StableCoins are emerging as one of the brightest near-term use cases for transforming cross-border payments, according to a report Last month from accountancy firm KPMG.
Banks currently rely on a banking banking network that moves about $ 150 trillion annually, the report noted, a system that usually takes between two and five days for settlement, involves many intermediaries, and carries an average cost of $ 25 to $ 35 per transaction.
This infrastructure forces institutions to lock large sums of money in Nostro and Vostro accounts around the world to ensure liquidity, KPMG said, creating inefficiencies that stablecoin technology is increasingly positioned to solve.
StableCoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset, such as the US dollar or gold. They play a major role in the cryptocurrency markets, providing the payment infrastructure, and are also used to transfer money around the world. Tether’s USDT is the largest stablecoin, followed by Circle’s USDC.
From days to seconds
The accountancy firm noted that blockchain-based solutions can reduce settlement times from days to minutes or even seconds, depending on the network used. Transaction costs can also fall significantly, in some cases by more than 99% compared to traditional rail payments.
Lower prefund requirements will ease pressure on capital, improving overall liquidity and freeing up resources that would otherwise be trapped in outstanding accounts, the report said.
Just as importantly, these networks offer real-time monitoring and auditing, replacing the opacity of the current system with a level of transparency aligned with evolving regulatory expectations.
KPMG noted that some major financial institutions have already begun transferring real value across the blockchain rail, demonstrating the early adoption of this model. JPMorgan (JPM), for example, processes around $2 billion in daily transactions on its blockchain platform.
Meanwhile, PayPal (PYPL) launched itself StableCoin in 2023, which has since grown to a market capitalization of $1.17 billion.
These developments, according to KPMG, signal a clear market appetite for further expansion in StableCoin-powered cross-border payments and underscore how digital assets are reshaping the global financial infrastructure in practical, revenue-generating ways.
Read more: StableCoins will disrupt cross-border payments, says investment banker William Blair
