Midnight and Axelar Explore Private B2B Payments Across Blockchain Networks

Midnight and Axelar are exploring potential work on private business-to-business payments that would allow compliance checks across blockchain networks, Axelar Head of Growth Adam Oozeer disclosed during a panel at XRP Seoul on October 3.

Oozeer joined Midnight Foundation Japan Country Manager Taro Kimura and Biconomy co-founder Aniket Jindal to discuss the barriers to wider adoption of onchain finance. Moderated by SCBX’s Ruam Siratanapanta, the panel examined how users and institutions could access tokenized assets, lending and payments across networks.

Midnight and Axelar Explore Private Business Payments

Kimura explained that his conversations with banks, securities firms and other institutions often involve the same question: how can they use blockchain while protecting financial information?

He compared public blockchain activity with conventional payments, where customers can pay a merchant without making their account details visible to everyone. For businesses, he added, transaction privacy also matters when payments could reveal sensitive information about their finances.

Midnight aims to provide privacy infrastructure across multiple ecosystems, Kimura explained, naming XRP, Ethereum and Bitcoin. He described a transaction in which information would remain private from other users while still being available to a government authority when required.

Kimura noted that prospective customers discussing stablecoin payment proofs of concept ask both how to accept stablecoins and how to protect the information associated with business transactions. He described the privacy component as a problem that is still being addressed.

Oozeer later disclosed that Axelar and Midnight are looking at working together on B2B payments with end-to-end privacy and auditable compliance. He identified the use of such payments on a live blockchain, rather than only in a proof of concept, as an outcome he would like to see within the next 12 to 24 months. He did not announce a product or a launch date.

Simpler Applications Still Need Liquidity and Risk Controls

Jindal described Biconomy’s work on infrastructure that helps applications operate across blockchain networks. The approach, known as chain abstraction, is designed to handle steps such as moving assets and managing transaction fees in the background.

In his view, users should be able to access financial products without needing to know which blockchain holds an asset or how the application executes each step. He also pointed to his own use of stablecoins for everyday expenses in Dubai and connected adoption there in part to clearer regulation.

Oozeer explained that simplifying an application does not eliminate the work behind a transaction. Instead, responsibility for that work moves to other participants. In some systems, liquidity providers known as solvers take on execution risks in exchange for payment.

He also warned that users can face hidden risks if they do not know which route a transaction takes or which protocols and assets they are exposed to when depositing funds into a lending or yield product.

For Oozeer, interoperability must also connect assets with usable financial markets. A tokenized asset may be accessible across networks, but it also needs liquidity and services such as lending markets that accept it as collateral. Institutions, he added, want controls and compliance requirements to continue applying across the networks involved.

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Connecting Tokenized Money, Investments and Credit

Siratanapanta presented a potential customer journey that would combine several services: using tokenized money or a stablecoin to buy a tokenized investment on another network, then using that investment as collateral for a loan.

Jindal described buying tokenized assets with stablecoins after completing identity checks. He also identified onchain credit, liquidity and connections to traditional brokerages as areas that require further development.

Biconomy has been working to connect banks and traditional brokers with onchain wallets and brokerage services, Jindal added. He also pointed to neobanks and new investment products as possible ways to bring digital assets to more users.

Oozeer outlined several ways the proposed customer journey could work across networks. Funds could move between chains, or an intent-based system could execute multiple actions after a single user instruction. He also described a model in which an asset remains locked on one network while a representation is used on another, with the protocol responsible for managing liquidity and potential liquidations.

For institutions, Kimura described a process that could bring together customer and business verification, asset information and transaction history before a cross-border transfer is approved. The user-facing experience could then show that the necessary checks have been completed.

Looking ahead, Kimura focused on discussions with prospective customers in Japan. His approach is to identify the problem an institution wants to solve first, then determine whether blockchain is suitable for that use.