Tabi Chain co-founder Mori Xu believes her blockchain infrastructure will redefine consumer finance through on-chain identity and decentralized payments. She shares her thoughts on how Tabi Chain addresses long-standing consumer finance issues, including those in emerging markets.
1) Start by sharing a bit about your professional background, what originally drew you into the blockchain and finance space, and how those early experiences led you to co-found Tabi Chain.
“I graduated from UCSD, majoring in Communication. Back in college, I already heard a lot of crypto news. Later, I interned at Google in the marketing department. You know how people on the West Coast are always super-excited about new opportunities.
“But after graduation, I first joined Sephora as a member of the Asian digital marketing team, which was, honestly, a dream job for many girls. But because of family reasons, I moved back to China. I took a year off, got my barista certificate, and opened a coffee shop.
“It was right below Alibaba, so lots of tech people came in talking about crypto. Hearing their conversations made me even more curious about the industry. Through a friend’s introduction, I started working at the largest crypto exchange at the time as a research analyst. That was around the end of 2019, just when DeFi Summer was kicking off and Uniswap had just launched.
“A year later, I joined Litentry, which was the first DID project listed on Binance. After that, I met the founder of Tabi Chain. His previous project was already listed on Binance and had done really well. After talking, we realized there was huge market potential for consumer-focused crypto projects, which is something I’m personally very passionate about. That’s why I decided to join the Tabi team.
“Back then, Tabi was still called Treasureland, and our goal was to become the biggest NFT marketplace on BSC. We even worked with Elon Musk’s mom and some famous Asian singers to help them launch their NFTs. But as the NFT hype faded and crypto started to find more real-world, compliant uses, we saw deeper needs in payments and consumer spending that crypto could solve.
“So, the Tabi team gradually pivoted to focus on building a consumer chain. Now, our main goal is to help creators set up their own income networks.”
2) When you and your co-founders launched Tabi Chain, what was the core problem in consumer finance and on-chain identity you set out to solve? How has that mission evolved as you’ve built the project?
“In the past, crypto on-chain identity was mainly used for two things. First, it was proving who you are, like a blockchain passport using ZK technology. This also involves uploading off-chain data and things like real-world oracles, which are pretty technical and still need a lot of development and education.
“The second use is collecting your identity data on-chain, so others can get a sense of who you are, like having a blockchain business card. For example, people can look at your transaction history to see if you’re ‘smart money’ or if you qualify for certain on-chain activities.
“I think all of this infrastructure is laying the groundwork for regular users to use crypto more often in everyday life. It’s super important that the infrastructure is stable and secure—just like you wouldn’t want your bank card to get hacked. So first, we need to ensure payment and DID systems are reliable. Once that’s in place, we can really build on top of it.
“Tabichain’s big breakthrough is making crypto payments actually work in real life, on top of all this infrastructure. For example, users in the US and Europe can pay with a Tabi crypto card. In Southeast Asia, you can use Tabipay to scan local payment QR codes and pay with stablecoins. So if you travel to places like Thailand or Singapore, you can use USDT to pay directly at 7-11 or lots of other places. It’s really making crypto payments super easy and practical for everyday use.”
3) Today Tabi Chain is focused on on-chain identity and decentralized payments with its native utility token $TABI on the horizon. Could you walk us through how those two elements (on-chain identity + payments) interact within your ecosystem, and why you believe they are key to redefining consumer finance?
“As the economy grows, more low- and middle-income people need financial services. This trend goes beyond Web3; it’s a global movement.
“Inclusive finance helps these groups access essential services through advanced digital tools. For example, a recent U.S. IPO for Chime reached $8.5 billion. They provide neobanking for low-income individuals, allowing them to save and invest directly, even offering credit cards to millions of people who couldn’t get one before.
“In Indonesia, with a population of 280 million, only 50 million have social insurance or credit cards, leaving (most) outside the credit system. Yet, Yup wallet has successfully created a credit card business with 50 million users in this credit-challenged environment. Young people can simply download the app to apply for a credit card.
“Indonesia reflects many other developing countries. The misconception is that this market is untapped, but it has been explored for years—many workers and small vendors still lack credit identities. Indonesia is also a target market for Tabi, and we plan to promote our services in Bali, where digital nomads gather.
“We see familiar models like buy now, pay later, such as Klarna in Europe. With the rise of digital payments, inclusive finance is growing quietly across different regions. Payment systems require collaboration, which opens up opportunities for startups like ours.
“All these models can work within traditional finance, so we ask ourselves, why not in crypto payments? Currently, there are about 300 to 400 million crypto users globally. Most of your income might come from Web3, but your spending is still 100% in fiat, which presents a huge opportunity.
“As stablecoins become more mainstream, we just need to shift that 100% fiat spending down to 98%, then 97%, and so on. This way, we gradually penetrate traditional consumption channels.
“Imagine a future where more purchases can be made with digital currencies. Recently, our team has been in Seoul preparing for three KBW events. You can see Upbit’s large ads everywhere, allowing users to deposit directly in Korean won.
“Why not use stablecoins for direct consumption once we become profitable? Circle has built a payment network in partnership with Silvergate Bank, primarily targeting institutions for large exchanges between USDC and EUSD. Our goal is to create an inclusive financial platform that directly serves retail customers.
“Building a financial credit system is very costly in traditional finance. Tabichain is like a platform that works as an automatic ledger, always keeping track of users’ transactions. The Tabi token can be used for payments and also for paying transaction fees on the Tabichain network.
“We’ve put things like daily spending, investing, and more all onto Tabichain. Users can manage everything easily through the Tabi app. Before, we mostly used MetaMask to interact with the blockchain. Now, we want to bring crypto into our everyday lives.
“Stablecoins won’t just be for investing; they’ll also be used for daily purchases. This means we’re looking to completely change traditional banking. By moving all our spending and investing onto the blockchain, we’ll create more than just stablecoins.
“We’re building a whole new system with fresh financial products. Everything will work together smoothly. You can lend your assets to earn interest, stake them for rewards, and trade real-world assets. Derivatives will help you manage risks and invest smarter. So instead of seeing these features as separate, let’s think of them as connected tools that make finance easier and better for everyone.”
4) With the upcoming TGE for $TABI, how are you thinking about the token’s utility, incentives, and governance? What should early participants understand about the role of the token within Tabi’s ecosystem and the value it aims to unlock?
“After the Genius Act was announced, all companies can now legally launch their own stablecoins. But what are these stablecoins actually used for? Right now, there aren’t many clear use cases.
“Tabi has found one: creating income tools for content creators. You can send stablecoins to any TikTok ID, allowing creators to receive subscription fees and tips. This is a big deal because creators need a way to get paid internationally, which is a must-have for billions of creators. Tabi will start with TikTok and then build income tools for YouTube creators, working closely with major creators along the way.”
5) Looking ahead, what are the next major milestones for Tabi Chain over the next 12-18 months? And beyond that, how do you envision Tabi’s role in the broader fintech and Web3 landscape of global consumer finance?
This locking activity can be seen on Morpho’s on-chain records, where we completed $47 million in locking within an hour. Users who are familiar with us know our core team’s background; one of our core team members has participated in several projects that successfully listed on Binance during DeFi summer. Many members of our team are quite degenerate in their trading habits.
“As a public chain, we hope to build ecosystems like Plasm or USDai. For example, we want to enable crypto users to earn returns on their funds in the real world or allow Web2 users to easily earn returns on-chain through Tabipay. These earnings will be integrated with real-world assets (RWA). Tabi will serve as the layer 1 for recording and accumulating these transactions.
“With the increasing compliance of crypto in Asia, we are actively collaborating with regulatory agencies in different countries, such as brokers and funds in Hong Kong. We are also in discussions about licensing and implementation plans in Hong Kong. This is an important part of Tabi’s future development.
“TabiPay primarily focuses on Southeast Asia, where credit card use is low and QR code payments are popular. Consumers can scan payment codes at stores like 7-Eleven to spend USDT directly through TabiPay. This feature is already operational in Vietnam and will expand to countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, allowing low-fee payments while bypassing the Visa system.
“We have several partners in the region, including Chamet (a Brazilian live streaming platform), Viral Works, and Yeah1 Network. These collaborations enable KOLs to receive tips directly from fans using TabiPay, avoiding high platform fees.
“We also partner with local banks for QR payments, like VN Bank and Momo Pay. Notable partners include Fikua (with 400,000 users), E-gtes (Cambodia’s leading food delivery platform), and Hoobuy (with 8 million users), helping them accept digital currency payments. Additionally, we support La Vie Adventure Trails in the Philippines and Aspire Developers & Properties Ltd. in Bangladesh for digital currency transactions.”