Stablecoins, as a special form of cryptocurrency, are different from highly volatile crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. They significantly reduce price volatility risks by pegging to fiat currencies. This characteristic allows stablecoins to gradually expand from being a 'within-circle payment tool' in the crypto industry to broader commercial and consumer scenarios.
In recent years, with the increase in global acceptance of digital payments, especially driven by hot topics such as DeFi and NFTs, ordinary users' acceptance of crypto wallets and stablecoins has rapidly increased. Mainstream stablecoins, including USDT and USDC, are increasingly used in e-commerce, subscriptions, gig payments, international remittances, and other scenarios.
Compared to C-end payments, B2B enterprises are more eager for low-cost, high-efficiency global payment solutions. Due to their characteristics of instant settlement, low costs, and transparent traceability, stablecoins are gradually becoming a new choice for inter-enterprise settlements. According to the report (Stablecoin Payments from the Ground Up) released by crypto risk analysis company Artemis and crypto investment firms Dragonfly and Castle Island Ventures, the scale of B2B stablecoin payments surged from $10 million in January 2023 to $300 million in February 2025.
The Rise of Stablecoins: From Crypto Niche to Core of Future Finance;
In recent years, the stablecoin market has experienced explosive growth. According to the report (Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story) jointly released by Castle Island Ventures and Brevan Howard, the global circulation of stablecoins soared from less than $1 billion in 2017 to over $160 billion in 2024. In 2023 alone, the settlement amount of stablecoins reached a staggering $3.7 trillion, with $2.62 trillion already reached in the first half of 2024 (annualized $5.28 trillion). These figures indicate that stablecoins are no longer just tools for cryptocurrency transactions but have become an important medium for global value exchange.
This has also compelled major global market regulators to take clear regulatory stances on stablecoins. On May 21, 2025, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong officially passed the (Stablecoin Ordinance Draft), establishing a licensing system for fiat stablecoins; on July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three crypto-related legislations (CLARITY Act), (GENIUS Act), and (Anti-CBDC Monitoring National Act). These regulatory advances send a clear signal that stablecoins are moving out of the gray area and into the edge of the mainstream financial system.
In this trend, traditional financial giants are accelerating their embrace of stablecoin technology, with Visa and Mastercard also launching settlement functions integrated with stablecoins. This will further promote the application of stablecoins in the B2B payment sector, providing companies with more efficient and lower-cost payment solutions.
B2B Scenario Implementation: New solutions brought by stablecoins;
Compared to traditional bank wire transfers, stablecoins show significant advantages in the B2B payment sector.
First, in terms of speed, traditional cross-border payments typically take 1-5 working days to complete settlements, while stablecoin transactions on the blockchain can achieve near real-time clearing, significantly shortening the fund turnover cycle for companies. Secondly, in terms of cost, traditional cross-border payments involve multiple intermediary banks, each of which charges fees, with total costs reaching 3-5% of the transaction amount, while stablecoin transaction fees are usually below 0.1%. In addition, the blockchain-based characteristics of stablecoins also bring high transparency, strong programmability, and year-round availability, advantages that traditional financial institution systems find hard to match.
(According to a16z's (State of Crypto Report 2024), the average cost of international wire transfers is $44, while the average cost of sending USDC on Coinbase's popular L2 network Base is less than 1 cent.)
With the gradual improvement of Web3 financial infrastructure and risk control compliance capabilities, stablecoins are rapidly penetrating the B2B payment sector and entering the actual business implementation stage, especially in regions like Latin America and Southeast Asia, where currency value fluctuations are significant. Many companies have begun to use stablecoins for cross-border payments, salary disbursement, procurement settlement, etc., thereby optimizing payment processes, reducing operational costs, and improving fund efficiency.
Case 1: Cross-border trade settlement, taking Latin America's import and export business as an example;
In traditional cross-border trade, especially transactions involving emerging market countries, payment processes are often lengthy and complex. For example, if Colombia imports medical equipment from the United States, the Colombian importer needs to buy US dollars from a local bank, which often faces strict foreign exchange controls and limits; then remit through the SWIFT network, going through multiple intermediary banks, with each service provider charging fees and requiring a certain processing time; ultimately, the American exporter receives the payment 2-3 working days later, but the amount has decreased due to various intermediary fees.
Payments through stablecoins provide a disruptive experience for this process, as importers can exchange stablecoins like USDC through compliant Web3 payment institutions and directly transfer them to the crypto wallet of American exporters, reaching them almost in real-time, with costs less than one-tenth of traditional methods.
Case 2: International salary payments, stablecoin salary solutions for global enterprises;
For companies with global teams, traditional salary payments also face numerous challenges: high remittance fees, exchange rate losses, long processing times, and the issue of low bank account penetration in some countries. Especially in countries like Nigeria, regular bank accounts cannot receive international currency transfers, forcing companies to seek alternatives.
For the scenario of international salary payments, stablecoins also provide efficient solutions. Companies can use stablecoins like USDT to pay employee salaries distributed across multiple countries, and employees can exchange them for fiat currency through professional compliance service providers or directly use stablecoins for consumption. Compared to traditional international wire transfers, this solution has significant advantages: first, costs are greatly reduced, especially for small payments, with fees dropping from a fixed amount of tens of dollars to about 0.5%; second, the speed of receipt is fast, with employees able to receive their salaries within minutes; third, there is strong financial inclusivity, as employees without bank accounts can also receive salaries through crypto digital wallets. In countries with strict foreign exchange controls, such as those in Latin America, stablecoins have become a practical solution for companies to pay international employees and outsourced teams. According to the report (Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story), 25% of respondents have received or paid wages through stablecoins, with this figure reaching 37% in India.
A comprehensive analysis of the above cases indicates that the advantages of stablecoins in the B2B field can be summarized as follows:
Settlement Efficiency: Transactions are completed in real-time or within minutes, significantly shortening the fund turnover cycle;
Cost Structure: Eliminating intermediary banking, reducing costs to 1/10 or even lower than traditional methods;
Global Reach: Breaking the limitations of traditional bank accounts, especially suitable for regions with weak banking infrastructure;
Transparency: All transaction records are traceable on the blockchain, making audit tracking convenient;
However, companies adopting stablecoin payments also need to consider implementation thresholds, including the cryptocurrency acceptance of transaction counterparts, compliance and risk control, price volatility risks (despite stablecoins being designed to maintain their peg), and technical operational complexity. Collaborating with professional crypto payment service providers rather than directly engaging in cryptocurrency operations is a more prudent choice for most companies. For example, the innovative financial company Interlace, linking Web3 and Web2, offers products and solutions including global accounts, Infinity Card, CryptoConnect, CaaS API, etc., providing fiat and stablecoin payment, settlement, and fund management solutions for Web3 institutions, crypto exchanges, cross-border e-commerce, B2B trade, and other enterprises and transaction scenarios, covering over 180 countries and regions.
Regulation and Compliance: Key thresholds and response strategies for companies adopting stablecoins;
Although stablecoins have brought significant efficiency improvements to B2B payments, companies still need to cautiously address various compliance risks and operational challenges during actual adoption. The primary compliance risk stems from regulatory uncertainty—different jurisdictions have vastly different legal definitions for stablecoins: some U.S. states regulate stablecoins as money transmission tools, the EU defines them as 'e-money tokens' through MiCA, while some countries completely prohibit trading in stablecoins. This fragmented regulatory environment requires companies to conduct comprehensive compliance assessments before using stablecoins cross-border.
Additionally, anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC/KYB requirements are another major compliance challenge faced by companies. For instance, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has included virtual asset service providers (VASP) in its international standards, requiring the implementation of AML/CFT controls on cryptocurrency transactions similar to those in traditional finance. This means that if companies directly use stablecoins for large B2B payments, they may need to assume corresponding customer due diligence and transaction monitoring responsibilities.
To address these challenges, companies can consider adopting the following compliance strategies:
Collaborate with regulated stablecoin issuers (like Circle's USDC) and trading platforms to ensure the compliance of underlying assets;
Introducing licensed virtual asset service providers as compliance nodes in the transaction chain, with them assuming AML/KYC responsibilities;
Establish a dedicated blockchain transaction monitoring system, or procure professional services such as Chainalysis to ensure traceability;
Web3 financial companies like Interlace are helping enterprises meet this compliance requirement. Interlace integrates multiple protections such as smart risk control, compliance review, and user identity verification when designing products and solutions, enabling KYC, KYB verification, and AML monitoring. Notably, for on-chain anti-money laundering, Interlace has also built KYT (Know Your Address) and KYA (Know Your Transaction) solutions—risk rating on-chain addresses through a large data tagging library and real-time control of high-risk transactions. Simultaneously, it continuously monitors crypto addresses and conducts regular retrospective screenings and address rotations to ensure platform and fund safety.
Currently, Interlace has obtained licenses and qualifications from multiple jurisdictions, such as TCSP in Hong Kong, VASP in Lithuania, MSB in the United States, etc., complying with the highest security certification PCI-DSS Level 1 in the international card payment industry, meaning companies can focus on business development with the support of Interlace's compliance and risk control resources.
Future Outlook: A New Landscape of Enterprise Payments Driven by Stablecoins;
According to the report (Stablecoin Payments from the Ground Up), data analysis of 31 stablecoin payment companies shows that from January 2023 to February 2025, these companies completed over $94.2 billion in daily payment transactions. Among them, B2B payments are the primary usage scenario, with an annualized transaction scale reaching $36 billion, reflecting the practical application value of stablecoins in cross-border settlement, fund management, and supply chain payments in corporate business. Additionally, stablecoin payments linked to bank cards are also showing rapid growth, with annualized transaction amounts exceeding $13.2 billion. With the stabilization of regulatory frameworks and advancements in blockchain technology, it is expected that by 2030, companies adopting crypto payments will account for 40% of the total number of enterprises.
In the long term, stablecoins and related blockchain technologies will profoundly reshape enterprise payments and asset management. The flow of funds will shift from relying on traditional financial institutions to real-time liquidity; payments, settlements, and clearances will merge into a single step; companies' cash flow visibility and control will significantly improve. These changes collectively point to a more efficient and inclusive global enterprise payment system.
In today's irreversible wave of blockchain, enterprises that proactively lay out stablecoin payment capabilities will gain significant competitive advantages—faster fund turnover, lower transaction costs, and better customer experiences. Stablecoins represent not only an iteration of payment technology but also a significant upgrade to global financial infrastructure.
