Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, completed a cross-border treasury transfer of $20,000 in USDT stablecoin on Avalanche, settling funds from its U.S. entity to Mexico in seven minutes versus several hours through traditional banking channels.
The pilot marks the first major blockchain-based treasury operation by a South Korean company. Hyundai routed the transfer directly on the Avalanche network rather than through correspondent banking or wire systems, reducing settlement friction in its internal cash management across subsidiaries.
The company plans to expand the mechanism to additional countries and introduce transfers in local currencies beyond USDT. Hyundai is preparing a second pilot for its European subsidiaries scheduled to launch later this month, working with Circle and Visa on that initiative.
The seven-minute settlement on Avalanche compressed what Hyundai's traditional cross-border processes required in several hours, according to the company's announcement. The time gain reflects the direct on-chain confirmation model rather than the sequential processing of international payments through multiple intermediary banks.
Hyundai did not announce a timeline for full production deployment or specify which additional markets it intends to enter first with the expanded pilots.