In a year defined by consolidation across the stablecoin ecosystem, one move stands out for its ambition. Paystand, the Santa Cruz–based on-chain B2B payments network, has acquired Bitwage, the cross-border payouts pioneer known for bringing stablecoins to the global workforce. The deal marks more than just a merger of two crypto-era innovators; it’s the moment stablecoins step fully into the business mainstream.
It’s no longer about crypto speculation or fintech pilots. It’s about transforming the $100-trillion B2B economy itself.
“This is how on-chain dollars become working capital for global businesses,” said Jonathan Chester, co-founder and CEO of Bitwage. What began as a way to pay remote contractors in crypto has evolved into a new kind of financial plumbing — regulated, programmable, and ready for enterprise scale.
Over the past year, stablecoins have exploded in both transaction volume and legitimacy. According to recent data, they’ve handled more than $9 trillion in value in 2025, 87% higher than last year and now over half of Visa’s annual throughput. Regulators in the U.S., Europe, and Asia have taken notice, laying the legal groundwork that corporations have been waiting for.
The U.S. GENIUS Act, Europe’s MiCA, and new licensing regimes in Hong Kong and Singapore have made stablecoins not just permissible but practical. Meanwhile, Visa and Mastercard now settle transactions directly in USDC, and legacy players like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs are building around tokenized assets. Stablecoins are no longer an experiment in fintech innovation; they’re becoming the rails for a new kind of money movement.
That’s the environment Paystand is stepping into, and with Bitwage in its corner, it’s not arriving quietly.
“Stablecoins just crossed from crypto curiosity to regulated money movement,” said Jeremy Almond, Paystand’s CEO. “What’s been missing is an enterprise-scale network to apply them to real-economy use cases — supplier payments, trade, logistics, energy, and manufacturing. Paystand + Bitwage connects stablecoin rails to the $100-trillion B2B economy with the automation CFOs require — faster settlement, lower costs, and programmable treasury — without adding bank fees or complexity.”
For a company that has already processed more than $20 billion in B2B payments across a million businesses, Paystand didn’t need a moonshot. What it needed was reach. Bitwage brings that, a compliance-tested payout engine spanning nearly 200 countries and 90,000 recipients. It’s the connective tissue that links Paystand’s receivables and payables network into something global.
In practice, CFOs can now move liquidity between regions in minutes, not days, using stablecoins like USDC and USDT alongside fiat. Enterprises gain a unified system that manages both sides of the ledger — receivables and payables — with real-time visibility, on-chain reconciliation, and 24/7 settlement. It’s the kind of infrastructure that finally brings corporate finance into the always-on rhythm of the internet.
The combined company is also leaning into compliance. Paystand says the merged platform aligns with GENIUS Act obligations and global standards, giving CFOs the governance frameworks they need. For finance teams long wary of crypto’s gray zones, that alignment could be the green light they’ve been waiting for.
If the headlines feel like they’re arriving fast, that’s because they are. Paystand’s move follows a string of billion-dollar bets redefining financial infrastructure. Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion, Ripple bought GTreasury for $1 billion, and BVNK is negotiating a $2.5 billion stablecoin infrastructure deal with Mastercard and Coinbase. Stablecoins are being absorbed into the global payments stack, but Paystand’s approach is different. It isn’t chasing hype; it’s operationalizing digital dollars for real businesses. Trade, supply chains, manufacturing, and logistics — the unglamorous machinery of the global economy — stand to benefit from faster, cheaper, programmable settlement.
A recent EY report found that 87% of corporate respondents believe adopting stablecoins can deliver a competitive edge. The logic is simple: moving money between subsidiaries or vendors in different countries has always meant delays and bank fees. Stablecoins collapse that friction into a few lines of code.
Bitwage began by solving one of finance’s oldest inefficiencies: paying people. Its early cross-border payroll tools proved that stablecoin rails could move real money, not just crypto balances. Under Paystand’s enterprise umbrella, that concept scales to accounts payable, FX, and treasury management, the full corporate finance stack. “Bitwage proved that on-chain dollars can pay teams and suppliers in minutes, not days, nearly anywhere,” Chester said. “By joining Paystand, we bring that reach to enterprise AR/AP, FX and treasury at scale.”
Integration has already started for select enterprise customers, expanding corridor by corridor. Paystand plans to add fiat interoperability and treasury controls to match corporate risk policies, a move designed to ease adoption for cautious CFOs.
The acquisition fits a broader pattern. Paystand has already brought in Yaydoo and Teampay to build out its suite of CFO solutions; Bitwage fills the last major gap, cross-border liquidity. If Paystand’s bet pays off, the impact won’t just be on how companies move money. It will reshape how they think about it — programmable, traceable, and instant.
The story of Paystand and Bitwage isn’t about crypto hype. It’s about the quiet modernization of commercial finance, one API call at a time. And for a world where CFOs are now as fluent in code as in accounting, that evolution feels right on schedule.
