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Hyundai Motor’s U.S. and Mexican units completed a $20,000 cross-border treasury payment using Tether’s USDT, settling the transaction in about seven minutes on Avalanche.
The pilot used an actual intercompany payment rather than test funds. Hyundai Card led the operating design as the group examines whether stablecoins can shorten settlement times without replacing existing accounting and compliance controls.
Hyundai Converted Dollars Into USDT and Back
Hyundai Motor America converted $20,000 into USDT and sent the tokens through Axiym’s payment infrastructure to Hyundai Motor Mexico. The receiving unit then converted the stablecoins back into U.S. dollars.
The full process included conversion, transfer and verification. Hyundai said it took an average of seven minutes, compared with three to four hours or more for a conventional interbank transfer on the same corridor.
USDT moved across the Avalanche blockchain, while Axiym connected the transaction to the companies’ traditional payment systems. Tether supplied the dollar-backed token used for settlement.
Hyundai Card Built Compliance Around the Transfer
Hyundai Card worked with Hyundai Motor to review the accounting, tax, legal, regulatory and internal-control requirements attached to transfers between overseas entities.
The company also assigned operational roles and designed the remittance process before the payment took place.
That allowed Hyundai to test stablecoin settlement inside a corporate treasury structure rather than as a standalone blockchain demonstration.
Pilot Did Not Create Permanent USDT System
The pilot did not establish a permanent payment system across Hyundai Motor Group. It tested whether stablecoin rails could handle a real payment while meeting the controls required for international corporate settlements.
The result gives Hyundai a benchmark for comparing stablecoin settlement with conventional interbank transfers on the U.S.-Mexico corridor.
European Pilot Expected to Add Circle and Visa
Hyundai Card plans to begin a second proof of concept involving Hyundai Motor entities in Europe later in July. The next test will use local currencies and examine the foreign-exchange costs attached to stablecoin settlement.
Circle and Visa are expected to join the European phase. Hyundai Card will use the results to assess whether the model can support settlements and fund transfers among more of Hyundai Motor Group’s overseas operations.
