Building a Global Payroll Infrastructure with Stablecoins

Client Overview

The client is a global payroll services platform providing end-to-end payroll calculation and disbursement for cross-border organizations. Its services cover:

• Full-time employees, distributed teams, freelancers, and project-based contractors

• Payroll compliance and payouts across multiple countries, currencies, and tax regimes

• Customers including distributed teams, multinational companies, and Web3-native organizations

Business Challenges

For global payroll platforms, the challenge was not whether funds can be transferred, but whether payroll could be executed reliably, at scale, and within complex operational constraints:

• Globally distributed recipients with fragmented payout preferences: Employees and contractors are spread across regions. Some prefer local bank transfers, others rely on exchange accounts, while an increasing number expect to be paid directly in stablecoins such as USDT or USDC.

• Payroll is high-frequency and mission-critical: Monthly or bi-monthly mass payouts leave no room for error. Any incorrect payment or delay directly affects employee satisfaction and employer trust.

• Need to incorporate stablecoins into existing payroll logic: The platform did not want to maintain a separate wallet system, risk framework, and reconciliation process solely for stablecoins, nor assume responsibility for private key management and compliance boundaries.

Cobo’s Solution

• Enterprise custody accounts for centralized stablecoin payroll budgets:For each corporate client, the payroll platform provisions a dedicated custodial account with Cobo. Enterprises fund their stablecoin payroll budgets on a monthly or recurring basis. Cobo handles asset custody and underlying security, removing the need for either the platform or its clients to manage private keys.

• One-click conversion of payroll runs into batch payout instructions:Enterprises continue to complete payroll calculation, tax computation, and payslip approval within the payroll platform as usual. Employees and contractors who opt for stablecoin payouts are grouped into a single payroll batch, which is submitted through Cobo’s batch payout API to execute multiple on-chain payments in one operation.

• Flexible payout routing with pre-disbursement risk controls: Recipients can choose to receive funds via a custodial account within the platform, a personal on-chain wallet, or an exchange address, depending on their needs. Before any payout is executed, the system triggers on-chain KYT/AML screening and automatically flags and pauses transfers that trigger high-risk rules, escalating them to the payroll platform’s administrative console for final review and approval.

Results and Impact

• Stablecoin payroll integrated into existing workflows: Stablecoins are introduced as an additional payout option without requiring a separate system. Payroll calculation, approvals, and reconciliation processes remain unchanged.

• Expanded global payout coverage with reduced cross-border constraints: The platform can pay employees, freelancers, and contractors worldwide using stablecoins, reducing the time and cost constraints associated with traditional cross-border remittance methods.

• Auditable fund management with robust risk controls: The platform gains transparent batch reconciliation records and on-chain transaction logs, with KYT/AML screening and risk-blocking mechanisms embedded into fund flows. This dual layer of data visibility and compliance controls strengthens the security and auditability of payroll operations.