Kevin Conabree believes global trade has a timing problem. Ships move continuously, money does not.
Cargo vessels cross oceans around the clock while financial settlement remains trapped inside banking hours, holiday schedules and intermediary delays. The result is an expensive mismatch between physical trade and financial infrastructure that costs the shipping industry billions annually in demurrage, delayed cargo release and trapped liquidity.
Conabree is co founder and CEO of BALBOA | CORP. He believes stablecoins may finally offer a solution, not as speculative crypto assets but as programmable settlement infrastructure purpose-built for global trade.
The company has launched BALBOA1, a US dollar-backed stablecoin developed in Panama and designed specifically for institutional B2B settlement flows tied to shipping and trade finance.
“This is not about retail payments or trading,” says Conabree. “It is about synchronising the movement of money with the movement of cargo.”
Much of the stablecoin industry has focused on crypto trading, decentralised finance or remittances. BALBOA | CORP is targeting something considerably less glamorous but potentially far larger: the underlying payment rails that support international commerce.
The inefficiencies are substantial. A cargo payment missing a banking cut-off by minutes can delay release documentation by a full day. In some cases, that delay can generate demurrage costs exceeding $80,000 while vessels sit idle waiting for settlement confirmation.
“Ships operate twenty-four hours a day,” Conabree says. “Ports do not stop because of a bank holiday. But the financial system still behaves as though trade only happens during office hours.”
Panama offers an unusually logical environment for such an experiment.
The country sits at the centre of one of the world’s busiest trade corridors while operating without a traditional central bank. Its economy is heavily dollarised, using the US dollar as legal tender, but without the monetary tools associated with sovereign currency management such as quantitative easing or domestic reserve expansion.
That creates a financial environment shaped more by trade flows and dollar liquidity than domestic monetary intervention.
“Panama already functions differently from most financial jurisdictions,” says Conabree. “It is deeply connected to global commerce and naturally oriented towards cross-border settlement.”
Conabree argues that stablecoins are evolving from speculative instruments into financial infrastructure precisely because they remove the friction created by banking schedules, correspondent networks and delayed clearing systems.
The company’s model combines continuous settlement capability with compliance controls intended for institutional use rather than consumer speculation. The broader ambition is to create programmable settlement rails that can integrate directly into trade finance workflows.
That includes the possibility of synchronising payments automatically with shipping events, customs approvals or cargo release triggers.
“What programmable settlement allows is the coordination of financial actions with real-world logistics,” says Conabree. “That changes the economics of trade.”
The timing may be significant.
As regulators increasingly focus on stablecoin frameworks globally, much of the public debate has centred on consumer payments and monetary competition. Yet the largest commercial opportunity may emerge in the less visible infrastructure underpinning international trade. Modern logistics operate around the clock, yet much of global settlement infrastructure still functions on banking timetables. BALBOA | CORP is positioning itself as part of a new gene
