Stablecoins: The Potential Engine for Growth in Global SME Trade

The global movement of money is undergoing a profound evolution: friction in cross-border payments has traditionally been a significant barrier to international growth for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Today, though, stablecoins are offering the potential for cross-border trade to supercharge growing businesses, rather than hold them back. 

By current industry consensus, the most promising crypto variant for commerce is the single-currency denominated stablecoin, pegged to a robust fiat currency and backed by safe, short-term fiat assets like bank deposits and government securities. 

This ‘grown-up’ profile is just one reason why stablecoins are rapidly transitioning from fringe crypto asset to a critical component of mainstream financial infrastructure, both regulated and accessible.

It’s a shift driven by their unique capability to combine the stability of traditional fiat currency with the programmability, speed and open access of digital assets. 

Consider a tech company in an emerging market invoicing in US dollars. The payment challenge is severe: traditional systems impose delays and FX volatility when converting to the local currency needed to pay employees, or when converting back to dollars to pay international suppliers (such as for cloud services).

Stablecoins offer the potential to facilitate these inbound and outbound payments instantly and transparently, optimising the business’s working capital cycles and offering a bridge between the local market and the rest of the world.

It’s a thought-provoking prospect, both for SMEs themselves and those fintechs able to add a new payment capability to their offerings.

In this blog, we’ll look at:

• The dual advantage: stability meets efficiency
• Recognising that plumbing is not a priority for SMEs
• Embracing the interoperability imperative
• Driving trust through standards and regulation

The dual advantage: stability meets efficiency

A robust, regulated stablecoin could offer the reliable value preservation that businesses demand, while enabling the operational advantages that Bitcoin and other volatile crypto assets cannot.

Initially, stablecoins served a niche function, almost exclusively limited to facilitating entry and exit from the crypto market. However, their real-world commercial utility has now come to the fore. Leading payment providers are increasingly integrating stablecoins into their product offerings to facilitate crucial commercial flows:

• Global payouts for gig workers: Stablecoins offer an accessible and timely solution for workers in markets with underdeveloped international banking links. Moreover, for global gig workers whose domestic currency is highly volatile, they offer the chance to secure reliable value preservation on every paycheck.

• Cross-border e-commerce: They enable faster, 24/7 settlement for businesses engaged in international online trade.

• Trade payments: Importers and exporters, particularly in developing economies, are leveraging stablecoins as a direct, efficient means of payment for goods and services.

Beyond basic payments, the programmability of stablecoins opens vast potential for innovation in areas like supply chain finance, where payment logic can be embedded directly into business contracts. This is a crucial step towards fully automated, transparent global commerce.

So what steps need to follow for stablecoins to take an established seat at the table for businesses engaging in global trade?

1: Recognise that plumbing is not a priority for SMEs

For the huge numbers of global SMEs to benefit from access to stablecoin payments, the payment industry must recognise a key principle: these users do not need to know about the underlying technology. They care solely about the outcomes.

For a small business to adopt any new payment rail, it must deliver a measurable improvement on three core pillars:

• Speed: Near-instant, 24/7 settlement capabilities, drastically improving liquidity management.

• Predictability: Transparent foreign exchange (FX) rates and clear fee structures, eliminating the unexpected charges that erode profit margins.

• Reach: Guaranteed access to the global financial network, regardless of the limitations of their local correspondent banking relationships.

The challenge for the payments ecosystem, therefore, is to make the stablecoin infrastructure layer as invisible and streamlined as possible.

SMEs, often time and resource poor, cannot be expected to manage private keys, choose blockchains, or navigate complex regulatory grey areas. They simply need funds to arrive immediately in their local wallet or bank account.

2: Embrace the interoperability imperative

For global payment platforms to fully leverage stablecoins, the focus must shift entirely to interoperability. The current system suffers from fragmentation, where various assets, chains, and payment methods exist in silos.

As a global payment network, Thunes views stablecoins as an opportunity to build a more resilient and efficient system by connecting these disparate parts. This involves:

• Creating seamless on and off-ramps: Digital assets must be easily convertible from and into local fiat currencies, and connected to local instant payment systems (like mobile wallets or bank accounts).

• Reducing fragmentation: Building clearing and settlement services that move away from complex bilateral relationships towards robust, many-to-many networks.

• Optimising liquidity: Utilising stablecoins as a 24/7 liquidity management tool for payment processors themselves, ensuring that real-time payment demands can be met globally, even during bank holidays or outside of traditional banking hours.

3: Drive trust through standards and regulation

To ensure stablecoins deliver on their promise, the industry must proactively address two key challenges: regulatory uncertainty and consumer protection.

• Regulatory alignment: Emerging frameworks worldwide need to be balanced and proportionate. Regulators must gain clarity on cross-border capital controls and develop common risk standards to safeguard consumers and businesses, particularly against the risks of poorly backed or algorithmic stablecoins.

• Building a common language: Industry agreement on a common taxonomy, technical definitions, and protocols for redemption, messaging and settlement would provide standardisation, similar to existing frameworks like ISO 20022, and support stability and scaling.

Responsible innovation in any payment rail means ensuring that the technology complies with all necessary AML and reporting requirements. Stablecoin rollouts must succeed by solving fundamental frictions and offering a superior service, not by exploiting regulatory arbitrage.

The next wave of growth in global trade will be powered by technologies that eliminate complexity.

By focusing on interoperability, standardisation, and responsible development, the payments ecosystem can ensure that stablecoins become the invisible engine that reliably delivers speed, predictability, and global reach to every ambitious SME.

Curious about how stablecoins can transform your business or your offer for SMEs? Contact us to find out more.