90% of institutions 'act' on stablecoins: Fireblocks survey
A new report from the enterprise-grade digital asset platform Fireblocks shows that 90% of institutional players use or are exploring the use of stablecoins in their operations.
The report, published on May 15, surveyed 295 leaders from traditional banks, financial institutions, fintech companies, and payment gateways. Nearly half of the respondents (49%) stated they already use stablecoins in payments, while 23% are conducting pilot tests, and 18% are in the planning phase.
Only 10% of the institutions surveyed reported that they were undecided about adopting stablecoins.
"The race for stablecoins has become a matter of avoiding obsolescence as customer demand accelerates and use cases mature," Fireblocks wrote in the report.
Traditional banks prioritize cross-border payments for the use of stablecoins
While traditional cross-border systems are hindered by higher costs, delays, and other inefficiencies, stablecoins have emerged as a strategic solution in the B2B environments of emerging markets.
The report revealed that financial institutions, particularly traditional banks, cited cross-border payments as their top priority when using stablecoins. Banks use stablecoins to regain a competitive edge, reduce friction, and meet customer expectations.
The report revealed that 58% of traditional banks use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 28% use the assets to accept payments. Twelve percent of banks use stablecoins to optimize their liquidity, while 9% use them in merchant settlement. Another 9% use them in B2B invoicing.
Fireblocks stated that banks view stablecoins as a 'path to modernization.' It added that since the assets are pegged to fiat currencies, they are easier to integrate into existing cash flows. Additionally, stablecoins also offer leverage to regain market share from fintech companies and reduce capital lock-up.
Speed is cited as the main advantage of using stablecoins
The survey results showed that banks use stablecoins to regain cross-border volume while maintaining existing infrastructure. Meanwhile, fintech companies and payment gateways use digital assets to gain margins and revenue.
Among the benefits cited by survey respondents, faster settlement ranked highest, with 48% of participants mentioning it as an advantage of using stablecoins. Meanwhile, the least cited advantage was lower transaction costs.
Other benefits include greater transparency, better liquidity management, integrated payment flows, and enhanced security.
