Cryptocurrency Payment Landscape: A mid-term review

Introduction
The cryptocurrency payments landscape utilising stablecoins made bold strides in the first half of 2025. These developments followed pronouncements by the World Economic Forum (2025) and the Bank for International Settlements (2025) that stablecoins can play a significant role in international finance. This report unpacks this sea change occurring in the cryptocurrency payments sector.

Growth in Domestic and Cross-Border Payments
The proliferation of stablecoins within the cryptocurrency payments landscape is difficult to miss. Its mass adoption may come sooner than anticipated.

According to the World Economic Forum (2025), the total supply of stablecoins rose by 22% since 2024, reaching 208 billion in 2025. Deloitte (2025) even hailed 2025 as the “year of payment stablecoins,” noting that “[s]tablecoins are transitioning from niche user-to-user transactions to mainstream B2B and B2C payment applications… a space traditionally owned by banks” (p. X).

Stanley (2025), Founder of Brazil Crypto Report, echoed similar sentiments. He observed that many of Brazil’s exchanges and fintech brokerages offer USD-pegged stablecoins primarily as a store of value, but the main use case appears to be B2B cross-border payments.

Prior to 2024, the oft-cited use case for stablecoins was as a hedge in inflationary environments, such as those in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and Türkiye. Pundi X (2025) also noted a direct correlation between hyperinflation and demand for stablecoins when their XPOS solution was deployed in Türkiye and Brazil.

Now, the situation has changed dramatically. In the UK, stablecoins tied to merchant services “consistently account for 60–80% of the market share each quarter” (Deloitte, 2025). In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, stablecoin-based remittance services on DeFi platforms are providing migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia with faster, cheaper alternatives.

The Bank for International Settlements (2025) reported that between 2017 and 2024, Tether and USD Coin accounted for approximately USD 1.3 trillion in cross-border transactions involving 184 countries. With decentralised ledger technology offering lower fees and faster transfers, adoption is expected to accelerate.

Policy Agenda
Stablecoins have become part of the political agenda during Donald Trump’s second presidency. The Trump administration actively promotes private-sector stablecoin development while blocking central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as per the Executive Order on Digital Finance (Executive Office of the President, 2025).

This policy appears aimed at reinforcing the US Dollar’s dominance against de-dollarisation movements by BRICS nations. At the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai, it was announced that USD1 would be used in a $2 billion investment by MGX into Binance (TOKEN2049, 2025).

Institution-Led Growth
A pro-institution policy is building confidence in stablecoin adoption. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (2025) clarified that US banks may use stablecoins without prior approval, provided they manage associated risks.

Following this clarification, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup (2025) began exploring a joint stablecoin project to enhance cross-border settlements. In parallel, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe (2025) integrated USDC features, making it easier for businesses to transact in digital dollars globally.

Related Financial Innovations
As stablecoins grow, related innovations such as PayFi (which tokenises receivables for liquidity and fiat-to-crypto integration) and DeFAI (Decentralised Finance + AI) are emerging. These could power the next financial revolution by creating autonomous AI agents to manage and execute financial transactions.

Conclusion
Stablecoins are redefining the crypto payments space. With institutional and governmental backing, and their superiority in speed and cost over traditional finance, stablecoins are poised to become foundational to the global payment ecosystem (World Economic Forum, 2025; Bank for International Settlements, 2025; Deloitte, 2025).

Bank for International Settlements. (2025, May 8). Stablecoins and cross-border payments: Trends and implications. https://www.bis.org

References:

Deloitte. (2025). The year of payment stablecoins. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com

Executive Office of the President. (2025). Executive order on digital finance. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (2025). FDIC clarifies crypto engagement policy for banks. https://www.fdic.gov

Pundi X Labs. (2025). XPOS deployment insights: Türkiye and Brazil. https://www.pundix.com

Stanley, A. (2025). Brazil’s stablecoin boom: More than a hedge against inflation. Brazil Crypto Report. https://www.brazilcryptoreport.com

TOKEN2049. (2025). MGX to invest $2B in Binance using USD1 stablecoin. https://www.token2049.com

Visa, Mastercard, & Stripe. (2025). USDC integration for global merchants. [Press release]. https://www.visa.com | https://www.mastercard.com | https://www.stripe.com

World Economic Forum. (2025). Stablecoins in the global economy: A framework for responsible adoption. https://www.weforum.org

Disclaimer: The Information provided herein is for general information only. It should not be taken as professional consulting advice from Pundi X Labs Pte. Ltd or any affiliated Pundi X entity. Please seek independent legal, financial, taxation and/or other advice to confirm how participation in the activities of PUNDI X might relate to your unique circumstances.

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