Every day, billions of dollars move across blockchains via stablecoins. The market is dominated by USDT ($175 billion market cap) and USDC ($75 billion), but a growing ecosystem of new entrants is broadening the landscape. Stablecoins are no longer a sideshow to cryptocurrencies: they are becoming one of the biggest financial innovations since the rise of electronic payments.
Its use cases are broad, but four stand out:
- Coverage in economies with high inflation
- Cross-border payments and remittances
- DeFi and programmable finance
- Negotiation and liquidity
Of these, the cross-border and remittance use case has the greatest growth potential. Dollar Denominated Stablecoins They are quietly replacing SWIFT for small and medium-sized flows, allowing money to move around the world in seconds, not days.
Stablecoins vs. SWIFT: reinventing cross-border money
What is being altered is not SWIFT in general, but SWIFT as a global railway for dollar transfers. For decades, the US dollar has been the unit of account for global tradeand SWIFT has been the messaging system that coordinates these flows. Now, instead of SWIFT as the intermediary, The USD stablecoins themselves serve as a transmission channel– Programmable, verifiable and available 24/7.
Stablecoins are not yet replacing SWIFT at scale (they still represent less than 1% of global money flows), but in remittances, B2B payments and e-commerce, Dollar stablecoins are already becoming the fastest and cheapest complement to the traditional dollar wiring system.
Speed, cost, adoption: here’s the comparison (2025):
The problem: two states of money
While Dollar Stablecoins Move Instantly in the Digital World, the Real Economy Still Works local fiat. That forces liquidity providers to join two different states of money:
- Digital (USD stablecoins).
- Fiat (local currencies).
Today, this imbalance creates friction. Liquidity providers end up holding pesos, reais or naira overnight, unable to recycle capital until banks reopen. The fintech or end user benefits from instant settlement, but the provider absorbs the cost of locked balances. Indeed, The adoption of stablecoins is limited by the size of suppliers’ balance sheets..
The Solution: FX on Chain = One State
FX-on-chain protocols collapse the two-state problem into a single state: digital. Instead of moving between stablecoins and fiat through banks, FX-on-chain allows direct swaps between USD stablecoins and local currency stablecoins.
This unlocks two key benefits:
- Instant conversion: USDC/USDT holders can sell directly into MXN stablecoins, BRL stablecoins, or COP stablecoins, which can then be redeemed for fiat money instantly.
- Flow Matching: Global remittance flows (selling dollars to buy local dollars) naturally meet corporate or institutional flows (selling local dollars to buy dollars). On-chain pools compare them in real time, netting exposures and recycling liquidity 24/7.
By unifying flows digitally, liquidity providers are no longer stuck in risk storage. Instead, capital continually circulates on the chain, just as it does in global currency markets, but with Instant settlement, lower costs and transparent liquidity.
Looking forward
Stablecoins are no longer just a bridge between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies: they are becoming the rails of global trade. From households in Argentina hedging inflation to exporters in Nigeria settling invoices and institutions arbitraging spreads, stablecoins are taking root everywhere.
The future depends on three fronts:
- on-chain FX – collapsing fiat and digital into a single state to enable true multi-currency settlement.
- Regulation – define protective barriers without stifling innovation.
- Non-USD Stables – the rise of euro, yen and local currency stablecoins to further localize their adoption.
If the last decade focused on bitcoin as “digital gold”, the next will focus on stablecoins such as “Digital fiat”: currently only digital dollars and ultimately digital fiat for everyone, everywhere.
