A New Kind of Holiday Exchange Comes to Life in New York City

Each winter, the Union Square Holiday Market becomes a small city of its own. The air smells like cinnamon and cider, vendors line the paths with handmade candles and scarves, and a steady rhythm of shoppers fills the square. This year, tucked away amid the familiar lights and bustle, something new is quietly changing how people pay.

Urbanspace, the company behind New York’s most beloved seasonal markets, is giving its Union Square location a modern twist. This season marks the first time shoppers can pay local vendors directly through the Urbanspace mobile platform powered by Avalanche. Payments are made in USDC, a dollar-denominated stablecoin issued through Circle’s regulated entities. It’s a small change with big implications, showing how technology built for speed and efficiency can enhance one of New York’s most familiar holiday traditions.

For shoppers, the experience feels natural. They browse, tap, and pay. There are no new steps to learn, no technical details to understand, and no difference in how it looks or feels. Behind the scenes, Avalanche technology processes each payment in seconds, keeping transaction fees low and funds moving instantly. For merchants who often wait days for traditional card payments to clear and lose a portion of each sale to interchange fees, this means immediate access to earnings during the busiest time of the year.

The goal is simple: to give small businesses a faster, more affordable way to get paid, and to make checkout as seamless as any familiar digital wallet.

Faster Payments, More Time for Small Businesses

Last year, the Union Square Holiday Market welcomed over one million visitors, making it one of the most popular seasonal destinations in New York City. The market’s mix of small businesses, artisans, and local food vendors has made it a cornerstone of the city’s holiday experience and an ideal setting to introduce a faster, more modern way to pay.

For small businesses, every sale counts and every delay is a potential missed opportunity. Traditional card networks often hold funds for days before merchants see them, creating cash-flow gaps during the busiest season of the year. Fees can quietly consume a percentage of each transaction, driven largely by complex, unpredictable, and hard-to-manage interchange structures. Reconciling statements, managing chargebacks, and waiting for payouts add layers of friction that large retailers can absorb but independents cannot. 

By processing payments on Avalanche, the Urbanspace mobile platform removes much of that drag. Transactions settle in seconds and at a fraction of the cost, giving small businesses faster access to earnings and more time to focus on what matters most, serving customers and merchants alike.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for both visitors and our vendors,” said Eldon Scott, President of Urbanspace. “The Union Square Holiday Market brings together so many small businesses, and this pilot allows us to explore a simple, modern payment option that may benefit them during one of the busiest times of the year.”

The program will run throughout the market’s season, which ends on December 24. Beyond faster transactions, the platform includes a digital vendor directory and holiday promotions, helping visitors discover more local businesses and connect with the people behind them.

From Local Markets to Global Finance

Avalanche’s technology is powering change well beyond Union Square. Around the world, leading financial institutions are using it to modernize how money moves. Visa, J.P. Morgan, and Citi have each explored Avalanche for stablecoin and tokenized payment settlement, using its speed and efficiency to make transfers faster and cost efficient. In Japan, TIS Inc., one of the country’s largest payment processors handling more than two trillion dollars annually, built a multi-token settlement platform on Avalanche to streamline payments across its network. The same infrastructure supporting small businesses in New York is helping shape the next generation of global payments.

“We’re excited to showcase what Avalanche was designed for: powering fast, affordable, real-world transactions at scale,” said Morgan Krupetsky, Vice President of Onchain Finance at Ava Labs. “Because Avalanche finalizes transactions in seconds and keeps fees low, merchants can receive payments immediately instead of waiting days, while shoppers enjoy a checkout experience that feels the same as any traditional app they’re used to. Bringing this technology to a landmark New York holiday market is a meaningful step in demonstrating how blockchain can support everyday commerce without requiring users to understand the underlying technology.”

At Union Square, the experience doesn’t feel futuristic. It feels familiar, just smoother. That’s the point. Innovation isn’t always loud; sometimes it’s hidden in the simple act of paying for a cup of cocoa and walking away with a smile.