This Week in Stablecoins: Crypto That Never Touches the Customer

Stablecoins five years ago represented a new form of money looking for a reason to exist. This week offered a different picture. The reason for stablecoins as a cash alternative is emerging precisely as the technology itself becomes harder to see.

Across payroll, merchant acquiring, card networks, creator payouts and corporate treasury, stablecoins are being inserted into payment flows without necessarily requiring the payer or recipient to behave like a crypto user. At the same time, U.S. regulators are moving toward a framework that could make the issuers behind those tokens look more like supervised financial institutions.

While much of the early stablecoin debate assumed adoption depended on persuading merchants to accept a new asset, infrastructure providers are today solving a different problem: how to let customers fund transactions with digital assets while allowing merchants to receive the currency and settlement experience they already expect.

The Most Valuable Stablecoin Company May Not Issue a Stablecoin

The report, “From Asset to Everyday Money: Making Digital Currencies Spendable,” the July edition of the Payments Innovation Tracker® Series from PYMNTS Intelligence and Paymentology, found consumers show growing interest in using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for purchases, but acceptance, trust and uneven payment experiences still limit their choices.