The Economist: In Asia, stablecoins are becoming the new financial infrastructure

Title: Asia Is Turning Stablecoins into Banking Infrastructure
Source: The Economist

Author: BlockBeats

Reprinted from: Mars Finance

Whether it’s free software developers in Lahore or domestic workers in Manila, smartphones have now become banking tools for cryptocurrencies. They no longer need to pay wire transfer fees equivalent to a day’s wages but can send and receive stablecoins quickly and at low cost.

This genuine demand explains why cryptocurrencies continue to thrive in Asia despite cautious official attitudes, even in countries with strict regulations like India. India imposes a 30% tax on crypto gains and deducts up to 1% in fees per transaction. According to data analytics firm Chainalysis, from mid-2024 to 2025, crypto inflows into India will reach approximately $338 billion, maintaining the country’s top position in global crypto adoption for three consecutive years.

Among the top 20 countries in Chainalysis’s Global Crypto Adoption Index, nine are in Asia, including Pakistan (rank 3), Vietnam, as well as developed economies like Japan and South Korea. While speculative trading remains popular, the region’s dominant position mainly reflects a shift in crypto use: it is no longer just a tool for speculation but is becoming a new form of financial infrastructure. “Cryptocurrencies are solving real-world problems,” said Chengyi Ong of Chainalysis.

Cross-border remittances are a core application. Southeast Asia has about 24 million overseas workers. According to the World Bank, in 2025, the average cost to send back $200 is 6.5%. This is a heavy burden for migrant workers, especially in countries like the Philippines, where remittances account for 9% of GDP. Stablecoins are the solution; unlike Bitcoin, their prices are nearly stable. Ong states that stablecoins are “becoming the backbone of crypto activity.”

From January to July last year, global stablecoin transfer volume exceeded $4 trillion. Although this still accounts for a small portion of total annual cross-border payments, while high-volatility assets like Bitcoin dominate headlines worldwide, stablecoins are quietly taking on real payment functions.

The advantages of stablecoins are also prompting businesses to adopt them. In traditional cross-border payments, each participating bank adds fees, delays, markups, and compliance checks. For example, a Vietnamese company paying a supplier in Thailand usually needs to go through an intermediary for currency exchange; stablecoin transactions settle faster and involve fewer intermediaries. According to crypto analytics firm Artemis, the monthly stablecoin transaction volume between enterprises surged from less than $100 million at the start of 2023 to over $6 billion by mid-2025.

Asia’s large freelance workforce is also bypassing traditional banks. The World Bank estimates that the region has over 210 million gig economy workers, roughly half of the global total. Traditional payment systems often delay payouts to drivers and delivery workers, but stablecoins enable instant settlement. Visa is testing a system that can send funds directly to users’ stablecoin wallets. Pakistan has about 2 million freelancers, with remittance flows reaching $38 billion annually. Many choose to receive payments in stablecoins and then exchange them for local currency via trading platforms or local merchants, with fees typically only 1–3%, about half of traditional channels.

Whether stablecoins will become a legitimate financial infrastructure or fall into fraud largely depends on Asia. Features that attract Filipino nurses to send cross-border remittances—speed, low cost, and no bank account needed—could also be exploited by criminal groups in Myanmar and Cambodia. Asia has enough market size, genuine demand, and regulatory resolve to resolve this contradiction. If successful, stablecoins will reshape global capital flows; if not, cryptocurrencies may have found their long-awaited real use case but remain illegal.