US-based non-bank trade finance network Capital4Trade and freight forwarder Tech Cargo have completed what they describe as a “market-first” trade finance deal using WaveBL’s electronic bill of lading (eBL) platform and stablecoin liquidity.
The deal financed the shipment of frozen food products from Spain to Florida, for a US-based SME trader supplying major food retailers and wholesalers.
Tech Cargo founder Ernesto Vila told GTR this was the first non-bank trade finance transaction to combine eBLs, internet of things (IoT) cargo monitoring and decentralised finance liquidity within an SME-focused cross-border trade structure.
The transaction addressed a growing liquidity squeeze facing smaller traders, as large US buyers “push tariff and supply chain risk upstream” by insisting on receiving goods fully shipped, cleared and duty-paid before they will commit to payment, the companies involved in the deal said.
“Global trade is increasingly demanding financing structures that traditional systems were not designed to support,” they said in a joint statement. “Traditional trade finance institutions are often reluctant to support these structures because they lack operational visibility and control over the underlying inventory while goods are in transit.”
The transaction was split into two distinct legs. In the first stage, Capital4Trade advanced funds against the inventory while the goods were in transit, secured by a pledge over the cargo.
The inventory collateral “was controlled through the eBL issued and transferred via WaveBL”, Vila said.
Once the container was delivered, a tracking device transmitted real-time geolocation, cold chain temperature data and container movement visibility, alongside a confirmation signal that served as delivery and acceptance evidence.
This triggered a handover from the inventory-backed payables leg to the receivables purchase leg of the transaction, as the IoT data was wired directly into the payment workflow.
Once the goods were accepted by the US buyer – a special purpose vehicle funded by investors who had deposited liquidity in Tether, a US dollar-pegged stablecoin – stepped in and purchased the trader’s receivable from the US buyer using those digital asset funds.
The companies involved declined to name the ultimate buyer.
Payments to the manufacturer were made in fiat currency, “which is then converted back into digital assets to settle the investors’ exposure”, Vila said.
WaveBL vice-president of financial institutions, Ofer Ein Bar, added that “by combining digital trade documentation with logistics visibility, IoT monitoring and integrated technology-driven operational workflows, solutions such as the Capital4Trade and WaveBL structure create greater transparency, operational control, and real-time certainty.
“This enables non-bank financial institutions to confidently participate in global trade finance and help close the financing gap.”
