Interview with XDC Network’s Sean White: How XDC’s AUDD–USDC pool is reshaping cross-border trade settlement

XDC Network’s Sean White explains how the new AUDD–USDC pool is slashing Australia–U.S. settlement times from days to minutes.

Australian businesses face hurdles when transacting with their U.S counterparts. Banks charge high transaction fees, and it can take between 4-5 days to settle a transaction. In business, where every second counts, this can create unnecessary frustrations. To address these challenges, XDC Network has launched a new blockchain-based payments infrastructure for business transactions between Australia and the United States. We sat down with Sean White, BD and Ecosystem Manager at Australia XDC Network, to tell us more about how this infrastructure can disrupt traditional banking rails.

Q: Sean, XDC Network has just launched an AUDD–USDC liquidity pool on Curve Finance. Why does this matter now for businesses moving money between Australia and the US?

Sean White: Cross-border payments are at an inflection point. Businesses are no longer willing to accept three to 4-5 days for settlement and 3-7% in fees when the technology exists to do it in minutes. The AUDD–USDC pool gives Australian and US counterparties a direct, on-chain settlement path that’s faster, cheaper, and more transparent, while still meeting compliance expectations.

Q: In simple terms, how does XDC enable near-instant AUD–USD settlement compared to traditional banks?

Sean White: Traditional banking relies on multiple intermediaries and batch processing. On XDC, value moves directly on-chain. AUDD acts as a fully reserved digital representation of the Australian dollar, while USDC does the same for USD. The Curve pool provides deep liquidity between the two, allowing near-instant conversion with minimal slippage. Settlement happens at the blockchain layer, not across several correspondent banks, which is where the delay and cost normally come from.

Q: The IMF points to APAC as the global leader in digital currency adoption. What kind of response are you seeing from Australian businesses so far?

Sean White: There’s strong interest, particularly from exporters, payment providers, and trade finance platforms. While we’re still early post-launch, demand is being driven by settlement of trade invoices, treasury management, and cross-border supplier payments. 

Q: XDC’s US dollar infrastructure has reportedly processed over US$1 billion in transactions in the past 90 days. What advantages does this give over correspondent banking, and how do you address regulatory or security concerns?

Sean White: The biggest advantages are speed, cost, and predictability. With blockchain-based settlement, you remove hidden fees, time zone delays, and reconciliation issues. From a regulatory perspective, XDC is designed for institutional use — we’re ISO 20022–compliant and built to interoperate with existing financial messaging standards. Security is handled at both the protocol level and through enterprise-grade infrastructure used by participants, which makes this far more robust than many people assume.

Q: AUDD is already being used in live trade initiatives across Asia and the Middle East. How does expanding into the Australia–US corridor build on that momentum?

Sean White: It’s a natural extension. AUDD has proven itself as a settlement asset in Asia-focused trade corridors like Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE. The Australia–US corridor brings scale and global relevance. Once you connect these corridors through shared on-chain liquidity, you start to see the potential for a truly interconnected trade settlement network rather than isolated bilateral systems.

Q: SMEs often feel the pain of cross-border fees the most. What practical steps should Australian businesses take to start using this infrastructure?

Sean White: The first step is working with payment providers or platforms already building on XDC. We have seen many integrating this infrastructure directly into their offerings. From there, businesses can settle invoices, move treasury funds, or finance trade using stablecoins like AUDD without changing their core operations. Trust is critical, which is why XDC focuses on enterprise-grade security, compliance, and standards like ISO 20022 to make adoption as frictionless as possible.

Q: Finally, what does this launch say about XDC Network’s broader ambition in global trade and payments?

Sean White: It signals that we’re focused on real-world adoption, not theory. Stablecoins are increasingly becoming the default rails for cross-border payments, and XDC is positioning itself as the blockchain layer that regulated institutions and businesses can actually use. This is about modernising trade and payments infrastructure — starting in APAC, but with global reach.