XDC Network: On-Chain Trade Finance Market Worth $15 Trillion, Aiming to Drive Global Trade Settlement Digitization

On June 1, Travis John, Head of Institutional Business at XDC Network, said the global trade finance market is valued at roughly $150 trillion, but the industry still relies heavily on paper documents, manual reviews, and multiple layers of intermediaries—leading to lengthy settlement times, high financing costs, and fraud risks. XDC Network leverages blockchain technology to digitize trade finance, cross-border settlements, and collateral management by putting invoices, bills of lading, and other trade documents on-chain, helping companies cut financing costs and improve settlement efficiency. Per XDC, short-term trade financing rates for some small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expected to drop from a traditional channel’s peak rate of about 30% to around 10%. XDC noted that trade finance is a key subsector of real-world assets (RWA) and on-chain private credit, yet only approximately $700 million in global trade finance assets have been tokenized, signaling adoption remains in early stages. Following the 2025 enactment of the "GENIUS Act," advances in compliant stablecoin development will further accelerate the rollout of on-chain trade settlement applications. Additionally, XDC acquired Contour Network—a trade finance platform backed by over 100 financial institutions including HSBC, Citibank, and Standard Chartered Bank—in 2025. The company plans to integrate stablecoin settlement capabilities into its existing trade finance network.