Messari Research, a specialized cryptocurrency market research institution, recently assessed through a report that stablecoins are emerging as a key technology to solve the structural inefficiencies of global cross-border payment systems. In particular, it noted the rapid corporate-driven adoption of stablecoins in the international remittance market, notorious for high costs and slow speeds.
According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the average fee for cross-border payment services remains above 6%. This figure deviates from the FSB's goal of reducing the average payment fee to 1% by 2027. The FSB determined that no substantial cost reduction was achieved between 2023-2024, with sub-Saharan Africa analyzed as the region with the highest remittance costs and slowest settlement speeds globally.
Stablecoins are emerging as an alternative to these issues. Messari Research cited examples such as Conduit, Sphere Labs, BVNK, Huma, and other fintech and blockchain-based companies that are replacing or complementing traditional payment infrastructure to improve actual payment efficiency. Conduit has built a network capable of processing $10 billion in transactions annually, with strengths in transparentizing foreign exchange fees and settling within minutes through stablecoins.
Sphere Labs introduced a 'stablecoin sandwich' method where the payer's local currency is instantly converted to stablecoins, transmitted via blockchain, and then converted to the recipient's currency, strongly suggesting expanded usability in business-to-business (B2B) payments. Stablecoin-based transactions in long-tail markets increased 20-fold year-on-year, with companies in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina absorbing this demand for faster payment systems.
BVNK, which provides licensing infrastructure, is also noteworthy. The company has obtained or is pursuing financial licenses in over 25 countries, offering multi-currency virtual accounts, wallets, and integrated exchange functions via API to enable cross-border fund transfers and settlements through stablecoins. Notably, dLocal, operating in Latin America, has partnered with BVNK to integrate stablecoins into local currency payment networks.
In the most representative remittance corridor between the US and Mexico, major companies are already extensively using stablecoins. Bitso's enterprise service, Bitso Business, processes over 10% of total remittances, providing a recipient currency-tailored solution through the Mexican peso-pegged stablecoin (MXNB) issued by its subsidiary Juno. This has a substantial impact on remittance flows approaching 4% of Mexico's GDP.
Meanwhile, innovations are underway to replace prepaid cross-border payment systems. Huma, through partner Arf, is utilizing stablecoin-based liquidity on public blockchains to transform the existing nostro account-based pre-deposit model into an on-demand structure. This enables liquidity mobility, allowing rapid payments without inter-bank credit risk. Messari Research noted that Huma aims to exceed $10 billion in cumulative transactions by the end of 2025 and has already surpassed $5 billion as of June.
Overall, the cross-border payment market with persistent inefficiencies is expected to exceed $320 trillion by 2032. Particularly with the expansion of social media-based creator economy and increased B2C payments, demand for stablecoin-based payments is anticipated to grow. Messari Research concludes that the actual use value of stablecoins is becoming increasingly clear in terms of reducing payment costs, minimizing work time, and decreasing payment rejection risks.
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