New Partnership Uses Zero-Knowledge Technology to Make Compliant, Global Crypto Payroll a Reality for Businesses, Solving the Privacy Problem for the $33 Trillion Stablecoin Market.
SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For years, the promise of using stablecoins for business has been blocked by one fundamental flaw: a total lack of privacy. Every transaction on a public blockchain is visible to anyone, making them a non-starter for sensitive operations like payroll. Today, that changes.
Aleo, the leader in zero-knowledge technology, and Toku, first global, compliant platform for stablecoin payroll whose API lets any company run compliant stablecoin payroll through their existing HR systems, are partnering with Paxos Labs to launch the first fully private stablecoin payroll solution.
Toku’s global payroll platform will now run on Aleo’s privacy infrastructure. This integration enables enterprises to pay employees and contractors using stablecoins, such as the Aleo ecosystem’s USAD issued by Paxos Labs and backed 1:1 by Paxos Trust Company’s regulated stablecoin, USDG. Crucially, all transactions remain confidential, shielded from public view.
This partnership removes the final barrier to enterprise adoption, providing the security and confidentiality required to bring the $33 trillion stablecoin market into the mainstream.
Overcoming the Privacy Barrier
While stablecoins processed over $33 trillion in 2025, less than 1% of businesses use crypto for payroll. The primary blocker is transparency: on traditional blockchains, individual salaries, bonus structures, and corporate treasury balances are visible to the world.
“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,” said Ken O’Friel, CEO of Toku. “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.”
Key Features of Private Stablecoins for Payroll
This solution directly addresses critical business challenges with privacy-enhancing technology:
Case Study: Powering the Future of Work, Privately
Before launching publicly, Aleo and Toku integrated the system to pay their own globally distributed teams, demonstrating the real-world viability of private crypto payroll. With employees and contractors spread across North America, Europe, and Asia, both companies faced the high fees and slow settlement times of traditional international banking.
By using their own solution, team members can now opt-in to receive their salaries in stablecoins, giving them instant access to dollar-denominated currency without sacrificing personal financial privacy. The integration serves as the ultimate proof-of-concept and a new standard for the Future of Work.
“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,” said Howard Wu, Co-founder of Aleo. “Payroll is the perfect real-world use case to demonstrate this. 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. If your money isn’t private, it isn’t secure.”
“For stablecoins to move beyond experimentation, they need to fit into real business workflows,” said Bhau Kotecha, Co-founder of Paxos Labs. “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 it’s exciting to see the Aleo and Toku teams demonstrate what’s possible when privacy and infrastructure work together.”
A New Standard for the Digital Asset Industry
This partnership marks a critical turning point for enterprise blockchain adoption. While other payroll platforms offer stablecoin payouts, they do so on transparent blockchains that expose sensitive data. And while some blockchains promise privacy, none have been integrated into a compliant, global payroll system ready for business use. This is the first and only solution that delivers on both fronts, setting a new market standard.
Private stablecoin payroll will roll out to select Toku enterprise clients in Q1 2026, with full availability expected by mid-2026.
About Aleo
Aleo is the leading blockchain for private stablecoin payments and confidential applications. By providing a secure foundation for digital assets, Aleo enables businesses to leverage the speed and scale of blockchain technology without sacrificing the privacy and security of their financial data. For more information, visit aleo.org.
About Toku
Toku is the universal stablecoin payroll layer for global enterprises. The platform processes over $1 billion in annual payroll volume across 100+ countries, handling the full complexity of international compensation: tax withholding, labor law compliance, and real-time currency conversion. Toku plugs directly into existing HR systems like Workday, ADP, and SAP, allowing companies to pay employees and contractors instantly in stablecoins or fiat without changing their workflows. Built for the realities of distributed teams, Toku eliminates the costly, multi-day delays of traditional cross-border banking while ensuring every payment meets local regulatory requirements. For more information, visit toku.com.
About Paxos Labs
Paxos Labs is the enterprise-grade infrastructure platform for branded stablecoins and embedded on-chain financial products. Built on Paxos’ $180B+ track record in tokenization and over a decade of regulatory expertise, Paxos Labs enables fintechs, banks, and marketplaces to issue white-label stablecoins, integrate compliant yield, and embed lending directly within their platforms. For more information, visit http://www.paxoslabs.com.
