How stablecoin settlement works
Settlement is the step where money actually changes hands, after payments have been authorised and totalled. A firm that owes a merchant, a partner or a liquidity provider sends the amount in a stablecoin to the other side's address, and both record the transfer against the obligation by its transaction hash.
The transfer can be made at any hour, weekends and bank holidays included, and is final once the network confirms it. Each side then holds the tokens, pays them onward, or converts them to money in a bank account through an exchange or an OTC desk.
Where stablecoin settlement is used
- Merchant payouts from a payment provider
- Supplier and payroll payments across borders, with conversion at each end
- Funding between a card programme and its partners
- Treasury transfers between a group's own entities
- Settlement between exchanges, OTC desks and market makers
What stablecoin settlement asks of a platform
The ledger records token, network and address alongside each amount, and reconciliation matches on-chain transfers to obligations. Treasury manages balances in tokens and in bank money, and the cost of converting between them.
The tokens carry issuer risk and can depeg, so firms set limits per issuer. In the EU, custody and transfers of crypto-assets on behalf of clients are services under MiCA, and transfers between providers carry Travel Rule data.
Stablecoin settlement or stablecoin payment?
- Stablecoin payment
- The payer pays in a stablecoin from a wallet. In settlement, the stablecoin replaces the bank transfer between firms, whatever the payer used.
- Bank settlement
- Runs through payment systems and correspondent banks, within their operating hours. A blockchain transfer has no recall procedure once confirmed.
Where Stablecoin settlement shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- PayoutsMoney out to bank accounts, cards and wallets, on the rail that fits each payment.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
- FXCurrency conversion with live rates, your margins and the liquidity provider you choose.
- Custody & walletsWallets on every major chain, with MPC custody from leading providers or your own keys.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- Stablecoin B2B payments: how paying suppliers abroad worksHow a stablecoin payment to a supplier abroad moves, from euros in to local currency out, what changes against correspondent banking, and the rules in the EU, the UK and the UAE.
- Stablecoin payments for EU merchants: MiCA, USDC and the Travel RuleWhat a stablecoin checkout for EU merchants needs: MiCA and payment licences, why USDC and not USDT, Travel Rule checks on self-hosted wallets, euro settlement and refunds.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.