Stablecoins: separating myth from reality and readying for the future

Stablecoins are having a moment. Regulatory tailwinds like Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance are building certainty and trust and driving adoption. The latest figures from Bloomberg suggest that stablecoin transaction volumes shot up to $33 trillion in 2025.

However, the numbers only tell part of the story. There’s a huge difference between the overall volume of trade and the amount being used for real-world use cases. In reality, there’s still a long way to go before stablecoins become anything close to mainstream.

**Current stablecoin hot spots **

So where are stablecoins having an impact? Remittances are one of the biggest sectors to see adoption. Indeed, companies like Western Union could be described as the original “off-ramps.” Remittance providers such as MoneyGram are actively integrating stablecoins into their flows, while other Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) are starting to explore stablecoins for liquidity, as an alternative to forecasting prefunding needs in key markets.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and remittances have long led the evolution of payouts, from physical couriers and money orders to e-wallets, and we believe growth in this sector will directly accelerate stablecoin adoption among contractors.

Where hype lags reality

Across other use cases, stablecoins still have a long way to go. There are rails that will take years, maybe even decades, to migrate to digital or tokenised currency. Some may not make the transition at all.

Payroll is a case in point. Digital assets fall into something of a grey area when used for discretionary compensation, such as bonuses, where payment methods can be more flexible. However, core wages and salaries are generally required by law to be paid in legal tender, which in most jurisdictions is defined as cash, cheque, or bank wire. That leaves little room for stablecoins.

The same limitations apply to statutory and tax payments. Even in the most crypto-friendly of jurisdictions, it’s highly unlikely that tax authorities will accept stablecoin payments in the near term. This is true of centralised, monolithic institutions such as the UK’s HMRC, and even more so in highly fragmented systems like Spain, where regional authorities operate under a variety of rules.

In markets like Nigeria and Kenya, however, although legal frameworks maintain a preference for payment in legal tender, in practice salaries and contractor payments often flow through USD-backed stablecoins. It’s therefore possible that large e-wallet providers in key emerging markets will evolve into bridges or off-ramps for crypto-based payments.

The view from the banks

The world’s largest transaction banks are currently adopting a pragmatic “no-regrets” approach to stablecoin rails. While aware of potential deposit leakage into stablecoin offerings, and the risk of client relationships migrating toward wallet-centric ecosystems beyond the bank, they increasingly view early engagement as a hedge.

Many banks are also exploring how to meet emerging client demand across payments, treasury, custody, FX, trading, and tokenised asset services. Most are already advancing on the more obvious elements of this agenda, while actively debating how far to extend into newer roles, such as issuer, on- and off-ramp provider, or network enabler.

While central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) continue to attract attention, banks increasingly view stablecoins and tokenised deposits as the more immediate opportunity. Some institutions are pursuing proprietary coins, while others are experimenting with interoperable models. Either way, momentum is clearly shifting toward stablecoin-based money movement.

Emerging use cases and limitations

Among banks’ experiments with stablecoins, the most advanced are focused on multinational corporate treasury management, including multi-entity liquidity and FX risk management alongside digital asset custody, cross-border payments, and the tokenisation of real-world assets

Despite this expansion in services, however, banks have yet to alter their risk frameworks or client acceptance standards. Instead, they’re serving the same institutional customer base in new ways, rather than broadening who or what they bank. While this may evolve as stablecoin strategies mature, the emphasis currently remains on delivering new capabilities within an unchanged risk perimeter.

What this means for enterprises and financial institutions

For any organisation involved in payments - whether that’s a multinational company, a payroll provider, or fintech - there are lessons to be learned from the current state of play around stablecoins.

First is the simple fact that strong fiat rails will be the foundation of workforce payments for many years to come. There will, however, be important use cases for stablecoins, and organisations should therefore look to use payments technologies that can support both fiat and stablecoin requirements.

In fact, eWallet and crypto capabilities will become important in the years ahead as workforces, services, and commerce continue to expand globally and stablecoins transform into a  mechanism to break down complexity and barriers to growth.

**Plan for flexibility **

Until we know whether stablecoins will be dominated by tier one banks or by fintechs and other emerging parties, flexibility is key. Corporates in particular should ensure that they can get access to the infrastructure and services they need friction-free and at the right price points.

Establishing a payment curation layer is central to achieving this flexibility. Connecting directly to multiple financial networks is highly complex, both technically and operationally. A curation layer abstracts this complexity, allowing organisations to access the full range of payment rails and stablecoin options through a single platform and contract. As stablecoins take their place alongside fiat as a core element of financial infrastructure, this ability to manage complexity will become critical for enterprises and financial service institutions alike.