VanEck Heir: Stablecoins are not just for DeFi; salary remittances are the future

Agora CEO Nick van Eck states that stablecoins are shifting towards enterprise payments, focusing on payroll, B2B, and cross-border transactions. Saving 1% in revenue is equivalent to a 5% EBITDA, but corporate awareness remains only at 5%. He predicts Circle Arc, Base, and Tempo will dominate. Agora aims to be among the top five stablecoin issuers.

Stablecoins Transition from DeFi to Mainstream Enterprise Payments

Founded by entrepreneur and VanEck heir Nick van Eck, Agora is positioning itself in a stablecoin market that goes beyond native crypto transactions. Although decentralized finance (DeFi) remains a key growth engine—he notes that last month, TVL (Total Value Locked) increased by 60% due to DeFi project launches—his focus is shifting to a longer-term bet: enterprise payments driven by stablecoins.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on payroll, B2B, and cross-border payments. These are real problems that companies urgently need to solve,” van Eck said, speaking at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference next month, in a recent interview. This strategic shift from DeFi to enterprise payments reflects a new phase in the development of the stablecoin industry. While DeFi offers high yields and innovative financial tools, its user base is mainly limited to crypto-native communities. In contrast, enterprise payments represent a multi-trillion-dollar global market with clear pain points.

Payroll is one of the most direct use cases for stablecoins in enterprise payments. Multinational companies employ workers worldwide, and traditional payroll payments require bank wire transfers, which are costly and take days to settle. Using stablecoins for payroll can enable instant settlement at minimal cost. For tech companies employing remote workers, this efficiency boost is especially significant. Employees anywhere can receive USD-pegged stablecoin salaries within minutes and convert to local currency as needed.

B2B payments are another huge market. Accounts receivable and payable between companies are typically settled over 30-90 days, during which capital is tied up and unavailable. Real-time settlement with stablecoins can greatly improve cash flow efficiency. Additionally, traditional B2B payments involve multiple bank intermediaries, each charging fees and causing delays. Stablecoin peer-to-peer transfers bypass these intermediaries, reducing costs and increasing speed.

Cross-border payments are seen by van Eck as the most disruptive potential area for stablecoins. He believes the bigger opportunity lies in replacing cumbersome international payment systems, where pre-funding and transaction costs erode corporate profits. “If they can save 1% of revenue, that could be equivalent to 5% EBITDA,” he said. This financial calculation is highly persuasive. For companies with a 20% profit margin, saving 1% of revenue means a 5% increase in net profit, which significantly impacts shareholder value.

Traditional Corporate Adoption Is Slow but Clear Path

He believes adoption by traditional companies is inevitable but progressing slowly, hindered by unfamiliar infrastructure, lack of internal policies, and basic education gaps. “If the understanding of stablecoins in the crypto world is 100%,” he said, “the outside world’s understanding is only 5%.” This knowledge gap is the biggest obstacle to widespread stablecoin adoption. For crypto-native users, the concept and use of stablecoins are very natural. But for CFOs or accountants in traditional companies, stablecoins remain unfamiliar and risky.

Infrastructure unfamiliarity manifests on multiple levels. Companies need to learn how to set up wallets, manage private keys, integrate stablecoin payments into existing ERP systems, and handle tax and accounting records. While solutions exist for these technical and procedural issues, they require time to learn and adapt. The lack of internal policies is another major barrier. Most corporate financial policies are built around traditional banking systems; adopting stablecoins requires revising these policies, involving legal, compliance, and risk management departments.

Educational gaps are the most fundamental. Many corporate decision-makers remain skeptical or even hostile toward blockchain and cryptocurrencies, associating them with speculation, scams, and volatility. Convincing these decision-makers to adopt stablecoins requires extensive education—demonstrating the fundamental differences between stablecoins and speculative cryptocurrencies, their technological stability, and real-world business cases. This educational process could take years.

The most likely early adopters are multinational corporations with global supplier networks. These companies handle large volumes of cross-border payments daily and are most acutely aware of existing pain points. When they see stablecoins significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency, their motivation to adopt will be strongest. Once these benchmark companies start using stablecoins, they will provide case studies for others, accelerating industry-wide adoption.

Enterprise-Led and Bank Account-Like Experience

Looking ahead, van Eck believes enterprise chains like Circle’s Arc, Coinbase’s Base, or Stripe’s Tempo will attract activity away from source blockchains. “You will see integration concentrate on a few chains,” he predicts, with major companies bringing “funds, strength, and distribution capabilities.” This prediction is based on a key insight: enterprise clients do not care about blockchain decentralization ideals—they only care about which solution is simplest, most reliable, and compliant.

Circle, Coinbase, and Stripe are all bridges between traditional finance and the crypto world. Circle is the issuer of USDC, heavily invested in compliance and regulation. Coinbase is the largest compliant exchange in the US, with its Base chain designed for enterprise applications. Stripe is a leading global payment processor serving millions of merchants. These companies’ enterprise chains naturally have the trust of corporate clients and existing distribution channels.

In contrast, Ethereum, while the largest smart contract platform, is more oriented toward decentralization and censorship resistance, which conflicts with enterprise needs. Enterprises require clear responsibility, customer support, compliance guarantees, and stable performance. Enterprise chains operated by a single company, though less decentralized, offer advantages in enterprise service. van Eck predicts these enterprise chains will dominate stablecoin enterprise payments, reflecting a pragmatic market reality over idealism.

In this increasingly competitive environment, Agora’s goal is to become one of the top five stablecoin issuers globally—and to succeed by creating tools that truly understand enterprise needs. “They don’t want cryptocurrencies,” van Eck said. “What they want is something that feels like a bank account but is better.” This product philosophy is crucial. Agora has issued AUSD, but more importantly, its product design aims to make stablecoin usage resemble traditional bank accounts, lowering the psychological barrier for enterprises.

Agora also offers stablecoin-as-a-service for crypto projects wishing to mint their own branded tokens. But van Eck does not recommend most people use it. “It only makes sense if you have a closed-loop ecosystem,” he said. “Otherwise, use the main stablecoins.” This restrained business attitude reflects pragmatism—focusing on what truly fits rather than pushing all products to all customers.