Stablecoins Enable Businesses to Convert Expenses into Revenue Streams, Says Paxos Labs Co-Founder

The stablecoin market, valued at $300 billion, initially emerged as a means to facilitate faster global transactions, but businesses are now exploring alternative uses for these digital assets. This shift is driving a new wave of adoption, with the industry transitioning from basic infrastructure development to practical business applications, according to Chunda McCain, co-founder of Paxos Labs. In a recent interview with CoinDesk, McCain stated that the initial focus on establishing stablecoins has given way to a new question: what's next? Paxos Labs recently secured $12 million in strategic funding, led by Blockchain Capital and participated in by Robot Ventures, Maelstrom, and Uniswap. The funding will be used to develop a 'financial utility stack' that enables companies to integrate digital assets into their products through a single integration. The Amplify Suite, launched by Paxos Labs, offers a bundle of three core tools: Earn, which provides yield on digital assets; Borrow, which facilitates lending against these assets; and Mint, which supports the issuance of branded stablecoins. This suite allows firms to integrate tokens into their business models and add capabilities over time. For years, enterprise crypto adoption has focused on 'first-touch' capabilities like trading, custody, or issuing stablecoins, but these steps have rarely generated significant returns on their own, according to McCain. He noted that stablecoins have historically been 'loss leaders' for companies. However, the true opportunity lies in how these assets are utilized. A clear example is in payments, where merchants typically incur fees of 2-3%, while stablecoin-based payment rails can reduce these costs and even generate yields on balances held on the blockchain. McCain explained that this allows companies to 'turn what has always been a cost into revenue.' Some of the more innovative use cases lie at the intersection of payments and credit. Payment providers already track merchant revenues and cash flow, positioning them to underwrite loans, McCain argued. This could enable merchants to access financing based on real-time performance, earn yields on incoming payments, and settle transactions instantly across borders. While these models are still in their early stages, the building blocks are starting to come together, he said. Not every company needs its own stablecoin to capture these benefits. While some firms, like PayPal, have launched branded tokens to control payments and margins, issuing a token requires significant investment in liquidity, compliance, and distribution. McCain noted that if a company only needs the economic benefits, it doesn't need to build its own token. Many firms can instead integrate existing stablecoins and still benefit from lower costs and added yields. This shift may lack the hype surrounding big firms launching their own tokens, but it has a tangible impact on how businesses operate. Stablecoins are starting to reshape profit margins, unlock credit, and change how money moves globally, particularly in areas where traditional systems are costly or slow. As McCain stated, 'it might sound boring, but this is the math.'