• Chris Harmse, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at BVNK


• 22.11.2024 09:45 am
#Stablecoins #CryptocurrencyTrends #Bitcoin

Comments attributed to Chris Harmse, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at BVNK, the stablecoin payments infrastructure provider.

Stablecoins cement their place as a new global payment rail. 

Stablecoins have brought speed, transparency, and accessibility to payments that traditional systems can’t match. What started as a tool for crypto trading, has now become a mainstream payment rail. Around $17 trillion stablecoin transactions were made in 2024, with payments accounting for an estimated $5 trillion of those (that’s over a third of the volume processed by Visa). In 2025, we predict that global payments volume will continue to move on-chain. Stablecoin payments will surpass $8 trillion, cementing their place as a core global payment rail.

The rise of the stablecoin orchestration layer. 

If 2023 was the year of blockchain infrastructure upgrades, 2024 is the year of blockchain abstraction. As regulatory frameworks bring trust to stablecoins, more businesses are keen to use them. But they don’t want to have to worry about which blockchains to choose, or how to manage gas fees or wallet configuration. Enter: payments orchestration for stablecoins. Companies like BVNK will gain prominence in 2025, providing critical infrastructure that makes sending and receiving stablecoins feel as easy as bank payments.

Millions of global gig workers get paid in stablecoins.

Global payouts will be the standout use case for stablecoins in 2025. In 2024, we saw the rise of stablecoins as a B2B payment rail, with PSPs and enterprises settling their international partners & merchants quickly in stablecoins. In 2025, we’ll see the rise of stablecoins as a global payout method for individuals: as marketplace platforms enable their international creators, sellers, hosts, and contractors to get paid faster in stablecoins.  

Clearer rules for crypto bring fresh competition. 

We’ll see greater global harmonisation of rules around stablecoins in the world’s major economies in 2025. The US and the UK will pass new regulation, as they compete with places like Singapore, UAE and Europe to become hubs for digital asset innovation. Stablecoin regulation will bring a new wave of competition and fresh energy to the ecosystem. In Europe, we’ll see more MiCA-compliant regulated stablecoins offered, and new paths to market, where stablecoin issuers could enter into partnerships with Europe’s EMIs to issue MiCA-regulated stablecoins. Globally, we’ll see bifurcation in crypto policy, as regulators tackle stablecoins first as a form of electronic money, before moving onto more complex crypto use cases. 

The year that non-USD stablecoins gain ground.
Today 99% of stablecoins by market cap are US dollar-denominated. But increasing global regulation around stablecoins is unlocking non-USD stablecoins. Emerging rules in places like Europe and the UK will see Euro and GBP stablecoins gain traction in 2025. We’ll also see more providers offering local on and offramp between stablecoins and local fiat currencies, creating deeper, liquid markets for stablecoins internationally.