Stablecoins are shifting from experiment to infrastructure. In 2025, the two largest tokens reached a combined $260 billioncombined $260 billion in market capitalization—a signal that always‑on money is becoming business‑ready.

Under the hood, reserves are scaling too: as of March 2025, issuer assets under management exceeded $200 billionexceeded $200 billion, and in 2024 they purchased $40 billion$40 billion of U.S. Treasury bills—deepening links between on‑chain liquidity and safe assets.

Why it matters: commerce runs nonstop across time zones, but finance still bumps into cutoffs, holidays, and cross‑border friction that stall working capital. When cash can’t move, deals wait, payrolls pause, and supply chains slow.

Stablecoin treasuries flip that script. They let teams hold dollar‑denominated liquidity that can move at internet speed, with mainstream networks now enabling 7-day settlement windows7-day settlement windows for USDC—unlocking faster funds movement and operational resilience across weekends and holidays. The result is a treasury that can send, receive, and rebalance whenever business actually happens.

In this article, we’ll show how stablecoins are replacing traditional business banking hours—and how to design an always‑on treasury that keeps your company operating 24/7.

Beyond Banking Hours: Why Stablecoin Treasuries Win

Legacy rails still shut off when your business is busiest. Fedwire stops at 7:00 p.m. ET7:00 p.m. ET and ACH does not settle on weekends and holidaysweekends and holidays, so cash often sits idle when teams need it most.

Stablecoin treasuries replace those cutoffs with continuous access to funds. Visa now lets partner banks and fintechs settle in USDC, bringing 7-day availability7-day availability and faster funds movement across weekends and holidays. That means payouts do not queue for the next business day, and treasury can match money movement to real operating timelines.

In practice, teams keep an operational balance in USDC and move it to vendors, exchanges, or payroll wallets as approvals clear. USDC is Available 24/7Available 24/7 with near‑instant settlement at low cost, including nights and weekends, so finance can execute at any hour without wire cutoffs or rush fees. The result is fewer delays, fewer exceptions, and fewer manual workarounds.

Cross‑border magnifies the advantage. The IMF underscores that stablecoin users transact across borders 24/7 at low cost24/7 at low cost, turning weekend supplier payments, contractor disbursements, and urgent reimbursements into routine workflows.

A stablecoin treasury aligns cash movement to when business actually happens, not when banks are open.

Key Takeaways:

Building an Always-On Treasury: Wallets, Settlement, Yield

An always-on treasury starts with programmable dollars you can move anytime: USDC is Redeemable 1:1Redeemable 1:1 for dollars and provides 24/7 liquidity24/7 liquidity for near‑instant, low‑cost payments. Tokenized cash management has gone mainstream too—BlackRock’s on‑chain fund BUIDL has reached $1B AUM$1B AUM.

Design your always-on treasury as a layered system: wallets and controls for custody, settlement playbooks to move money on demand, and yield sleeves that keep idle cash productive without sacrificing access. For the yield layer, BUIDL delivers institutional features like daily dividends and around‑the‑clock transfers, while Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund is represented by the BENJI tokenBENJI token and supports USDC conversions, offering price stability characteristics of a stablecoin while accruing yield.

To implement, segment wallets by purpose: an operational wallet for payables and payroll, and a reserve wallet for near-term runway. Pre‑fund operations in USDC so payouts can execute the moment approvals clear, relying on its always‑on settlementalways‑on settlement to avoid cutoff windows and weekend delays. Automate periodic sweeps that return excess operating balances to your yield sleeve, and log every move for finance and audit.

Operational nuance: establish a liquidity ladder that defines how much sits in hot wallets versus yield positions, plus the conditions that trigger instant redemptions back into USDC. If you use tokenized funds, document custodial pathways and signer authority, and confirm settlement expectations so treasury can rebalance during nights and weekends without waiting on a bank.

Aligning wallets, settlement rules, and yield sleeves gives you cash that is usable whenever business happens—and still earns while it waits.

Key Takeaways:

  • USDC is the backbone for always-on money movement, pairing predictable redemption with programmable settlement.
  • Segment wallets for operations and reserves, then automate sweeps so idle balances flow into yield without compromising access.
  • Tokenized funds like BUIDL and Franklin’s vehicle help treasuries earn while preserving rapid convertibility back to USDC for payments.

Mainstream Partners Bringing Stablecoin Banking to Businesses

Two headlines turned stablecoins into a business feature, not a side project. In December 2025December 2025, Visa let U.S. issuer and acquirer partners settle directly in USDC, while in June 2025June 2025 Shopify opened early access for merchants to accept USDC on Base using their existing checkout.

Why this matters: when incumbent networks add stablecoin rails, businesses can tap faster settlement and global reach without ripping out their stack. Worldpay now enables stablecoin payouts that are nearly instantnearly instant, and even abstracts token handling so teams don’t need to custody coins to benefit.

Consumer-facing flows are moving too, which supports contractors and cross-border recipients. PayPal’s Xoom lets U.S. users fund transfers with PYUSD and charges no transaction feesno transaction fees on eligible PYUSD-funded payouts, making on-chain dollars practical at the last mile.

In practice, CFOs can route settlement via Visa for card flows, toggle USDC acceptance in Shopify without new gateways, and use Worldpay for disbursements—even if they prefer to keep treasury balances in fiat. The net effect is incremental adoption through familiar partners, not a wholesale system overhaul.

The outcome: stablecoin banking arrives inside the networks you already use, so your business can switch on faster settlement and global reach with minimal operational lift.

Key Takeaways:

  • Visa brought USDC directly into card settlement in December 2025, signaling mainstream support for on-chain dollars.
  • Shopify’s June 2025 launch lets merchants accept USDC within existing checkout flows.
  • Worldpay enables nearly instant stablecoin payouts, while Xoom offers PYUSD-funded transfers with no transaction fees on eligible transactions.

Implementation Plan and Regulatory Readiness for Stablecoins

Compliance is now a buildable spec for your treasury. In the EU, draft standards propose minimum reserve percentages maturing within 1–5 working days1–5 working days, while in New York, USD stablecoins must be fully backed and redeemable at a 1:1 exchange rate1:1 exchange rate.

Start with redemption and liquidity. If you operate in the EU with asset‑referenced tokens, MiCA gives holders a right of redemptionright of redemption at all times and sets how issuers must redeem (in funds equivalent to the referenced assets’ market value). Map those obligations into vendor contracts, internal SLAs, and playbooks so convertibility is predictable in normal and stressed conditions.

Then operationalize. Run issuer due diligence against NYDFS-style tests (full backing and par redemption), design a liquidity ladder tuned to short‑maturity reserves, and test end‑to‑end redemptions under time pressure. Build AML by design: enforce counterparty KYC, capture originator/beneficiary data, and implement the U.S. 31 CFR 1010.410(f)31 CFR 1010.410(f) Travel Rule across custodial and VASP channels.

Nuance matters for risk. The EU framework also emphasizes minimum creditworthiness and liquidity soundness of credit institutions holding reserves; codify concentration limits, counterparty standards, and escalation paths if reserve partners fall below policy thresholds.

The result is a stablecoin treasury that moves at internet speed without sacrificing the redemption, liquidity, and AML controls auditors and regulators expect.

Key Takeaways:

  • Treat redemption and liquidity as core design inputs; align SLAs and runbooks to MiCA’s redemption framework and NYDFS-style par convertibility.
  • Build a liquidity ladder with short-maturity reserve targets and verify issuer practices through rigorous due diligence and periodic testing.
  • Embed AML from day one: KYC counterparties, exchange required sender/receiver data, and implement Travel Rule processes across all on-chain channels.

Make Always‑On Payroll Real with Bitwage

Stablecoins make money programmable; Bitwage makes that power practical. Turn USDC liquidity into compliant, same‑day stablecoin payroll for employees and contractors worldwide—without rebuilding your stack. With over $400M processed for 90,000+ workers at 4,500+ companies across nearly 200 countries, Bitwage pairs always‑on settlement with clear controls and audit‑ready reporting so weekends and holidays no longer hold up pay.

Ready to align payouts with how your business actually operates? Launch a pilot in minutes, fund from your stablecoin treasury or bank account, and deliver predictable, cross‑border payroll your team can trust. Signup for Crypto Payroll today! Put your stablecoin strategy to work where it matters most—paying your people on time, every time.