The stablecoin market, valued at $300 billion, has evolved from merely facilitating faster global transactions to a more complex question: how can businesses effectively utilize them? This shift marks a new phase of adoption, driven by the transition from basic infrastructure to practical business applications, as stated by Chunda McCain, co-founder of Paxos Labs.
In a recent interview with CoinDesk, McCain noted that the initial step of acquiring a stablecoin has given way to the question of what to do next. Following a strategic funding round of $12 million led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Robot Ventures, Maelstrom, and Uniswap, Paxos Labs is developing a 'financial utility stack' that enables companies to convert digital assets into products through a single integration.
The Amplify Suite, recently launched, combines three core tools: Earn, for generating yield on digital assets; Borrow, for lending against them; and Mint, for supporting the issuance of branded stablecoins. This suite allows firms to integrate tokens into their business and add capabilities over time.
McCain emphasized that for years, enterprise crypto adoption has focused on 'first-touch' capabilities like trading, custody, or issuing stablecoins, which, although essential, rarely generated returns on their own. Stablecoins have historically been loss leaders, but their value lies in how they are utilized. A prime example is payments, where merchants typically incur fees of 2% to 3%, while stablecoin transactions can reduce these costs and even generate yield on on-chain balances.
This transformation allows businesses to turn traditional costs into revenue streams. Innovative use cases emerge at the intersection of payments and credit. Since payment providers already track merchant revenues and cash flow, they can underwrite loans, enabling merchants to access financing based on real-time performance while earning yield on incoming payments and settling transactions instantly across borders. Although these models are in their early stages, the building blocks are starting to come together.
McCain pointed out that not every company needs to issue 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.
If a company only needs the economic benefits, it does not need to create its own token. Many firms can 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 business operations. Stablecoins are beginning to redefine profit margins, unlock credit, and change how money moves globally, particularly in areas where traditional systems are costly or slow.
As McCain noted, this development may seem unexciting, but it is based on mathematical realities.