Roughly one in every sixteen people in the world now uses stablecoins, amounting to about 500 million users globally. This growing user base shows how quickly stablecoins have moved from niche digital assets to a practical tool for international payments used by individuals, businesses, and fintech platforms.
Stablecoins have become one of the most common digital rails for cross-border transactions because they offer fast settlement, low fees, and round-the-clock availability. Their design, cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to a stable asset like the US dollar, makes them suitable for moving money across borders without the delays and high charges found in traditional systems such as SWIFT, correspondent banking, and money transfer operators.
Speed is one of the main reasons behind their expanding role. Conventional international bank transfers can take one to five business days due to intermediaries, time-zone differences, and batch processing. Stablecoins settle in seconds or minutes on blockchains such as Solana, Tron, Polygon, Stellar, or Ethereum, even on weekends or holidays. USDC on Solana or Polygon typically confirms in under three seconds, while USDT on Tron finalises transfers in about 10–30 seconds and supports millions of cross-border transactions daily. This immediacy supports businesses that depend on timely payments, including importers, exporters, aid organisations, and companies paying remote workers.
Cost also plays a major part. According to the World Bank (2024), traditional cross-border payments cost an average of 6.3%, driven by foreign exchange spreads and multiple banking fees. Stablecoin transfers usually fall between 0.1% and 1%. Sending USDC worth $1 million from the U.S. to Argentina on Solana can cost less than $1. Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) combined with USDC can push total fees below 0.3%. Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism have also reduced Ethereum stablecoin fees to below one cent. These cost reductions are especially useful for high-frequency transfers and low-value remittances.
Many fintech platforms have integrated stablecoins into their systems. Stripe introduced USDC payouts in 2022 and expanded to over 70 countries by 2025, allowing platforms to pay creators and contractors instantly after converting to local currency. PayPal launched PYUSD in 2023 and uses stablecoins within Venmo and Xoom for international transfers. Companies such as Wise, Revolut, and Airwallex use stablecoin liquidity in high-volume payment corridors to cut processing costs. Crypto-focused players like Circle, Ripple, Stellar, and Fireblocks provide APIs that let fintechs settle in stablecoins while meeting compliance requirements such as KYC, AML, and the travel rule. In emerging markets, platforms including Bitso (Mexico), Mercado Pago (Argentina), and GCash (Philippines) use stablecoins like USDC and USDT to bypass slow and expensive banking systems.
Stablecoins are also reaching global financial infrastructure. In 2025, Circle reported more than $15 trillion in USDC transfers for the year. Tether processed an estimated $10–12 trillion, with most of it linked to cross-border payments and settlement. Visa and Mastercard have added support for stablecoin settlement through products such as Visa B2B Connect and Mastercard Crypto Credential. While they do not replace fiat money, stablecoins are increasingly used in areas where speed, cost, and accessibility are essential.
Kenya has followed this global trend, with stablecoins becoming a widely used option for international payments. The use of stablecoins in global payments among Kenyans has grown through platforms such as Tether (via Kotani Pay), HoneyCoin, Yogupay, Transfi, and Yellow Card. These services allow users to convert stablecoins into Kenyan Shillings (KES) and withdraw directly to mobile money platforms like M-Pesa.
Diaspora remittances are one of the most common applications. Kenyans abroad send money home using USDT or USDC with fees often under 1%. Transfers arrive within minutes, and recipients can convert the funds to KES and cash out through mobile money. This bypasses the delays and high charges associated with SWIFT transfers or services like MoneyGram.
SMEs in Kenya that import or export goods are also adopting stablecoins to pay international suppliers, especially in China and Dubai. Payments settle quickly, improving cash flow. Costs are lower, sometimes reduced by 70–90% compared to bank wires. Many businesses also use dollar-pegged stablecoins to protect pricing and manage currency depreciation.
Freelancers and digital service providers in Kenya use stablecoins to receive global payments instantly without opening foreign bank accounts. They can convert the stablecoins into KES through local exchanges at lower costs than traditional options. Reports also show that some multinational companies operating in Kenya, including Starlink, have used stablecoins to repatriate earnings efficiently.
Stablecoins have further expanded access to global e-commerce. Kenyan merchants selling internationally receive stablecoin payments instantly, helping them operate without relying on multiple banks or facing costly delays.
Jefferson Wachira is a writer at Africa Digest News, specializing in banking and finance trends, and their impact on African economies.