Financial heavyweights adopting stablecoins: Insights into their competitive edge through one-second transaction speed
In a recent survey conducted by Fireblocks, it was revealed that the company supported the movement of $1.2 trillion in crypto over the last 90 days, with stablecoins accounting for a significant portion of this figure, amounting to $520 billion.
The survey, which involved almost 300 firms, showed that 49% of the respondents are already using stablecoins, and 41% are planning or piloting their use. This growth in stablecoin adoption is driving regulatory urgency in the US and significant business innovation, including strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and new product launches.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov shared that stablecoins made up about 45-55% of transactions on their platform in 2022, up from a quarter in 2021. This trend is particularly noticeable among traditional crypto clients of Fireblocks, including OTC trading desks, who have expanded to serve the stablecoin sector, with 70 of them pivoting to mainly offer stablecoin services.
Payment companies have become the fastest growing customer segment for Fireblocks, accounting for 10% of customers but 15% of volumes, or around $80 billion in transactions in the past 90 days. Examples of such innovations include Coinbase's x402 protocol and the Circle Payment Network, which are aimed at capitalizing on the speed advantage that initially attracted users to stablecoin payments.
The key drivers for stablecoin adoption across different regions vary but mainly revolve around economic conditions, remittance needs, and payment infrastructure gaps. In Latin America, high inflation and expensive, slow cross-border remittances motivate stablecoin use. Countries like Peru saw a 40.6% adoption growth due to stablecoin integration in retail payments, enabling cheaper and faster cross-border payments especially from North America.
In Asia, emerging markets with large numbers of freelance workers and migrant remitters (e.g., Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan) use stablecoins for cheaper cross-border earnings and payments. Mobile wallet adoption and digital financial solutions also spur uptake.
In North America and Europe, adoption is driven more by B2B cross-border payments, where stablecoins lower costs and settlement times compared to traditional banking. However, intra-Europe and North America to other regions have lower P2P potential due to already efficient payment systems.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, very high remittance costs and slow speeds create strong demand for stablecoins as an efficient, low-cost alternative for cross-border transfers and financial inclusion.
The benefits of stablecoin payments over traditional methods include faster settlement, lower fees, 24/7 accessibility, financial inclusion, transparency and security, and support for the global crypto economy. Stablecoins enable seamless settlement in cryptocurrency trading, lending, and decentralized finance, which traditional systems cannot match in speed or global reach.
In summary, stablecoin adoption is strongest in regions facing inflation, costly remittances, and inefficient payment infrastructures, while benefits over traditional methods include faster, cheaper, and more accessible cross-border payments and financial services.
[1] Source: Fireblocks survey [2] Source: The Block [3] Source: CoinDesk [4] Source: Fortune
- The Fireblocks survey indicated that a significant portion of the finance industry is actively investing in or planning to use stablecoins for their insights into faster, more stable, and cost-effective finance within technology-driven markets.
- Notably, the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments has become a lucrative sector, with the adoption of stablecoins particularly noticeable among traditional finance institutions and payment companies, such as OTC trading desks and mobile wallet providers.
- As the demand for stablecoins grows in regions with unstable economies, high remittance costs, and inefficient payment infrastructure, the technology behind stablecoins promises to offer stable, secure, and transparent capital flows, further driving global finance innovation.
