Freemarket and Axiym Launch Primary-Market USD₮ Access for Businesses.

Freemarket and Axiym today launched a service that gives businesses real-time access to freshly minted, primary-market USD₮ issued by Tether. 

Businesses that need USD₮ for emerging-market payments can acquire it through secondary-market channels, where pricing and counterparty arrangements may vary. Freemarket and Axiym said their new joint service, LIQUI-DT, is intended to address that by giving businesses real-time access to freshly minted, primary-market USD₮ issued by Tether.

In trials ahead of launch, which the companies described as audited, clients minted more than $300 million through the service, Freemarket and Axiym said.

The service operates through Freemarket’s global payment network. Freemarket provides the fiat-payment infrastructure through FreemarketFX, which is authorised by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and FreemarketFX Ireland Limited, which is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Axiym provides the liquidity and onchain settlement layer, while Tether provides the primary-market issuance of USD₮. The companies said Tether doesn’t operate the network or provide payment or settlement services. 

The companies present the service as a network of separate providers rather than a single vertically integrated business. They said the structure creates checks and balances and reduces concentration risk. 

“Compliant access to primary market stablecoins inside a fully regulated payment ecosystem is a massive unlock for us,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief executive of Tether. “Companies moving money into, out of and between emerging markets now have 24/7 global access to freshly minted USD₮, the dominant stablecoin for these geographies.”

Andy Lyons, chief growth officer at Freemarket, said the service connects the infrastructure “end-to-end”. “We are the only non-issuer with both deep fiat infrastructure and live USD₮ stablecoin mint capabilities,” he said. “We can now move money into USD₮ instantly, globally, securely and compliantly through our LIQUI-DT service.”

The companies cited growth in total stablecoin market capitalisation from $251.7 billion in mid-2025 to $307.6 billion in January 2026. They also cited an estimate that roughly two-thirds of stablecoins are held in emerging markets, along with a further estimate that cross-border and business-to-business payment volumes there will reach $120.8 billion by 2030.

They also cited estimates that multinationals can have a quarter or more of their liquidity held in emerging markets, where settlement friction can create treasury problems. Freemarket and Axiym said LIQUI-DT is intended to help treasury and compliance teams move that money more quickly.

Farhad Rassul, co-founder and chief business officer at Axiym, said the platform’s core-banking layer “creates wallets, accounts, and transactions while embedding AML and monitoring tools”. He said this gives customers confidence in “the end-to-end integrity of the process”.