Northern Trust Partners with Haycen for Stablecoin Trade Finance

Northern Trust, a prominent traditional financial institution, has announced its partnership with Haycen, a stablecoin issuer focused on trade finance. The collaboration will see Northern Trust providing custody and cash management services to Haycen, enhancing the latter's ability to offer stablecoin-based solutions for non-bank lenders in global trade.

Northern Trust Asset Servicing will handle global custody services for Haycen's client fiat deposits, while Northern Trust Asset Management will provide cash sweep services. This partnership underscores the growing integration of traditional financial services with the burgeoning cryptocurrency market, particularly in the realm of stablecoins.

Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of another asset such as the U.S. dollar or gold, play a crucial role in cryptocurrency markets and are increasingly used for international money transfers. Haycen, operating in the U.K. and Europe, offers wholesale stablecoin-based solutions that aim to modernize trade finance, an industry often hindered by manual workflows and high costs.

Trade finance is a critical component of global commerce, but it faces challenges such as high costs and complexity, which can deter smaller businesses from accessing these services. Haycen's stablecoin solutions address these issues by providing increased availability to U.S. dollars and enabling instant settlement, thereby reducing the traditional friction associated with cross-border transfers.

Luke Sully, the founder and CEO of Haycen, highlighted the significance of this partnership. "Global trade is an incredibly important part of the economy and a fantastic market for us as a stablecoin solution; the global flow of goods and services relies on liquidity moving unencumbered and successive regulatory changes have forced banks to scale back trade lending operations," he said. "That’s left a gap in the market for non-bank players looking for new ways to move the $2 trillion of annual flows, 95% of which is denominated in USD. For these participants, using stablecoins combines yield enhancement with the certainty of instant free global settlement."

Haycen has received funding from the government to develop institutional-grade stablecoins, further solidifying its position in the market. This collaboration with Northern Trust is a strategic move that leverages the strengths of both entities to provide innovative financial solutions in the trade finance sector.