Under the agreement, Lydian, a digital asset payment infrastructure company, has onboarded to Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. for stablecoin minting and redemption, with the related digital assets held in custody at the bank.
Lydian operates as an acceptance layer that payment and point-of-sale providers integrate so their merchants can take stablecoins at checkout. Customers can pay from any digital wallet using any supported stablecoin or digital asset. Merchants then receive local currency in the same way they would from a card transaction, without needing to hold or manage digital assets.
This addresses a structural gap identified by the companies: most payment and point-of-sale providers cannot hold or move stablecoins directly. Lydian places a federally chartered bank at the centre of the transaction flow, which allows those providers to extend stablecoin acceptance to their merchant base. As a result, smaller neighbourhood businesses gain access to the same minting, redemption, and custody infrastructure used by institutional clients.
The two companies are also exploring a broader arrangement in which Anchorage Digital would serve as the settlement hub for stablecoin payment flows across Lydian’s merchant network.
The bank’s role in the flow
Anchorage Digital Bank mints stablecoins from fiat and redeems them back to fiat on Lydian’s behalf. Assets are held in institutional custody with segregated accounts and audited controls. Under the arrangement being explored, payment flows from across Lydian’s network would be aggregated and settled at the bank, a function the companies compare to that of an acquiring bank for digital assets. No timeline for this expanded role has been disclosed.
Commenting on the collaboration, Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, argued that wider retail use of stablecoins depends on adoption by the payment providers merchants already work with, and that these providers need a regulated bank positioned between them and the assets.
Market context
According to the companies, the move responds to rising demand for regulated infrastructure as stablecoin use extends beyond trading venues into commercial payments. Lydian cites its survey of 7,500 consumers in five markets, in which 73% of respondents said they already use stablecoins, or intend to, for recurring payments, including rent, utilities, and tuition.
Carl Grimstad, CEO of Lydian, noted that conversations about stablecoin payments have largely focused on market need, while the other half of the challenge is whether merchants at the last mile can offer stablecoins as a payment option. Grimstad noted that small merchants have historically paid more and received less for payments and presented the partnership as a step towards financial inclusion.
