems, like coding or compiling research papers. They have also shown prowess at mundane and repetitive tasks, where the risk of giving too much agency is much more contained. And recent updates allow certain models to take on multi-step tasks, even if they still require some human oversight. But the path to fully granting autonomy to agents in the workplace is at least half a decade away. It will require major tech infrastructure upgrades that give these systems greater access to the tools we all use to do our work, and new safeguards for how to govern that sensitive data. It will also demand the establishment of new standards for liability if these tools make a mistake. Meantime, we should cool off comparing the technology to gods or even humans. It only compounds the hype – and the angst people feel about machines snatching their livelihoods. It would be more useful to embrace AI as normal technology, recognising it can have a major impact on society, but stripping away the idea that it has its own agency. Instead of anthropomorphising machines, business leaders must focus on how to use AI tools to solve real problems that humans face in the workplace. Only then will it impact productivity and bottom lines. And without a clear definition for what an agent even is, one billion of them can mean everything – and nothing. BLOOMBERG

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store