January 30, 2026
By Anjali Kochhar
For all the innovation in digital assets, one of the most basic requirements of global finance remains surprisingly hard to solve: access to USD. While crypto markets have matured and stablecoins have sped up settlement, institutions still face slow, fragmented, and difficult-to-integrate fiat banking infrastructure. For exchanges, wallets, and payment platforms operating at scale, this gap between traditional USD rails and digital asset settlement has become a critical bottleneck.
StraitsX is aiming to close that gap with its Dedicated Virtual Account (DVA/+). Recently enabled for OSL Pay, DVA/+ allows users to hold, receive, and pay out USD as fiat rather than as a crypto or stablecoin balance, while retaining access to crypto settlement rails when required. Since launching in June 2025, StraitsX’s DVA/+ has processed US$1.6 billion in gross transaction value and is already being used by major platforms such as Binance and Bybit.
According to Anthony Koo, Head of Payments at StraitsX, the product was built specifically to address the lack of institutional-grade USD settlement infrastructure that works natively with digital asset systems.
“The gap DVA/+ solves is institutional access to USD settlement infrastructure that works natively with digital asset rails,” Koo said. “For digital asset platforms or traditional institutions operating in or around digital assets, integrating reliable USD banking access is often a multi-year hurdle characterised by high barriers to entry, fragmented infrastructure, and slow settlement cycles.”
While stablecoins have made digital settlement faster, many enterprises are still required to transact in fiat due to regulatory, accounting, or operational requirements. This has often forced platforms to rely on multiple banking relationships and disconnected systems, increasing operational friction and limiting scalability.
DVA/+ is designed as a plug-and-play alternative to this model. “DVA/+ provides a plug-and-play integration to global payment networks,” Koo said. “Instead of a business spending months trying to build its own banking stack, it can leverage StraitsX’s infrastructure to instantly issue named USD virtual accounts to its users.”
These virtual accounts are backed by Tier-1 banking infrastructure, while settlement efficiency is achieved through XUSD, StraitsX’s stablecoin. “This gives enterprises the best of both worlds: the speed and programmability of digital settlement via XUSD, with the security and reliability of a top-tier global bank,” Koo added.
The structure of DVA/+ reflects how institutional platforms and their users actually operate. “As platforms grow, people expect to move and access USD directly within the platform, with the same ease and reliability they get from traditional finance,” Koo said. “Even with stablecoins making settlement faster, many enterprises still need to transact in fiat because of regulations or accounting rules.”
By issuing dedicated virtual accounts, DVA/+ brings USD directly into the platform experience. “DVA/+ brings USD straight into the platform through dedicated virtual accounts, letting fiat flows feel like a native part of the experience while settlement happens seamlessly behind the scenes through XUSD as the practical settlement layer,” Koo said.
The scale of adoption reflects a broad range of institutional use cases rather than a single activity. Since its launch, DVA/+ has processed US$1.6 billion in gross transaction value, driven by exchanges, wallet providers, and payment platforms that require programmable access to both fiat and stablecoin settlement.
Leading exchanges such as Binance and Bybit use DVA/+ to provide named USD virtual accounts to their legal entities, helping streamline treasury operations and improve transparency around incoming and outgoing funds. The integration enables core exchange functions like treasury management and USD settlement without requiring exchanges to maintain complex banking stacks. Settlement efficiency is further enhanced through internal conversion to XUSD, which is also available as a trading asset.
Beyond exchanges, wallet providers and payment platforms are using DVA/+ to embed real-time, compliant fiat-to-stablecoin connectivity directly into their operations. This allows USD and digital assets to move seamlessly and avoids the friction that typically slows institutional-scale flows.
From a risk and compliance perspective, the dedicated virtual account model offers clear advantages over traditional stablecoin-only flows. “By linking USD accounts directly to stablecoin issuance and redemption, specifically through 1:1 USD-to-XUSD conversion, DVA/+ removes the complexity of fragmented banking setups and manual reconciliation,” Koo said.
Platforms can onboard users faster, move funds in real time, and maintain greater control over compliance while reducing operational friction. “SWIFT deposit times, for example, drop from 1–5 days to as little as 0–2 days,” Koo said, adding that the process becomes seamless through 1:1 USD-to-XUSD conversion.
Looking ahead, StraitsX views DVA/+ as both a bridge and a foundation for future settlement models. “Looking ahead, DVA/+ is positioned as both a bridge for institutions navigating the shift to digital assets,” Koo said. By providing each client with a unique, named virtual account underpinned by institutional-grade compliance, DVA/+ connects traditional finance to tokenised settlement.
For exchanges, wallets, and market makers, the model offers direct access to programmable and compliant fiat rails without the need to operate their own banking infrastructure. Integrated with stablecoins like XUSD as the practical settlement layer, DVA/+ supports real-time movement between fiat and digital assets and lays the groundwork for deeper on-chain settlement as digital finance continues to mature.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
