Why Stablecoin Fragmentation Demands Zero-Fee Conversion

As issuance technology becomes more accessible and regulatory frameworks are clarified worldwide, the number of stablecoins is expected to increase significantly. A market once dominated by US-dollar-pegged tokens—USDT and USDC—is now evolving into a diverse ecosystem spanning multiple regions with different issuers, blockchains, currency pegs, and use cases.

Initially used as an on-and-off ramp for trading cryptocurrency, the adoption of stablecoins is poised to surge over the next decade. Moving beyond its origins in the crypto world, stablecoins are now critical infrastructure for payments and cross-border commerce. These digital assets offer a direct means to transfer money instantly, securely and efficiently, eliminating the delays and disadvantages associated with the corresponding banking system.

Governments and central banks have finally recognized this, and regulatory frameworks have emerged in major markets worldwide. The GENIUS Act in the US, MiCA in the European Union, the Payment Services Act in Singapore, and the Payment Token Services Regulation in the UAE have defined what stablecoins are, who and how they can be issued, how they are backed, redemption rights, AML rules, and so on. Furthermore, the technology to issue stablecoins has become commoditized. No longer do you need to invest millions into bringing a new type of digital asset to market. There are a number of tokenization solutions that make it relatively easy and inexpensive to mint stablecoins.

With that, more market participants are getting involved, and not just crypto and Web 3.0 companies. Where the rules allow, we can expect a host of different players—banks, payment companies, fintechs, tech companies, and even multinational corporations to issue stablecoins. Today, the stablecoin market cap tops $300 billion, with daily volumes often exceeding $50 billion. Some analysts such as Citigroup are especially bullish on stablecoin volumes, predicting the market cap to rise to as high as $4.0 trillion by 2030.

The Cost of Fragmentation

Every new stablecoin that comes onto the market brings its own characteristics—different mint and burn procedures, varying on- and off-ramp availability, and distinct trading dynamics. This diversity in digital assets creates more complexity in trading operations.

Take the following use cases:

• Payment processors might receive USDT from customers but need to hold reserves in USDC and require reliable conversion capabilities. 
• Remittance providers will need to swap between coins to optimize settlement routes. 
• Exchanges will need to rebalance their inventory across multiple stablecoins in real-time.
• Treasurers use stablecoins to move money to subsidiaries in different regions, without the costs and delays associated with the corresponding banking systems. Stablecoins in local currencies can enable domestic payments. 
• Institutions will require robust risk management processes for stablecoins. With some stablecoins being safer stores of value than others, they may need to rotate their inventory quickly in the event of depegging or bank-run scenarios.
  
  

Today, most of these conversions occur on exchanges, incurring trading fees, counterparty risk, and settlement delays. But as the number of stablecoins grows, so does the operational and financial burden for market participants.

Enter PENNY: Zero-Fee Stablecoin Conversion

To address that challenge and operational complexity, B2C2 launched PENNY, the industry's first institutional zero-fee stablecoin swap solution. Built for market participants who need to move seamlessly between stablecoins, PENNY delivers:

• Zero fees - No hidden charges. PENNY uses razor sharp institutional conversion rates.
• Instant settlement -  Swaps execute and settle simultaneously on-chain
• 24/7/365  liquidity - Continuous pricing across all market conditions
• Multi-chain support - Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and leading Layer 2 networks
• Institutional infrastructure - Enterprise-grade APIs (REST, WebSocket and FIX)

The solution supports six stablecoins, including USDT, USDC, USDG, RLUSD, PYUSD, and AUSD across multiple blockchains—Ethereum, Tron, Solana, and leading Layer-2 networks. PENNY operates 24/7, providing continuous liquidity. Support for additional stablecoins will be added based on demand.

"With PENNY, we're making the stablecoin experience truly interoperable," says Cactus Raazi, US CEO of B2C2. "A multi-stablecoin, multi-chain future requires an efficient way to convert between stablecoins—and this is exactly what we're bringing to the market."

Built by the Market Leader in Stablecoin Liquidity

B2C2 has been providing institutional digital asset liquidity since 2015, facilitating $2 trillion in trading volume. Today, B2C2 processes an average of $1 billion in stablecoin trades daily, making it one of the largest wholesale providers of stablecoin liquidity globally.

PENNY builds on this deep liquidity and proven infrastructure, which has been tested through multiple market cycles and stress events.

Thomas Restout, Group CEO of B2C2, adds: "As traditional financial institutions and corporates increasingly adopt stablecoin payment rails, PENNY offers them valuable infrastructure for real-time conversion and settlement, without the risks of network fragmentation, or the friction and high costs of trading on exchanges."

The Conversion Layer the Market Needs

Stablecoins are predicted to proliferate across chains, currencies, and issuers. The ability to convert between them efficiently becomes as essential as the ability to transact with them.

PENNY provides that conversion layer—enabling banks and merchant acquirers, stablecoin infrastructure firms, money transfer organizations, and crypto exchanges to operate in a multi-stablecoin world without compromising on speed, cost, or risk.

For institutions navigating stablecoin fragmentation, the solution is simple: PENNY.

Learn more about PENNY here.