USDC and USDT Payments for Business: Payouts, Payroll, Treasury and Checkout
How businesses use USDC and USDT payments for supplier payouts, contractor payroll, treasury and checkout, plus how to accept USDC, accounting basics and risks.
Key takeaways
- Business-to-business flows are the largest real use of stablecoins, at about $226 billion a year by McKinsey's estimate.
- Processors such as Stripe and Shopify let merchants accept USDC and settle in local currency, while USDT is not on Stripe's accepted list.
- The main risks sit at the edges: off-ramp liquidity, wrong-network transfers, compliance duties and accounting treatment that is still being settled.
A furniture importer in Dubai owes a workshop in Jakarta $48,000, and the wire she sent on Monday is still somewhere between two correspondent banks on Thursday. That gap, measured in days and fees, is why business use of USDC and USDT has grown faster than any consumer use case.
Business is where the stablecoin volume is
Most stablecoin activity is still trading. When McKinsey tried to isolate genuine payments, it estimated about $390 billion a year based on December 2025 activity, and roughly 60% of that, about $226 billion, was business-to-business. That segment grew by more than 700% in 2025. Payroll and remittances added about $90 billion. The figures are small against global B2B flows, but the growth rate is why finance teams are asking questions.
The two tokens they ask about are the two that dominate supply. As of October 2026, USDT had about $184 billion in circulation and USDC about $73 billion, according to DefiLlama. Our comparison of USDT vs USDC covers reserves and issuers in detail. For a business, the practical difference is often about counterparties: USDT is widely used by traders and in many emerging markets, while USDC is the token most often supported by large US and European payment processors.
Four ways businesses use stablecoins
| Use | Typical flow | Why firms try it |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier payments | Buy USDC or USDT, send to supplier wallet or payout partner, supplier converts to local currency | Settlement in minutes, any day of the week |
| Contractor payroll | Platform pays freelancers in stablecoins, workers cash out locally or hold dollars | Reaches workers where bank wires are slow or costly |
| Treasury | Hold part of operating cash in dollar stablecoins across entities | Dollar access for firms outside the US, around-the-clock transfers |
| Accepting payments | Customer pays in stablecoin at checkout, merchant receives fiat or tokens | Lower card costs, global customers, no chargebacks |
For supplier and payroll flows, the stablecoin leg is usually the easy part. The hard parts are the edges: converting into USDC from a bank account, and converting out of it into rupees, pesos or naira on the other side. Many firms use a payout provider that handles both ends, so the supplier never sees a wallet at all. Our article on correspondent banking explains what the stablecoin leg replaces.
Take a design agency in London paying twelve freelancers across Lagos, Manila and Mexico City each month. With wires, it pays a fee per transfer, a foreign exchange margin, and often a receiving-bank charge, and some workers wait days. With a stablecoin payout provider, the agency funds one USDC balance and the provider sends each worker either tokens or local currency. The savings depend almost entirely on how good the local cash-out is in each country, which is why the same tool can be excellent in one corridor and pointless in another.
Network choice matters as well. The same token exists on several blockchains with different fees and confirmation times, and both sides must agree on which one to use before the first payment. Finance teams that write this into supplier onboarding avoid most of the early mistakes.
Source McKinsey and Artemis Analytics estimate of 2025 payment volume; Artemis 2026 year-to-date; Visa via The Block, September 2026.
How acceptance works in practice
Large processors have added stablecoins as a payment method, and the details matter.
- Stripe. According to Stripe's documentation, customers can pay in USDC on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base and Tempo, plus USDP and USDG for US merchants. Payments settle into the merchant's Stripe balance in local currency. Acceptance is available to US businesses, with a private preview in the EU, Hong Kong, Mexico and Switzerland. There is a $10,000 limit per customer transaction, refunds go back in stablecoins, and there are no chargebacks. Note that USDT is not on Stripe's accepted list.
- Shopify. In June 2025 Shopify announced USDC checkout on Base, built with Coinbase and Stripe. By default merchants receive local currency, with an option to take USDC into their own wallet.
- Card networks. Visa says stablecoin settlement with its partners has passed a $20 billion annual run rate. Here the merchant usually sees nothing different: a card is swiped, and the issuer settles with Visa in stablecoins behind the scenes.
Stripe has also offered stablecoin financial accounts in 101 countries, letting businesses hold balances in stablecoins and send them out. That is aimed at the treasury use case, particularly for firms outside the US that want dollar access.
The stablecoin leg is the fast part. The work lives at the two ends, where tokens meet bank accounts.
Accounting and tax basics
Accounting is catching up. In the US, the FASB proposed guidance in August 2026 with examples of when certain stablecoins can be treated as cash equivalents under existing definitions, with comments due by 19 November 2026. Until a final standard arrives, treatment can vary, so finance teams should agree an approach with auditors before holding meaningful balances.
Tax reporting is also tightening. US brokers report digital asset sales on the new Form 1099-DA, with gross proceeds reported for sales from 1 January 2025. Final IRS rules include a $10,000 annual de minimis threshold for qualifying stablecoin sales, above which brokers may report in aggregate, and a stablecoin that loses its peg during the year loses that status. Other countries have their own rules, and a business paying contractors in tokens still has payroll and withholding duties. A local adviser is worth the fee.
Risks finance teams should weigh
- Wrong network, lost funds. USDC on Solana and USDC on Ethereum are not interchangeable at the wallet level. A transfer sent on the wrong chain can be unrecoverable.
- Issuer and peg risk. Both major issuers can freeze addresses, and any stablecoin can trade below a dollar in stress.
- Off-ramp dependence. A supplier who cannot convert locally has been paid in an asset they cannot use. Check liquidity in the receiving country first.
- Compliance. Sanctions screening, know-your-customer checks and record keeping apply as they do to wires. In the EU, transfers of e-money tokens can count as payment services that need authorisation.
- Regulatory change. Rules under the GENIUS Act, MiCA and Gulf frameworks are still being implemented. Our guide to stablecoin rules under GENIUS and MiCA tracks the main ones.
A sensible way to start
Most businesses that adopt stablecoins begin small. A common pattern is to pick one painful corridor, often a supplier or contractor group in a country where wires take three days, and run a few months of payments through a licensed provider alongside the existing bank route. Compare total cost including conversion spreads, time to funds, and how many payments needed manual follow-up. If the numbers hold, expand. If the off-ramp on the receiving side is thin, the savings on the stablecoin leg will not matter. For where this is heading, see our look at stablecoin payments trends in 2026.
This article is general information about payment methods and does not endorse any provider. It is not legal, tax or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can a business accept USDC and receive dollars instead?
Yes. Processors such as Stripe and Shopify let customers pay in USDC while the merchant receives local currency by default, with Shopify also offering the option to take USDC directly.
Is USDT accepted by Stripe?
As of October 2026, Stripe's documentation lists USDC on several networks plus USDP and USDG for US merchants, but not USDT. Businesses that want USDT usually use a crypto payment processor or payout partner.
How are stablecoins treated in business accounts?
In the US, FASB proposed guidance in August 2026 on when certain stablecoins can be classed as cash equivalents, with comments due 19 November 2026. Until it is final, businesses should agree treatment with their auditors.
Sources and further reading
- McKinsey: Stablecoins in payments, what the raw numbers miss
- Stripe Docs: Stablecoin payments
- Shopify: Stablecoins on Shopify
- The Block: Visa stablecoin settlement tops $20 billion run rate
- Crowdfund Insider: FASB proposes guidance on stablecoins as cash equivalents
- BDO: IRS adopts final digital asset reporting rules
- DefiLlama: Stablecoins dashboard
This article is for general information and is not financial, legal or tax advice. Figures are as reported by the sources above at the time of writing.
