Crypto for Advisors: Stablecoins are ready for prime time
Stablecoins are gaining traction in cross-border payments, with 18% of corporates using them in production and 15% adopting tokenized deposits. Financial institutions are ramping up stablecoin services, with 69% planning to offer them within two years.
Intelligence analysis by Qwen 2.5 (3B)
Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are becoming mainstream in cross-border payments, with financial institutions and corporates showing increasing interest in integrating these technologies into their existing workflows.
Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are like new ways to send money across countries. They can make it faster and cheaper, and help avoid some of the problems that happen when you send money between different places.
Analysis
Cross-border Payments: The Entry Point for Stablecoins and Tokenized Deposits
Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are gaining traction in cross-border payments, with 50% to 53% of respondents using or exploring these technologies for cross-border supplier payments or cross-border B2B payments. These applications directly address the frictions corporates experience in cross-border payments, such as slow processing and settlement, foreign exchange costs, and regulatory delays.
Financial Institutions' Interest in Stablecoins and Tokenized Deposits
Financial institutions are also showing strong interest in stablecoins and tokenized deposits. A total of 69% offer stablecoin services or plan to launch them within two years, up from 30% in 2025. Among banks, 49% already offer or plan to offer tokenized deposits over the same period. The opportunity extends beyond basic money movement, with 63% of financial institutions interested in using blockchain-based money as a settlement mechanism.
Multi-Rail Adoption
The market is moving beyond a binary choice between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. 45% of corporates and 53% of financial institutions favor using both rails. Different payment needs will call for different forms of digital money. Stablecoins provide reach across wallets, platforms, and public blockchain networks, while tokenized deposits can bring commercial bank money into programmable environments. Organizations can choose between them based on the use case, counterparty, geography, and liquidity requirements.
Integration and Programmability
Corporate expectations favor embedded delivery of blockchain payment services. 76% consider integration with existing enterprise resource planning, treasury management, and banking platforms very important or critical. 74% want blockchain payments fully integrated into existing banking and payment interfaces, while only 14% prefer a separate experience for digital assets. This preference creates an advantage for incumbent providers, with 63% of corporates likely to adopt blockchain payments if offered by their existing bank or payments provider. Financial institutions must build on trusted relationships with credible economics, secure execution, and regulatory readiness to offer programmable payments.
Key points
- Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are gaining traction in cross-border payments
- Financial institutions are ramping up their use of stablecoins and tokenized deposits
- Different payment needs will call for different forms of digital money
- Financial institutions must build on trusted relationships to offer programmable payments
- Corporate expectations favor embedded delivery of blockchain payment services
As more financial institutions and corporates adopt stablecoins and tokenized deposits, they could become the main way to send money across borders. This could lead to faster and cheaper transactions, and make it easier to do business with people in different countries.
If too many financial institutions and corporates adopt stablecoins and tokenized deposits, it could create problems. For example, if everyone uses these new ways to send money, it could make it harder for banks to manage their money, and could cause problems with regulations.
