Hyundai Motor completes the “USDT cross-border settlement” pilot, transfers on the Avalanche network take only 7 minutes

A major milestone as stablecoins move toward enterprise-grade applications! According to an official announcement from Tether, the global industrial giant Hyundai has successfully used Tether (USDT) and the Avalanche blockchain to complete the first real cross-border enterprise funds transfer pilot (POC). Not only did the transaction dramatically cut down what would normally take hours in traditional settlement to just 7 minutes, it also showcased the enormous potential of blockchain technology in terms of regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.
(Background: The EU is looking to amend the MiCA bill! Or to loosen up non-EU stablecoins like USDT and expand the DLT tokenization market cap limit to €100 billion)
(Additional context: India’s USDT premium spikes above 10%! Exchanges say: not manipulation, but a supply-and-demand imbalance)

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• Skip traditional banks, settle cross-border USDT in 7 minutes
• Tether CEO: a key milestone bridging traditional finance
• Next steps: introducing USDC tests with Europe-local currencies

Stablecoins are entering the core operating systems of traditional cross-border enterprises at an unprecedented pace—moving from crypto-native markets into the heart of global corporate operations.

On July 13, 2026 (Taiwan time), Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, released a major announcement saying that South Korea’s industrial giant Hyundai has successfully completed its first “enterprise cross-border settlement concept proof (POC).” This historically significant test not only runs in a real environment, but directly enables the flow of funds between Hyundai’s U.S. subsidiary (HMA) and its Mexico subsidiary (HMM).

Skip traditional banks, settle cross-border USDT in 7 minutes

The announcement states that this pilot was executed through the regulated settlement infrastructure Axiym, and carried out on the Avalanche blockchain using Tether USD₮ (USDT). In the first phase of actual operations, Hyundai’s U.S. subsidiary first converted $20,000 into USDT, then transferred it via the Avalanche network to the Mexico subsidiary, and finally the Mexico side converted the USDT back into dollars.

What’s striking is that the entire cross-border transfer and verification process averaged only 7 minutes. Compared with traditional cross-border remittances, which often take 3 to 4 hours or even days of waiting, blockchain technology demonstrated an overwhelming efficiency advantage. In addition, the overall architecture of this POC (including regulatory review, compliance considerations, accounting and tax, and the operating framework) was led by Hyundai Card within the group, showing that large multinational enterprises are assessing the compliance of blockchain infrastructure with extreme rigor.

Tether CEO: a key milestone bridging traditional finance

The success of this pilot builds on Tether’s earlier strategic investment in Axiym, aimed at providing enterprises with near-instant value transfer services. For this major development, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino gave high praise in a statement:

“Stablecoins are becoming a key part of the next generation of global financial infrastructure. This modern initiative by Hyundai shows that there is rising demand for financial infrastructure that can move value faster, more efficiently, and with greater transparency across borders. USD₮ is helping bridge traditional finance with blockchain infrastructure—providing new tools to simplify settlement and effectively manage global operations.”

Next steps: introducing USDC tests of Europe-local currencies

Hyundai’s first pilot is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for global B2B payments and enterprise funds management (treasury). Officially, the group disclosed that in the next phase of plans, it will further explore more cross-border channels and direct settlement using local currencies.

More notably, according to market-related reports, Hyundai is expected to kick off the second-phase POC for its European subsidiary at the end of this month. At that time, it is expected to introduce another major stablecoin giant, Circle’s USDC, as well as Visa, a leader in traditional payments, to comprehensively test interoperability among multiple local currencies and the cost-effectiveness of foreign exchange. The global enterprise adoption of stablecoins has clearly fully begun.