As the holiday shopping frenzy kicks off, international sellers are hitting serious roadblocks trying to keep their American customer base intact. The usual playbook isn't cutting it anymore.

Payment friction seems to be the elephant in the room. With traditional banking rails getting more complicated and fees eating into margins, merchants outside the U.S. are scrambling for alternatives. Some are looking at crypto rails as a workaround—faster settlements, lower cross-border costs, you know the drill.

But it's not just about payments. Logistics delays, currency volatility, and shifting consumer preferences are piling on. American shoppers want that Amazon-speed delivery, and if you can't deliver (literally), they'll bounce to domestic options.

Interesting to see how decentralized payment solutions might shake up this space. Could be a real use case brewing here if the infrastructure catches up.