Behind Yiwu's Stablecoin Trading of '1 Billion USD Flow'
At three o'clock in the morning in Yiwu International Trade City, a Pakistani businessman uses his phone to input a series of numbers, and $100,000 arrives instantly— the container truck arrives in Karachi three days later, and this transaction is a full week faster than traditional bank wire transfers. In Zone 5 of Yiwu International Trade City, Hassan, a buyer from the Middle East, raises his phone to scan the payment code at the stall. A payment of $30,000 is completed through USDT stablecoin for cross-border payment, the entire process takes less than two minutes. Meanwhile, at a neighboring stall, Sister Wang, who has been in the jewelry business for twenty years, shakes her head at the reporter and says: 'Stablecoin? I haven’t heard of it. We only accept RMB or USD.'
This is the most realistic portrayal of the Yiwu market in July 2025. On one side, brokerage research reports claim that 'the flow of on-chain stablecoins in the Yiwu market exceeds 10 billion USD,' while on the other side, 90% of merchants interviewed during a field visit to the 6.4 million square meter Yiwu International Trade City stated they do not accept, do not understand, and have not heard of stablecoins. After inquiring with dozens of merchants in areas such as bags, hardware, and toys, only one shop owner cautiously stated, 'We can accept it, but we don’t do small orders.' This acceptance rate clearly cannot support the market rumors of 'monthly flow of 1 billion USD.' $BTC
