Stablecoins surpass Visa's volume, says CoinDesk data

📊 INSIGHT: Stablecoins rival the world’s largest payment networks. Over the past 12 months, stablecoins processed $46T in total volume, surpassing Visa ($16T) and nearing ACH ($87T). (h/t @a16zcrypto)

Fiat collateralized stablecoins represent digital dollars backed by real cash reserves, maintaining $1 value through arbitrage mechanisms that make them ideal for business payments. These tokens have created a $255 billion market that processes more daily volume than traditional payment networks like Visa. Major players include Tether's USDT (70% market share) and Circle's USDC (institutional favorite), with newer entrants like PayPal's PYUSD targeting mainstream adoption. Companies benefit from instant 24/7 settlements, reduced international transfer costs, and elimination of chargeback fraud, though they must navigate complex regulations and occasional depegging risks. Smart businesses diversify across multiple stablecoins and maintain traditional banking relationships while piloting these digital payment solutions. https://lnkd.in/ezJuPePz

Mastercard x stablecoins 🤝 Ripple teams up with Mastercard, WebBank, and Gemini to bring stablecoin settlement with RLUSD to improve fiat payments 🏦 Guided by our commitment to consumer choice and a principled approach to stablecoins—one that emphasizes strong consumer protections, a level playing field, and full regulatory compliance—we’re enabling settlement today while exploring how stablecoins can support future use cases 🚀 Read more below 👇 https://lnkd.in/dqQAGiZm

Cross-border remittance payments remain one of the world’s most inefficient everyday financial transactions. in 2025, the average fee to send money to international recipients is still above 6%. That adds up to more than $41 billion in annual fees, often paid by households that can least afford them. Stablecoins are the financial upgrade that can change the lives of millions of families around the world. On high-throughput public blockchains, settlement and fees combined can cost less than $1.00 and be completed within minutes, not days. The potential impact goes far beyond efficiency. Lowering the cost of global remittances could redirect billions toward food, housing, education, and healthcare in emerging markets. For stablecoin issuers and financial institutions, this isn’t just about faster payments. It’s a chance to open new markets while creating meaningful economic benefit. Read the full analysis in Stablecoin Remittances: The Cross-Border Payments Opportunity: 📘 https://lnkd.in/endVQKwu

USDC is quietly becoming the digital-dollar of global payments. When payment rails are still constrained by bank hours, FX spreads and hidden fees, something faster and more predictable begins to matter. USDC lets value move across borders in minutes, not days, and avoids many of the inefficiencies built into legacy systems. It isn’t just about speed, it’s about stability. Because USDC is pegged 1:1 to the dollar and backed by reserves, it removes much of the volatility risk that comes with other digital assets. It also offers transparency and traceability, every transaction visible on-chain, reconciliation no longer a manual headache but nearly instant. The real question for payment platforms and fintechs now becomes: are your rails built for this era? Or are you still optimized for yesterday’s banking system? How are you thinking about integrating USDC into your payments and settlement stack going into 2026?

💸 Moving $200 across borders shouldn’t cost you $6.08.   Yet, that’s the average fee if you send money from the UAE to the Philippines via traditional banking rails.   Do the same with stablecoins? $1 or less.    (The average fee we got with using the Hedera network in a developed remittance app)    Now multiply that by a $900B global remittance market. Or by the trillions in B2B payments that are still crawling over SWIFT.   Stablecoins aren’t just cheaper. They’re:   ✅ Near-instant ✅ Globally accessible ✅ Programmable — so compliance and controls can be baked into every transfer   For most market/currency pairings, legacy rails will never be on par.    Our hunch: stablecoins will soon become the default infrastructure for global money movement, especially from/to APAC and Africa.  Discover the full article we released: https://lnkd.in/dM8GDyZ5

Stablecoins recently crossed $275B in supply, while settling $800B in monthly volumes to rival VISA. That's an example of infrastructure proving product-market fit: faster settlements, lower costs, and 24x7 availability. Meanwhile, the GENIUS Act will likely ensure more regulatory clarity, integrating stablecoins into formal financial system. When that happens, banks can custody them, institutions can build on them. This way stablecoins are evolving from crypto-native rails to legitimate alternatives for cross-border payments, treasury management, tokenized commerce, and other enterprise-grade use cases. Reserve requirements and compliance hurdles might slow innovation down. But when it comes to moving institutional capital at scale, clarity and reliability are typically more important than agility and pure freedom. Now it's about bridging permissioned and bank-led stablecoins with public, on-chain, and decentralized infrastructure.

407 Payment Rails for Agents (What, How, and Value) 💸 407 Payment Rails: Simplifying Global Agent Payouts In the world of cross-border finance, speed and trust are everything. That’s where 407 payment rails come in — a system that enables instant, compliant payouts for agents and partners across geographies. 🔍 What it is: A unified settlement layer designed to streamline B2B and agent payments globally. ⚙️ How it works: It connects multiple payment networks and crypto rails, automating settlement, currency conversion, and reporting — all under one dashboard. 💎 Why it matters: Agents no longer wait for manual settlements or delayed remittances. It’s faster, cheaper, and transparent, giving businesses an edge in markets that rely on high-volume agent networks. In short: 407 = trust + time + transparency.

Everyone is commenting on how stablecoins are already failing everywhere. Here's the thing, it's not about the stablecoins. Whether [big bank] decides to release their own stablecoin is irrelevant. That's the smaller scale impact of stablecoins. The big scale? The rails stablecoins operate on. THIS is what changes everything. It changes how we've known money for the last few decades. Changing the payment rails across finance means instant, programmable settlement that turns money into code. Historically, every transfer, ACH, wires, SEPA, card settlement, moves through layers of banks, clearing houses, people, and reconciliation steps. It works, but it’s slow, limited to business hours, and full of operational friction. Imagine we remove all of this friction. Imagine money moves 24/7. Imagine automatic rules and payments. This is all possible on stablecoin rails. Iron (by MoonPay) specializes in this. Think bigger, ya'll.

Instant stablecoin settlements across borders. 3Pay enables USDT and USDC transfers that settle in seconds, not days. Businesses trading globally no longer need to wait for banking hours or rely on intermediary approval chains. With instant settlements, brokers and fintechs can run faster reconciliation cycles and improve liquidity management. Stablecoins don’t just move value – they move time. #3Pay #Stablecoins #Fintech #CrossBorderPayments