An Onchain Alternative to Global Transaction Banking | Erbil Karaman (Huma Finance) at ETHConf

Sun, Aug 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

In this talk, Erbil Karaman from Huma Finance presents an onchain alternative to global transaction banking, the system that has dominated global money movement for decades. He explains that despite its name, the system is largely local: most global transaction banking happens in New York, home to USD Fedwire (around $1.1 quadrillion annual volume) and the CLS FX settlement system (around $1.8 quadrillion), all depending on a central ledger held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where every bank wanting to settle USD globally must hold reserves, topped by JP Morgan. He dispels the myth that banks move money, arguing they instead manage liquidity across large balance sheets composed of deposits, which is why JP Morgan is fighting stablecoins so hard, since without deposits banks lose the liquidity that enables global capital movement. Erbil outlines three challenges facing bank fiat liquidity: higher cost of capital as quantitative easing ends and monetary policy tightens, fragmenting geopolitics from trade and tariff wars pushing central banks to derisk from T-bills into gold and commodities, and the rise of stablecoins draining deposits from treasuries, companies, and wealthy individuals. Citing JP Morgan's 2026 payments industry report, he notes banks now recognize liquidity must become programmable, borderless, and always on, and that blockchains are here to scale. Huma's PayFi network rebuilds global transaction banking onchain using stablecoins, programmable liquidity, and yield vaults that operate 24/7 without banking holidays or dependence on the Fed's central ledger. He shares live use cases across credit cards (Rain), cross border payments, merchant settlements (Amazon settling with Asia suppliers in one button press instead of two to four days), and trade finance for commodities, rare earths, and GPUs. He details Huma's layered stack (transaction, currency, cost, compliance, liquidity, and use case layers) and rapid adoption by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe, Western Union, and MoneyGram. The network has grown 3x year over year to $14 billion in total volume growing $1 billion monthly on just $160 million in efficiently recycled stablecoin liquidity, generating sustained 8% organic yield for over 110,000 depositors with zero credit defaults. He closes announcing the PayFi token (PST) omnibus yield system is now live on Ethereum mainnet with partners including Bitwise, Fluid, Morpho, and Chainlink, after two years operating mainly on Solana. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 A Big Idea: Replacing Global Transaction Banking 00:36 Understanding the Global Banking Buildup 00:58 Why the System Is Actually Local 01:25 Fedwire and CLS: Quadrillions Through New York 01:50 The Central Ledger at the Federal Reserve 02:17 JP Morgan and the Bank Reserve System 02:40 The Myth That Banks Move Money 03:03 Why Banks Fight Stablecoins to Death 03:25 Three Challenges Facing Fiat Liquidity 03:52 Fragmenting Geopolitics and Derisking From T-Bills 04:31 How Stablecoins Drain Deposits 05:03 JP Morgan's 2026 Payments Report 05:26 Programmable, Borderless, Always On Liquidity 06:00 Why Blockchains Are Here to Scale 06:36 How Huma's PayFi Network Works 06:58 Use Case: Credit Cards With Rain 07:24 Use Case: Cross Border Payments 07:50 Use Case: Amazon Merchant Settlements 08:33 Use Case: Trade Finance for Commodities and GPUs 09:06 The Layered PayFi Stack 09:42 Adoption by Every Major Payment Company 10:05 The Numbers: $14 Billion and 3x Growth 10:28 8% Organic Yield and Zero Defaults 10:53 Programmatically Locking the Settlement Cycle 11:21 The PST Cross-Chain Omnibus Yield System 11:56 Now Live on Ethereum Mainnet 12:32 Diminishing the Role of Fiat Rails 12:59 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *ETHConf 2026* ETHConf is a 3 day event for founders, industry leaders, and builders who are excited about the possibilities of building on top of Ethereum. Connect with 2,000+ top innovators in crypto, finance, technology, and policy at our inaugural three-day event packed with showcases, demos, partnerships, and conversations shaping the future of the global economy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHConf* X: https://x.com/ethconf Website: https://ethconf.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎟️ Get your early bird tickets for ETHConf 2027: https://ethconf.com/2027#tickets 🎤 View the full ETHConf 2026 Speaker Schedule: https://ethconf.com/schedule _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _