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Cross-border Payments and Stablecoins: An Insightful Guide for the Year 2025 Industry

Delving deep into the heart of stablecoins, this comprehensive exposé uncovers the prospects and pitfalls, offering invaluable insights from esteemed figures in the financial sector.

Cross-border Payment Stablecoins: An Overview of the Industry in 2025
Cross-border Payment Stablecoins: An Overview of the Industry in 2025

Cross-border Payments and Stablecoins: An Insightful Guide for the Year 2025 Industry

In the rapidly evolving world of finance, stablecoins are making a significant impact, particularly in cross-border payments. These digital assets, which offer stability in value, are reshaping the landscape of international transactions, particularly in emerging markets and business-to-business (B2B) exchanges.

Leadership in Emerging Markets

Latin America leads the charge, with 71% of institutions already using stablecoins for cross-border payments. High traditional costs and currency volatility have made stablecoins an indispensable tool for remittances and international money transfers.

Real-Time Settlement and Cost Reduction

Stablecoins enable near-instant payment settlements, often with fees under 1%. This is a stark contrast to traditional corridor fees that can exceed 6%, as seen in U.S.–Mexico remittance lanes. By reducing reliance on intermediaries and foreign exchange conversion fees, stablecoins offer a more cost-effective solution, as demonstrated in cross-border B2B examples like Canadian lumber exporters to U.S. buyers.

Financial Stability Tools

In countries like Argentina, Venezuela, Turkey, and Nigeria, where inflation is rampant, stablecoins (often dollar-backed) serve as digital safe havens. They offer individuals and businesses a way to preserve purchasing power amid local currency instability.

Institutional Adoption

Ninety percent of financial institutions now integrate stablecoins, with 49% using them for payments and 58% specifically for cross-border transactions. This institutional validation marks stablecoins’ transition from experimental to essential infrastructure.

Opportunities and Challenges

The opportunities associated with stablecoins include enhanced speed and real-time settlement, improved transparency and potentially greater security, reduced costs for both businesses and consumers, expansion potential in untapped corridors and emerging markets, and the ability to integrate with existing or new financial infrastructures.

However, stablecoins face challenges such as regulatory uncertainty and fragmentation, infrastructure integration, liquidity constraints, user awareness, and potential risks of misuse. Overcoming these hurdles is crucial for stablecoins to realise their full potential.

The Future of Stablecoins in Cross-Border Payments

The payment industry stands to gain significant competitive advantages by adapting quickly to stablecoins. Landmark regulation is bringing stablecoins deeper into the traditional ends of the market. The year 2025 is considered a pivotal year for stablecoins in the cross-border payments industry.

This report provides a detailed primer on the state of the cross-border payments industry using stablecoins and the opportunities available. Access to the report requires login or email request for banks with internal policies impacting sign-up. The report is available in both PDF and digital form and includes a stablecoins 101 glossary of terms.

Understanding the benefits and technical complexity of stablecoins can be a challenge. However, stablecoins are gaining significant attention in the cross-border payments industry. They are not being hyped as the solution to everything, according to Eric Barbier, but there are real businesses and use cases happening. Chris Harmse, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of BVNK, states that stablecoins are a new and upgraded payments technology.

Creating a free account provides access to the most extensive range of research and analysis on cross-border payments globally. The report is part of a wider range of research and analysis on cross-border payments globally, including an industry-leading newsletter. The glossary can be accessed by scrolling to the end of the report or via a clickable section panel.

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The emergence of stablecoins in the cross-border payments industry has led to a significant emphasis on technology as a key driver of lifestyle changes, particularly in emerging markets. Stablecoins are increasingly being integrated into various business-to-business (B2B) transactions for their ability to offer near-instant payment settlements, reduced costs, and enhanced transparency.

In the realm of personal finance, particularly in countries experiencing high inflation, stablecoins are acting as digital safe havens, offering individuals and businesses a means to preserve purchasing power amid local currency instability, thus reshaping the lifestyle choices made in such economies.

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