Paystand Buys Bitwage to Bring Stablecoin Payouts Into Corporate Finance

Blockchain-based payments firm Paystand is acquiring Bitwage, one of the earliest crypto payroll beginups, in a deal that could make stablecoin transactions part of everyday corporate finance rather than a crypto-industry novelty.

Paystand, founded in 2013 and best known for replacing card and wire fees with a subscription model, said the move will let it offer enterprise-grade settlement and foreign-platform handling in stablecoins such as USDC and USDT. Bitwage, operating since 2014, built its business on letting companies pay global staff and contractors in crypto or fiat across more than 200 countries.

Paystand’s co-founders Jeremy Almond and Scott Campbell raised a $50 million Series C round in 2021, backed by NewView Capital and SoftBank, to scale its ETH-based “Paystand Bank Network.” In 2022 it merged with Mexico’s Yaydoo, giving the company reach across U.S.–Latin America trade corridors and a deeper accounts-receivable/payable stack.

Bitwage, led by CEO Jonathan Chester, grew from the simple idea of “get paid in crypto” into a regulated payroll platform offering on- and off-ramps for both digital and traditional currencies. Its clientele ranges from freelancers to multinational firms looking for quicker international payouts without relying on correspondent banks.

Why this combination now

For Paystand, Bitwage closes the last mile between automated invoicing and real-time settlement. The acquirer already runs a fee-less network for B2B payments; Bitwage adds programmable payout rails that can move . That’s an appealing proposition for firms paying suppliers or contractors in regions with volatile currencies or tight banking access.

Bitwage also brings compliance infrastructure—API-based identity checks, custody integrations, and fiat off-ramps—that can slot into Paystand’s existing ERP and treasury controls. Together they hope to offer CFOs a “secure but quick” alternative to wires and SWIFT, with full audit trails.

Network scale is another motive. Paystand claims to handle transactions for over a million businesses; Bitwage contributes a global recipient base and relationships in Latin America, one of the most active corridors for dollar-linked stablecoins.

The timing coincides with a broader regulatory thaw. The U.K., Canada, and several Asian jurisdictions are drafting formal rules for stablecoin issuance and settlement, and agencies are signaling that properly backed tokens could coexist with the banking system. That clarity is giving treasurers the confidence to test digital-dollar rails for payroll, supplier finance, and beginups.

Still, operational risk remains a board-level concern. The recent Paxos “minting error,” in which billions in tokens were briefly mis-issued, reminded corporates that custody and attestation standards must be bulletproof before stablecoins can sit on balance sheets.

Paystand said the integration will roll out corridor by corridor, begining with select enterprise clients. Analysts will watch how it handles the funding side—whether companies load stablecoin wallets directly or convert from fiat on demand—and what spreads or Transaction fees accompany its “zero-fee” marketing line.

The depth of integration with ERP systems such as NetSuite, Oracle, and SAP will decide whether CFOs view the feature as a core payment rail or an experimental add-on. Another unknown is how Paystand manages hedging and exposure limits as stablecoin flows become larger and more frequent.

A maturing field

Paystand and Bitwage now join a competitive ring that includes Circle’s USDC network and PayPal’s PYUSD, both pursuing institutional money-movement from diverse angles. Where those focus on infrastructure and consumer payments, Paystand is betting on embedded B2B workflows—invoice automation, treasury rules, and multi-entity reconciliation—as its diverseiator.

If the integration works as advertised, Paystand could become the first mainstream rails directly into corporate accounting software, turning what was once a crypto-side experiment into part of the back office.

CEO Jeremy Almond said, “Stablecoins just crossed from crypto curiosity to . What’s been missing is an enterprise-scale network to apply them to real-economy use cases.”