Voices of Crypto: Stablecoins Are Actually Working in 2025

The hum of innovation in the crypto world often overshadows the quiet revolutions. In 2025, one such revolution is undoubtedly stablecoins. No longer just a bridge to speculative trading, these digital assets are now the backbone of a rapidly expanding real-world economy, annualizing around $72 billion in payments, with a significant $36 billion attributed to B2B volumes alone. This surge isn’t just growth; it’s a profound shift in financial paradigms, weaving stablecoins into the very fabric of daily commerce and cross-border transactions.

“Stablecoins have quietly become the financial backbone for users in emerging markets,” emphasizes Eowyn Chen, CEO of Trust Wallet. “They’re not chasing yield, they’re looking for stability, access, and now, reliable ways to earn without losing control.”

Kevin Lee, CBO at Gate.com, echoes this sentiment, noting that stablecoins are solving tangible, real-world problems. “In traditional finance, B2B cross-border payments can be slow, expensive, and opaque. Stablecoins remove friction, offering near-instant settlement, lower fees, and 24/7 accessibility.”

Chen points to Trust Wallet’s own “Stablecoin Earn” product, which amassed over $30 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) from self-custodied users in just one month. This incredible traction, she argues, signifies a broader trend: “The next growth curve won’t just come from crypto natives. It’ll come from everyday users treating stablecoins as their first savings account.” This vision positions stablecoins not as a niche financial product, but as a fundamental tool for financial inclusion and stability for the unbanked and underbanked globally.

Lee believes the current rapid commercial growth is fundamentally driven by a powerful combination of “utility, efficiency, and global demand for reliable finance.” He paints a picture of a world where businesses, regardless of size or location, can transact with the speed and certainty once reserved for the largest financial institutions.

Unpacking the Commercial Surge: Why Are Stablecoins Thriving?

Several forces are fueling this impressive adoption, transforming how businesses and individuals interact with money. Allan Bartholomew, Founder of Aspire Solutions, highlights key drivers, showing how these digital currencies are addressing long-standing pain points in traditional finance:

• Efficiency in Cross-Border Transactions: Stablecoins like USDT and USDC offer near-instant settlement and dramatically lower fees compared to archaic systems like SWIFT, which can cost anywhere from $14 to $150 per $1,000 transferred and take days to clear. Platforms like Conduit and Bitso are leveraging this in emerging markets, shrinking working capital needs and mitigating FX risks. This efficiency is a game-changer for businesses relying on swift international payments.
• Surging Demand in Emerging Markets: In economies plagued by depreciating national currencies, stablecoins provide a vital lifeline. Bartholomew points to Brazil, where USDT accounts for 80% of crypto transactions, serving as a stable, dollar-pegged alternative for everything from vendor payments to cross-border trade. For individuals and businesses alike, stablecoins offer a refuge from inflation and economic instability.
• Accelerated Institutional Adoption: Major financial players are no longer on the sidelines. Firms like JPMorgan (with JPM Coin) and PayPal (using PYUSD) are actively integrating stablecoins into B2B workflows, lending unprecedented trust and legitimacy to the sector. This institutional embrace signals a maturation of the stablecoin market, moving it from the fringes to the financial mainstream.
• Regulatory Progress: Despite ongoing challenges, clearer regulatory frameworks, such as the EU’s MiCA and the U.S.’s GENIUS Act, are fostering an environment of reduced uncertainty. This encourages broader institutional participation and infrastructure development, evidenced by Solana’s 156% surge in stablecoin supply in 2025. Regulatory clarity is paving the way for wider acceptance and innovation.
• Cost and Transparency Benefits: Blockchain-based stablecoin transactions, particularly on networks like Tron and Solana, offer fees as low as $0.00025, alongside immutable and auditable records. This transparency is a major draw for businesses seeking to optimize treasury and supply chain operations, offering a level of oversight rarely seen in traditional financial systems.

However, Mike Ermolaev, Founder of Outset PR, offers a stark, yet compelling, counter-narrative to the idea of pure innovation driving this growth. “The real driver behind stablecoins reaching $72 billion in real-world payments isn’t innovation – it’s infrastructure breakdown,” Ermolaev asserts. He contends that in many parts of the Global South, traditional banking simply doesn’t function. “Users aren’t adopting stablecoins because they want to ‘try crypto,’ they’re adopting them because it’s the only working payment rail. Tether’s growth isn’t theoretical – it’s practical. In places like Argentina and Nigeria, USDT isn’t an option, it’s a necessity.” This “bottom-up” demand, unpushed by VC narratives, is what makes stablecoin adoption so “sticky.” Ermolaev predicts a plateau will only occur when a genuinely better alternative emerges, and so far, nothing competes on access and trust in the field. This perspective paints a picture of stablecoins as a crucial, almost humanitarian, financial lifeline.

Concentration: Risk or Resilient Strength?

Tether’s overwhelming dominance, accounting for approximately 90% of real payment flows, alongside TRON handling about 60% of the volume, raises legitimate questions about concentration. Is this a systemic risk, or a testament to stablecoin utility? This imbalance prompts a deeper look into the underlying forces at play.

“Tether’s dominance isn’t just a market share story – it’s a distribution story,” explains Mike Ermolaev. “Tether succeeded because it solved the core problem of moving dollars in and out of crypto markets where banks failed or refused.” TRON’s role is equally straightforward: “it’s fast, cheap, and frictionless. That combo made it the de facto stablecoin highway for billions in volume across Asia, Africa, and LATAM.”

While acknowledging that “any system with that much concentration has a chokepoint problem,” Ermolaev posits that in terms of utility, “the fact that Tether and TRON dominate isn’t a bug, it’s the most honest indicator of where crypto works today: where the banking rails don’t.” It highlights a powerful, if concentrated, solution to a global financial problem, demonstrating a resilience born out of necessity rather than mere market competition.

Tokenizing Receivables: A Corporate Treasury Revolution on the Horizon?

The concept of tokenizing receivables via stablecoins offers the tantalizing prospect of instant liquidity, collapsing what is traditionally a 30- to 90-day liquidity gap into mere minutes. Mike Ermolaev dubs this “the most slept-on innovation in corporate finance.” Imagine a world where invoices can be settled instantly, freeing up capital and streamlining financial operations.

However, the reality, he concedes, is that “right now, it’s mostly used by crypto-native or fintech-forward firms.” For this transformative power to reach mainstream treasury operations, two critical elements are required: “large-scale distribution via banks or exchanges, and regulatory clarity.” Without these, Ermolaev vividly describes tokenized receivables as “a Ferrari sitting in a garage with no fuel – powerful, but still inaccessible for most traditional companies.” This points to the next frontier in stablecoin adoption: breaking through the barriers of traditional finance.

What’s Next? Embedded Commerce, Programmable Treasuries, and Beyond

The expansion of stablecoins and PayFi (Payment Finance) into areas like embedded commerce, programmable treasuries, and real-time cross-border settlements isn’t a futuristic dream; it’s already unfolding. These innovations promise to fundamentally reshape how businesses manage their finances and interact with their customers.

“Absolutely, we see stablecoins and PayFi moving well beyond simple payments. The next phase is about integration,” asserts Alex Andera, CMO at AlgosOne.ai. He believes embedded commerce, programmable treasuries, and real-time cross-border settlements are “all within reach.” Stablecoins provide the “stability traditional finance demands,” while PayFi platforms enable “seamless UX and smart contract automation.” Andera reveals that AlgosOne.ai is already testing “AI-powered treasury systems that dynamically allocate liquidity across protocols and borders.” The future, he envisions, is “where every business wallet can earn, pay, and optimize—all autonomously, 24/7.” This paints a picture of a hyper-efficient, self-managing financial ecosystem.

Mike Ermolaev notes that stablecoins are already “creeping into embedded commerce and cross-border use cases – not because of trend-chasing, but because they’re solving real pain.” He anticipates programmable treasuries will emerge from “platforms that build natively with on-chain logic.” His ultimate vision for the future? “We should think less about stablecoins as coins – and more as APIs. The winners will be those who offer programmable, composable dollars that can plug into DeFi, commerce, and even payroll in a single tap.” This perspective emphasizes the underlying technology’s potential to become an invisible, yet indispensable, part of our financial lives.

Underpinning this expansive future, Kevin Lee of Gate.com points to broader industry developments. He anticipates that “Layer 2 and scalability innovations will enter a more mature phase. The focus will shift from just throughput to user experience and interoperability, unlocking broader consumer-facing applications.” As these solutions become more seamless, they will onboard a “new wave of mainstream users, especially in emerging markets where crypto offers real utility.” This foundational infrastructure is what will truly allow stablecoins to reach their full potential across diverse applications, from micropayments to global supply chain finance.

In 2025, stablecoins are no longer merely a curiosity; they are an essential, evolving component of global finance. They are plugging critical gaps in traditional systems, providing stability in volatile economies, and paving the way for unprecedented levels of financial automation and accessibility. While challenges like regulatory consistency and broader supplier readiness persist, the trajectory of stablecoins is undeniably towards deeper integration into the fabric of public and private finance. The story of stablecoins is shifting from niche innovation to ubiquitous utility, and the next chapters promise even more profound transformations.

What aspects of stablecoin integration into the global economy are you most curious about?