Currency conversion (FX)
FX conversion changes money from one currency to another. The rate and the spread you get decide how much the payee receives.
Definition
Foreign exchange (FX) conversion happens whenever you fund a payout in one currency and the payee receives another. It applies to bank transfers and to stablecoins, for example when euros become USDC.
Mid-market rate and spread
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between the buy and sell price of a currency. Providers add a spread on top of it.1 A 2% spread on a USD 10,000 payout costs USD 200, often without a visible fee line.
Stablecoins and FX
Stablecoins make currency conversion much cheaper. Two stablecoins, for example EURC and USDC, are swapped on-chain in seconds through a liquidity pool, with no chain of correspondent banks in between. The pool fee can be as low as 0.05% of the amount.2 Traditional channels cost far more: sending USD 200 abroad through a bank cost 14.99% on average in Q3 2025, fees and exchange rate margin included.3
Stablecoins do not remove FX completely. A creator who receives USDC but spends in local currency still converts at some point, at the off-ramp. The benefit is that the creator chooses when to convert, and can hold dollars or euros in the meantime.
Good practice
- Compare the rate you get against the mid-market rate14
- Fund payouts in the currency that most of your payees receive
- Offer stablecoin payouts in the invoice currency, which need no conversion
- Show payees the amount they will receive before the payment goes out
How Talentir helps
Talentir converts stablecoin payouts on-chain. A stablecoin payout in the invoice currency, such as USDC for a USD invoice, needs no conversion and has no conversion fee. Payees see the amount they receive before they claim it. See global payments
Further reading
Related topics
Cross-border payments
A cross-border payment is a payment where sender and payee are in different countries, which usually adds currency conversion, fees and compliance checks.
On-ramp and off-ramp
An on-ramp converts bank money into stablecoins. An off-ramp converts stablecoins back into money in a bank account.
What are stablecoins?
Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to keep a stable value, usually 1:1 with a currency like the US dollar or the euro, most often backed by reserves.
Payout methods
A payout method is the rail that delivers money to the payee: bank transfer, digital wallet such as PayPal or Venmo, or stablecoin.