Cross-border payment systems still generally run on infrastructure that tends to be slower and more difficult to modernize. The "stablecoin sundae" offers a more efficient path forward. This strategy involves a layered stablecoin payments model that moves value across currencies using local-currency stablecoins, onchain foreign exchange (FX), and instant settlement.
It’s one of the most interesting developments in stablecoin infrastructure because it cuts out the FX spread businesses usually absorb, removes unnecessary intermediaries, and routes payments through markets that operate nonstop. This model can turn multi-day transfers into near-real-time settlements, often at a fraction of the cost.
The traction of this approach is backed by real-world growth: over the past decade, the US dollar stablecoin market has grown from $5 billion to nearly $250 billion. This guide covers how the stablecoin sundae works, why it’s gaining traction, and how businesses are already using it to improve cross-border and high-volume payments.
What’s in this article?
- What is the “stablecoin sundae,” and why does the model matter?
- How are the layers of the stablecoin sundae structured in a transaction flow?
- How does the sundae model enhance speed, cost, and user experience?
- How can businesses apply the stablecoin sundae model to improve cross-border and high-volume payments?
- What challenges could limit the sundae model?
- How does the sundae approach strengthen financial stability compared to traditional systems?
- How might the stablecoin sundae evolve as digital payment infrastructure matures?
What is the “stablecoin sundae,” and why does the model matter?
The “stablecoin sundae” builds on what people already know as the “stablecoin sandwich.” The sandwich kept things simple. That strategy involves converting local currency into a fiat-backed stablecoin, sending it across a blockchain, and converting it back into fiat on the other side.
The sundae keeps the same idea, but instead of moving from fiat → stablecoin → fiat, the sundae uses fiat → local stablecoin → foreign stablecoin → foreign fiat. The extra layers matter because local-currency stablecoin issuers create and redeem their tokens 1:1 for the underlying currency. This structure is what avoids the traditional FX spread or markup. Once you’re in stablecoin form, the currency exchange happens onchain, where markets run nonstop and anyone can provide liquidity.
The stablecoin sundae also broadens access. Any business with a wallet and an account with a local issuer can tap global liquidity in seconds instead of relying on a small club of correspondent banks. In countries where banking payment networks are slow, expensive, or both, this is a new market structure for moving value across borders.
How are the layers of the stablecoin sundae structured in a transaction flow?
Stablecoin sundae transactions look more burdensome on paper than they feel in practice.
Here’s how they operate:
- Fiat → local stablecoin: The sender converts their local currency into a matching local-currency stablecoin through a regulated issuer. Because these issuers create and redeem at a strict 1:1 ratio, the conversion happens at par.
- Local stablecoin → foreign stablecoin: Once funds are onchain, the FX step moves to an automated market maker or decentralized exchange that runs nonstop and settles instantly. A Brazil Real (BRL)-backed token might swap directly into an Argentine Peso (ARS)-backed token, or route through a USD stablecoin if that pool has deeper liquidity. Either way, it’s a single onchain trade that replaces multiple intermediary banks.
- Foreign stablecoin → local fiat: The recipient redeems the incoming foreign stablecoin for local currency through its issuer at a 1:1 rate. This final step completes the circuit with no FX markup, returning the payment to normal bank payment networks only at the moment the recipient decides to cash out.
How does the sundae model enhance speed, cost, and user experience?
The sundae model reshapes the flow so money can move with the speed and clarity of the internet. The benefits show up in time, cost, and usability.
- Speed: Once the sender creates the local stablecoin, every remaining step—the FX swap, the move into the foreign stablecoin, and the redemption into local currency—happens almost instantly. What used to be a three-day wait becomes near-real time.
- Cost: FX spreads and intermediary fees account for a big part of the cost in traditional cross-border payments. Globally, sending remittances costs an average of 6.49% of the amount sent. The sundae model strips out both by converting fiat to stablecoin and back at parity. This shifts the FX trade to onchain markets where spreads are tighter and execution is automated.
- Usability: The model hides all this behind-the-scenes work, so finance teams don’t need to learn new tools or touch crypto directly. A sender initiates a payment in their own currency and the recipient gets theirs, while the create-swap-redeem sequence runs in the background. Because everything is traceable onchain, teams get immediate status visibility, cleaner reconciliation, and more control over timing and rates.
How can businesses apply the stablecoin sundae model to improve cross-border and high-volume payments?
The stablecoin sundae method can be a useful way for businesses to move money faster and cut costs.
Here are some tips on how to best implement this model:
- Target use cases: The sundae model delivers the most value where traditional payment infrastructures are slow or expensive, such as cross-border supplier payments, international payroll, contractor payouts, marketplace disbursements, treasury rebalancing between entities, or global remittances.
- Integrate through a stablecoin payments platform: Platforms such as Bridge handle creating, swapping, redeeming, and compliance in one workflow, so teams can send and receive local currencies without touching the underlying stablecoins.
- Pilot in one corridor before scaling: Begin with a route where fees or delays are most challenging, such as sending USD to emerging markets. Carefully measure the improvements in total cost, settlement speed, and administrative workload. Businesses typically see lower FX cost, faster settlement, and cleaner reconciliation.
- Use it as a treasury tool, too: Treasury teams can convert between stablecoins when rates are favorable, hold value in more stable currencies, or rebalance across subsidiaries without pre-funding foreign accounts.
- Layer it into customer-facing products: The sundae model can power faster payouts without changing the front-end experience. Customers only see faster deliveries and tighter rates.
What challenges could limit the sundae model?
Businesses adopting the sundae model still face constraints tied to liquidity, regulation, and day-to-day execution.
Here’s an overview:
- Liquidity depth onchain: The FX step only works well when the stablecoin pairs involved have enough volume to handle real payments. USD stablecoins are highly liquid, but local-currency stablecoins vary widely. Thin markets create wider spreads, more slippage, and less predictable execution.
- Regulatory clarity and compliance: Every issue, swap, and redemption touches rules that apply to both crypto and traditional finance. Local issuers must meet licensing standards, and businesses still need full Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes around on- and off-ramps. Regulators also worry about “layering” (using multiple conversion steps to conceal origin and destination), which means strong transparency and reporting controls are mandatory.
- Infrastructure needs: Moving through multiple layers requires solid orchestration. Without the right infrastructure partner, teams might have to manage wallets, private keys, liquidity routing, and cross-chain execution themselves. That adds extra risk and overhead.
- Issuer and smart contract risk: The model assumes stablecoins hold their pegs and that FX trades execute on reliable smart contracts. A depeg (when the value of a stablecoin substantially deviates from its intended pegged value), a paused redemption window, or a smart contract failure introduces new categories of risk that don’t exist in traditional systems and need contingency planning.
How does the sundae approach strengthen financial stability compared to traditional systems?
The sundae model changes the underlying risk in ways traditional systems can’t.
Here are a few advantages:
- Settlement happens in one motion: Onchain FX uses atomic execution, so either the entire trade clears or none of it does. There’s no multi-hour exposure window, no reliance on batch processes, and no risk that value leaves one account while the corresponding currency gets stuck.
- Payments don’t depend on a chain of banks: Traditional cross-border flows rely on multiple institutions handing value off to one another, which creates fragility. The sundae model replaces that relay with two issuers and an onchain swap, which reduces the number of entities that can introduce delay or error.
- Capital isn’t trapped in foreign accounts: Businesses don’t need to pre-fund balances abroad to guarantee payouts. Liquidity comes from issuers at the moment of redemption, which frees up working capital and reduces the risk that sits in overseas banks.
- Visibility replaces uncertainty: Because each step of the sundae flow is traceable in real time, teams know exactly where funds are and what has settled. That transparency helps prevent the reconciliation gaps and “black box” delays that have historically created risk.
How might the stablecoin sundae evolve as digital payment infrastructure matures?
As more countries develop credible local-currency stablecoins and regulatory frameworks, the number of viable corridors will expand. That means the FX step will route through deeper, more efficient onchain markets.
Here’s how that might look:
- More local-currency stablecoins: Right now, the ecosystem is largely dominated by USD-pegged tokens. But rising demand for euro, peso, yen, and emerging-market stablecoins will make the sundae structure far more flexible and direct.
- Closer integration with banks and regulated money: As banks and payment institutions experiment with tokenized deposits and compliant settlement layers, the sundae flow will be easier to integrate into existing treasury and payout systems.
- Smarter routing under the hood: Payments will increasingly auto-select the best liquidity path, even if that means hopping through multiple stablecoins. That change will make the sundae feel less like “crypto infrastructure” and more like the default route for global value transfer.
Bridge helps businesses move money globally in minutes using stablecoins, with nearly instant conversion to local currencies. Learn how Bridge Cross-Border Payments makes international payouts faster, cheaper, and built for modern business.
Bridge is not a bank. The Prepaid Debit Visa Card is issued by Lead Bank and managed by Bridge Ventures, LLC. Fees may apply. See www.bridge.xyz/legal for more details.
The content in this article is for general information and education purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Bridge does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the article. You should seek the advice of a competent attorney or accountant licensed to practice in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular situation.
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