Gravity Team Debuts Institutional OTC Desk to Enable T+0 Fiat Settlement for Stablecoin Payments

Stablecoins can move across blockchains in seconds, but converting those tokens into usable local currency remains the main bottleneck in cross-border payments, Gravity Team CEO Mārtiņš Beņķītis told crypto.news as the firm rolled out a new institutional OTC desk. Beņķītis said stablecoin payment infrastructure is fundamentally a liquidity problem because the same balances are used for different purposes. Market makers hold stablecoins to quote prices, rebalance inventory across venues and manage trading risk, while payments firms deploy them to fund conversions and release local fiat to recipients. Competing demands on stablecoins and on the local cash needed for payouts intensify pressure at the point of off-chain conversion and settlement. Gravity Team's corridor analysis argues that an on-chain transfer is only the first leg of a payment. The second leg—turning stablecoins into bank-depositable currency and completing the payout—faces constraints that vary by market, including uneven liquidity, banking hours, compliance checks and counterparty limits. Key findings highlighted by the company include: On-chain execution is highly reliable: Gravity Team reports stablecoin transfers clear on-chain more than 99.9% of the time once broadcast. In contrast, the firm says 3%–7% of traditional inbound wires into the Southeast Asian and Latin American corridors it serves are delayed or returned on the first attempt. Correspondent banking consumes capital: the company found correspondent models can leave the equivalent of 20%–40% of monthly transaction flow sitting in prefunded accounts. Cost gap remains wide (company estimates): stablecoin settlement across the corridors studied is estimated at 0.1%–0.4% of principal. Correspondent banking, after FX spreads, intermediary fees and the capital cost of prefunding, is estimated at roughly 3%–11%. Gravity Team said results vary by corridor, ticket size and compliance requirements. Payout completion is the real test: fast delivery of tokens to a wallet is not enough. Providers must deliver the quoted fiat amount within the promised timeframe, including when primary routes fail. To address the disconnect between crypto liquidity and local fiat settlement, Gravity Team launched its institutional over-the-counter (OTC) desk on Aug. 24. The desk acts as principal counterparty within agreed limits on size, price and volatility. The firm said the desk offers: Stablecoin settlement in under 60 seconds (on-chain) Same-day (T+0) fiat settlement in more than 20 currencies where local banking permits Direct banking relationships across 20+ markets Request-for-quote execution and credit lines (subject to terms) Supported fiat corridors currently include the Philippine peso, Indonesian rupiah, Mexican peso, Brazilian real, euro, British pound and U.S. dollar, with plans to add the Vietnamese dong. Beņķītis also described a structural tradeoff in payments operations. Firms with direct banking relationships have more control over funding, cutoff times and failed payments. Partner-led models can expand reach faster, but depend on third-party liquidity, limits and processing practices. He said this tension is making local conversion and payout "the newest area of competition" among payments providers. The launch comes as major payments and card networks push harder to connect crypto and fiat rails. Stripe acquired Bridge in February 2025 to strengthen stablecoin infrastructure for businesses. Mastercard completed its BVNK deal in August 2025, with total consideration of up to $1.8 billion, aimed at linking fiat and stablecoin rails. Macro research points to the same operational pain points. A March 2026 Federal Reserve note said correspondent banking chains can slow cross-border payments, increase costs and reduce transparency, partly because intermediaries may repeat compliance checks and obscure payment status. Demand is also rising alongside crypto adoption in emerging markets. Chainalysis data shows Asia-Pacific crypto volume rose 69% to $2.36 trillion in the 12 months ending June 2025, while Latin America increased 63%. Bottom line: stablecoins can sharply compress the digital leg of cross-border transfers, but the "final mile"—local funding, FX conversion, regulatory checks and dependable payout rails—remains the core liquidity and execution challenge. Gravity Team's OTC desk is designed to pair crypto liquidity with local banking access to reduce that friction, combining fast on-chain settlement with same-day fiat delivery in selected corridors.