Stablecoins have crossed the threshold from crypto-native curiosity to genuine payments infrastructure. In 2025–2026, stablecoin transaction volume on public blockchains exceeded Visa’s annual volume — most of it driven not by retail speculation but by business-to-business payments, treasury management, and cross-border settlement where the stablecoin rail is simply faster and cheaper than the alternative.
The Stablecoins topic on PaymentBrief focuses specifically on the payments use cases — not the investment thesis, not DeFi protocol mechanics, but the practical question of when and how stablecoins are being used to move value in commercial contexts.
Core coverage areas: USDC and USDT in cross-border B2B payments and how treasury teams are using them to avoid correspondent banking delays; the role of stablecoin-denominated payroll in markets with volatile local currencies; regulatory developments in the US (the GENIUS Act), EU (MiCA), and key Asian markets that are reshaping what’s legally permissible; Visa and Mastercard’s stablecoin settlement rails and what they mean for the broader ecosystem; and the emerging question of whether CBDC programmes will complement or displace private stablecoins in regulated payments contexts.
We also cover the risk side honestly: de-pegging events, reserve transparency, counterparty exposure, and the compliance obligations that come with incorporating stablecoins into a legitimate business payments workflow.
How USDC and USDT are becoming genuine settlement infrastructure for cross-border B2B payments, and what the custody, regulatory, and FX dynamics mean for operators.
An analytical comparison of USDC and USDT across reserve transparency, regulatory posture, liquidity depth, and on-ramp availability for corporate treasury use cases.