How Not to Miss the Stablecoin Infrastructure Moment

A legislative milestone is unfolding in Washington. With the U.S. Senate passing the GENIUS Act, a landmark stablecoin bill, the message is clear: the U.S. is no longer a passive player in digital asset adoption. The bill aims to bring regulatory clarity, boost market competition, and cement the U.S. dollar’s dominance in a digital future.

Once used mostly for crypto trading, stablecoins have established themselves as legitimate financial infrastructure. They are now powering real-time payments, tokenized assets, and cross-border finance. For institutions, the question isn’t ‘if,’ but ‘how’ to tap into this infrastructure shift.

2025 Has Become Stablecoins’ Inflection Point

Within the last year, many of the fundamental barriers have fallen, making stablecoins a fundamental bridge at the intersection of crypto and traditional finance:

• Regulatory certainty is here. And it’s not just any regulation, the GENIUS Act, recently passed by the U.S. Senate and now under review by the House, could become the defining legislation for stablecoin markets. This Act sets a clear path for stablecoin issuers, potentially opening the floodgates for banks and fintech to issue their own stablecoins. In Europe, MiCA provides a regulatory framework, while the UAE is enabling real-world deployments through dirham-backed tokens. Hong Kong has also entered the fold, recently passing a stablecoin bill to establish a formal licensing regime, signaling its ambition to be a regulated hub for digital finance.

• Enterprise adoption has hit critical mass. BlackRock is piloting tokenised money market funds using stablecoins for settlement, demonstrating operational readiness among traditional asset managers. Visa has settled over $225 million in stablecoin volume, and expansion is underway to support more partners, additional stablecoins, and 24/7 settlement capabilities.

• Economic pressures fueling demand. Rising interest rates and currency volatility since the beginning of the year have increased the demand for stablecoins. Within current market conditions, 24/7 settlement has become a competitive advantage rather than a novelty.

Real-World Stablecoin Usage is Accelerating

In Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, individuals and small businesses are leveraging USD-backed stablecoins to protect against local currency volatility and access financial services in areas with limited banking infrastructure.

In Brazil, stablecoins are being used in fintech platforms for cross-border B2B payments and as USD exposure for retail savers. Countries like Argentina, Turkey, and Nigeria are seeing widespread usage of USDT and USDC for savings, remittances, and everyday transactions driven by inflation, capital controls, and demand for dollar stability. Meanwhile, developed markets are advancing regulatory clarity to support stablecoin growth.

But perhaps the biggest regulatory tailwind is yet to come: the GENIUS Act promises to elevate the U.S. as a regulated leader in stablecoin innovation, turning today's early adoption into tomorrow’s institutional norm. These developments point to stablecoins evolving from trading tools to essential infrastructure in the modern financial system.

Cross-Border Payments: Modernising Infrastructure

Stablecoins are now playing a transformative role in the global money movement. Visa has been integrating stablecoins like USDC into its treasury systems, enabling select clients to settle obligations on VisaNet using digital dollars.

This effort is part of a broader push to modernise the back end of global finance. While front-end payment experiences have evolved significantly, the underlying infrastructure remains outdated. Integrating stablecoins can enhance liquidity, reduce FX risk, and bring real-time programmability to treasury operations.

Visa's Tokenized Asset Platform enables banks to mint, manage, and transact stablecoins, laying the groundwork for a new generation of automated financial products. Stablecoin-linked cards and on/off ramps have already processed nearly $100 billion in crypto purchases and over $25 billion in crypto spending.

This convergence of stablecoins with traditional financial systems is unlocking new efficiencies in cross-border trade corridors, where dollar access is limited, but demand is high. And when the GENIUS Act comes into force, expect even more acceleration, with traditional banks now empowered to launch their own stablecoins, driving further reach across remittances and cross-border settlements.

Institutional Adoption: Treasury, Settlement, and Tokenization

As compliance frameworks strengthen, institutions are adopting stablecoins for treasury management, intercompany transfers, and yield strategies. Asset managers like Franklin Templeton and Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital are backing new stablecoin infrastructure, including Ethena’s USDe, aimed at replacing outdated systems with programmable settlement layers.

Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), including real estate, art, and IP is gaining momentum across Europe and the U.S., where stablecoins serve as the underlying financial rail. In Europe, RWAs are being used in pilot projects, with Bitpanda reporting growing interest across sectors.

Ready to Explore Stablecoins? Here’s Where to Start

Family offices can look to pilot cross-border transfers between family entities to begin understanding stablecoins’ operational benefits.

Traditional finance executives should audit current payment costs and settlement times to identify use cases where stablecoins may have the highest impact. Be sure to review compliance frameworks for requirements when it comes to digital asset integration.

Institutional investors may want to assess infrastructure opportunities in stablecoin payments and tokenization platforms. There are a variety of regulated tokenised assets using stablecoin settlement to explore, including US treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, commodities, and real estate.

Regardless of institution type, be sure to partner with regulated banks and custodians who offer institutional-grade services and infrastructure. Successful adoption also requires systematic risk management, which includes:

• Regulatory risk: Always use licensed providers with clear compliance frameworks
• Counterparty risk: Work with counterparties that understand reserve backing and audit practices
• Operational risk: Begin explorations on a small scale with proper custody controls
• Liquidity risk: Ensure that your counterparty has multiple on/off-ramp providers

Looking Ahead: The Rails of a New Financial System

The financial system is undergoing a fundamental rewrite. Stablecoins, with their 1:1 fiat backing, interoperability, and programmable functionality, are emerging as the connective tissue of a new global financial architecture.

As adoption deepens from grassroots remittances to sovereign-backed tokenization, stablecoins are becoming more than digital dollars. They are becoming the settlement layer of a financial system that is real-time, borderless, and always on.

For those shaping the next era of finance, the signal is clear: this is not just innovation. It is an infrastructure.

About the Author
Article authored by Franz Bergmueller, CEO at AMINA Bank AG