How Stablecoins Can Transform Business Expenses into Revenue Streams

The stablecoin market, now valued at $300 billion, initially emerged as a means to facilitate faster global transactions, but companies are now exploring more practical applications for these digital assets. This shift is driving a new wave of adoption, as the industry transitions from basic infrastructure to tangible business use cases, according to Chunda McCain, co-founder of Paxos Labs. In a recent interview with CoinDesk, McCain emphasized that the initial step of obtaining a stablecoin has given way to a new question: what's next? Paxos Labs, a subsidiary of Paxos, the New York-based digital asset firm behind popular stablecoins like PayPal's PYUSD and the Global Dollar, recently secured $12 million in strategic funding. The investment, led by Blockchain Capital, will be used to develop a 'financial utility stack' that enables companies to integrate digital assets into their products via a single integration. The newly launched Amplify Suite offers three primary tools: Earn, which provides yield on digital assets; Borrow, which facilitates lending against these assets; and Mint, which supports the creation of branded stablecoins. This suite allows companies to integrate tokens into their business and build upon this foundation over time. McCain noted that for years, enterprise crypto adoption has focused on basic capabilities like trading, custody, or issuing stablecoins, which, although necessary, rarely generated significant returns on their own. The true potential of stablecoins lies in their application. For instance, traditional payment systems often incur fees of 2% to 3%, while stablecoin-based systems can minimize these costs and even generate yield on held balances. As McCain pointed out, 'You turn what has always been a cost into revenue.' Some of the more innovative use cases are emerging at the intersection of payments and credit. Payment providers, which already track merchant revenues and cash flow, are well-positioned to underwrite loans, McCain argued. This could enable merchants to access financing based on real-time performance, earn yield on incoming payments, and settle transactions instantly across borders. Although these models are still in their early stages, the necessary building blocks are beginning to fall into place. McCain emphasized that not every company needs to issue its own stablecoin to capitalize on these benefits. While some companies, like PayPal, have launched branded tokens to control payments and margins, creating a stablecoin requires significant investment in liquidity, compliance, and distribution. Instead, many firms can integrate existing stablecoins and still benefit from reduced costs and increased yield. This shift may not be as attention-grabbing as when large companies like Western Union announce their own token, but it has a tangible impact on business operations. Stablecoins are starting to redefine profit margins, unlock credit, and transform the global movement of money, particularly in areas where traditional systems are costly or inefficient. As McCain noted, 'It might sound boring, but this is the math.'