The stablecoin market, valued at $300 billion, has evolved beyond its initial purpose of facilitating rapid global transactions. Today, companies are exploring the potential uses of these digital dollars. This shift is driving a new wave of adoption, as the industry transitions from basic infrastructure to practical business applications, according to Chunda McCain, co-founder of Paxos Labs.
In a recent interview with CoinDesk, McCain noted that the initial focus on establishing 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 such as PayPal's PYUSD and the Global Dollar (USDG), has raised $12 million in strategic funding to develop a 'financial utility stack.' This platform enables companies to integrate digital assets into their products through a single integration, using a suite of tools called Amplify. The Amplify Suite includes three core tools: Earn, which offers yield on digital assets; Borrow, which enables lending against them; and Mint, which supports branded stablecoin issuance.
By integrating these tools, businesses can layer on capabilities over time, turning costs into revenue streams. For years, enterprise crypto adoption has focused on 'first-touch' capabilities like trading, custody, or issuing a stablecoin. However, these initial steps rarely generated significant returns on their own, according to McCain. The true opportunity lies in how these assets are utilized.
Payments are a prime example, as merchants typically incur 2% to 3% in fees, while stablecoin rails can reduce these costs and even generate yield on balances held on-chain. This allows companies to transform what was once a cost into a revenue stream. Some of the more innovative use cases sit 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, while earning yield on incoming payments and settling instantly across borders.
While some companies, like PayPal, have launched branded tokens to control payments and margins, not every firm needs its own stablecoin. Issuing a token requires significant investment in liquidity, compliance, and distribution. Instead, many businesses can integrate existing stablecoins and still benefit from lower costs and added yield. 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 margins, unlock credit, and change how money moves globally, particularly in areas where traditional systems are costly or slow.