In the past few years, the cryptocurrency industry has experienced ups and downs, but one niche has grown against the trend during the bear market: stablecoin payments. Whether as a digital alternative to the dollar or as a low-cost "channel" for global transfers, stablecoins are gradually shedding their image as "speculative sidekicks" and are attempting to enter more real payment and settlement scenarios.

Stablecoins are not new. The earliest Tether (USDT) and the later rising Circle (USDC) essentially anchor the price of digital currencies to fiat currency reserves, allowing users to hold "digital dollars" on-chain at nearly a 1:1 ratio. Since 2022, although the tide of DeFi liquidity has receded, the circulation scale of USDC and USDT remains at the forefront of the crypto market, as they have become standard tools for on-chain trading pairs, over-the-counter remittances, and OTC settlements.

Recently, Circle's collaboration with Visa and Mastercard has once again brought "stablecoin payments" into the traditional financial spotlight. In June, Visa announced it would expand its partnership with Circle to integrate the USDC stablecoin into more cross-border payment scenarios, allowing some businesses to settle global supply chain payments directly through USDC, rather than going through SWIFT and incurring high cross-border fees.

Compared to traditional cross-border payments, the core advantages of stablecoins are not complicated: settlement time is reduced from days to minutes, and transaction costs are more transparent and lower. In international trade, freelancer payments, and even cross-border labor remittances, such speed and cost optimization are highly attractive.

For many developing countries, dollarized stablecoins have another value: hedging against local currency depreciation risks. In high-inflation markets like Argentina and Turkey, USDT and USDC are even used as informal "savings currencies," with users preferring to convert their salaries directly into stablecoins for value preservation or to pay for some overseas online services.

The greatest potential for stablecoins still lies in moving from B-end cross-border settlements to C-end retail payments.

This year, more and more crypto startups and payment giants have begun to try embedding USDC and USDT into retail payment processes. PayPal launched its own PYUSD last year, attempting to directly link stablecoins with PayPal accounts to support e-commerce, transfers, and withdrawals. This year, Stripe also announced its renewed embrace of crypto payments, allowing some merchants to settle overseas business with stablecoins.

In Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, a large number of mobile wallet and card projects are emerging that use stablecoins as their payment backbone. Some startup teams are binding stablecoins with Visa/Mastercard virtual cards, allowing users to swipe their cards at local supermarkets while USDC is converted into fiat currency for settlement in real-time in the background. Although there are still many challenges regarding compliance and currency exchange, this new type of "dollar wallet" is quickly gaining favor among young people in regions with severe fiat currency depreciation and insufficient financial infrastructure.

Of course, for stablecoins to truly enter retail payments on a large scale, the biggest challenge remains compliance.

In May of this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a crypto regulatory proposal known as the "FIT21" bill, which, while not specifically legislating stablecoins, is seen as an important step toward the legalization of crypto payments. Circle's CEO has repeatedly called for the establishment of a "stablecoin issuance license" globally, incorporating reserves, audits, and settlements into the existing financial regulatory framework.

Meanwhile, Europe has passed the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation, requiring stablecoin issuers to maintain sufficient reserves and disclose them regularly. In Asia, places like Singapore and Hong Kong are also promoting the standardization of stablecoin issuance to avoid "shadow banking" risks.

For retail payment scenarios, a greater hidden danger is how to prevent black and gray market activities and money laundering. Unlike traditional bank cards and payment gateways, on-chain stablecoin transactions can be transferred seamlessly worldwide, which is both an efficiency and a regulatory gray area.

As regulations gradually become clearer, some innovators are attempting to push stablecoin payments into the "2.0 phase"—that is, programmable payments.

"Programmable" means combining smart contracts with stablecoin payments, allowing businesses or individuals to set conditional transfers, such as automatically splitting commissions, automatically paying taxes, and real-time salary settlements. This is particularly friendly to freelancers, cross-border e-commerce, and the creator economy. Visa is currently experimenting with using USDC for automated payroll settlements, and PayPal is exploring how to integrate PYUSD into its existing payment infrastructure for seamless on-chain and off-chain connections.

If the last round of DeFi primarily solved "on-chain transfers," the next round of "stablecoin + payments" innovation may further connect off-chain merchants, bank cards, mobile wallets, and on-chain liquidity pools, turning stablecoins into a truly globally circulating programmable cash system.

From cross-border settlements to retail payments, from developer tools to business accounts, stablecoin payments are opening a new gap in traditional finance. It may not overnight replace Visa and SWIFT, but it is indeed filling certain "long-tail demands" of the existing payment system.

The direction of regulation, compliance standards, and off-chain integration capabilities will determine whether stablecoin payments are merely a narrative of the bear market or a true stepping stone toward "cryptocurrency entering daily life." For the crypto industry, stablecoins may not be the most glamorous narrative, but they are likely to be the first to realize a crypto payment revolution.

Related: The value of cryptocurrency lies in connecting tradition and innovation, achieving a fusion and balance between the two.

Original: “Stablecoin Payment Innovation: From Cross-Border Remittances to Retail Scenarios, Where to Next?”

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