News linked to both this project and an event.
SoFi has launched a US dollar-backed stablecoin, SoFiUSD, on Ethereum and Solana, becoming the first U.S. national bank to directly offer a stablecoin to retail customers on a public blockchain. Nearly 15 million SoFi members can now buy, sell, hold, and exchange SoFiUSD within the app, with each token redeemable 1:1 for US dollars via SoFi Bank. SoFi stated that it plans to use SoFiUSD for traditional financial scenarios such as cross-border payments and B2B transactions, and intends to launch features including interest-bearing tokenized deposits, FDIC-insured accounts, and 24/7 cross-border transfers. (CoinDesk)
Dynamic, a wallet infrastructure company, has integrated Aleo, enabling developers to build payment applications that support private transactions and enterprise-grade security. Itai, co-founder of Dynamic, stated that real-world payment scenarios have a rigid demand for privacy: users typically do not publicly disclose their salary information and should not be required by default to broadcast stablecoin transactions across a public network. Moreover, enterprises do not wish to place payroll records on a public ledger, and B2B teams do not want transaction volumes exposed to competitors.
a16z Crypto published a post explaining its investment rationale for Arc, noting that stablecoins have evolved from crypto-native trading tools into the foundational layer of global financial infrastructure—and are now driving blockchain’s evolution from “application-layer finance” to a “system-level economic operating system.” Last year, stablecoin transaction volume reached approximately $9 trillion—placing it on par with global payment networks such as Visa and PayPal. The total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins has surpassed $270 billion. Cross-border payments, B2B settlements, and foreign exchange transactions are emerging as core use cases for stablecoins, positioning them increasingly as the “global capital flow upgrade layer.” a16z Crypto stated that existing blockchain infrastructure remains primarily geared toward crypto-native users and individual developers, lacking native support for large-scale institutional requirements. Its participation in building the ARC token ecosystem stems from the expectation that, as global finance gradually migrates on-chain, only a select few public blockchains will be capable of serving as the foundational bedrock for “on-chain economic systems.”
According to Businesswire, Paystand, a blockchain-based B2B payment network, has announced the launch of USDb, a stablecoin built on the Bitcoin ecosystem. USDb is backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves and is natively deployed on the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, while also being compatible with the Liquid Network and the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Notably, USDb is primarily designed for traditional corporate finance use cases, including accounts receivable/payable, cross-border payroll, and treasury management.
According to The Block, B2B stablecoin technology provider Infinite has launched Infinite Accounts—a banking account service for enterprises that supports deposits, withdrawals, ACH transfers, domestic and international wire transfers, as well as stablecoin minting, burning, and on-chain transfers—all accessible via a single API. This service is powered by the traditional banking infrastructure of Erebor Bank, which recently obtained its banking license. Infinite states that fiat balances held in these accounts may be eligible for FDIC insurance, whereas stablecoin balances are not. This launch comes amid continued growing institutional adoption of stablecoins.
According to Cointelegraph, Tempo—a payment-focused Layer-1 public blockchain backed by Stripe and Paradigm—recently launched its new “Zones” feature, enabling enterprises to conduct stablecoin transactions within permissioned environments while maintaining interoperability with public-chain liquidity. This functionality is primarily targeted at use cases such as payroll distribution, fund management, and B2B settlements. However, the feature has drawn criticism from industry observers due to its operator-centric design. Each Zone is controlled by a single operator who can view all transaction data and has the authority to suspend users’ transfer or withdrawal privileges in accordance with compliance requirements. Critics argue that this introduces a trust assumption akin to that of centralized exchanges, thereby deviating from blockchain’s core trustless principle.