At client dinners in Lagos, Nick Philpott needed his suit pockets for more than a phone and a wallet. He carried bricks of naira. Restaurants brought a money counter to the table; one large bill required a bag of cash.
The former Standard Chartered banker, now a co-founder of Zodia Markets, recalls those evenings when assessing digital money. In countries with reliable banking, faster settlement could look like an incremental improvement. Where payments fail or foreign currency is difficult to obtain, the stakes are different.
Where stablecoin cross-border payments find demand
For Philpott, stablecoin cross-border payments address gaps left by the retreat of correspondent banking. Banks reducing their exposure to certain countries can leave businesses with longer payment chains, fewer providers and less certainty about when funds will arrive.
The debate in advanced economies often starts elsewhere. Reliable payment systems offer less room for improvement than those that leave people carrying cash or struggling to send money home. Philpott’s case for adoption begins with those users.
His work on Libra brought the institutional problem into focus. Once the project moved towards single-currency stablecoins, the foreign exchange case became more compelling. Currency settlement systems operate on different schedules. Asian currencies and the dollar may have little overlap.
The cash leg determines the outcome
That operational mismatch explains the appeal of stablecoin cross-border payments to FX desks. Tokens that can move around the clock could reduce dependence on overlapping banking hours, provided both currencies have sufficient liquidity and workable conversion routes.
The same constraint runs through securities tokenisation. A bond may change hands on-chain in seconds, yet its cash payment can remain tied to banking cut-offs. Faster asset transfer alone leaves the transaction waiting for its other leg.
On Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll, Philpott describes tokenised cash as a foundation for the wider market. Stablecoins, tokenised deposits and central bank digital currencies offer different ways of providing it. Their usefulness depends on the institutions and users a network can reach.
Tokenised deposits can help connect an existing banking network. Philpott questions how far they can extend into markets where the relevant banks have withdrawn. Wholesale CBDCs face a separate challenge: coordinating institutions and jurisdictions with different systems and priorities.
Around-the-clock settlement needs liquidity
A 24/7 network changes a treasury desk’s job. Banks must monitor funding, manage liquidity and respond to problems outside their traditional working week. If settlement becomes continuous, the systems and people supporting it must adapt.
Philpott is sceptical of the suggestion that AI agents can simply take over that responsibility. A treasury desk depends on other markets, including repo, which may still be closed when funding is needed. Automating a decision does not create the liquidity required to execute it.
Zodia Markets connects digital assets with wholesale cash. Its approach combines local banking relationships with foreign exchange execution to accelerate conversion between fiat currencies and stablecoins. Banking access remains central to the service.
Philpott says the firm settled 90 per cent of its trades in under an hour during the period he describes, with an average transaction size of $2.4 million. Its largest single ticket, $120 million, settled in 90 minutes. The figures illustrate a market where payment size matters as much as token transfer speed.
The next currencies may come from different markets
Dollar stablecoins serve demand for savings as well as payments. Philpott describes users replacing physical dollar holdings with digital ones where access to dollar bank accounts is limited or trust in the domestic currency is weak.
He sees room for other currencies where their digital form solves a specific access problem. A Philippine peso token, for example, could help a worker abroad send money home outside local banking hours. A regional currency could gain acceptance among neighbours whose own money inspires less confidence.
The economics of stablecoin cross-border payments may also change how success is measured. A token used repeatedly for settlement could support substantial payment activity without maintaining a large outstanding supply. Transaction velocity would then reveal something that market capitalisation alone misses.
For banks, demand may already be harder to see than they assume. Philpott recounts clients routing digital-asset transactions through alternative providers because their usual bank would reject them. A bank can interpret the absence of those transactions as a lack of interest. By the time the lost clearing revenue becomes visible, the customer may have established another route.
Standard Chartered – Non-USD Stablecoins Report
Zodia Markets – The 200-Year-Old Stablecoin Debate
Jonathan Knoll LinkedIn
Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll Website
Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll Telegram Channel
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