Send EUR to TRY through a correspondent bank and you're not making one trade. You're making two: EUR to USD, then USD to TRY. Each leg carries its own spread, its own delay, its own point of failure. You pay for a currency you never wanted, just to get from one you have to one you need.
Direct pairs collapse that into a single trade. EUR to TRY, quoted once, settled once. No intermediate currency, no intermediate markup.
The Math Nobody Shows You
Two legs at 1.5-3% (a Modality estimate) each isn't 1.5-3% total — it's closer to double, because each spread applies to a different notional and each bank adds its own buffer on top. Traditional correspondent banking runs 1.5-3% per payment and takes 2-5 business days, and that's before you count the USD detour tax baked into the rate itself.
630 Pairs, One Spread, No Detour
Modality quotes 630 direct currency pairs across 36 currencies natively — EUR to TRY moves as EUR to TRY, not EUR to USD to TRY. One spread, quoted up front, settled same-day instead of 2-5 business days. The mechanism is structural, not a discount: removing a leg removes its cost and its delay at the same time. Modality is the stablecoin settlement rails layer underneath — RLUSD, USDC, and USDT move the value on public chains, while licensed partners hold the funds. We route. We never custody.
Talk to Modality. See your real rate before you commit.
FAQ: Direct Currency Pairs Stablecoin
What are direct currency pairs in stablecoin settlement?
A direct currency pair converts one currency straight to another -- e.g. EUR to TRY -- without routing through USD first. Modality supports 630 such direct pairs across 36 currencies.
Why would a business want to avoid a USD-denominated stablecoin?
Routing every cross-border payment through a USD stablecoin adds an unnecessary conversion leg for corridors that don't touch USD at all -- Modality settles 630 currency pairs directly, without a forced USD detour.
What backs the stablecoins used in B2B settlement?
Modality's rails use RLUSD, USDC, and USDT -- each backed per its own issuer's reserve model -- moved across BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP chains plus SEPA, SWIFT, Faster Payments and local rails reaching 63 countries.
Note: the 1.5–3% cost and 2–5 business day figures are Modality estimates for a typical correspondent-bank route, not a published benchmark. Actual cost and timing vary by corridor, currency pair, bank and amount.