BALBOA | CORP adds former Paxos treasury head Austin Campbell to advisory board as it builds BALBOA1 for trade payments

Panama-based stablecoin infrastructure company BALBOA | CORP has added Austin Campbell and fintech entrepreneur Richard Douglas to its advisory board while developing BALBOA1, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin for business-to-business trade payments. For PSPs and banks watching the high-risk side of digital assets, the important bit is that this is not pitched at consumer crypto flows; it is aimed at settlement, escrow and trade finance.

1. Austin Campbell previously served as Head of Treasury at Paxos, where he managed more than $22 billion in reserves backing stablecoins and helped design Binance USD (BUSD), one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins before it was discontinued. He now leads Zero Knowledge Group, advising banks, asset managers and payments companies on digital asset strategies.
2. Richard Douglas also joins BALBOA | CORP’s advisory board. The company describes him as a three-time fintech founder with experience in payments, risk management, compliance and financial technology governance, including advising blockchain and payments businesses on regulatory and operational risks.
3. BALBOA | CORP said the appointments will support development of BALBOA1, which it says is designed for B2B trade payments rather than consumer crypto transactions. The company’s pitch is to use blockchain to reduce delays in international settlements between buyers, sellers and shipping companies.
4. According to BALBOA | CORP, BALBOA1 is intended to provide near real-time settlement while supporting escrow arrangements and trade finance workflows. It will operate across Ethereum, TRON and Base, with each token backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars held with trust or partner banking institutions.
5. The company’s rationale is straightforward: cross-border trade often passes through multiple banks, payment providers and manual verification steps, which can take several days before funds become available. BALBOA | CORP says those delays can increase financing costs and trigger demurrage fees when cargo sits at ports longer than agreed because documentation or payments have not been completed.

The broader point for high-risk payment operators is that stablecoins are being pushed beyond trading desks and into corporate treasury, international settlement and trade finance. That shifts the conversation from retail crypto acquisition to rails, reserves, banking relationships and operational control — the usual places where the real risk sits.