[Exclusive] Corporate Stablecoin Payments Surge for Sales Settlements and Payroll

The Stablecoin Market Is Expanding

(Part 1) Stablecoin Payments Reach 540 Trillion Won

Service Fees Rank First at 75 Trillion Won

Some US Companies Even Pay Wages in Tether

To Expand Use in Treasury Management

Infrastructure Build-Out and Stability Are Urgent

Request Finance, a business payment platform, helps companies pay invoices from overseas business partners or freelancers in dollar-denominated stablecoins. According to the company, a staffing firm in Florida pays more than $100,000 a month in Tether to 80 to 100 freelancers in Latin America. Companies using global HR platform Deel also pay overseas developers, consultants and other contractors in dollar stablecoins.

As more companies seek faster and cheaper ways to move money across borders, stablecoin payments are spreading globally. Stablecoins are increasingly being used across business-to-business transactions, including supplier payments and merchant sales settlements. The market is no longer confined to emerging economies. The US and South Korea were both identified as countries that received substantial stablecoin payments.

Used for Service Fees and Other Payments

Global consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal found that more than half of estimated stablecoin payment volume from January through August this year went to businesses. That amounted to $230 billion to $340 billion.

Stablecoins have primarily been used as a means of trading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Because they are pegged to fiat currencies such as the dollar, they tend to show less price volatility and are convenient for buying and selling other crypto assets.

More recently, corporate fund transfers have emerged as a new use case. Business-to-business transfer volume from January through August this year was estimated at $137 billion to $153 billion. By category, service fees were the largest at $56 billion. They were followed by wages and compensation at $43 billion, remittances at $37 billion, service payments at $32 billion and supplier payments at $28 billion. Retail purchases by consumers totaled $19 billion, while payments that were difficult to classify by purpose came to $58 billion.

For companies, one of the main attractions of stablecoins is the ability to cut the time and cost of sending funds to counterparties. That advantage is particularly clear in cross-border transactions, where money can move faster than through conventional payment systems involving multiple financial institutions.

Beyond Emerging Markets to Developed Economies

Stablecoin payments were especially active in emerging markets. Based on payments for which the recipient country could be identified, Thailand ranked first at $10.8 billion. It was followed by Turkey at $7.8 billion, Indonesia at $6.3 billion and Mexico at $6.1 billion.

Stablecoin payments were also significant in high-income countries. The US accounted for $5.7 billion. South Korea was cited as one of the major markets, though a specific amount was not disclosed. Alvarez & Marsal said South Korea, along with Australia and Taiwan, was "close behind." That suggests stablecoin use is expanding beyond emerging-market demand for dollars driven by unstable local currencies or underdeveloped banking services.

Still, blockchain transactions have limits because it is difficult to determine which country a receiving wallet belongs to. As a result, payments for which the recipient country could be confirmed accounted for only 13.5% of total estimated payment volume. The share for which both the sending and receiving countries were identified was just 3.4%.

Companies still face hurdles to wider adoption. Even if stablecoins can be sent quickly, the advantages diminish if converting them into local currency and depositing the proceeds into a bank account takes time and incurs fees. Trading partners also need to be willing to accept stablecoins, and companies must be able to process inflows and outflows through their accounting systems.

Kim Min-seung, head of research at Digital X, said that broader infrastructure for exchanging stablecoins and fiat currency, along with reliable redemption stability, could increase their usefulness in corporate treasury management. As country-specific regulations and anti-money laundering standards become clearer, their use is likely to expand further.

Cho Mi-hyun, Hankyung reporter mwise@hankyung.com