Stablecoin Volume Surges as Thunes Expands Crypto Payment Rails

Thunes has announced the launch of a stablecoin-based settlement service targeting enterprise clients engaged in cross-border trade. The platform allows businesses to settle international invoices using USDC and USDT, with automatic fiat conversion at both ends of the transaction. Settlement occurs in under ten minutes, compared to the two to five days typical of traditional correspondent banking. The service addresses one of the most persistent pain points in international B2B payments: the pre-funding requirement. Traditional cross-border settlements require banks to maintain capital in destination markets through nostro-vostro account arrangements, tying up liquidity that could be deployed more productively. Stablecoin settlement eliminates this requirement entirely, using blockchain finality as the settlement mechanism and freeing billions in trapped working capital. Thunes's approach is notable for its regulatory-first design. Rather than operating in a gray area, the platform holds money transmitter licenses in all relevant jurisdictions and maintains full reserves backing its stablecoin operations. This compliance infrastructure has been critical in winning enterprise adoption, particularly among publicly traded companies that require auditable, regulatorily sound payment processes. The economics are compelling for high-volume corridors. A business processing ten million dollars monthly in cross-border payments could save between forty and sixty basis points per transaction, translating to hundreds of thousands in annual savings. The platform's built-in FX hedging tools further protect clients from currency volatility during the brief settlement window, addressing a common concern about crypto-based payment rails.