Hyundai Card settled $20,000 in USDT between its US and Mexico units on the Avalanche blockchain in 7 minutes, according to the company. The transaction converted dollars to the stablecoin, transferred it across Avalanche, and converted the proceeds back to dollars—a process that takes 3 to 4 hours through traditional interbank wires.
The pilot represents one of the first uses of blockchain infrastructure by a major multinational conglomerate for internal treasury operations. Hyundai Card partnered with Tether, Ava Labs, and Axiym on the settlement, which completed in July.
Cross-border corporate treasury settlements have historically relied on correspondent banking networks, where intermediary banks charge fees and add processing delays. A 7-minute settlement versus a 3-to-4-hour wire reflects the settlement speed of blockchain networks relative to the SWIFT system, which governs most interbank transfers. Stablecoin settlements bypass correspondent banks entirely, reducing the number of parties involved in each transaction.
Hyundai Card is the first major South Korean company to test internal stablecoin transfers on a public blockchain, according to reporting on the pilot. The company also conducted a separate settlement trial using USDT on Avalanche between European units, though the size and timing of that transaction were not disclosed.
The settlement is a proof of concept rather than a production deployment. It remains unclear whether Hyundai Card intends to move ongoing treasury operations to blockchain rails or whether the pilot was designed solely to test the technical feasibility of the transfer mechanism.
