Stablecoins Export U.S. Institutional Power: Startups Bridge Global Liquidity Gaps

Woofun AI reports that blockchain infrastructure is emerging as the primary carrier for exporting American institutional advantages globally, a thesis articulated by Joel John and compiled by Saoirse from Foresight News, drawing on analysis from Marc at OMVC. The core argument posits that while stablecoins address financial allocation issues, they must be integrated with broader institutional frameworks to solve the fundamental problem of U.S. dollar scarcity.

This perspective is anchored in a historical analogy cited by Herodotus regarding Carthaginian merchants who engaged in silent trade with West African tribes, a system described in 'The Brilliant Trade' where goods and gold were exchanged without verbal communication, relying instead on a shared understanding of value. This ancient mechanism, which predated the World Bank, the SWIFT liquidation system, blockchain, and even most mature civilizations, illustrates the timeless human need for a universal communication standard to determine fair transaction prices.

In the modern context, these prices manifest as interest rates, exchange costs, or final U.S. dollar amounts, and all business activities ultimately aim to create a unified and interoperable value language. For over seven decades, global trade has relied on a mature institutional framework established by entities such as the World Bank, the IMF, SWIFT, Visa, Mastercard, and the DTCC to build trust between strangers, leveraging deep economic integration to maintain international peace and reduce geopolitical tensions.

However, this traditional framework suffers from significant limitations, including reliance on national legislation, bank cooperation, and offline processes that prevent real-time verification through unified technology. Consequently, industries are increasingly embracing blockchain technologies to create a global unified ledger that can be verified in real time by all parties, effectively serving as the digital equivalent of the Internet for capital market assets, where the marginal cost of acquiring assets approaches zero and verification efficiency improves dramatically.

The necessity of a universal value language is further underscored by the limitations of traditional institutional frameworks, which cannot enforce standardized technologies or provide real-time transparency. The United States, with its robust institutional framework, efficiently conducts technological research, exports services, and realizes capital, creating an environment that is difficult to replicate elsewhere; for instance, the vast majority of global startups choose to register in Delaware due to its abundant capital and complete entrepreneurial institutions.

The U.S. dollar serves as the medium through which countries benefit from these institutional advantages, and stablecoins extend this stability overseas, while asset tokenization provides the standardized rules for implementing this universal value language. Market data supports this logic, with the total circulating supply of global stablecoins reaching approximately $315 billion, and Tether alone holding $141 billion in Treasury bonds, ranking 17th among global holders of U.S.

Treasury bonds, surpassing holdings by South Korea and the UAE. In February 2026, the total monthly settlement volume of stablecoins reached $7.2 trillion, surpassing the ACH network of the United States for the first time, signaling a large-scale migration of the global economy onto blockchain. This transformation is driven by tokenized stocks, credit, and asset custody funds, which act as core carriers of the shift, enabling global developers to create products that allow end-users to access assets issued by various financial platforms.

The underlying premise is that blockchain is to capital market assets what the Internet is to information, merging the world into a single capital market where the value of assets carried by this language depends entirely on the strength of the underlying institutional backing, such as the regulatory and interest rate tools used by mature economies to manage market risks and public interests.

Major players are actively tokenizing assets to capitalize on this shift, offering specific benefits to emerging markets through enhanced liquidity and access to global capital. Robinhood provides trading channels for tokenized stocks and real-world assets (RWA), while Centrifuge offers AAA-rated tokenized credit through products like JAAA. BlackRock's BUIDL tokenizes money market funds, and Ondo enables the on-chain issuance and trading of public securities.

Apollo and Hamilton Lane, in collaboration with Securitize, bring private credit and private equity funds onto the blockchain, and Superstate assists listed companies with the on-chain issuance and circulation of stocks. Even the risk fund shares of Blockchain Capital have been tokenized for on-chain subscription, demonstrating the breadth of adoption across different asset classes. For users in emerging markets, the U.S.

dollar remains the primary entry point, offering three attractive characteristics: inflation resistance compared to local currencies, access to global capital markets such as Hyperliquid and various alternative assets, and high liquidity that enables instant cross-border transfers. In many emerging markets, on-chain U.S. dollar assets command a premium, which can reach 10%–15% during periods of market stress, highlighting the value of companies that can handle regional capital flows and integrate them into the global ledger system.

These companies integrate local market rules to ensure that regional assets are understood and recognized by global capital, similar to how Google Maps standardized global geographic information and social media created platforms for cultural communication. Today, new generations of financial products are standardizing the origin and flow paths of assets, creating a system where the marginal cost of asset acquisition approaches zero and verification efficiency is significantly improved, thereby merging the world into a single capital market.

Cross-border payment infrastructure faces significant challenges, particularly in transactions between Nigerian importers and Chinese suppliers, where SWIFT limitations create inefficiencies and risks. Chinese suppliers often require 60% payment in U.S. dollars in advance, but companies in emerging markets struggle to obtain sufficient U.S. dollar reserves due to strict controls on capital outflows designed to maintain local foreign exchange reserves. Even when Nigerian importers deal with compliant banks and have sufficient funds, it takes 7 to 10 days for a U.S. dollar transfer to China to be cleared, and most small and medium-sized businesses lack the necessary compliance qualifications.

Furthermore, if Chinese suppliers accept payments in stablecoins, they may lose up to 13% in export tax rebates, creating a disincentive for adopting blockchain-based payments. Although both countries have genuine trade needs, existing payment channels cannot facilitate smooth transactions due to cumbersome cross-border document processes and difficult-to-control fraud risks, with cross-border legal recourse being extremely costly in case of disputes.

Keyrails addresses these issues by acting as a payment and credit coordination layer for cross-border trade, connecting importers with external funding providers such as non-bank financial institutions, fintech companies, and on-chain asset custodians. It does not lend its own funds but oversees the flow of borrowed funds throughout the process, ensuring that transactions are completed efficiently and compliantly. This model bridges the gap between the need for U.S.

dollar liquidity in emerging markets and the requirement for compliant settlement in developed economies, providing a solution that is both faster and more cost-effective than traditional banking channels.

Woofun AI data shows that Keyrails' business model generates yield for lenders while providing affordable financing for borrowers, with a profit margin for the platform itself. Lenders earn an annual yield of about 15%–20%, while borrowing companies incur an annual financing cost of 20%–25%. Keyrails earns a profit margin of 2.5%–5%, plus fees from payment channels, creating a sustainable economic model that incentivizes participation from all parties. It is crucial to note that the 20%–25% financing cost refers to the annual interest rate on loans, not the exchange premium between local currencies and the U.

S. dollar, which was the only alternative option available to importers originally. Nigerian importers convert naira into USDT through Keyrails to match funds, then pay Chinese suppliers directly in U.S. dollars via compliant SWIFT, combining on-chain stablecoins with traditional cross-border settlements to ensure export tax rebates. During times of market stress, traditional channels involve exchange premiums as high as 20%–30%, with settlement taking 7–10 days, whereas Keyrails' annual financing products at 20%–25% allow settlement in just 6–8 hours, resulting in a lower overall short-term borrowing cost.

For a three-month period, the annual interest rate of 20%–25% results in an interest cost of only about 1% (excluding fees, collateral discount, etc.), far lower than paying a one-time exchange premium of 20%–30%. This cost advantage makes Keyrails an attractive option for importers who need to secure U.S. dollars quickly and efficiently, while also providing lenders with a high-yield investment opportunity.

The operational workflow of Keyrails involves OTC conversion, API credit approval, and SWIFT settlement, ensuring that funds are used for their intended purpose and that risks are minimized. Nigerian merchants convert naira into USDT through a local OTC platform, and the funds are transferred to Keyrails, which then pays Chinese suppliers directly through its own SWIFT channel. Lenders retrieve the merchant's complete transaction history over the past three months via API and can complete credit approval in just three hours, significantly reducing the time required for traditional credit checks.

The funds do not pass through the borrower's account but are directly matched to the supplier's actual invoices and settled within China via SWIFT, ensuring that the U.S. dollar funds are deposited legally into corporate accounts and allowing suppliers to claim export tax rebates. This process is not possible when receiving payments in stablecoins, making Keyrails' model particularly valuable for Chinese suppliers who need to comply with local regulations. The main challenge lies in the severe lack of liquidity in transactions involving local currencies against the U.

S. dollar in emerging markets, but Keyrails' core competitiveness lies in locking in credit funds through dedicated payment channels and controlling risks. It digitally collects global trade documents uniformly, builds cross-regional payment links, and restricts borrowed funds to be used only for purchases corresponding to actual invoices, creating a moat built on comprehensive credit data, compliant clearing channels, and dedicated fund management.

Programmable credit infrastructure is being developed by Semiliquid through its PCP, which allows for collateral locking without moving assets out of custody accounts. This approach addresses the limitations of traditional secured lending, where assets must be transferred to lenders or custodians, often resulting in loss of income for the borrower. Semiliquid's PCP allows borrowers and lenders to conduct financing using tokenized assets without moving the collateral out of the custody account, enabling the borrower to retain the assets and continue earning income from the underlying assets while the lender obtains a legally binding collateral claim.

Once the borrower repays the loan, the collateral lock is automatically released, and in case of default, the lender can dispose of the collateral according to pre-agreed rules. This mechanism is fundamentally different from decentralized lending pools like Aave, where institutions must transfer assets into public smart contract pools and bear high-risk premiums associated with permissionless lending. Instead, Semiliquid allows assets to remain in regulated custodian institutions while still enabling collateral financing, simplifying the due diligence process for lenders and clearly defining asset disposal rights.

The collapses of Three Arrows Capital and Archegos in 2022 highlighted the necessity of this mechanism, as Three Arrows Capital left creditors with approximately $3.5 billion in bad debts and Archegos' family office caused Credit Suisse to suffer losses of $5.5 billion due to excessive swap exposures. The core issue in both crises was the inability of lenders to share complete collateral data in real time, leading to repeated pledging of the same assets and a lack of transparency regarding their location and status.

Semiliquid's financial mechanics offer significant advantages over traditional banking, with a net cost calculation that reflects the true cost of borrowing. Assume an institution holds $100 million worth of tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds with an annual yield of 5%; at a 98% collateral ratio, it can borrow $98 million in liquidity, with an annual borrowing interest rate of 6%. The nominal annual interest cost is $5.88 million, but the U.S. Treasury bonds generate $5 million in interest annually, resulting in a net cost of only $880,000 for the borrower. This translates to an annual net cost of about 0.

9% for the $98 million loan (excluding agreement fees, asset discount, and custody fees), which is significantly lower than the 6% borrowing rate. In traditional banking systems, the interest generated by collateral is often retained by banks and custodian institutions, but under the programmable collateral system, the earnings belong entirely to the borrower even when the assets are in collateral lock. This mechanism activates idle tokenized assets, allowing institutions to borrow against collateral and earn additional income without handing over custody rights.

Semiliquid fills the trust gap in traditional finance through real-time collateral verification, allowing all relevant parties to verify that the collateral truly exists, is locked up, and has disposability rights. This eliminates the risk of the same asset being pledged repeatedly under the protocol, a problem that plagued the Three Arrows Capital and Archegos collapses. By streamlining the entire process using programmable infrastructure, Semiliquid reduces the need for manual coordination between lawyers, back-office operations, and custodian institutions, making the financing process faster and more efficient.

The financialization of AI computing power is another area where blockchain infrastructure is being leveraged to address liquidity gaps, particularly in the context of GPU costs and investment trends by tech giants. GPUs are the core production tools of the AI industry, supporting the computation of all large models, and the cost of purchasing them is extremely high. Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft spent a total of $410 billion on computing power investments in 2025 and plan to invest $725 billion in 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 77%.

For simplicity, in an era dominated by agriculture, tractors were the core production tools, and in today's AI era, GPUs are the production equipment that transforms capital investment into continuous cash flow. Computing power companies generally purchase GPUs through loans and earn revenue by renting out their computing power to repay the loans, but small and medium-sized data centers and AI infrastructure service providers cannot obtain low-cost loans like cloud providers such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

GPU pricing, energy efficiency, and residual value keep changing with the iteration of large models and evolving corporate demands, making it difficult for traditional financial institutions to accurately assess loan risks. This creates a significant barrier to entry for smaller players in the AI industry, limiting their ability to compete with larger tech giants.