Why Your Business Will Soon Only Accept Stablecoins (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

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Why Your Business Will Soon Only Accept Stablecoins (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

Imagine a world where money isn’t just a messy, cryptic dance of digital tokens but a kind of digital lemonade stand-clean, predictable, and surprisingly dull. Welcome to the wild universe of Agora, a startup founded by the perpetually ambitious Nick van Eck, who has now decided that the future of finance isn’t about the rollercoaster of DeFi but about the humdrum, delightful world of stablecoins for enterprise payments. Yes, stablecoins-the financial equivalent of that dependable old plumber who actually shows up when you call.

What to know:

  • Agora, that plucky startup with a name that sounds like a Greek marketplace, is shifting gears from the rollercoaster ride of DeFi towards more practical pursuits: payroll, B2B transactions, and international money shuffling with its AUSD stablecoin. Basically, it’s moving from crypto chaos to corporate charm.
  • Van Eck, who clearly thinks corporate adoption of stablecoins is about as slow as a snail on a treadmill, believes that replacing expensive, pre-funded international payments could save businesses a boatload of cash-because who doesn’t love reducing costs when it’s as exciting as a spreadsheet?
  • He’s betting that the big players-Circle’s Arc, Coinbase’s Base, and Stripe’s Tempo-will end up hoarding the stablecoin market, leaving small fry to watch from the sidelines. His goal? To make Agora a top-five global stablecoin issuer that’s more bank-like than Bitcoin and less like a chaotic garage sale of crypto tokens.

Now, Agora isn’t just about issuing a shiny new stablecoin called AUSD-though that’s part of the charm. It also offers what you could call “stablecoin as a service,” which sounds suspiciously like giving startups a crypto toy to play with. But Van Eck advises most companies stick to well-known stablecoins unless they’re creating their own little crypto kingdoms.

So what’s really big here? It’s the possibility of ditching those cumbersome international payment systems that make your bank account feel like a wallet full of lead weights. Imagine saving a whole 1% on revenue-pretty dull, right? But that 1% could turn into a 5% boost on earnings (if you’re into basic math, which Ain’t Nobody Is). Multinational companies with sprawling vendor networks are poised to be the first in line for this shiny, stable future.

Forecast: The Domino Effect

  • Van Eck sees the big players-Circle, Coinbase, Stripe-gathering their resources and consolidating into a handful of “stablecoin kingdoms,” leaving the wild west of open-source blockchains behind. It’s like Disney buying out the theme parks-smarter, safer, and ever so slightly more boring.
  • Meanwhile, Agora dreams of vaulting into the top five stablecoin giants, not by being flashy or fancy but by offering tools that businesses find intuitive-meaning less “what does this button do?” and more “where’s the nearest bank?”
  • “They don’t want crypto,” Van Eck says, unironically, “they want something that feels like a bank account, but better.” Because why settle for the unpredictable thrill of crypto when you can have the dull, dependable world of stablecoins-minus the fireworks?

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2026-01-24 22:04