Stablecoins: The Digital Bridge Reshaping Global Remittances
- admin cys
- Sep 17
- 4 min read
A Report by CYS Global Remit FinTech Development Unit
The Rise of Digital Financial Infrastructure
Stablecoins are rapidly emerging as a foundational pillar of global finance, transitioning from a niche cryptocurrency vertical into a pivotal solution for everyday payments. Designed to mitigate the volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin by pegging their value to stable assets such as fiat currencies or commodities, stablecoins provide the consistency and reliability essential for transactions that modern commerce demands.
For fintech remittance companies, this innovation represents far more than a technological upgrade—it's a transformative step forward in connecting global economies and empowering individuals across the world, particularly those who have been marginalised by traditional financial systems.
The Persistent Challenge of Traditional Remittances
Traditional remittance channels have long been plagued by fundamental inefficiencies that create barriers for the very people they're meant to serve:
Slow processing times that leave families waiting days for essential funds
High transaction fees that consume significant portions of transferred amounts
Limited accessibility, particularly affecting cross-border transfers
Operational restrictions tied to banking hours and holiday closures
Many international money transfers can take several days to settle and cost recipients a substantial portion of their incoming funds, creating unnecessary hardship for families depending on these vital transfers.
The Stablecoin Solution: Speed, Affordability, and Access
Stablecoins directly address these persistent challenges by enabling faster, cheaper, and more accessible payments across borders. The advantages are both immediate and transformative:
Dramatic Cost and Speed Improvements
On average, stablecoin transactions incur fees over 50% lower than conventional rails, coupled with near-instantaneous settlement. This represents an unparalleled advantage for families and businesses relying on timely transfers to meet urgent financial obligations.
Expanding Financial Inclusion
Beyond speed and cost-efficiency, stablecoins significantly expand financial inclusion by removing traditional banking barriers. Anyone with a digital wallet can transact with stablecoins, even without a conventional bank account. This breakthrough opens doors for over one billion underbanked individuals worldwide, providing them with direct access to global financial networks.
Economic Stability in Volatile Regions
Stablecoins offer a crucial lifeline in regions where inflation or currency devaluation erodes savings and purchasing power. Countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, Argentina, and Turkey have witnessed increasing adoption as citizens seek to preserve their wealth against local economic instability.
Always-On Financial Networks
The 24/7/365 nature of stablecoin networks represents a fundamental departure from traditional banking systems that close on weekends and holidays. This continuous availability ensures that urgent financial needs aren't constrained by arbitrary operational schedules, allowing truly continuous financial activity.
Recognising this transformative utility, major financial institutions have begun integrating stablecoins into their services, underscoring their growing legitimacy and mainstream acceptance.
Building Trust: Stability Models and Market Evolution
Whilst the potential of stablecoins is immense, their widespread adoption hinges critically on stability and user trust. The market primarily distinguishes between two fundamental models:
Fiat-Collateralised Stablecoins: The Trusted Standard
Fiat-collateralised stablecoins, including USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT), maintain their value through equivalent reserves held in traditional currencies or high-quality liquid assets. These reserves are typically audited by independent third parties, ensuring transparency and instilling user confidence in the system's reliability.
Algorithmic Stablecoins: Lessons from Market Failures
Algorithmic stablecoins attempt to use complex algorithms and supply-demand dynamics to maintain stability without traditional reserve backing. However, their fundamental fragility has been dramatically exposed, most notably in the catastrophic collapse of TerraUSD in 2022, which wiped out approximately $200 billion in market value.
This devastating event underscored the inherent risks of unbacked models and reinforced the market's decisive shift toward fiat-backed frameworks that offer genuine stability and verifiable reserves.
Regulatory Frameworks: Building Confidence Through Clarity
Global regulatory developments play an essential role in ensuring trust and fostering responsible adoption across jurisdictions.
The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which took effect in 2024, establishes comprehensive rules for issuance, reserve management, and transparency, effectively banning algorithmic stablecoins to protect consumers. Similarly, the United States introduced the GENIUS Act in 2025, creating a clear and supportive framework for digital currency issuance.
By aligning stablecoins with fundamental principles of transparency, auditability, and consumer protection, regulators worldwide are fostering an environment where adoption can flourish responsibly and sustainably.
Market Growth and Institutional Embrace
The adoption trajectory of stablecoins has been nothing short of extraordinary, with compelling statistics demonstrating their mainstream acceptance.
In 2025 alone, 90% of businesses reported testing or actively using stablecoins, primarily for cross-border payments. Global stablecoin market capitalisation reached an all-time high of US$278 billion in August, marking nearly two years of uninterrupted growth. Market projections suggest an exponential surge to US$2 trillion by 2028, providing a clear signal of their emerging dominance in digital finance.
Individual and Business Benefits
For individuals, particularly those in economically volatile regions, stablecoins are becoming an increasingly attractive store of value and reliable medium of exchange. In countries affected by inflation and weak local currencies, people are turning to stablecoins as a safe alternative that preserves purchasing power.
For businesses operating globally, stablecoins offer both enhanced liquidity and operational efficiency, enabling smoother treasury management and significantly faster international commerce. The combination of reduced friction, lower costs, and improved settlement speeds creates compelling value propositions across diverse industries.
The Infrastructure Layer for Tomorrow's Finance
This unique combination of inclusivity, efficiency, and trust positions stablecoins as far more than just another payment tool—they represent the critical infrastructure layer for a new era of interconnected global finance. As adoption continues to accelerate and regulatory frameworks mature, stablecoins are establishing themselves as essential components of the modern financial ecosystem.
Conclusion: The Present Reality of Financial Transformation
Stablecoins are no longer a futuristic concept requiring years of development; they are a present-day reality actively reshaping payments and financial inclusion across the globe. For the remittance industry specifically, they offer an unprecedented opportunity to provide faster, cheaper, and more accessible cross-border transfers whilst empowering communities that have been systematically underserved by legacy banking systems.
With growing regulatory clarity providing a stable foundation and accelerating institutional adoption demonstrating real-world utility, stablecoins are definitively positioned to become the backbone of on-chain finance and global commerce.
At CYS Global Remit Pte Ltd, we recognise that this transition represents a defining moment in the evolution of financial services. The future of global remittances lies in stablecoin-powered payments that are genuinely inclusive, truly borderless, and authentically instantaneous.
If you are a business, partner, or individual ready to embrace the future of remittances, we invite you to join us in building this revolutionary financial ecosystem. Together, we can connect, collaborate, and shape a more inclusive financial future that serves everyone, everywhere.
