remittances

The third-quarter report released by the stablecoin payment network Borderless.xyz shows that the median cost of sending a $200 remittance through stablecoin funding channels is 1%, or $2; whereas, according to World Bank data, the median cost of traditional remittance channels is 6.36%, or $12.72. In comparison, the cost of stablecoin remittances is approximately 84% lower. This comparison uses Borderless's pricing for the third quarter of 2026 and World Bank data for the same period in 2025.In emerging markets, the cost advantage is also evident. The cost of stablecoin remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa is 2.9%, while traditional transfers are 8.46%; in Latin America, the figures are 1.25% and 5.64%, respectively. In terms of corporate payments, a $10,000 stablecoin transfer to the Eurozone can cost as low as $26 when choosing the lowest-cost service provider, with the median service provider costing $52; traditional international bank wire transfers for the same amount require $135 to $150, including transfer fees and a 1% foreign exchange spread.Regarding settlement speed, the report states that stablecoin payments can reach the recipient's local bank account within minutes. The median settlement time for Brazil's PIX network in the third quarter is 2 minutes, Mexico's SPEI is 3 minutes, and Colombia's PSE is 2 minutes; traditional SWIFT transfers typically settle the next day, with the slowest 10% taking 3 business days. The success rate for receiving funds varies significantly: Mexico's SPEI is 98.6%, Brazil's PIX is 97.8%, Colombia's PSE is 79%, and Costa Rica's SINPE is only 73%. Standard Chartered Bank recently pointed out that although the total market capitalization of stablecoins has grown relatively slowly this year, transaction volumes are still rising, and it is expected that this market will reach $2 trillion by 2030, two years later than previously predicted.

According to a report by Cointelegraph, a recent report from Chainalysis indicates that remittances from Canada to India, China, and the Philippines have surged by 141% year-on-year, reaching $2.36 billion, with digital asset payments continuing to expand in these three major remittance corridors.In the 12 months ending June 2026, there were a total of 3.56 million related transactions, with an average amount of $663 per transaction. Chainalysis noted that these three countries accounted for an increase in the proportion of Canada's cross-border stablecoin outflows from 10.9% the previous year to 19.4%.Eric Jardine, research director at Chainalysis, cited additional data provided to Cointelegraph, stating that crypto remittances from Canada to the Philippines alone reached $61.02 million, involving 73,564 transactions, representing year-on-year growth of 28% and 34.7%, respectively.The analysis counted Bitcoin and stablecoins that circulated between personal wallets with amounts exceeding $10,000. Chainalysis listed Canada as the largest peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto economy among the G7 countries and believes that the large overseas-born population and the high costs of traditional remittance services are potential driving factors for its increasing adoption.Morva Rohani, executive director of the Canadian Web3 Council, stated in the report that about 23% of Canada's population is born overseas, the highest proportion among the G7, with frequent use of remittance corridors to India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan, and China.The report also found that in June, stablecoins accounted for 44% of the Canadian dollar-denominated order book trading volume, up from 30% a year ago.

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau reported the investigation and resolution of a major underground money laundering case involving cross-border currency exchange using virtual currency, arresting more than 70 criminal suspects, with the amount involved exceeding 20 billion yuan.

In a research report released by the Bank of Italy in July 2026, a "mystery shopper" empirical investigation was conducted for the first time, tracking 200 USDC transfers across ten corridors between Italy and Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, and Japan. The results showed that the total cost of stablecoin remittances fluctuated greatly, with a minimum of only 0.3% and a maximum close to 9%. On-chain transfers accounted for an average of only 0.4%, with the bulk of costs concentrated in fiat withdrawal and deposit stages—traditional intermediary fees such as exchange buy-sell spreads, credit card fees, and withdrawal fees were the decisive factors. Compared to traditional channels like Wise, stablecoins have a cost advantage in some corridors like Brazil to Italy, but the costs are higher in corridors like UAE to Italy, showing a high degree of "corridor specificity."In terms of speed, blockchain transfers themselves take only a few minutes, but end-to-end efficiency entirely depends on the quality of the traditional payment infrastructure in the destination country. Countries with instant payment systems, such as Brazil (PIX), Italy (TIPS), and Argentina (Transferencias 3.0), can keep the entire process under 20 minutes; whereas countries like South Africa, which rely on traditional bank transfers, see the arrival time extended to 1 to 2 business days. The report pointed out that the efficiency of stablecoin remittances is jointly determined by their own infrastructure and the surrounding traditional payment infrastructure, with both being complementary rather than substitutive. The report also analyzed the impact of global regulatory fragmentation: the EU's MiCA and the US's GENIUS Act represent mature compliance frameworks; Japan's strict "safety first" access, while lowering nominal costs, complicates processes leading users to offshore platforms; countries like India and Turkey are in a transitional regulatory phase; while countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with prohibitive measures, have failed to suppress demand, instead pushing transactions into gray channels.

TripleA CEO Eric Barbier stated that the future of remittances is remittances without remittances. He does not truly believe in stablecoin sandwich remittances (fiat to stablecoin and then back to fiat). In most cases, remittances mean transferring strong currencies into weak currencies. However, stablecoins provide new value: they allow people in emerging countries to hold strong currencies. As related platforms encourage merchants to accept cryptocurrencies, stablecoins can now be consumed directly. Therefore, the future for people in emerging countries is not to hold local currencies, but to hold stablecoins, earn returns, and spend them.

According to News.bitcoin, data released by the Central Bank of El Salvador shows that in the first half of 2026, only 35.4 million dollars in external remittances were channeled into the country through digital currency. This figure accounts for only 0.7% of the total remittances to the country in 2026 (over 5 billion dollars). Nevertheless, the amount of cryptocurrency remittances is still significantly higher than the level in the first half of 2025, when the cryptocurrency remittance amount was 25.4 million dollars, an increase of 39.1%.

Hyundai Card announced on the 9th that it has completed a proof of concept (PoC) for cross-border remittances based on stablecoins with Hyundai Motor America (HMA) and Hyundai Motor Mexico (HMM). In the first PoC, the U.S. entity converted $20,000 into USDT and then remitted it to the Mexican entity, which converted it back to dollars. The entire process, including international remittance and verification, averaged only 7 minutes, significantly shorter than the 3 to 4 hours typically required for traditional bank cross-border remittances. Tether and Avalanche participated in this verification.The second phase of the PoC will be launched at the end of this month, targeting Hyundai Motor's European entity, to conduct actual remittances in local currency instead of dollars, verifying the cost-saving effects of currency exchange. Circle and Visa will participate as partners. Hyundai Card emphasized that this verification has comprehensively considered regulatory requirements such as accounting, taxation, legal, and internal controls, going beyond mere technical testing to reach the level of actual business deployment. In the future, there are plans to expand the application of stablecoins to inter-entity settlements and fund transfers within Hyundai Motor Group's global network.

According to SBS Biz, in the past three years, overseas remittances through cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have increased by 380%, while remittances through traditional banks have only grown by 20%. Last year, the total amount of foreign currency remittances from South Korea's five major banks was 159 trillion won (approximately 122 billion USD), an increase of 20% compared to 131.8 trillion won (approximately 101 billion USD) in 2022.At the same time, data from the office of Congressman Kim Sang-hoon shows that during the same period, the remittance amount through the five major won-denominated cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea surged from 34.02 trillion won (approximately 26.2 billion USD) to 163.55 trillion won (approximately 125.8 billion USD), an increase of 380%. Dongguk University professor Hwang Seok-jin attributes the significant growth in cryptocurrency remittances to their lower transaction fees compared to banks.

According to Cointelegraph, South Korea's Toss Bank will adopt Solana to conduct a global remittance and settlement proof of concept, aiming to provide its users with faster and lower-cost cross-border transaction services.

KB Financial Group announced that it has completed the technical proof of concept for the Korean won stablecoin in scenarios such as payments, settlements, and international remittances. This verification was jointly completed by KB Financial Group, electronic payment company KG Inicis, public chain Kaia, and digital asset solution company OpenAsset, covering the entire financial service process including the issuance of the Korean won stablecoin, offline payments, merchant settlements, and cross-border remittances.According to reports, the solution migrates the internal settlement system to a blockchain architecture while maintaining users' original financial service habits. Among them, actual payment scenarios have been tested through the offline self-service terminals of the chain coffee brand Hollys, allowing users to make payments via QR codes without the need to install a digital wallet; the system automatically executes on-chain smart contracts during the settlement phase. In addition, in the cross-border remittance test, the system first exchanges the Korean won stablecoin for US dollar stablecoins through Kaia's on-chain liquidity, and then the local partner in Vietnam completes the fiat currency crediting. The entire remittance process takes only about 3 minutes, with fees reduced by approximately 87% compared to traditional SWIFT remittance models.

According to Insight Korea, South Korea's digital bank K Bank has established a strategic partnership with blockchain company Ripple to advance the verification of next-generation cross-border remittance technology based on blockchain.Both parties will focus on assessing the optimization potential in remittance speed, cost structure, and transaction transparency through Ripple's global payment network and infrastructure. The current collaboration includes proof of concept based on digital wallets, joint development of cross-border remittance models, and expansion in the digital asset field. The ongoing second phase of testing has simulated the connection between the bank's internal systems and customer accounts, testing on-chain fund transfers aimed at the UAE and Thailand. K Bank is also evaluating the adoption of Ripple's SaaS digital wallet Palisade to enhance compliance and deployment efficiency.

According to Nikkei Asia, Mitsubishi Corporation plans to connect to JPMorgan's blockchain payment platform soon, becoming the first Japanese company to use the service.The service supports instant international money transfers, and JPMorgan is also taking this opportunity to promote its blockchain payment products to more Japanese companies. Against this backdrop, Japanese financial institutions are accelerating their layout in blockchain and stablecoins, with major banks like MUFG and Mizuho testing yen stablecoins, and Japanese regulators are also considering approving the listing of cryptocurrency ETFs as early as 2028.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong 01 report, the chairman of the Hong Kong Investor and Financial Education Committee (Investment Committee), Du Guankun, stated that the main use of stablecoins is as a cross-border remittance tool. If widely accepted by society in the future, it could reduce the cost of cross-border payments.Stablecoins are related to virtual currencies, issued by private institutions, backed by mainstream fiat assets such as the US dollar, while using cryptocurrencies as collateral. Consequently, the volatility is quite high, and if there is insufficient understanding of the related products, one should not invest.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, PayPal has announced that it has introduced its stablecoin PYUSD to Stellar for cross-border remittances and payment financing. PYUSD has already been operating on Ethereum and Solana, and this collaboration will enable small and medium-sized enterprises facing accounts receivable delays or pre-financing requirements to access a new source of real-time working capital.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Guatemala's largest commercial bank, Banco Industrial, announced the integration of blockchain infrastructure service provider SukuPay into its mobile banking app Zigi. Users can instantly receive remittances from the United States for a fixed fee of $0.99, without the need to hold a crypto wallet or an international bank account (IBAN). SukuPay stated that this collaboration marks the first adoption of a native crypto protocol by a large retail bank in Latin America.Banco Industrial was established in 1968 and has over 1,600 service points in Guatemala, with assets reaching 1.5 billion quetzals (approximately $20 million) in 2023. Its operations extend to regions such as Honduras, Panama, and El Salvador. The bank holds a significant position in the local remittance market, while cross-border remittances are a key pillar of the Latin American economy—total remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to reach $161 billion in 2024, but traditional channel fees range from 6% to 10%.SukuPay CEO Yonathan Lapchik pointed out that Guatemala receives $21 billion in remittances annually, and blockchain technology can reduce settlement times from days to instant while alleviating cost pressures. He stated, "The key to achieving large-scale adoption of blockchain is to make the technology invisible to users," emphasizing that stablecoins are a core tool for optimizing cross-border payment efficiency.According to Chainalysis's 2024 report, Latin America is the second-fastest region in the world for cryptocurrency adoption, but Guatemala lags behind neighboring countries like Argentina and Brazil. Currently, over 90% of crypto transactions in the region involve stablecoins, which are better suited for everyday payment scenarios due to their peg to fiat currencies.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, data from the Central Bank of El Salvador shows that since October 2024, the proportion of cryptocurrency remittances in the country has remained below 1% of the total. This figure stands in stark contrast to the nearly 5% peak in October 2021 when the country adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.Financial writer John Paul Koning pointed out that although President Nayib Bukele has stated that traditional financial institutions charge up to 25% in fees for remittances, the official digital wallet Chivo offers zero fees, cryptocurrency remittances have failed to gain widespread adoption among the dollarized population in the country.According to an agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Salvadoran government will terminate or sell the operations of Chivo and revoke Bitcoin's legal tender status to reduce Bitcoin's share in its economy.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the stablecoin sector is attracting increasing attention from venture capital. Y Combinator has listed stablecoins as a key focus area for the Winter 2025 batch, with several projects receiving significant funding: the stablecoin infrastructure project usdx.money completed a $45 million financing at a valuation of $275 million; Binance Labs invested in the Solana ecosystem stablecoin protocol Perena; the MiCA-compliant EU stablecoin issuer Quantoz Payments received investments from Tether, Kraken, and others. Stripe acquired the stablecoin payment platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, setting a record for the largest merger and acquisition deal in the cryptocurrency industry.Galaxy Ventures partner Will Nuelle expects that by the end of 2026, the transaction volume of stablecoins for non-cryptocurrency use cases such as trade finance and payment processing will reach $1 trillion, accounting for over 1% of the global cross-border B2B payment market share. VanEck Ventures partner Juan Lopez predicts that in the next 3-5 years, about 30% (approximately $20 billion) of remittances from the U.S. to Mexico will be completed using stablecoins.

ChainCatcher news, the Central Bank of Brazil is currently exploring the possibility of taxing remittances based on stablecoins. According to industry stakeholders, the Central Bank of Brazil is considering incorporating this taxation into the final version of cryptocurrency regulations that will be finalized next year.Local media pointed out that this could be achieved by providing different licenses to cryptocurrency companies based on the services offered. For example, tokenization companies would need to apply for a standard Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license, while companies offering stablecoin exchange services may need to apply for a different license.