Over the next five years, stablecoins will not just exist together with traditional banking systems, but they might replace them as the primary infrastructure for B2B payments in emerging markets. Currently, in the public media, absolutely mainstream narratives speak about retail adoption or coffee-shop payments.
However, the real story is being written in the shadows of cross-border trade, corporate treasury operations, and institutional liquidity flows. It touches not only the US and the Western world, but also underbanked or emerging regions like Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
Stablecoins in a Nutshell
The numbers speak for themselves:
- $260B+ in circulating stablecoins
- $1T+ in monthly volume, 93% of which comes from professional trading firms
- Tether’s USDT alone backed by $127B in U.S. Treasuries — making it one of the largest holders of U.S. debt globally
- By 2030, stablecoin volumes could reach $10T/month, fueled by institutional and B2B flows
Stablecoins aren’t speculative tokens. They’re tokenized money market funds, backed 1:1 by short-term, U.S. (or other countries) assets like T-bills and cash. Unlike bank deposits, they don’t carry counterparty risk, balance sheet exposure, or withdrawal limits. This is programmable, borderless, transparent money. And emerging markets are where it matters most.
Banks Say ‘The Innovation’, But Mean ‘The Control’
Let’s be clear: traditional banks are not innovating. They are defending their current business.
Despite the hype surrounding initiatives like JPMorgan’s tokenized deposit or the GENIUS Act, banks are not racing to adopt public blockchains. Instead, they’re trying to protect their $200B/year remittance and FX cash cow by creating closed, permissioned ecosystems. Products like JPMD (JPMorgan’s internal stablecoin) or Citi’s deposit tokens aren’t built for users. They’re built for banks and protecting their profits.
These tokenized deposits are just digital promises, backed by complicated bank balance sheets full of loans, real estate, and leverage. They’re not freely transferable, they lack transparency, and they’re closed off from the people who need them most, especially in emerging markets.
The key difference between bank-issued “stablecoins” and private ones like USDT or USDC comes down to access, backing, and purpose. Bank tokens stay locked inside the issuing institution. They’re backed by risky, opaque assets and built for internal use, mainly to move liquidity between branches or corporate clients.
USDT and USDC, on the other hand, are public, global, and fully backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries. They work across borders, settle in seconds, and don’t rely on trust in any one bank. For businesses in Lagos, Manila, or Bogotá, these are not just better — they’re the only viable option.
Bank-issued stablecoins, as a principle, are an attempt to contain innovation. But, only real stablecoins are “The innovation”.
Real Need of Emerging Markets
Emerging markets face three foundational issues in B2B transactions:
- Slow settlement times. Cross-border payments often take 2-5 business days, especially when involving multiple correspondent banks and currency conversions.
- High costs. FX markups, hidden bank fees, and float delays routinely eat into 3 to 5% of transaction value, and these costs can do much harm to thin-margin businesses.
- Lack of financial access. Millions of SMEs in regions like sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia are underbanked or excluded from international banking entirely.
Now compare this to what stablecoins (e.g., USDT or USDC) offer:
- Instant, final settlement (seconds, not days)
- Cost-effective global transfers (pennies per transaction)
- Self-custody and open access, no bank account required
- 24/7/365 uptime, aligned with the always-on global economy
It’s not hard to see that stablecoins as a concept bring much value to the whole value chain for businesses.
Stablecoins already reshaping emerging markets
The impact of stablecoins in emerging markets is not theoretical anymore, as it is happening now. From Africa to Southeast Asia to Latin America, stablecoins are becoming the default rails for commerce, capital preservation, and digital financial access.
1. Dollar Access in Economies with Weak or Volatile Currencies
In countries facing inflation, currency devaluation, or capital controls (such as Nigeria, Argentina, Lebanon, or Zimbabwe), stablecoins are becoming a safe haven. Businesses use USDT or USDC not only to settle invoices but also to protect working capital from rapid FX losses. In some cases, access to dollar-denominated stablecoins is the easier and safer way than acquiring physical USD or opening a foreign currency account.
According to Chainalysis, emerging markets have some of the highest adoption rates of crypto, including stablecoins, which often lead the charge. In Nigeria, over 30% of crypto transactions involve stablecoins, and peer-to-peer platforms report growing usage for SME payments and procurement.
2. Cross-border payments
Small exporters and importers across emerging markets have begun using stablecoins to pay international suppliers. Whether it’s a textile manufacturer in South Asia or a cocoa trader in West Africa, stablecoins remove the need for expensive, bureaucratic intermediaries and eliminate delays due to correspondent banking limitations.
3. Infrastructure for startups and freelancers
Startups across emerging markets now pay international contractors using stablecoins, especially when operating remotely or across borders. Platforms like Bitwage, Request Finance, and OnJuno help facilitate stablecoin-based payroll and invoicing, reducing unnecessary costs and making it easier for digital businesses to operate globally.
Greenlight for stablecoins by the GENIUS Act
The GENIUS Act is a game-changer. It legally defines and enables 1:1 backed, bankruptcy-protected, fully audited stablecoins, without requiring a banking license. It effectively recognizes stablecoins as legal assets, transferable without intermediaries. This is the regulatory clarity the market needed.
While the GENIUS Act does not directly target developing nations, it validates the stablecoin model and provides assurance to businesses globally that stablecoins are here to stay. And the most important, now they are backed by U.S. policy.
In short, the GENIUS Act did not empower banks, but it opened doors to stablecoins.
Banks cannot compete in emerging markets
Even though the Genius Act opened the doors for reputable market players to issue their own stablecoins, the major players are not really targeting the mainstream.
Let’s do a reality check.
- A JPMorgan deposit token can’t leave JPMorgan’s ecosystem.
- A Citi-issued stablecoin won’t be allowed in your wallet in emerging markets.
- A bank-issued token is still a liability on their books, not a bearer asset.
Now imagine you’re a Nigerian agritech startup needing to pay a supplier in India, or a logistics firm in Colombia coordinating with a client in Dubai.
Would you use:
- A tokenized deposit locked within JPMorgan’s walled garden, yielding 1%, with withdrawal limits,
- Or a USDT stablecoin yielding 4% in DeFi, transferable globally in seconds, with atomic settlement and zero bank interference?
The choice is quite obvious.
More importantly, remittances, payroll, invoice settlements, and cross-border e-commerce are already moving through stablecoin rails. And it happens quietly, efficiently, and legally.
Mistake by the EU
While the U.S. adopts the GENIUS Act and countries like the UAE race ahead, Europe is slowing itself down with MiCA.
- MiCA forces 60% of stablecoin reserves into low-liquidity EU banks
- Tether and Circle would be forced to trust the same banking system that collapsed USDC’s peg in 2023 during SVB’s failure
- Europe’s entire stablecoin market is just $450 million, less than 0.3% of global supply
Instead of enabling global liquidity, MiCA is isolating it. However, Europe is just a small market globally, talking about stablecoins. While they are shooting themself in the foot, I would not be surprised that by the end of the decade, here’s what we’ll likely see:
- Stablecoin volumes have been running at $650-700 billion per month (A bit less than 10 Tn annually), 50%+ used for B2B and institutional payments
- SMEs in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia bypassing correspondent banking entirely
- National stablecoins and private-sector USD stablecoins dominating FX markets for cross-border commerce
- Banks reduced to off-ramps, custody layers, and regulatory wrappers
- Emerging markets building entire financial stacks-payroll, invoicing, and insurance, on stablecoin rails
Betting on the stablecoins, not the banking system
Stablecoins are not a product innovation.
They are a structural transformation, meaning shifting financial power from centralized, closed, slow systems to open, borderless, programmable liquidity.
Emerging markets don’t need bank IOUs. They need sovereignty, speed, and security. And that’s exactly what stablecoins deliver.
By 2030, the global south will not ask permission from New York or London to send money.
They’ll send it on-chain, with stablecoins.
