Banks, tech and AI adopt stablecoins for payments

Banks, payment firms, technology companies and autonomous AI agents have adopted dollar-backed stablecoins for cross-border remittances, merchant settlement and machine-to-machine payments. Stablecoin transfer volume reached $4.5 trillion in the first quarter of 2026.

Industry and infrastructure providers cite continuous settlement on blockchain networks and lower operational costs compared with correspondent banking, which can take days and involves multiple intermediaries.

Payment infrastructure firms say blockchain settlement removes dependence on banking hours and correspondent chains, allowing funds to move and clear at any time. Large payment and technology companies are building connections that link blockchain settlement to existing merchant acceptance systems. Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said, “You still have to come back and connect to the existing merchant acceptance ecosystem.” Retail and enterprise merchants are running pilots to reduce fees and speed receivables.

Cloud and payments firms are piloting AI-driven commerce that uses stablecoins. Amazon Web Services is developing support for USDC payments for autonomous software agents using an open payment protocol. That setup records settlement in roughly 200 milliseconds on the Base network and keeps per-transaction costs under a cent. Several large enterprises across media, automotive, information and sports sectors are testing the setup so software systems can buy services or settle fees without routing through traditional banks.

A 2026 IMF working paper said stablecoins could improve payment efficiency, particularly in countries with underdeveloped financial infrastructure. The Bank for International Settlements described international regulatory coordination as “critically important” and warned that widespread use of dollar-backed stablecoins may weaken monetary sovereignty where residents favor a digital dollar. Gita Gopinath, deputy managing director at the IMF, warned that emerging markets face risks from disintermediation of local banks and currency substitution.

In 2025, U.S. legislation established reserve and compliance requirements for dollar-backed stablecoins. Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire called the prospects for a yuan stablecoin “tremendous” and predicted one could appear within three to five years. Analysts and researchers flag outstanding issues around fraud protection, transaction reversibility and consumer safeguards.

Usage has shifted from trading to payments and settlement. Analysts describe stablecoins as an internet-native payment layer and say governance, consumer protection and monetary policy will influence how widely and how quickly adoption spreads.