International wires have long been the default for B2B payments—an entrenched system that works, but few would describe as optimal, given multi-day settlement timelines and high fees. But as stablecoins gain traction in cross-border transactions, businesses are starting to ask a more fundamental question: Can we replace wires altogether?
In a PaymentsJournal Podcast, Avinash Chidambaram, Founder and CEO of Cybrid, and James Wester, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed what would need to happen for stablecoins to become the default mechanism for B2B payments. What’s exciting as well is the possibility of even more use cases across payments, treasury, and remittance. “There are all sorts of things you can do better that you don’t consider to be a problem,” Wester said. “But maybe with new technology, we can do things that you didn’t even know were possible.”
Structural Inefficiency
Wires work well enough—they move money from sender to recipient, which meets the core need. What most enterprises don’t see, though, is the complex web of systems and intermediaries behind these transactions; they simply build their processes around bank-based payments.
Over time, layers of intermediaries have made these systems deeply entrenched and difficult to replace. In the past, this made sense. Moving money across borders and oceans was a treacherous game, and paying a little extra for trust and security was a value-add rather than a painful cost. Now, however, times (and money movement) have changed. Organizations have access to tools that enable simpler, more streamlined alternatives with built-in trust.
“The inefficiency isn’t just technological, it’s structural,” said Chidambaram. “Whether it’s correspondent banks, clearing houses, processors, [or] compliance, these experiences that are happening in the background between banks cost both complexity and time, and are hugely inefficient.”
Looking for Improvement in B2B
Alongside new technology came new expectations of transparency; companies want to track their payment from the second it leaves their account to the moment it lands in a recipient account. However, this is simply not possible with wire transfers. Stablecoins, on the other hand, offer complete traceability—and enterprises are taking note. They can verify, often in near real time, that funds have been received. This visibility is driving growing interest as businesses see clear operational benefits.
“Most enterprises are focused on their core business and then they say, ‘OK, well, can I improve some of my operations and finance as a separate thing?’” said Chidambaram. “Now a customer can go into our platform and say I want to make a payment to this invoice and upload that invoice. We can automatically pull the funds from a customer’s account to fund the payment transaction, convert that to stablecoins automatically and then send stablecoin to the recipient’s wallet.”
“That can improve B2B payments from two contexts,” he continued. “First, it’s just faster. Secondly, you can see that it’s settled—that [your recipient] actually received the funds.”
Improving the User Experience
For the longest time, a major barrier to broader digital asset adoption, including stablecoins, has been poor user experience—complex interfaces and high stakes for errors.
Firms like Cybrid are beginning to address these challenges across retail, commercial, and enterprise payments. The experience now goes beyond accessing a wallet to include greater visibility into transaction status and fees.
The secret sauce is in programmability. Stablecoins by nature can be programmed—a payments team member can set up rules or triggers, which then guide how payments operate. For instance, payment terms. For instance, if you have to pay a supplier every month, you can create a programmable rule that ensures money lands on time, avoiding late fees or penalties and ensuring business continuity. But the use cases go beyond pre-determined rules and can become dynamic as well.“We’re starting to see people adopting ERP tools that have intelligence built into them,” said Chidambaram, “Where they can say, ‘Hey, your inventory is running low. Or you need to make these payments. Here are all the payables that you have.’ And over time, we’re finding that people are actually wanting to wait as late as possible to make those payments.”
Keeping Existing Workflows
Accounts payables and receivable teams already operate within established workflows in fiat currencies like the US dollar or Euro—for payroll, invoicing, and more—and are unlikely to overhaul them entirely. The good news, though, is that stablecoins operate in the background. When you make a payment, the recipient receives their local currency automatically (or stablecoins if they choose, but it’s not required). All the while, the business sending those payments benefits from speed, cost efficiency, and transparency.
“You’re going to have an organization that says: ‘This is how I do payroll for my local employees, but I need to do this other thing for my contractors overseas and this other thing for my suppliers,’” said Chidambaram. “Some of them might have taken only wires then, but are now accepting stablecoins. They have the ability to pick which rail makes the most sense to solve the problem.”
These benefits are especially relevant given the growing complexity of payroll, including irregular schedules and cross-border payments. Stablecoins could play a key role here. For example, enabling early wage access models that allow workers or suppliers to receive funds ahead of traditional pay cycles.
“You get paid every two weeks because, in our brains, that’s how you get paid,” said Wester. “That goes back to direct deposit, which goes back to you had to have a check, and that goes back to all sorts of things that go into the processes. Same thing with AR/AP and so many of our payment processes at the corporate level. Now we can rethink a lot of those things.”
Something Better
For the foreseeable future, stablecoins will coexist with traditional payment rails. Both are necessary to support the trillions of dollars moving through global systems today. But as enterprises, suppliers, and payers grow more comfortable, a larger share of that volume is likely to shift toward stablecoins.
“Many people think digital assets and stablecoins are a solution in search of a problem,” Wester said. “I’ll say, well, you know, what you’re doing now is slow, costly, and inefficient, with layers that you can’t see. You don’t think of this as a problem, but maybe that’s because you didn’t know there was anything better.”
A key remaining hurdle is integration. Stablecoin payments are not yet embedded in most enterprise software platforms, where traditional methods like wires are still the default. But as vendors evolve and enable easier integration, stablecoins will become more accessible—unlocking even broader use cases.
“Banks, PSPS, enterprises, large and small, every one of them have been thinking about stablecoins,” said Chidambaram. “How do I go in my take advantage of this? What are the capabilities I need? Then that starts to unlock people’s minds: What else can I solve with this new payment rail?”