Today we're announcing a partnership between Paxos Labs, Aleo, and Toku to launch the first fully private stablecoin payroll solution, powered by USAD.
For all the progress stablecoins have made (over $33 trillion processed in 2025 alone), enterprise adoption has hit a wall. The reason is simple: traditional blockchains are transparent by default. When you run payroll on a public chain, individual salaries, bonus structures, and treasury balances are visible to anyone who looks. For any serious business, that's a dealbreaker.
This partnership changes that.
How it Works
Toku is the first global, compliant platform purpose-built for stablecoin payroll. Their API plugs directly into existing HR systems like Workday, ADP, and SAP, so companies can run compliant stablecoin payroll without changing their workflows.
Aleo provides the privacy layer. Using zero-knowledge proofs, transactions on Aleo's network can be verified without revealing any of the underlying data. That means compensation, treasury movements, and wallet balances stay confidential.
USAD, issued by Paxos Labs and backed 1:1 by Paxos Trust Company's regulated stablecoin USDG, is the payment rail tying it all together. Enterprises get the speed and cost advantages of stablecoins, the compliance guarantees of a regulated asset, and, for the first time, real privacy.
Why this Matters
Less than 1% of businesses currently use crypto for payroll. Privacy is the primary reason. Every public company CFO who gets excited about stablecoins hits the same wall when they realize their payroll data would be on-chain for the world to see.
This solution addresses that head-on:
- Compensation stays confidential. Salaries, bonuses, and equity payouts are shielded from competitors and the public.
- Treasury operations are private. Corporate burn rate, vendor payments, and cash flow are no longer visible on-chain.
- Employee risk is reduced. High-profile employees and executives aren't exposed to targeting based on visible wallet balances.
- No workflow changes required. The integration works with existing HR and payroll systems. No migration, no new tools.
Already in Production
Before launching publicly, Aleo and Toku integrated the system to pay their own globally distributed teams. With employees and contractors across North America, Europe, and Asia, both companies were dealing with the high fees and slow settlement of traditional cross-border banking.
Team members can now opt in to receive salaries in USAD, getting instant access to dollar-denominated stablecoins without sacrificing financial privacy. It's the kind of proof-of-concept that only works when you're willing to use your own product. And it works.
What our Partners are Saying
"People all over the world want access to dollar-backed stablecoins, but they shouldn't have to broadcast their salary to the public to get it. What we've built with Toku is the first solution to offer true privacy for stablecoins, and we expect this to become the standard for all on-chain finance."
– Howard Wu, Co-founder of Aleo
"Every public company CFO we talk to gets excited about stablecoins until they realize their payroll would be public. That's where the conversation ends. This partnership with Aleo finally gives them what they've been asking for. With the GENIUS Act now providing regulatory clarity, the path is clear for private stablecoins to become the standard for the $55 trillion global payroll market."
– Ken O'Friel, CEO of Toku.
Looking Ahead
For stablecoins to move beyond experimentation, they need to fit into real business workflows. Privacy is becoming table stakes for enterprise adoption, whether it's payroll, treasury management, or consumer financial services. USAD was designed to support exactly these kinds of integrations, and we're excited to see what Aleo and Toku have built on top of it.
Private stablecoin payroll is rolling out to select Toku enterprise clients in Q1 2026, with full availability expected by mid-2026.