> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://stablecoininsider.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Bloquo Is Using the “Stablecoin Sandwich” to Rewire Global Trade Finance - URL: https://stablecoininsider.org/how-bloquo-is-using-the-stablecoin-sandwich/ - Published: 2026-01-25T15:29:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-01-25T15:29:26.000Z - Description: How Bloquo uses the “stablecoin sandwich” to cut cross-border trade finance costs by up to 90%, settle payments in minutes, and modernize global B2B payments. - Author: Alexandra - Tags: Interview, bloquo, Leaders Global trade finance is still running on infrastructure designed decades ago. Cross-border B2B payments remain slow, expensive, and fragmented, especially outside the dominant US, European, and Asian corridors. [**Bloquo**](https://bloquo.io/) is betting that stablecoins, used pragmatically rather than ideologically, can fix this. In a recent interview, [**Carlos Russo**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-russo-37112bb7/)**, CEO of Bloquo**, explained how the company is using what it calls the **“stablecoin sandwich”** to dramatically reduce settlement times and transaction costs for manufacturers, importers, exporters, and trade finance providers worldwide. --- ## The Core Problem: Cross-Border B2B Payments Are Still Broken For companies operating in emerging or “exotic” corridors (Latin America to Africa, Southeast Asia to South America) the traditional system is deeply inefficient. **Three structural failures dominate:** ### 1\. Slow Settlement Times A simple transaction such as a payment from Brazil to the Philippines can take **up to four days** to settle. > ***“The settlement times tend to be very high. A transaction from Brazil to the Philippines can take up to four days when you consider all the intermediary banks involved.” - Carlos Russo*** The delay is caused by multiple correspondent banks, time zone mismatches, and manual reconciliation across the Swift network. ### 2\. Excessive Intermediaries A single payment can involve **five to six banks**, each taking fees, introducing FX spreads, and adding operational risk. ### 3\. High All-In Costs In exotic corridors, total transaction costs can reach **10–14%**, once FX spreads, bank fees, and financing costs are accounted for. For trade-driven businesses operating on thin margins, this is a structural tax on growth. --- ## The Solution: The Stablecoin Sandwich Bloquo replaces the correspondent banking chain with a **two-step on-chain bridge**, using stablecoins strictly as a settlement tool. ![Stablecoin Sandwich](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64511692b023345aa6ecc1a1/67b30d738172e41de403bc2a_Flow.svg) ### How the Stablecoin Sandwich Works 1. **Importer pays locally** The importer sends local fiat currency to a regulated local broker (on-ramp). 2. **Instant conversion to stablecoin** The broker converts fiat into a fiat-backed stablecoin. 3. **On-chain transfer** The stablecoin is transferred on-chain to an off-ramp partner in the exporter’s country. 4. **Instant conversion back to fiat** The off-ramp converts the stablecoin into the exporter’s local currency and deposits it into their traditional bank account. > *“The importer pays the exporter, and they use the stablecoin in the middle just as a tool. You start with fiat, you end with fiat and the transaction itself happens in stablecoins.”* **Key point:** Both parties receive **local fiat**, while settlement occurs on-chain. --- ## Why This Changes the Economics of Trade Payments ### Settlement Time: Days → Minutes Using the stablecoin sandwich, settlement drops from **up to four days to roughly 30 minutes**. > *“With blockchain and a process called the stablecoin sandwich, the transaction can take up to 30 minutes. It’s a huge difference.”* ### Cost Structure: 6 Intermediaries → 2 Counterparties Instead of a long correspondent chain, the process involves only: - A local on-ramp - A local off-ramp > *“In the traditional Swift process you can have six banks participating. With the stablecoin sandwich, you only have two companies involved.”* ### Cost Reduction: Up to 85–90% In exotic corridors: - Traditional rails: **up to 14% total cost** - Stablecoin sandwich: **\~2% total cost** Rather than marginal optimization, it's structural compression. [![stablecoin sandwich](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-25-at-4.27.04---pm.png)](https://bloquo.io/) --- ## CFO Reality Check: Regulation and Risk Come First Bloquo emphasizes that institutional adoption is not driven by ideology, it's driven by **regulatory clarity and cost efficiency**. > *“The first angle CFOs always look at is regulation. They want to know if this is regulated in both countries.”* ### Regulatory Acceptance Is Already Broad Approximately **85–90% of countries** already allow or are in the process of regulating stablecoin transactions. ### Centralized Stablecoins Win for Trade Finance For institutional trade use cases, **fiat-backed stablecoins** dominate. > *“For trade and trade finance, centralized stablecoins are preferred. They are seen as more reliable, and governments supervise the issuers.”* In Latin America alone: - USDT represents **90%+ of stablecoin usage** - Roughly **$50 billion in USDT** is traded annually in Brazil ### Why Stablecoin Issuer Risk Is Acceptable CFOs naturally ask: *What happens if a stablecoin issuer defaults?* > *“The risk of a stablecoin issuer defaulting is much lower than a bank defaulting. Stablecoin issuers mainly hold bonds, while banks hold much riskier assets.”* --- ## Where Bloquo Is Actually Innovating: The Application Layer [![stablecoin sandwich](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-25-at-4.27.51---pm.png)](https://bloquo.io/) [**Bloquo**](https://stablecoininsider.org/404/) is explicit about where it believes real innovation belongs, not at the stablecoin layer itself, but **on top of it**. > *“You don’t need to create more stablecoins. You customize in the third layer (the application layer) and that’s where smart contracts come into place.”* ### Trade Finance, Fully On-Chain Bloquo is launching a **trade-finance-specific application** that will: - Connect companies seeking trade credit - With trading firms, banks, and capital providers - Enable trade finance transactions to occur **100% on-chain** > *“We’re launching very soon an application specific to trade finance that allows these transactions to happen fully on-chain.”* ### Solving the Stablecoin Liquidity Trap There are trillions of dollars in stablecoins globally, but much of it sits idle. Bloquo’s platform enables stablecoin holders to: - Deploy capital into real-world trade finance - Earn yield from productive economic activity - Move beyond passive holding or speculative DeFi loops --- ## The Bigger Picture [**Bloquo**](https://bloquo.io/) is not trying to replace banks or reinvent money. It is doing something more effective: - Removing unnecessary intermediaries - Compressing settlement time - Turning stablecoins into **invisible infrastructure for global trade** The stablecoin sandwich is not a slogan. It is an execution strategy and for global trade finance, it may be exactly what the system has been missing.