As 2026 unfolds, digital assets are continuing to move into mainstream finance. A Ripple survey found that digital assets are now seen as a strategic necessity rather than an optional innovation, with seven in ten global finance leaders saying firms need to offer digital asset solutions to remain competitive.
Within digital assets, stablecoins are emerging as the most practical and scalable use case. The market has now grown to more than US$300 billion, with rising transaction volumes and increasing corporate interest.
Stablecoins are no longer being discussed only as a crypto innovation but are increasingly being assessed for practical payment and collection use cases.
But for corporate treasurers, the question is where stablecoins can be genuinely useful.
Stablecoins should not be seen as a universal replacement for fiat payments. Their strongest role is more specific. They can help businesses collect, hold and transfer value in markets where access to major currencies is difficult, expensive, or unreliable.
As treasury becomes increasingly multi-rail, with traditional fiat, instant payments, stablecoins, and eventually central bank digital currencies coexisting, treasurers need to understand where each rail adds value. Stablecoins have a role to play, but only when they solve a real problem rather than add another layer of operational complexity.
Why stablecoins are becoming a treasury priority for payments
For corporate treasurers, stablecoins are becoming most valuable as a way to collect payments in markets where access to major currencies is difficult, expensive, or unreliable.
Stablecoins offer near-instant, low-cost cross-border settlement by reducing reliance on multiple intermediaries. However, their strongest treasury value is not simply speed. It is their ability to support international collection in markets where access to major currencies is limited, costly, or unreliable.
In many economies, access to major currencies such as the US dollar is limited, expensive, or operationally difficult. Businesses may face liquidity constraints, inefficient banking rails, high conversion costs, or delays when collecting international payments through traditional channels.
In these markets, stablecoins offer security, immediate access, and ease of use, while also providing the reassurance of being pegged to a globally recognised currency such as the US dollar.
This helps explain why adoption has been particularly strong across parts of Africa, Latin America, and other economies in the Global South. Stablecoins are filling the gaps left by traditional financial infrastructure by giving businesses and individuals a practical way to collect, hold, and transfer value.
Where fiat still has a role to play
However, stablecoins are not always the answer. Where fiat rails are already well established, such as large USD treasury payments, they may not deliver a radical improvement.
In many cases, well-labelled fiat payments can already settle in minutes, reducing the speed advantage often associated with stablecoins. There is also a practical consideration. Many exporters and suppliers need to receive fiat US dollars to support working capital facilities, repay financing lines or maintain trade finance arrangements.
In those cases, introducing a stablecoin leg can add conversion steps, compliance checks, and potential delays rather than simplifying the process. This is why treasurers need to be selective. Stablecoins may be highly effective for collection in markets where access to USD is difficult, but they are not necessarily the right tool for every large corporate payout.
Regulation and global momentum are accelerating
The increasing interest in stablecoins is prompting regulators to step in with new compliance frameworks. This is important because trust, transparency and safeguarding are essential if stablecoins are to play a greater role in mainstream finance.
The UK is currently taking steps to support digital assets, with initiatives to regulate stablecoins for their use in payments in the works.
Implemented effectively, this would help to support adoption and ensure the UK remains competitive with the EU and US, where frameworks are already further advanced.
In the US, the GENIUS and Clarity Act mark important steps towards a federal framework for stablecoins and wider digital asset regulation.
In Europe, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) has harmonised rules for digital assets across member states, with a focus on market integrity and consumer protection.
Most frameworks deal primarily with token issuance, reserve management, safeguarding and market integrity.
These are necessary foundations, but they do not fully address stablecoins’ role as a means of payment, despite payments being one of their most important use cases.
This matters because if stablecoin payments face the same compliance controls as traditional cross-border payments, both from regulators and receiving banks, the speed of settlement can be affected. The asset may move instantly onchain, but the payment can still be slowed by the surrounding compliance infrastructure.
For stablecoins to reach their full potential in treasury, regulation needs to move beyond legitimacy and address real-world payment usability.
Navigating the operational complexity
Even where stablecoins can make international payments faster, cheaper, and simpler, the main challenge for treasurers remains operational complexity.
For many treasurers, using stablecoins for payments requires opening an external wallet to hold these digital assets. This exposes them to the operational challenges associated with holding crypto, including volatility, wallet management, custody risk, and integration with internal accounting systems.
This has signalled a growing need for innovative fintech solutions where businesses can accept stablecoin payments and immediately convert them into fiat currency, without ever having to hold the asset.
In this model, stablecoins can be used as an efficient collection rail, while the business receives the currency it needs for treasury, working capital and reporting purposes.
A growing role, not a standalone solution
The question is no longer whether stablecoins have a role to play in treasury, but how businesses can access their benefits without taking on unnecessary operational complexity.
For treasurers, the priority should be exploring the use cases and context where stablecoin payments will be most valuable.
For large cross-border transfers in USD, stablecoins may not necessarily deliver significant benefits.
This is because these fiat transactions often already settle in a matter of minutes, and exporters and suppliers also need to receive fiat US dollars to support working capital and trade finance arrangements.
However, in the case of slightly smaller payments, or those not occurring in USD, the benefits for stablecoins are significant — faster, cheaper transactions that are easy to collect.
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Adaptive
Matt Barrett
Image: Neo 
