Kaia-incubated project 'Ratio' launches cross-border payments infrastructure for Asia

Ratio, a financial infrastructure project being incubated within the Kaia ecosystem, on the 9th unveiled next-generation financial infrastructure aimed at improving cross-border payment and settlement rails across Asia.

The infrastructure was first introduced at 'Consensus Hong Kong,' a global blockchain event recently held in Hong Kong. Asia’s cross-border payments market is considered the world’s largest, but inefficiencies have persisted due to high fees, slow settlement speed, and fragmented liquidity. Under existing methods, completing a transaction is known to take an average of 1–3 days, with transaction costs reaching about 1.5–3.0%.

Ratio’s 'orchestration layer' is an institution-focused financial infrastructure designed to address these structural constraints. The core is to support 24/7/365 instant settlement and improve cost efficiency by integrating multiple liquidity routes. It also said that through an advanced routing and pricing engine, financial institutions and payment service providers (PSPs) can achieve instant settlement at lower costs than existing approaches while remaining compliant with local regulations.

The system is built on components including an advanced FX engine, an intelligent liquidity hub, and an integrated revenue engine. By minimizing intermediary steps between banks, it reduces FX and settlement costs, and by linking liquidity from stablecoin issuers and financial institutions, it automatically selects the optimal route suited to each transaction. Another feature is a single-API architecture that enables relatively simple integration for PSPs, digital wallets, and financial institutions.

Ratio is pursuing expansion tied to an Asia-wide partner network based on the Kaia ecosystem. It is currently carrying out a Phase 1 deployment with some institutions, and is targeting the second half of 2026 for an expanded API offering for payment service providers and settlement networks.

John Cho, Ratio’s chief stablecoin officer, said, "The Asian market requires a deep understanding of country-by-country regulations and financial structures," adding, "Ratio is focused on simplifying complex payment structures and providing infrastructure that institutions can trust."