Hyundai’s ‘real world adoption of USDT’ cut transfers to 7 minutes: Details

South Korean automaker Hyundai is doubling down on stablecoins for internal transfers between its subsidiaries. 

During its testing stage, the automaker saw faster transfers between U.S and Mexico subsidiaries. Instead of the typical 4 hours or more for traditional interbank transfer methods, the firm said it took about 7 minutes to transfer Tether’s USDT between its two offices. 

Commenting on the test, Hyundai hailed stablecoin transfers as offering “overwhelming speed and superior stability” to conventional methods. The pilot involved Hyundai Motors Group-owned credit card firm Hyundai Card, Avalanche, Tether and payment integrator Axiym.

For his part, Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, billed the move as an impressive “real world adoption of USDT.” Bo Hines, CEO of Tether U.S., scored the Hyundai move as “what the future of finance looks like.”

At the end of July, the automaker will conduct a similar test with Circle’s USDC and Visa for EU transfers. 

For Hyundai, this was a foundation for utilizing and scaling stablecoins for remittances between overseas subsidiaries. But its credit card division plans to go beyond internal transfers. The firm noted, 

Going forward, we will explore and continuously expand various businesses utilizing stablecoins, including international remittance and payment infrastructure.

This signals growing enterprise stablecoin adoption.

Stablecoin adoption wars: USDT vs. USDC

Stablecoins have graduated from a crypto experiment to a tool that addresses real global pain points: US dollar accessibility and cheaper, faster cross-border transfers. 

Although Euro-based stablecoins have also seen significant growth, they still have a smaller market share compared to US Dollar-based alternatives. 

But the USD-based segment has become increasingly competitive. The recent activation of the MiCA regime saw USDC gain significant ground over Tether’s USDT. 

In fact, USDC currently accounts for 63% of annual stablecoin transaction volume (about $6T out of the total $9T). That was more than double Tether’s USDT volume of $3.3T (36%). 

Worth pointing out that this was the first time USDC has led in annual stablecoin transfer volume. Whether the MiCA will allow USDC to maintain its dominance by the end of the year remains to be seen. 

Final Summary

• Hyundai plans to scale internal stablecoin transfers using USDC and USDT 
• USDC dominates 2026 stablecoin transfer volume at 63%, underscoring significant usage