Which Web2 businesses are more suitable for quickly introducing stablecoins?

This article is from: Josh Solesbury (ParaFi Investor)

Compiled by | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina); Translator | Azuma (@azuma_eth)

Catalyzed by Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge and progress with the “GENIUS Act”, there has been an explosive growth in headlines related to stablecoins over the past six months. From CEOs of major banks to product managers at payment companies, and high-level government officials, key decision-makers are increasingly mentioning stablecoins and promoting their advantages.

Stablecoins are built on four core pillars:

• Instant Settlement (T + 0, significantly reduces working capital requirements);
• Extremely low transaction costs (especially compared to the SWIFT system);
• Global accessibility (available year-round, just need an internet connection);
• Programmability (driven by extensible coding logic for currency).

These pillars perfectly illustrate the advantages of stablecoins promoted in various headlines, blog posts, and interviews. Therefore, the argument of “why stablecoins are needed” is easy to understand, whereas “how to apply stablecoins” is much more complex — whether it is a product manager at a fintech company or a bank CEO, there is currently very little content that specifically explains how to integrate stablecoins into existing business models.

Based on this, we have decided to write this advanced guide to provide a starting point for non-crypto enterprises exploring the applications of stablecoins. The following text will be divided into four independent chapters, each corresponding to different business models. Each chapter will analyze in detail: in which aspects stablecoins can create value, what the specific implementation pathways are, and a schematic diagram of the restructured product architecture.

Ultimately, while headline news is important, what we truly pursue is the widespread application of stablecoins — enabling real business scenarios to realize the large-scale use of stablecoins. I hope this article can serve as a small cornerstone in achieving this vision. Now, let’s delve into how non-crypto enterprises can utilize stablecoins.

To C Financial Technology Bank

For consumer-facing digital banks (To C), the key to enhancing enterprise value lies in optimizing the following three levers: user scale, average revenue per user (ARPU), and user churn rate. Stablecoins can currently directly assist with the first two metrics — by integrating the infrastructure of partners, digital banks can launch remittance services based on stablecoins, which can reach new user groups while also providing existing customers with additional revenue channels.

Under the two major trends of digital connectivity and globalization that have persisted for decades, today’s fintech target markets often have multinational characteristics. Some digital banks position cross-border financial services as their core focus (such as Revolut or DolarApp), while others treat it as a functional module to enhance ARPU (such as Nubank or Lemon). For fintech startups that focus on expatriates and specific ethnic groups (such as Felix Pago or Abound), remittance services are a basic need of the target market. All these types of digital banks have (or will) benefit from remittances in stablecoins.

Compared to traditional remittance services (such as Western Union), stablecoins can achieve faster (instant arrival vs 2-5 days or more) and cheaper (as low as 30 basis points vs over 300 basis points) settlements. For example, DolarApp charges only $3 to send dollars to Mexico with real-time arrival. This explains why in certain remittance corridors (such as the US-Mexico corridor), the penetration rate of stablecoin payments has reached 10-20%, and the growth momentum continues.

In addition to creating new revenue, stablecoins can also optimize costs and user experience, especially as internal settlement tools. Many practitioners are well aware of the pain points of weekend settlements: bank closures lead to two-day delays in settlements. Digital banks, which pursue real-time services and ultimate experiences, have to fill the gaps by providing operating capital loans, which not only generates opportunity costs (especially heavy in the current interest rate environment) but may also force companies to seek additional financing. The instant settlement and global accessibility of stablecoins completely solve this problem. One typical case is Robinhood, one of the world’s largest fintech platforms, whose CEO Vlad Tenev clearly stated in the February 2025 earnings call: “We are using stablecoins to handle a large volume of weekend settlement transactions, and the scale of application continues to expand.”

It is not surprising that consumer-facing fintech companies like Revolut and Robinhood are all laying out their plans for stablecoins. So, if you work in a consumer bank or fintech company, how should you utilize stablecoins?

After introducing stablecoins into this business model, the practical solution is as follows.

Real-time 24/7 settlement

Instant settlement using stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and USDG (including holidays);

Integrated wallet service providers/coordinators (such as Fireblocks or Bridge) to connect the flow of dollars/stablecoins between the banking system and blockchain;

Connect with fiat channel service providers (such as Yellow Card in Africa) in specific regions to achieve B2B/B2B2C exchanges between stablecoins and fiat currencies.

fill the gap of fiat settlement.

During the weekend, use stablecoins as a temporary substitute for fiat currency, and complete reconciliation after the banking system is restarted.

Can collaborate with suppliers like Paxos to build an internal stablecoin settlement loop between customer accounts and enterprises.

The counterparty’s funds are instantly in place.

Quickly allocate funds to exchanges/partners through the above plan or liquidity partners, bypassing the ACH/wire transfer process;

Cross-border entity automatic rebalancing

When fiat channels are closed, fund allocation between business units/subsidiaries is achieved through the transfer of on-chain stablecoins.

The headquarters can use this to establish an automated, scalable global fund management system.

In addition to these basic functions, a new generation of banks can be envisioned that is completely based on the concept of “all-weather, instant, and composable finance.” Remittance and settlement are just the starting point; subsequent scenarios will include programmable payments, cross-border asset management, stock tokenization, and more. These enterprises will win the market with an extreme user experience, a rich product matrix, and a lower cost structure.

Commercial Banks and Enterprise Services(B2B)

Currently, business owners in markets such as Nigeria, Indonesia, and Brazil face numerous obstacles if they wish to open dollar accounts in local banks. Typically, only companies with large transaction volumes or special relationships can qualify — this is also contingent upon the bank having sufficient dollar liquidity. Local currency accounts force entrepreneurs to bear both banking risks and government credit risks, making them constantly monitor exchange rate fluctuations to maintain operating capital. When making payments to overseas suppliers, business owners also have to pay high fees for converting local currency to dollars and other mainstream currencies.

Stablecoins can significantly alleviate these frictions, and forward-looking commercial banks will play a key role in their application process. Through bank-custodied compliant digital dollar platforms (such as USDC or USDG), businesses can achieve:

• Hold multiple currency balances without the need to establish multiple banking relationships;
• Cross-border invoice settlement in seconds (bypassing traditional agency networks);
• Stablecoin deposits earn interest;

Commercial banks can use this to upgrade their basic checking accounts to a global multi-currency fund management solution, providing speed, transparency, and financial resilience that traditional accounts cannot match.

The practical solution is as follows after the introduction of stablecoins into this business model.

Global USD/Multi-Currency Account Services

Banks provide custody of stablecoins for enterprises through partners such as Fireblocks or Stripe-Bridge.

Reduce startup and operational costs (such as reducing licensing requirements, exempting FBO accounts);

High-yield products supported by high-quality US Treasury bonds

Banks can offer returns at the federal funds rate level (around 4%), with credit risk significantly lower than that of local banks (U.S. regulated money market funds vs. domestic banks);

Need to integrate with interest-bearing stablecoin suppliers (such as Paxos) or tokenized government bond partners (such as Superstate/Securitize).

Real-time 24/7 settlement

See the previous text for the consumer finance sector plan.

The global application scenarios we are optimistic about (stablecoin platforms/commercial banks can solve)

Importers make dollar payments in seconds, while overseas exporters release goods instantly;

Corporate financial officers can allocate funds in real-time across multiple countries, eliminating delays from correspondent banking systems, making it possible for banking services to serve super-large multinational groups.

Business owners in high-inflation countries anchor their balance sheets in US dollars.

Product Architecture Example (Commercial Bank Services Based on Stablecoins)

Payroll Service Provider

**For payroll platforms, the greatest value of stablecoins is to serve employers who need to pay employees in emerging markets. **Cross-border payments, or payments made in countries with poor financial infrastructure, impose significant costs on payroll platforms – costs that are either absorbed by the platforms themselves, passed on to employers, or reluctantly deducted from contractors’ compensation. For payroll service providers, the easiest opportunity to realize is to open a stablecoin payment channel.

As mentioned in the previous sections, cross-border stablecoin transfers from the U.S. financial system to contractors’ digital wallets are virtually cost-free and instantaneous (depending on the fiat on-ramp configuration). While contractors may still have to complete fiat currency conversions themselves (incurring fees), they will receive instant payments for the world’s strongest fiat currency pegging. There is several pieces of evidence that demand for stablecoins is surging in emerging markets:

• Users are willing to pay an average premium of about 4.7% to obtain US dollar stablecoins;
• In countries like Argentina, this premium can be as high as 30%;
• Stablecoins are becoming increasingly popular among contractors and freelancers in regions such as Latin America.
• Applications focused on freelancers such as Airtm have seen exponential growth in the usage of their stablecoins and user base.
• More importantly, a user base has already been formed: over the past 12 months, more than 250 million digital wallets have actively used stablecoins, and more people are willing to accept stablecoin payments.

In addition to speed and cost savings for end users, stablecoins also offer numerous benefits for enterprise clients using payroll services (i.e., paying clients). First, stablecoins are significantly more transparent and customizable. According to a recent fintech survey, 66% of payroll professionals lack the tools to understand their actual costs with banks and payment partners. Fees are often opaque, and processes can be confusing. Second, the current process for executing payroll payments often involves a large amount of manual work, consuming resources in the finance department. In addition to the payment execution itself, there are a series of other matters to consider, from accounting to taxation to bank reconciliation, and stablecoins are programmable, with built-in ledgers (blockchain), which significantly enhances automation capabilities (such as batch timed payments) and accounting capabilities (such as automatic smart contract calculations, withholding and remittance, and record systems).

In that case, how should the salary platform enable stablecoin payment functionality?

Real-time 24/7 Settlement

The previous text has covered the relevant content.

Closed-loop Payment

Collaborate with stablecoin-based card issuance platforms (such as Rain) to allow end-users to directly spend stablecoins, thereby fully inheriting their speed and cost advantages;

Collaborate with wallet providers to offer stablecoin savings and yield opportunities.

Accounting and Tax Reconciliation

By utilizing the immutable ledger characteristics of blockchain, automatically synchronize transaction records to accounting and tax systems through API data interfaces, achieving automation of withholding, accounting, and reconciliation processes.

Programmable Payments and Embedded Finance

Use smart contracts to achieve automatic batch payments and programmable payments based on specific conditions (such as bonuses). Can collaborate with platforms like Airtm or use smart contracts directly.

Connect DeFi base protocols to provide wage-based financing services in an affordable and globally accessible manner. In certain countries/regions, it can bypass those typically cumbersome, closed, and expensive local bank partners. Applications like Glim (and indirectly Lemon) are working hard to provide these functionalities.

Based on the above plan, let us further elaborate on the specific implementation methods:

Payroll processing platforms that support stablecoins work with US fiat on-ramps (e.g., Bridge, Circle, Beam) to connect bank accounts with stablecoins. Funds are transferred from the customer’s business account to the on-chain stablecoin account (these accounts can be held in custody with the above-mentioned companies or institutions such as Fireblocks) before the payment date. Payments are fully automated, with bulk broadcasts to all contractors worldwide. Contractors receive USD stablecoins instantly, which can be spent with a Visa card that supports the stablecoin, such as Rain, or saved via tokenized Treasury bonds in an on-chain account such as USTB or BUIDL. With this new architecture, the overall cost of the system has been significantly reduced, the contractor’s coverage has been greatly expanded, and the degree of system automation has been greatly improved.

Issuing Institution

Many companies are currently generating core revenue through card issuance. For example, Chime, which just launched on June 12, achieved over $1 billion in annual revenue in the U.S. market solely through transaction fees. Although Chime has established a substantial business in the U.S., its partnerships with Visa, banking relationships, and technological infrastructure offer little assistance for expansion into overseas markets.

Traditional card issuance requires applying for direct licenses from institutions like Visa on a country-by-country basis, or collaborating with local banks. This cumbersome process severely hinders companies’ cross-regional expansion. Taking the publicly listed company Nubank as an example, after operating for over 10 years, it only started its overseas expansion in the past 3 years.

In addition, issuers need to pay a deposit to card organizations such as Visa to mitigate default risks. The card organizations promise merchants like Walmart that even if the bank or fintech company goes bankrupt, cardholders’ payments will still be honored. The card organizations will review transaction volumes from the last 4-7 days to calculate the deposit amount that the issuer needs to pay. This poses a heavy burden on banks/fintech companies and creates a significant barrier to entry in the industry.

Stablecoins have revolutionized the possibilities of the card issuance business. First, stablecoins are cultivating a new class of card issuance platforms, such as Rain, where businesses can leverage their primary membership with Visa to offer global issuance through stablecoins. **Examples include enabling fintech companies to issue cards in Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Bolivia, and many other countries at the same time. In addition, a new class of card issuance partners can now settle on weekends thanks to stablecoins’ 24/7 settlement capabilities. **Weekend settlement greatly reduces partner risk, effectively reduces collateral requirements and frees up funds. Finally, the on-chain verifiability and composability of stablecoins creates a more efficient collateral management system that reduces the working capital requirements of card issuers. **

After introducing the stablecoin into this business model, the practical solution is as follows.

• Collaborate with Visa and card issuers to launch a global card program priced in US dollars;
• Flexible card network settlement options;

1. Directly settle using stablecoins (achieving weekend and overnight settlements);
2. The card network generates settlement reports daily that include bank account and routing numbers, and after using stablecoins, the stablecoin address will be displayed;
3. You can also choose to exchange stablecoins back to fiat currency before settling with the card network;

• Lower collateral requirements (thanks to 24/7 settlement capability).

The following is an example process flow for a global card product that supports stablecoins:

Conclusion

Today, stablecoins are no longer a future promise that requires difficult imagination — they have become a practical technology with exponential growth in usage. The question now is not “whether” to adopt, but “when” and “how” to adopt. From banks to fintech companies to payment processors, formulating a stablecoin strategy has become a necessity.

Those companies that have moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage and have successfully integrated and deployed stablecoin solutions will far exceed their competitors in terms of cost savings, revenue enhancement, and market expansion. It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned actual benefits are supported by numerous existing integration partners and forthcoming legislative support, both of which will significantly reduce execution risks. Now is the best time to build stablecoin solutions.