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<p>Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial.</p><p>Here is a statistic that should keep payments executives awake at night: stablecoins now process <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/03/stablecoins-cryptocurrency-on-rise-financial-systems/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$27.6</a> trillion annually. That’s more than Visa and Mastercard combined — and the number is only growing. What we are witnessing is not a gradual evolution of payments, but a complete replacement of the plumbing that the global financial system runs on. And we’re only at the beginning.&nbsp;</p><div id="cn-block-summary-block_aa3fe645ce64e819a9069737dbf81a62" class="cn-block-summary"><div class="cn-block-summary__nav tabs"><span class="tabs__item is-selected">Summary</span></div><div class="cn-block-summary__content"><ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Traditional international payments are broken: they rely on outdated 1970s infrastructure, are costly, slow, and prone to fraud, locking up trillions in idle capital.</li><li>Stablecoins fix the flaws of legacy systems, offering instant, cheap, transparent cross-border payments without trapped liquidity or complex intermediaries.</li><li>Regulation and adoption are accelerating: U.S., EU, and Asia are rolling out clear frameworks, and banks like JPMorgan and firms like MoneyGram are embracing stablecoins.</li><li>The future is stable, tokenized, and yield-bearing — stablecoins paying interest may soon replace bank deposits, disrupting incumbents who fail to adapt.</li></ul></div></div><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="global-payments-are-broken">Global payments are broken&nbsp;</h2><p>Our current international financial system is horrendously inefficient. While the user experience has improved dramatically, we’re still using the same basic infrastructure from the 1970s.&nbsp;</p><p>The reality is that ‘simple’ wire transfers require multiple complicated steps. Your bank sends money to its correspondent bank, which then goes to the SWIFT network, then the receiving correspondent bank, to the final bank, before making it to the recipients. Each stop takes a cut, causes a delay, and creates a point of failure.&nbsp;</p><p>The results of this are profound. There is an average of <a href="https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">6%</a> fees on remittances, <a href="https://paymentscmi.com/insights/stablecoins-cross-border-payments-banks-strategy/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$10 trillion</a> is locked up in nostro/vostro accounts doing nothing, <a href="https://www.rapyd.net/company/news/press-releases/cross-border-businesses-focus-on-expansion-but-common-payment-challenges-curb-growth/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">38%</a> of businesses report payments delays of five days or more, and <a href="https://www.eastnets.com/blog/the-increasing-complexities-of-cross-border-payment-fraud-in-e-mea-and-how-banks-can-strengthen-their-defenses" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$400 billion</a> is expected to be lost to fraud<a href="https://www.eastnets.com/blog/the-increasing-complexities-of-cross-border-payment-fraud-in-e-mea-and-how-banks-can-strengthen-their-defenses" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a>over the next decade.&nbsp;</p><p>And this is all while the payments industry generates <a href="https://www.merchantsavvy.co.uk/digital-payment-market/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$2.2 trillion</a> annually in revenue while failing at its basic job: moving money quickly, cheaply, and safely.</p><p>You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/have-we-forgotten-the-point-of-stablecoins-opinion/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Have we forgotten the point of stablecoins? | Opinion </a></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="bitcoin-almost-fixed-this">Bitcoin almost fixed this</h2><p>Bitcoin (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) was launched in 2009 and offered a potential solution: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system with no intermediaries. On paper, this solved the problems with our financial plumbing. But then something unexpected happened. The price skyrocketed from $0.40 to $29.60 in 2011. Then it crashed to $2. And now it is worth over $100,000.&nbsp;</p><p>This volatility naturally killed its use case. Why buy coffee with something that might double tomorrow? The cash replacement turned into a speculative casino chip, now known as “digital gold.”&nbsp;</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="enter-stablecoins-bitcoin-s-boring-but-brilliant-cousin">Enter stablecoins: Bitcoin’s boring (but brilliant) cousin</h2><p>In 2014, some innovators realised we could have the benefits of Bitcoin, but without the inherent volatility. Enter stablecoins — digital dollars that stay at $1.00. Tether (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/tether/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDT</a>) launched first, followed by USD Coin (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/usd-coin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDC</a>). And we now have over <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/12/11/stablecoin-market-cap-hits-200-b-milestone-could-double-in-2025-as-adoption-accelerates" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$200 billion</a> in stablecoins across various blockchains.&nbsp;</p><p>Businesses are reaping the benefits of stablecoins. Cross-border remittances are <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/cross-border-transactions-with-permissioned-defi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">60%</a> cheaper than traditional methods, B2B settlements are instant instead of three days, and there is no capital trapped in correspondent accounts.&nbsp;</p><p>Naturally, the numbers are exploding. In 2024, stablecoins processed <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/03/stablecoins-cryptocurrency-on-rise-financial-systems/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$27.6 trillion</a>, and there was a 59% year-on-year growth. This is not a gradual adoption; it is a fast and brutal takeover.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-current-winners">The current winners</h2><p>There are a few companies that are excelling at using stablecoins. ALT 5 Sigma makes crypto payments invisible to merchants. Zeebu settles cross-border payments instantly and has transparent fees. And MoneyGram, the 150-year-old remittance giant, is expanding aggressively into stablecoins — and winning.&nbsp;</p><p>The pattern is that instead of talking about blockchain, they focus on solving customer problems and providing unique benefits, without mentioning the underlying infrastructure, which many are still skeptical about.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="everything-is-about-to-change">Everything is about to change</h2><p>Stablecoins are already threatening the payments industry, but we are about to witness the perfect blend of regulatory conditions and technological advancements that will lead to the death of traditional payments.&nbsp;</p><p>The regulatory floodgates are about to open. The <a href="https://crypto.news/u-s-senate-passes-genius-act-stablecoin-regulation-2025/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">United States GENIUS Act</a> is about to set the rules for USD-backed stablecoins, <a href="https://crypto.news/mica-explained-what-does-the-eus-first-crypto-regulation-mean-for-the-industry/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Europe’s MiCA Regulation</a> is coming into force, and various jurisdictions across Asia and the Middle East are creating comprehensive and clear frameworks in a race to attract crypto and stablecoin businesses.&nbsp;</p><p>Banks are finally getting on board. JP Morgan has launched the JPM Coin, while the Bank of America is hiring crypto teams. And the traditional payments incumbents, Visa and Mastercard, are building their own networks.&nbsp;</p><p>In a particularly exciting development, yield-bearing stablecoins are also about to explode. Why hold normal dollars when stablecoins pay 5%? And by 2028, stablecoins are expected to save over <a href="https://www.juniperresearch.com/press/stablecoins-to-save-businesses-26bn/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$26 billion</a> annually on cross-border payments. The math is obvious, and the writing is on the wall.&nbsp;</p><p>We are watching the biggest transformation since credit cards. The companies that capitalise on this—and select the right infrastructure — will thrive. Those that don’t will join the likes of Blockbuster, wondering what happened.&nbsp;</p><p>Ten years from now, the payments industry as we know it will look profoundly different.&nbsp;</p><p>Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/crypto-acts-like-land-not-tech-and-thats-why-its-weird/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Crypto acts like land, not tech, and that’s why it’s weird | Opinion </a></p><p><strong>Author: Manthan Dave</strong></p><p><b>Manthan Dave</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is the co-founder of digital asset custodian Palisade, where he leads the engineering team. Before co-founding Palisade, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Ava Labs, where he drove innovative solutions across Avax and EVMs. Prior to this, Manthan was a Staff Software Engineer at Ripple, contributing to the development of cutting-edge systems such as On Demand Liquidity payment settlement orchestration and algorithmic trade execution. Manthan holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Greenwich. </span></p>

Payments are broken, and stablecoins are rapidly fixing them | Opinion

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