Stablecoins may be global by design, but their adoption is decidedly local. In some markets, businesses are turning to dollar-backed digital assets to navigate inflation. In other markets, they’re solving costly cross-border payments, and gaps in traditional banking infrastructure. In others, established financial systems or regulations have limited their appeal. These differences matter for any payments companies looking to use stablecoins across multiple countries, where the same payment strategy varies from one market to the next.
The opportunity is nevertheless enormous. Citi’s Tokenization 2030 report forecasts $1.9 trillion in stablecoin issuance in its base case—and up to $4 trillion as a bullish scenario.
The Promise of Emerging Markets
Today, emerging markets account for roughly two-thirds of global stablecoin supply. Stablecoin usage has gained significant traction in areas where traditional banking infrastructure is less developed. Here, businesses and consumers can use stablecoins to connect more directly to the global economy. They can also provide a hedge against volatile local currencies, particularly in countries experiencing high inflation.
In sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, stablecoin usage is growing by more than 50% annually as countries become increasingly integrated into the global economy. The benefits are clear: Using conventional banking channels, it costs around 9% of the transaction value to send $200 to a merchant in sub-Saharan Africa. Stablecoins can cost a fraction of that, and because they are generally pegged to the U.S. dollar, they can also help users avoid the currency volatility common in many of these markets.
Similarly, Argentina leads South America in stablecoin usage, in part because its peso fluctuates so frequently that transaction costs can change within a matter of hours.
“In high-inflation economies like Argentina and Nigeria, stablecoins provide vital access to stable value in the face of currency volatility,” Dan Roesbery, Vice President of Global Crypto Partnerships at Visa, noted in a white paper earlier this year. “In Argentina, where one in five people now use cryptocurrency, nearly two-thirds of crypto transactions happen in stablecoins, a direct response to currency volatility. These aren’t speculative trades; they’re people and businesses using digital dollars as a practical financial tool to preserve purchasing power.”
Infrastructure can also play a key role in adoption. As digital assets grew in popularity, India already had a culture of instant payments through its UPI peer-to-peer network. By 2024, India had become the world’s largest recipient of stablecoin remittances, with an estimated inflow of $129 billion.
Where Stablecoins Are Less Welcome
In some advanced economies, meanwhile, stablecoins have played less of a role in domestic money movement, and an outsized role in global transfers. Europe has lower retail adoption rates than Asia and Latin America, in part because its well-established banking infrastructure has long supported cross-border transactions.
Regulation is another factor. The EU has taken a stringent approach to stablecoins under its Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, creating requirements that can make it more difficult for issuers and other digital-asset companies to operate.
Other countries have erected even stronger barriers to stablecoin usage. China has prohibited stablecoins as part of its broader restrictions on cryptocurrency and efforts to promote its own central bank digital currency. Egypt prohibits the issuance and trading of cryptocurrencies without central bank approval. Such restrictions have limited adoption in those markets.
For global payments providers based in these developed markets, there exists a tension around understanding the opportunity. Recognizing the need to leverage stablecoin rails to optimize global rails, while not over-extending into domestic innovation, remains a point of contention.
Getting Ahead of Readiness
In other markets, the challenge is almost the opposite. Adoption has outpaced the development of the regulatory and financial infrastructure needed to support it.
In Nigeria, for instance, adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins has been fueled by high inflation, which has been running at around 15% annually. Stablecoins have consequently gained significant traction, with Nigeria accounting for around 60% of stablecoin adoption in sub-Saharan Africa.
Restrictions on banks’ ability to service cryptocurrency exchanges have pushed some digital asset transactions toward less regulated channels, including peer-to-peer platforms. While this has allowed stablecoin activity to continue, it can also create additional risks for users operating outside the traditional financial system.
Vietnam presents another example. The country ranked fourth globally in crypto adoption in 2025, with annual trading volume exceeding $200 billion, even though stablecoins remain illegal as a payment method. The Vietnamese government has only recently begun moving toward formal legal recognition of digital assets. Nevertheless, more than 30% of the population reportedly owns stablecoins, driven in part by cross-border trade with neighboring China. In this case, demand for stablecoins has continued to grow despite regulatory restrictions.
“Users can hold value in stablecoins while spending locally, hedging against currency devaluation without needing a foreign bank account,” Visa’s Roesbury noted. “In many emerging markets, stablecoin cards can also extend access to online goods and services to consumers who previously lacked traditional payment options.”
Deploying Stablecoins Across Multiple Markets
Even without significant regulatory obstacles, building stablecoin operations across multiple geographies can present substantial challenges. Companies must navigate different national regulations and protocols, while blockchain networks may not be compatible with every wallet or payment system.
“Stablecoins can move across borders, but the businesses using them still have to work through different local rulebooks,” said Joel Hugentobler, Cryptocurrency Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “A license in one market doesn’t always carry over to another, and requirements around customer verification, reporting and permitted activities can vary. Expanding into another country can mean additional legal work, different partners and changes to how payments are processed. That adds cost and makes it harder to scale the same service across multiple markets.”
There’s also the practical challenge of getting people access to money they can actually use. That “boots on the ground” component—connecting digital assets to local banks, payment providers, and consumers—will necessarily look different in every market.
“A stablecoin transfer may settle in minutes, but if the recipient needs local currency, you still need reliable conversion, enough local currency available and a provider that can deliver the payout,” Hugentobler said. “A blockchain running around the clock doesn’t automatically mean every banking partner or payout service does.”
Key Takeaways
Stablecoins are a significant force in global payments. The payments companies taking advantage of the stablecoin opportunity are navigating the differences across markets. Navigating this complexity is the difference between failed pilots, and platform transformation.
“We’re entering a new era of stablecoin payments,” said Pat Duffy, Co-CEO of Cyclops. “After years of tackling minor use cases and innovation theater, the networks are clearly positioning themselves to tackle more high-impact global money movement.”
The good news is that payments companies do not need to navigate these challenges alone. A global stablecoin platform such as Cyclops can help facilitate banking relationships, connect providers, and support stablecoin movement across different geographies, with the goal of ensuring that money moves on the most effective rail. As adoption continues to evolve, providers like these will play an increasingly important role in helping businesses operate across fragmented global markets.
