Stablecoins are set to reshape the global financial system, with investment banking firm William Blair calling them a “major technological improvement” over traditional rails that have long underpinned the movement of cross-border money.
The Chicago, Illinois-based banking firm argued that stablecoins will not only replace legacy infrastructure for business-to-business transactions, but will also gain traction in some areas of consumer commerce in the report released Tuesday.
Unlike fiat-based cross-border payments, which William Blair characterized as “slow, expensive and fragmented,” stablecoins offer key advantages, such as 24/7 availability, near-instant settlement, minimal intermediary involvement, and elimination of currency risk.
The report emphasized that stablecoin transactions also benefit from immutability, programmable execution, and exposure to trusted currencies like the US dollar.
William Blair believes that global regulatory clarity, including measures like the GENIUS Act, will lay the foundation for what he calls a “golden age of stablecoin trading.”
The firm was quick to point out that legislation alone will not drive mass adoption. Instead, he pointed to several catalysts, including growing corporate demand, advances in digital infrastructure, and traditional financial giants like Mastercard (MA), Visa (V), and Corpay (CPAY) building support for stablecoins, as necessary steps toward broader adoption.
While optimistic on the long-term trajectory, William Blair warned that the biggest near-term risk for stocks exposed to stablecoins like Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) is market impatience. Investors may be frustrated with the pace of adoption.
Despite this, the company encouraged buying on weakness and reaffirmed its belief that Circle and Coinbase are “the highest quality public crypto companies.”
Looking ahead, William Blair predicts that the market will consolidate around a few dominant payment tokens, as liquidity demands and network compatibility force convergence. This outlook supports the company’s optimism about Circle, which issues the USDC stablecoin, and about Coinbase as a key platform for stablecoin activity. Other potential beneficiaries include Visa, Mastercard, and Corpay, with Block (XYZ) and Fiserv (FI) also getting some upside.
But for traditional correspondent banks, the future seems more uncertain. Analysts warned that even if those institutions integrate stablecoin rails, much of the economic improvement will likely flow to new entrants. In the company’s view, stablecoins not only complement the existing financial system, but threaten to replace some of its core components.
Read more: DWS sees the rise of stablecoins as central payments infrastructure
