Stablecoins, backed by fiat money or other assets such as gold, are increasingly used as everyday money and are becoming part of the global payments infrastructure. Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman admitted that stablecoins are reshaping both the currency landscape and capital flows, and that India must be ready to embrace the innovations. Governments around the world are taking steps to bring stablecoins into mainstream financial systems. “Stablecoins are transitioning from a niche liquidity mechanism to a strategically contested domain of financial infrastructure policy, one that regulators, central banks and incumbents can no longer ignore,” said Sharat Chandra, Founder of EmpowerEdge Ventures, and Monica Jasuja, Chief Expansion and Innovation Officer, Emerging Payments Association Asia. Edited excerpts:
Stablecoins were invented as a cash replacement for crypto trading, and the volumes may still be coming from trading even today. What has changed?
Stablecoins have evolved from a payment instrument to an integral part of the financial infrastructure. Established financial institutions are preparing for stablecoins after the US passed the Genius Act. The US Treasury Department predicts that stablecoins could generate as much as $3 trillion in demand for US dollars and government bonds by 2030.
Recently, BNY rolled out a money market fund to house reserves for US stablecoin issuers, structured to meet Genius Act requirements. It provides regulated management of cash and government bond reserves, and is open to issuers and eligible institutional investors. The aim of the fund is to protect reserves for Genius-compatible stablecoins without investing directly in those tokens.
More incumbents are likely to follow suit to capitalize on the stablecoin opportunities in cross-border payments, reserves and treasury management. Stablecoins are increasingly seen as a catalyst for deeper liquidity across all markets. Recent industry surveys, including Fireblocks 2025, show that institutions in Asia are prioritizing liquidity management, not just cost reduction, as a key reason for adopting stablecoin solutions.
The policy relevance of Stablecoins has increased significantly. A subset of issuers and market participants are now reframing stablecoins as fundamental components of the modern payments infrastructure – emphasizing programmability, tokenization and continuous 24/7 settlement capabilities – changing their positioning within the broader financial system.
In effect, stablecoins are moving from a niche liquidity mechanism to a strategically contested domain of financial infrastructure policy, one that regulators, central banks and incumbents can no longer ignore.
Can you talk about using stablecoins for real payments?
Stablecoins processed a total of about $32 trillion in transactions in 2024, but only about $5.7 trillion was specifically tied to cross-border business payments, according to Visa’s estimates. According to a report from Artemis, monthly B2B stablecoin payments have increased by a factor of 30, from less than $100 million in early 2023 to over $3 billion by mid-2025, indicating rapid adoption in cross-border corporate finance.
The sector is expanding rapidly, with predictions suggesting that stablecoins could account for as much as 20 percent of global cross-border payment flows by 2030. Traditional payment networks and established financial institutions are actively countering the rise of stablecoin-based cross-border payments by accelerating their own tokenization strategies and modernizing settlement infrastructure. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and major global banks are developing or testing on-chain settlement using tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins, effectively replicating the speed and programmability advantages that make stablecoins attractive.
Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network and Visa’s USDC settlement pilots integrate blockchain-based settlement within existing compliance frameworks, while institutions such as JPMorgan and Citi have launched 24/7 tokenized cash and FX settlement platforms that reduce reliance on the slow correspondent banking chain. At the same time, networks are upgrading traditional rail lines – through real-time payment links, tokenized FX and SWIFT’s blockchain interoperability pilots – to close the cost and speed gap.
Is this the best way to handle cross-border payments? How will it reduce costs, increase speed and transparency?
In 2024, stablecoins processed an estimated $27.6 trillion in transaction volume, surpassing major card networks such as Visa and Mastercard, with $5.7 trillion attributed specifically to cross-border flows.
Stablecoins cut out middlemen, allowing funds to move directly between parties and eliminating the ‘float’: money that is deferred while in transit. This leads to better cash flow and more efficient working capital cycles for companies. By 2030, global enterprises could save approximately $10 billion per year through cross-border payments based on stablecoins.
Stablecoin payment systems can reduce transaction times by 30 percent compared to existing methods. They enable instant, traceable payments on blockchain, improving transparency and security.
While there is some openness towards creating a framework for stablecoin adoption in India, what do you think the RBI is hesitant about?
RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Shankar has acknowledged the role of digital currencies in cross-border payments. Speaking Transformational technologies and banking: key issues, he said that “digital currencies can provide a superior alternative to banks in cross-border payments.” India does not need stablecoins for domestic real-time payments. The use cases are mainly in the areas of cross-border money transfers and trading where billing and settlement take place in rupees. If the RBI reconsiders INR-backed stablecoins, it would effectively support the central bank’s goal of internationalizing the rupee, especially with countries where the rupee is already used for trade.
Is this because the technology for transferring and settling payments can operate outside the formal banking system, making cases difficult to trace?
Not exactly. Stablecoin technology is not inherently designed to bypass the formal banking system or make payments untraceable. In fact, stablecoin transfers on public blockchains are highly traceable at the transaction level. Banks are getting involved in stablecoin projects on a large scale. Japan’s three major banks are working together on a shared stablecoin for cross-border payments under Project Pax, which was recently recognized by the Financial Services Agency as an official payments innovation project.
Can tokenized deposits and CBDCs be seamlessly integrated with a stablecoin framework?
CBDCs, stablecoins and tokenized deposits can coexist without disintermediating banks and serve different use cases. Existing banks can be used to issue stablecoins. In September 2025, a consortium of major European banks, including ING, Banca Sella, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, UniCredit, SEB, CaixaBank and Raiffeisen Bank International, worked together to introduce a euro-backed stablecoin that meets MiCAR’s regulatory requirements.
What we need is openness from the regulator towards new stablecoin-related use cases. The RBI’s sandbox should enable stablecoin-related use cases to ensure that private money innovation complements the central bank’s efforts to make payment systems robust and resilient. Central bank digital currencies can enable interbank overnight lending and settlements, while tokenized deposits can be used in money market and capital market transactions. Stablecoins have found that the product market is suitable for cross-border payments. It’s time to acknowledge and embrace them.
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