The stablecoin market, valued at $300 billion, has evolved from a means of facilitating rapid global transactions to a tool that businesses are now exploring for various use cases. This shift marks a new phase of adoption, driven by the transition from basic infrastructure to practical business applications, as noted by Chunda McCain, co-founder of Paxos Labs. McCain emphasized that the initial step of acquiring a stablecoin has given way to a new question: what can be done with it?
Recently, Paxos Labs secured $12 million in strategic funding, led by Blockchain Capital and participated in by Robot Ventures, Maelstrom, and Uniswap, to develop a 'financial utility stack' that enables companies to transform digital assets into products through a single integration. The newly launched Amplify Suite offers 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. The goal is to allow firms to integrate tokens into their business operations and gradually add capabilities over time. For years, the adoption of enterprise crypto has focused on 'first-touch' capabilities such as trading, custody, or issuing a stablecoin, which, although opening doors, rarely generated returns on their own.
According to McCain, stablecoins have long been 'loss leaders.' However, the opportunity lies in how these assets are utilized. Payments are a prime example, where merchants typically incur fees of 2% to 3%, while stablecoin rails can reduce these costs and even generate yields on balances held on-chain. This effectively turns a traditional cost into a revenue stream.
Some novel use cases emerge at the intersection of payments and credit, where payment providers can underwrite loans based on real-time merchant performance, allowing merchants to access financing while earning yields on incoming payments and settling instantly across borders. Although these models are still in their early stages, the building blocks are starting to come together. Not every company needs its own stablecoin to capture these benefits. While some companies, like PayPal, have launched branded tokens to control payments and margins, issuing a token requires significant investment in liquidity, compliance, and distribution.
According to McCain, firms that only need the economic benefits do not need to build their own tokens. Many companies can instead integrate existing stablecoins and still benefit from lower costs and added yields.
This shift may lack the hype surrounding big firms announcing their own tokens, but it has a tangible impact on business operations. Stablecoins are starting to reshape margins, unlock credit, and change how money moves globally, especially in areas where traditional systems are costly or slow. As McCain noted, 'It might sound boring, but this is the math.'