Every economy starts at the paycheck. It’s where 99.9% of people get their money today. People worldwide get their paychecks deposited into their checking accounts. They’re forced into using the banking system. These legacy rails impose a systemic “tax” on wages through access/latency tolls, bank fees, FX, and foregone yield. This tax on the global annual ~$50 trillion in wages is estimated to be over $1 trillion per year.
By starting at the source of all money for billions of people, the paycheck, stablecoins have the opportunity to cut out dozens of downstream rent‑seeking layers.
Stablecoins fit payroll better than bank rails. They settle globally, 24/7, near-instantly, with near‑zero transaction costs. Most importantly, they allow employers and employees to opt out of the banking system. In contrast, cross‑border payroll and remittances still average ~6.5% fees on legacy rails. World Bank Q3–Q4 2025 remittance cost baseline: 6.49%.* Remittance Prices
The Challenge
Today’s international payroll is slow, costly, and fragmented. A typical flow looks like this:
- Company initiates payroll funding (e.g., $2,000/biweekly) to an Employer of Record partner — $10–25 bank fee
- 1–3 days later — Employer of Record receives USD balance — 1–2% payroll fee
- 1 day later — Employer of Record converts USD to local currency — 2–5% FX fee
- 1–7 days later — Employer of Record sends local currency to recipients — $0–5 payment fee
Toku set out to change this, with a single platform for instant, compliant, global payroll powered by stablecoins.
The Solution: Crossmint Stablecoin Orchestration + Wallet APIs
Toku partnered with Crossmint to deliver next-gen payroll infrastructure that replaces legacy rails with stablecoin payments — while preserving the compliance and enterprise features that large organisations require.
The product works as follows:
- Companies connect payroll systems (ADP, Workday, Gusto, etc.) directly to Toku.
- Employers fund Toku in fiat or stablecoins; Crossmint handles conversion.
- Instant payouts: Once approved, stablecoins are sent to each worker’s wallet via Crossmint’s licensed Stablecoin Orchestration platform.
- If a worker lacks a wallet, the platform provides one (no seed-phrase, no gas fees, no manual crypto setup). Workers receive dollar-denominated value and can hold stablecoins or convert to local currency.
The Results
Toku deployed global payroll flows in weeks using Crossmint’s unified APIs, streamlining operations without managing separate vendors or onchain integrations. The end results allows employees to get paid faster, at a fraction of the cost:
| Outcome | Traditional Rails | Toku + Crossmint |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Efficiency | Pre-fund 1–3 days | Instant (stablecoins) / Same day (fiat) |
| Payment to worker | Up to 7 business days later | Minutes |
| Conversion & FX | USD → Local currency, multiple steps (2–5%) | Zero to a few bps |
| Transfer Costs | Multiple fees + funds locked 1–2 weeks | Few cents |
| Traceability | Manual processes, low visibility | Full chain-level traceability, programmable rails |
| Additional Services | Limited | Embedded wallet enables yield & payments |
The Bigger Picture
Toku’s integration shows how stablecoins are transforming global financial operations, from payroll to remittances and merchant payouts.
With Crossmint, companies can:
- Embed stablecoin wallets and payouts with just a few lines of code.
- Move money instantly, securely, and compliantly.
- Launch new financial products without needing blockchain expertise.
Conclusion
Powered by Crossmint, Toku delivers faster, compliant, and flexible payroll.
Ready to modernize your financial operations? Start building with Crossmint.
