Dollar Stablecoins & Corporate Treasury Management

Corporate Treasuries Are Going Crypto

In 2020, we witnessed a new phenomenon in the world of digital currencies: corporate treasuries buying bitcoin. 

As inflation fears loom as a result of the unprecedented level of new dollar supply issued by the Federal Reserve, more and more corporations are opting to add bitcoin to their treasury reserves to protect themselves against a weakening dollar and increasing inflation. 

Corporate cash reserves at non-financial US companies grew to a staggering $2.1 trillion by the end of Q2/2020, providing a record amount of cash (up 30% year-on-year) on corporate balance sheets that can be put to work or face losing value.  

While bitcoin may still be too much of a financial risk as a cash reserve for most treasury professionals, this new theme highlights the willingness of corporate treasuries to deal in digital currency as part of a wider financial industry trend that merges traditional treasury management services in finance with crypto capital markets.

As a result, corporations are now also opening up to supporting digital dollar stablecoins, such as USDC, in their treasury operations for both payments and cash management. 

Recent OCC guidance, including guidelines for how commercial banks are allowed to hold crypto assets on their balance sheet as well as the cash deposit reserves that back regulated US dollar stablecoins, such as USDC, has laid the groundwork for digital dollar stablecoins to become fully integrated into today’s corporate treasury systems.

Most notably, in early January the OCC issued guidance that national banks in the United States could use dollar stablecoins as a payment system, including stablecoins on public blockchains, paving the way for accelerating adoption of USDC in business finances and the US financial system.

What Are Stablecoins?

Stablecoins are price-stable digital currencies backed by a fiat currency, such as the US dollar. 

Unlike the dollars in a traditional bank account, however, digital dollar stablecoins can be exchanged and transferred over open public blockchains at the speed of the internet, around the world, with high levels of security, irreversibility and low cost.

Using a digital dollar stablecoin, such as USDC, makes sending digital dollars over the internet is as easy as sending an email.

Stablecoins combine the benefits of open, borderless cryptocurrency with the price stability of traditional sovereign currencies to make them prime candidates for the future of internet-based payments, corporate finance, and working capital management.

Today, the total market capitalization of the dollar-pegged stablecoin market exceeds $118 billion, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap, which highlights the popularity of this new type of digital currency.

USD Coin: The Fastest-Growing Full Reserve Dollar Stablecoin

USD Coin (USDC) is a fully reserved digital dollar stablecoin that enables individuals and businesses to store, send, and receive US dollars over the internet.

USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions and redeemable on a 1:1 basis for US dollars. All USDC reserve assets are subject to monthly reserve attestations from global accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP, providing trust and transparency. USDC reserves are held with national banks and subject to the supervision and reporting requirements set forth by the US Treasury OCC.

USDC is global, transparent, programmable, liquid, and regulated, which has helped it to become a market-leading stablecoin with over $29 billion in circulation, growing by more than 1,000% in the past 12 months, with over $1 trillion processed in on-chain transactions. 

What’s more, USDC holders can earn yield on their stablecoins by storing them in Circle Yield, generating 4% to 5%* APY as of December 29, 2021.

As of November 17, 2022, Circle Yield is not accepting new loans. We are evaluating future updates to the program.

Dollar Stablecoins in Corporate Treasury Management

The role of corporate treasury departments is to ensure a company’s financial success by managing the business’s cash inflows, payment flows, financial assets, financial obligations, and risks.

Dollar stablecoins can facilitate corporate treasury management processes by providing a more streamlined and cost-efficient means to process payments, manage cash, manage liquidity, gain cash visibility, and gain exposure to the yield-generation opportunities being afforded by crypto capital markets. 

• Processing, accepting, and automating payments with USDC can streamline the cash management process, increase speed and lower costs associated with a wide variety of payments use-cases. 
  
  
• Gain long-term value for your balance sheet by earning yield on idle assets by accessing new crypto lending markets and their high interest rates.
  
  
• In addition to core payments and settlements, holding USDC enables your business to move in and out of crypto investments fast, so your dollars can be where they’re most useful.
  
  

USDC is now at the beginning stages of being adopted as an important reserve asset not only for small and large companies but even governments as well.

Dollar Stablecoins & Treasury Payments

Treasury departments can use USDC to make and accept near-instantaneous, borderless digital dollar payments to and from counterparties across the globe.

Each payment can be viewed in real-time on a public blockchain ledger, providing unprecedented insight into outgoing and incoming payment flows. 

In combination with a Circle Account, companies that want to remain in digital dollars to support their treasury operations can also accept and make payments with existing payment rails that seamlessly settle into or convert out of USDC.

Currently, Circle Account holders can accept and make payments using four traditional electronic payment rails, including credit cards, debit cards, domestic bank transfers and wire transfers. 

Dollar digital currencies also alleviate counterparty settlement risk as blockchain-based value transfers are irreversible by nature. Using USDC, there is no need to wait on international payments that go through several intermediaries before settling.

Instead, payments are near-instantaneous and can be viewed in real-time from initiation to settlement, with a transaction cost typically counted in pennies.

What’s more, dollar stablecoins can be used to make programmatic payments using Circle Payouts API and furthermore offer the potential for integration with smart contracts on public blockchains, and unleash the programmability of money.

For a treasury department that has to execute mass payouts on a monthly basis, the programmability enabled through Circle APIs provides the benefit of being able to streamline and automate regular payments.

Payroll and paying regular suppliers can be entirely automated, making treasury operations more efficient while saving time and costs for the business and extending global reach using stablecoins. 

Dollar Stablecoins & Cash Management

Dollar stablecoins can help streamline cash and liquidity management and reduce costs. 

The programmability of dollar stablecoins also provides benefits for cash and liquidity management. 

For example, an incoming payment by a specific counterparty can trigger automated payments to sub-account wallets belonging to particular business units that deal with this counterparty. This would optimize internal cash flows and reduce time spent on cash flow management that can be automatically directed by an API. 

Moreover, corporate treasuries can also use USDC to earn above-average yields on unused working capital and cash reserves. 

Circle Yield can help qualified businesses earn 4% to 5%* APY as of December 29, 2021, on term deposits from one to twelve months. Interest is accrued daily and payouts occur monthly.

As of November 17, 2022, Circle Yield is not accepting new loans. We are evaluating future updates to the program.

“What we are providing with Circle and USDC is the financial technology stack for treasury departments that want to future-proof their operations in anticipation of the next generation of finance, which will be borderless, internet-native, and tech-driven.”

—Jeremy Allaire, Circle CEO