Recently, the ASEAN stablecoin project USDA, jointly initiated by the Lao National Digital Technology Group (LADT) and its subsidiary NewPay, successfully completed a US$3 million angel round of financing led by HashKey Capital. Participants included Web3Labs and well-known strategic investors from ASEAN countries. This round of financing will be used to promote the compliance and internationalization of the ASEAN stablecoin USDA.
LADT: Leading the digital transformation of Laos
LADT is a pioneer and innovator in promoting the digital transformation of Laos, led by the Lao central government and under the guidance of the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology and the Central Bank. Its founding team comes from different countries around the world and focuses on the construction of digital infrastructure and the implementation of blockchain applications in Laos and even the ASEAN region.
In July 2024, LADT signed a strategic cooperation MOU with HashKey Capital under the witness of John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, and Saleumxay Kommasith, then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Laos, and signed a strategic investment agreement with Hong Kong Goldford Group on the same day.
USDA: An ASEAN-compliant stablecoin that can be used for daily consumption
USDA is the full name of ASEAN USD, or "ASEAN Stablecoin". It will become the first batch of fully-reserve crypto stablecoins issued by ASEAN countries with stablecoin issuance licenses. USDA's compliance journey began in Laos, and in the foreseeable future, it will gradually extend to more ASEAN and even non-ASEAN countries/regions.
It is reported that after the official issuance, in addition to the conventional functions based on the chain, USDA will also gradually be deeply embedded in various payment applications in ASEAN countries, realizing the consumption, payment, transfer and withdrawal of individuals and merchants in daily life, so as to truly let stablecoins enter the daily life of ordinary people.
NewPay+: Accelerating the process of ASEAN payment integration
The increasing popularity of digital payments in Laos is a microcosm of the accelerated digital construction of ASEAN countries. The total population of ASEAN exceeds 600 million, with a high proportion of young people. The penetration rate of the Internet and mobile phones is increasing year by year. Digital payments have a good foundation, and the growth of Web3 users is showing an accelerating trend.
NewPay+, a Web3 compliant payment platform created by LADT, is derived from NewPay, a national third-party payment tool in Laos. It uses USDA as the underlying settlement currency and will become a cross-border payment and clearing system that supports mixed payments of legal tender and stablecoins and supports compliant deposits and withdrawals. As ASEAN governments continue to improve digital payment infrastructure and networks in the future, NewPay+ will open standardized interfaces to facilitate access to payment tools in various countries and help the development of the "ASEAN Digital Integration Framework".
Laos is the first stop for LADT to promote the compliant Web2 + Web3 integrated payment platform. Currently, national-level cooperation in Cambodia, Brunei and Vietnam is also underway.
RetoLabs: Creating a new experience for Telegram ecosystem
After completing the angel round of financing, LADT announced that its first TON chain wallet application NewPay+ TON was officially launched. At the same time as NewPay+ TON, Telegram's multi-functional mini application RetoLabs was also launched.
RetoLabs is an important application scenario built for NewPay+, integrating eight content service sectors including games, movies, social networking, short videos, food delivery, ticketing, AI and novel reading functions. NewPay+ TON users can earn ecological tokens through interaction with various sectors of RetoLabs, conduct on-chain recharge, consumption and asset management, and enjoy compliant deposit and withdrawal services worldwide with the support of LADT in the future.
At the same time, the launch of RetoLabs is an active attempt by LADT to promote the acquisition of public chain traffic of instant messaging platforms (similar to the merger of Line and the Korean public chain Klaytn main network), striving to open up another path for the popularization of USDA in addition to traditional payment traffic. Based on Telegram's huge user base and efficient communication mechanism, combined with high-performance and scalable public chains to build multi-functional mini applications with actual user needs, RetoLabs will become a bridge for the majority of Web2 users to transition to Web3, bringing more innovation and opportunities to the entire industry.
Future plans and practical significance
It is reported that payment platforms, clearing systems, public chains and other products built around the compliant stablecoin USDA ecosystem will also be released one after another.
The successful completion of the USDA project angel round of financing marks a milestone for LADT in the field of digital finance in the ASEAN region. HaskKey Capital's lead investment has injected strong momentum into LADT's efforts to build a leading digital financial infrastructure in the region. This not only demonstrates LADT's innovative strength and strategic vision, but also demonstrates HashKey's high recognition of the development potential of ASEAN's emerging markets.
The launch of RetoLabs and NewPay+ TON marks the first step of LADT's scenario-based implementation, demonstrating its determination and ability to drive innovation with technology and build a decentralized application ecosystem. In the future, LADT will continue to promote the innovative application of blockchain technology and provide users with a better digital service experience.
For more details, please pay attention to:
LADT X: https://x.com/LADT_co
LADT official website: https://www.ladt.co/
