10 years in, and we’re still just getting started. Grateful for this team - the energy, the grit, and the belief. 🌍 #Airwallex10

Conversion, cost, and fraud shouldn’t be trade-offs. Optimize 360 is Airwallex’s AI-powered payment optimisation engine: delivering real-time decisions in under 100ms, lifting payment success rates by 2–3%, and recovering millions in revenue for merchants. This is what modern

So we said no to $1.2 billion and instead built Airwallex into a company that: • is valued at $8 billion today • has achieved $1B+ ARR and still growing 90%+ YoY • and processes $235B+ annually Looking forward to joining the trillion dollar club soon.

So I asked the team. 90% voted: don't sell. During the negotiations, Patrick said something that stuck with me: "I'm building Stripe for the next 20, 30, 40 years." I realized that's exactly what I wanted too. Just not at Stripe.

I've spent most of my life trying to figure out what happiness means. Before Airwallex, I started 10+ side businesses while working at a bank. But none of them made me happy. Airwallex was different. It felt like an passion and ambition. And I wasn't sure I'd get that feeling

It's rare to find an idea that keeps compounding. You don't just stumble into them. If I sold Airwallex, stayed at Stripe for five years, what would I do next? I genuinely didn't know. And that scared me more. "What if I feel regret that I haven't lived my life?"

But I'd be lying if I said it was purely strategic. I was almost 34 at that time. The Stripe deal came with a 5-year lockup which is standard for acquisitions. After Stripe deal, I'd be 39. But then what? Would I have the energy to build a new startup?

I realized I had two options: 1: Join Stripe, help them fill a gap in their product, and be employee X at someone else's company. 2: Keep building & try to become the infrastructure layer that every global business runs on. One was safer. One was the reason I became a founder.

That's why it hit me. Stripe is good at that what they do. But they're only at the front door of the payment system. Behind that door is the entire infrastructure that Citi and SWIFT built which moves money around the world. And nobody had built a modern version of that.

Stripe processes $1.4 trillion/year today. Global cross-border payments is a $200 trillion market and Stripe is <1% of that. But SWIFT processes $8-9 Quadrillion (the world's GDP passes over SWIFT every three days).

In 2018, Stripe had e-money licenses in only 2 places: the US and the UK. So if you wanted to hold money & store balances in different currencies Stripe couldn't do that. But Airwallex had the license in dozens of countries which put us years ahead of Stripe. So it didn't make

To get an e-money license, every country has its own regulator and its own rules. So you can't just expand. You have to apply, get approved & invest resources. Sometimes it takes 3-4 years/country to get the license.

To process payments, you just need agreements with Visa & Mastercard. But to hold money, you need something called an e-money license which lets you offer banking-like solutions. But there's a catch...

In fintech, there's a big difference between processing payment & holding money. Processing payments means you swipe a card & money goes from A to B. Holding money = banking. You store balances, hold multiple currencies & pay out. One is easy. But the other is way too hard.

In 2018, Patrick Collison flew to meet our team. Stripe was worth ~$20 billion at that time. Whereas Airwallex was only a Series B startup most people had never heard of. There was one question on my mind: Why did the most valuable fintech company in the world want to buy us?

I rejected a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe when we had just $2M in revenue. If I had said yes, I would've personally made over $2 billion (based on Stripe's latest valuation). This is why I said NO and built an $8 billion company instead:

Couldn’t agree more. Capital marks progress, but persistence creates outcomes. The best firms and the best founders earn momentum the same way: day by day. Bring on 2026.

🏎️ @McLarenF1 and Airwallex share more than just a partnership. We share a focus on small gains that create real progress. This year has been one of their strongest seasons, ending with a double championship that reflects the grit, discipline, and teamwork behind their success.

A big thank you to @Arsenal Football Club for their message as we celebrate our $330M Series G fundraise. The Gunners have had a strong start to the season, and we wish them all the best for their matches ahead. We've got some exciting things coming to celebrate our partnership

I think it’s perfectly fine to have employees in China, as long as there are strict protocols in place to restrict access to U.S. sensitive customer data which we already enforce today. PayPal, Microsoft, Tesla, Visa, and Mastercard all operate teams in China with similar