Yiwu merchants start accepting stablecoins! The small commodity city welcomes "new customers from the crypto world"
"Scan this code, you can pay with USDT or USDC!" Recently, in front of many cash registers in the Yiwu International Trade City in Zhejiang, a sign printed with a digital wallet address has quietly appeared. This market, known as the "global small commodity distribution center," is subtly experiencing a new change in payment methods—some merchants have begun to accept stablecoin payments, and the news immediately sparked heated discussions.
In a jewelry store in Area 3 of the trade city, Mr. Wang, the owner, showcased the digital wallet on his phone: "I just activated this feature last week, and it is mostly used by old customers engaged in foreign trade." He explained that previously, receiving foreign exchange would take 3-5 days, and there was a 1% handling fee. With stablecoin payments, the funds arrive in just a few minutes, and costs have decreased by nearly 80%. Currently, among the Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian clients he serves, 30% have proactively requested to pay with stablecoins.
The market management revealed that about 50 merchants are trying out stablecoin payments, primarily in industries with a high export ratio such as toys and small appliances. These merchants have completed cross-border settlement registration, and funds must be converted to RMB through a designated platform. One merchant calculated: with an average monthly export of 1 million yuan, using stablecoins could save nearly 8,000 yuan in handling fees, reducing the settlement time from 7 days to 2 hours.
However, ordinary consumers currently cannot use this service. Merchants indicated that it is only available to old customers with an annual transaction volume exceeding 500,000 yuan and must sign a risk disclosure agreement. Industry insiders analyze that Yiwu merchants' attempts are related to recent fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate, as some clients wish to avoid exchange rate risks through stablecoins.
Market regulatory authorities remind that stablecoin settlements must strictly adhere to foreign exchange management regulations to avoid crossing compliance boundaries. Whether this "small revolution" in payment methods can be expanded in Yiwu depends on subsequent regulatory details and actual usage effects. Netizens are discussing enthusiastically: "Yiwu truly dares to be the first, is this going to bring business into the crypto world?" #BTC #ETH #pi #PiJS
