Cross River Bank Launches Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure

Cross River Bank, the technology infrastructure provider behind embedded financial solutions for major fintechs, has launched a platform to power stablecoin payments. The offering integrates directly with Cross River's real-time core system, COS, unifying traditional dollar transactions and digital currency flows through a single, bank-regulated infrastructure.

What Are Stablecoins? (The Simple Explanation)

Before diving into what Cross River built, let's clarify what stablecoins actually are, because if you're not in crypto, the concept might sound confusing.

Stablecoins are digital dollars. That's the simplest way to think about them.

Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, which fluctuate wildly in value, stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to always equal $1. The most popular stablecoins, USDC (issued by Circle) and USDT (issued by Tether), are backed by actual U.S. dollars and Treasury securities held in reserve. For every stablecoin token created, there's supposed to be a real dollar backing it.

Why would anyone use digital dollars instead of regular dollars? Three main reasons:

Speed: Stablecoin transactions settle in seconds, 24/7, including weekends and holidays. Traditional bank wires can take days.

Cost: Sending $100,000 in stablecoins across borders costs a few dollars in network fees. International wire transfers cost $25-50 and involve multiple intermediaries.

Programmability: Stablecoins run on blockchain networks, which means payments can be automated, tracked transparently, and integrated into software in ways traditional banking rails can't easily support.

The stablecoin market has exploded. Transactions now exceed $20 trillion annually—rivaling Visa's total payment volume. Businesses use stablecoins for everything from paying international suppliers to settling marketplace transactions to managing treasury operations.

But there's been a problem: stablecoins and traditional banking have operated in separate worlds, creating complexity for businesses that need both.

What Cross River Built

Cross River's new platform solves that separation problem. The bank has integrated stablecoin payment capabilities directly into its core banking infrastructure, allowing companies to move value across blockchain networks and traditional banking rails through a single system.

This matters because up until now, companies wanting to use stablecoins faced a choice: either build complex integrations themselves (expensive, slow, risky) or work with non-bank providers that can't offer the same regulatory protections as federally chartered banks.

Cross River's approach eliminates that trade-off. Clients can now access stablecoin functionality with the compliance infrastructure, regulatory oversight, and security of a bank.

"We're building the future of finance," said Gilles Gade, Founder, President and CEO of Cross River. "We're taking blockchain beyond payments and settlement, reimagining every corner of banking—from BaaS to lending—to deliver a faster, more connected financial world grounded in safety and trust."

What It Enables

The platform supports several key use cases:

Network settlement: Companies can settle transactions on blockchain networks using stablecoins, then seamlessly convert to traditional dollars when needed.

Merchant payouts: Marketplaces and platforms can pay sellers and service providers using stablecoins, offering faster settlement than ACH transfers.

On/off ramps: Businesses can move funds between traditional bank accounts and blockchain wallets without using multiple intermediaries.

Treasury management: Companies can hold working capital in stablecoins for instant access while maintaining the option to convert to traditional currency through the same platform.

Critically, Cross River handles the blockchain complexity behind the scenes. Clients don't need to manage wallets, understand gas fees, or navigate different blockchain networks. The platform abstracts that technical layer while maintaining the benefits of speed, cost efficiency, and programmability.

"Moving to onchain finance requires true interoperability between fiat and blockchain networks," said Luca Cosentino, Head of Crypto at Cross River. "Previously companies were forced into inefficient choices—pre-funding, high cost of capital, stitched-together vendors, and slow time-to-market. By abstracting the complexity of blockchain integrations, our platform enables fintechs, enterprises, and crypto-native companies to access stablecoin capabilities without compromising on regulatory expectations or operational requirements."

Why This Matters Now

Cross River's move reflects a broader shift in how financial institutions view digital assets. Just a few years ago, most banks avoided crypto entirely. Now, with clearer regulatory frameworks emerging and stablecoin volumes rivaling traditional payment networks, major banks are building capabilities rather than sitting on the sidelines.

Cross River has experience here. The bank has supported digital asset platforms for years, providing the banking infrastructure for companies that couldn't get accounts elsewhere. This stablecoin launch builds on that foundation.

The timing also aligns with regulatory momentum. The currnet administration has signaled support for stablecoin regulation, and several bills in Congress propose frameworks for issuing and using dollar-backed digital currencies. As regulatory clarity improves, institutional adoption accelerates.

Who Can Use It

The platform is available now for approved partners across three categories:

Fintechs: Companies building payment, lending, or financial management products can integrate stablecoin capabilities without building blockchain infrastructure themselves.

Enterprises: Large companies looking to optimize treasury operations, international payments, or supplier settlement can access stablecoin rails through a bank relationship.

Crypto-native companies: Blockchain-focused businesses that need traditional banking services alongside their digital operations can consolidate through a single provider.

Cross River plans broader availability over time, with additional use cases involving digital assets and blockchain technology on the roadmap.

The Competitive Landscape

Cross River isn't the only bank moving into stablecoins, but its approach is distinctive. Rather than offering stablecoin services as a standalone product, the bank integrated the functionality into its existing core banking platform, meaning clients get unified reporting, compliance monitoring, and fund management across both traditional and digital rails.

This "unified ledger" approach addresses one of the biggest pain points for businesses: managing separate systems for traditional banking and blockchain transactions. Companies no longer need to reconcile balances across multiple platforms, pre-fund multiple accounts, or manage relationships with multiple vendors.

The bank's existing relationships with major fintechs also provide distribution. Cross River powers embedded banking for companies serving millions of end users, creating a ready-made customer base for stablecoin adoption.

What's Next

Cross River's announcement signals that stablecoin infrastructure is moving from experimental to mainstream. When a federally regulated bank integrates digital currency payments into its core platform and markets the capability to enterprise clients, it's a statement that this technology has crossed the legitimacy threshold.

The platform's success will depend on adoption. Stablecoins offer clear advantages in speed and cost, but businesses move cautiously when changing payment infrastructure. Cross River's existing fintech relationships and compliance-first approach should help overcome that inertia.

Beyond payments, the bank indicated its infrastructure is built to support future use cases involving digital assets and blockchain technology. That likely includes tokenized securities, programmable lending, and other emerging applications where blockchain technology intersects with traditional finance.

For now, the immediate opportunity is straightforward: giving businesses a compliant, bank-backed way to use the $20 trillion stablecoin payment network without abandoning the traditional financial system.

That's the bridge between old finance and new finance that the industry has needed.