Slash is launching a dollar account powered by a non-transferable stablecoin that offers global businesses faster payments, built-in off-ramps, and yield on balances.
Slash, a Californian neobank founded in 2022 by Victor Cardenas and Jack Jia, is introducing a Global USD account that enables businesses to store, send, and receive both stablecoins and U.S. dollars.
According to a press release shared with The Defiant, the product leverages Slash’s own USDSL stablecoin, which is issued by Bridge, a stablecoin API platform that was acquired by Stripe in February for $1.1 billion.
With the Global USD account, the San Francisco-headquartered neobank says businesses can convert between stablecoins like USDT and USDC, hold balances in USDSL, and off-ramp to U.S. bank accounts using ACH, SWIFT, or wire transfers. The account also supports treasury management features for crypto-native firms.
Expanding Cross-Border Dollar Access
The product is designed to address two key pain points: cross-border dollar access and treasury consolidation. By using crypto infrastructure under the hood, Slash wants to help businesses avoid delays and foreign exchange (FX) fees. International users, for instance, can pay U.S. suppliers via bank rails while avoiding the typical five-day processing window and 1% fee.
Slash CEO Victor Cardenas told The Defiant that the decision to launch a proprietary stablecoin was driven by the underlying economics of the product.
“Our ‘Global USD’ account is leveraging crypto under the hood but is not aimed at a crypto audience,” Cardenas said. “The idea is to give non-US businesses the ability to operate in dollars without dealing with the complexities of gas fees, managing private keys, etc.”
USDSL is backed by Circle’s USDC stablecoin and USTB, an on-chain money market fund created by Superstate that is collateralized by U.S. Treasuries. “We will have proof of reserves on our website that show the wallet addresses that hold the USTB and USDC that back USDSL,” Cardenas emphasized.
Non-Transferable Stablecoin
Clarifying how USDSL functions within the platform, Cardenas said, “Users will not be able to send USDSL to an external wallet.” However, they can still use it to initiate outbound payments in USDC, USDT, or U.S. dollars. “Under the hood, we’ll ‘burn’ the USDSL they were holding and send USDC, USDT, or even USD to the party of their choosing,” Cardenas explained.
Stablecoin swaps between USDSL and USDT/USDC are free of charge, with Slash covering the transaction fees. “There will be a small fee that we charge when converting from USDSL to USD,” Cardenas said, adding that users can redeem or mint USDSL 1:1 without slippage.
Early adopters will be offered a 4.5% annual yield through the end of the year, with variable returns available afterward based on account balances, the Slash CEO said.
Cardenas acknowledged the uphill climb in gaining user trust. “Our stablecoin is brand new, so obviously it’ll take a lot of work to get to the level of recognition and trust that USDC and USDT have,” he said. “I think businesses and consumers, however, are increasingly realizing that many different financial institutions/fintech companies/even software companies will launch their own stablecoins.”
