Stablecoins are rapidly taking hold in the business-to-business (B2B) payments market, but barriers remain that stand in the way of broader adoption. With expectations that they can resolve inefficiencies in existing financial systems, companies are considering stablecoins as an alternative.

On Feb. 25 local time, blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto pointed to inefficiencies in international payment systems and reported that stablecoins are emerging as an alternative, but that institutional barriers remain significant.

According to the European Central Bank (ECB), as of 2024 about one-third of retail cross-border payments took more than a day to process, and global payment fees often exceeded 3 percent. The G20 set a goal of processing 75 percent of cross-border wholesale payments within 1 hour by 2027, but the market is also raising questions about the feasibility of meeting the target.

Stablecoins are being assessed as having the potential to change payment and settlement structures as “programmable money”. Norman Wooding (노먼 우딩), chief executive of corporate SCRYPT, stressed that “decentralised finance (DeFi) yields are structurally different from traditional finance, and stablecoins can provide diversification and yield opportunities without direct exposure to crypto price volatility.” McKinsey said stablecoin transaction volume reached $35 trillion in 2025, and Visa (Visa) analysis also showed $10.2 trillion in adjusted transaction volume over the past 12 months.

Factors that hinder global expansion are also not few. The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) said stablecoins could entail liquidity risks and stressed the need for institutional reinforcement. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also warned that while stablecoins could make payments faster and cheaper, their impact could be limited by interoperability problems between networks. The European Union (EU) established issuance and redemption standards for e-money tokens through the MiCA regulation, and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) is also moving to strengthen global supervision and risk management standards.

Federico Variola (페데리코 바리올라), chief executive of Phemex (Phemex), forecast that “younger generations already prefer stablecoins to the existing SWIFT system,” adding that they are “faster and more convenient than the traditional banking system, and the clearer regulations become, the faster adoption will be.” There is also a view that for companies to adopt stablecoins in earnest, they must resolve key tasks such as securing liquidity, regulatory compliance and trust in issuers.

The market sees that because stablecoins can simultaneously target the “speed and cost” problems of cross-border payments, use in the B2B area will expand rapidly as institutional arrangements progress. The pace of adoption is expected to depend on how much infrastructure building keeps up, including expanded liquidity pools, issuer risk management, and the establishment of interoperability standards, along with clearer regulation. The industry is focusing on the possibility that pilot applications will increase for a time, centered on some countries and industries, before a full-scale phase of mass adoption opens when regulations and standards become established.