Why Stablecoins, Not Banks, Will Power the Next Payments Revolution

Cross-border payments are broken. If you’ve ever tried sending money from Lagos to Shanghai or paying a supplier in Nairobi, you know the experience: long delays, high fees, and uncertainty as to whether that payment will even land. For businesses and families in emerging economies, that’s not just an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to growth and stability.

Stablecoins solve this. Phenomenal, right?

Unlike traditional banking rails, stablecoins are digital dollars that move at internet speeds, cost cents to send, and operate 24/7. They are pegged 1:1 to fiat currencies, removing the volatility of other cryptocurrencies. For people and businesses in emerging economies, that combination of speed, stability, and accessibility is a game changer.

And demand is already apparent. Remittances to developing economies reached $669 billion in 2023 – a 3.8% increase from the year before – according to the World Bank. Average global remittance fees? Still 6.4%. For families who are relying on those transfers for things like education, healthcare, or housing, that is money that they cannot afford to lose. Stablecoins bring those costs down to fractions of a percent while also reducing settlement times from days to seconds.

Think about the business cost: manufacturers in Nigeria are subject to currency shortages, and SMEs across Africa are completely hamstrung by settlement-period delays with traditional payment rails. With stablecoins, a supplier in Nairobi can be paid in digital dollars instantly, and a freelancer in Kenya can receive full payment from a U.S. client without seeing 3 - 10% disappear into fees and FX spreads.

Treasury teams feel this pain too. Think of the potential: in 2022, cross-border payments revenues were over $250 billion, according to McKinsey, but the agonizing inefficiencies are still present. Stablecoins provide CFOs and treasurers a distinct advantage: they can have faster settlements, lower costs, and better liquidity control, especially amid fragile policies that drive unfavorable FX rates. This isn't just increased efficiency. This is to become more resilient, as the norm is volatility.

There will still be challenges to face. The on and off-ramps must be seamless. The regulatory landscape must become more flexible. Institutional obligations will be necessary safeguards. But the finances are being put in place right now. Regulated payment providers are building compliant payment transactions, transparency mechanisms, and travel-rule protections directly into the stablecoin rails.

The bigger picture is clear: stablecoins are no longer an alternative. They are fast becoming the preferred rails for money movement in global and emerging markets. They solve problems that banks, despite decades of promises, have failed to address.

Traditional financial institutions like banks have had their chance to modernize cross-border payments. They moved too slowly. Stablecoins are doing what banks could not: delivering a faster, more inclusive, and cost-effective financial infrastructure.

The future of international payments won’t be defined by paperwork, wire codes, and waiting days for settlement. It will be defined by instant, borderless payments, powered by stablecoins. And for emerging markets, that’s not just innovation. It’s a necessity.