Qivalis CEO Says Stablecoins Are Reshaping Global Trade Finance

Trade finance, the cash flow behind global business, has long looked ready for a ledger based upgrade, and stablecoins are now driving it. Jan Oliver Sell, CEO and founder of euro pegged issuer Qivalis, says the change is real. Trade finance is drawing attention in Asia, Latin America and Africa, and dedicated trade finance funds that provide instruments and buy commodities are moving their whole supply chain onto stablecoins, often without converting back to fiat.

Sell gave an example, a supplier in East Africa trades with a buyer in Kazakhstan, all in stablecoins. Collateral moves much faster, and firms can rotate it in minutes instead of days.

Why Earlier Blockchain Trade Finance Fell Short

Business blockchain groups like R3 and Hyperledger worked on streamlining paper based instruments such as letters of credit, but the cash and payment side was never onchain. Sell said stablecoins with real liquidity now fill that missing piece.

Qivalis Euro Stablecoin Launch Plans

A year ago Sell was Qivalis’s only employee. The company now has about 40 staff, has onboarded 37 European banks and is close to getting an Electronic Money Institution license in the Netherlands. It aims to launch a regulated euro stablecoin by the end of this year.

Multi-Stablecoin Future and MiCA Advantage

Dollar tokens from Tether and Circle dominate the market, but Sell argues Europeans, Japanese and Koreans won’t operate in dollars. He expects a multi-stablecoin world where flows look like they do in fiat. With further delays to the US Clarity Act, Europe’s MiCA framework gives institutions clearer rules. Sell believes newer US bank led stablecoin groups are well behind, noting Qivalis took three and a half years to reach this point.