Stablecoins will not transform remittances through disruption. They will transform them through integration, strengthening the backbone of global payments rather than replacing it. This transformation is urgently needed. Despite significant progress in digital finance, some traditional cross-border remittances remain slow, costly, and unreliable for many of the people who rely on them most.
Migrant workers sending money home still face high fees, now potentially rising further with proposals for a 1% US remittance tax. Delivery times can also be unpredictable, often limited by traditional banking hours, with transactions stalling outside 9–5 on weekdays or over weekends and bank holidays, leaving families waiting for urgently needed funds.
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These inefficiencies are felt most sharply in smaller transactions and cash remittances, where every fraction of a fee can impact the household budget on the other end.
Cash remains the most trusted option because it works instantly, is universally understood, and requires no technical know-how. Yet it is limited by geography, infrastructure, and cost. Formal banking offers little relief, with limited branch networks and barriers such as credit history requirements keeping it out of reach for many.
The reality is that the underlying infrastructure for moving money across borders has changed little in decades. While the apps people use have become faster and more intuitive, the systems behind them still run on cut-off times, batch settlements, and long chains of intermediaries. This is out of step with a world where expectations are set by instant messaging, on-demand content, and 24/7 commerce. For a migrant family relying on transfers to pay rent, buy groceries, or cover school fees, the current system simply does not move at the pace of life.
Stablecoins, when used in the right way, offer a genuine opportunity to address these structural issues. Unlike speculative crypto assets, they are pegged to stable national currencies, combining the value stability of traditional money with the speed, programmability, and reach of blockchain networks.
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By GlobalDataCross-border payments – the benefits are clear
Transactions can settle in seconds, any time of day, without being held back by banking hours. Costs are lower, especially for smaller transfers. The infrastructure is programmable, which allows smarter liquidity management and better routing. And it works across systems, from cash pick-up to bank deposits to mobile money. But technology alone will not deliver these benefits. Stablecoins only create real impact when they are deeply embedded in the systems people already trust: the payout networks, bank rails, and mobile money providers that have earned reliability over years.
Making global payment networks more resilient, flexible and cost-efficient
For the digital remittance industry, they represent a long-term infrastructure investment, a new layer that can make global payment networks more resilient, flexible, and cost-efficient. The real opportunity lies in building them into the core systems that already move money reliably today, rather than bolting them on as a gimmick or expecting users to change their behaviour.
The aim should be to strengthen what already works: Enhancing liquidity, increasing speed, expanding access, and creating more opportunities for people to hold and build value over time, without asking them to download new apps or manage private keys.
Adoption will not be driven by novelty or crypto enthusiasm. It will come from delivering faster transfers, lower fees, and certainty that funds will arrive securely. For regulators and policymakers, that means strong compliance, transparency, and integration with licensed, trusted entities. For the industry, it means interoperability and settlement efficiency across multiple regions and currencies.
Smarter liquidity management, reduced friction
When stablecoins are integrated into trusted networks, the technology operates quietly in the background, improving speed and flexibility while maintaining the reliability that migrants and their families rely on. In time, this could enable greater control over when and how value is accessed, more seamless two-way flows between senders and recipients, and smarter liquidity management that reduces friction across the entire system.
This evolution will not happen overnight. It depends on the steady development of regulatory clarity, the maturation of settlement infrastructure, and partnerships across traditional finance and emerging technology. Stablecoins are not a quick fix, but they represent a meaningful step towards a more inclusive, efficient, and transparent global remittance system. The endgame is not about replacing cash, mobile money, or bank transfers. It is about making them all work better together.
By building stablecoins into the rails of the remittance industry, we can create a system that finally matches the pace and needs of the people it serves.
George Goodyer is CPTO, Zepz
