Despite their enormous technological potential, stablecoins remain far from becoming a common payment method. That’s according to Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer, Jorn Lambert, who spoke candidly about the current limitations of these digital assets during a Monday call with analysts.

📉 Fast, cheap, and always available? Yes. But that’s not enough.

Lambert highlighted that stablecoins offer undeniable technical advantages—ultra-fast transactions, 24/7 availability, low fees, programmability, and immutability. However, these strengths alone are not enough to make them suitable for everyday consumer use.

“People expect a seamless user experience, broad availability, and true utility. Technology alone isn’t sufficient,” Lambert said.

🧩 Mastercard aims to be the key bridge between crypto and traditional finance

Mastercard has long positioned itself as the infrastructure provider connecting crypto with the traditional financial system. The goal is clear: to offer a secure, compliant environment where stablecoins can be scalable and practical for payments. Mastercard’s global acceptance network, trusted reputation, and advanced security systems give it a unique advantage.

The company has already partnered with Paxos on the USDG stablecoin and supports others like PayPal’s PYUSD, Circle’s USDC, and Fiserv’s FIUSD. The vision is to build a backend capable of powering large-scale stablecoin transactions.

🛑 Consumers Still Hesitant – Why?

According to Lambert, a key issue is that stablecoins are still not widely used by consumers for purchases. Approximately 90% of their use remains tied to crypto trading. Efforts by platforms like Coinbase and Shopify to enable stablecoin payments for goods and services have met with limited adoption and feature constraints.

“Stablecoins today are comparable to prepaid cards—they work in a limited network of merchants and don’t offer compelling added value,” said Lambert. He also stressed the need to solve conversion between fiat and crypto, regulation, settlement, and payment infrastructure.

🏦 Some Institutions See Opportunity

On the other hand, U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller takes a more optimistic view—he argues that stablecoins increase competition in the payment space and could lower costs for businesses and consumers. Speaking at a Dallas Fed event, he called stablecoins a capitalist tool that enhances market efficiency.

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers are discussing a series of pro-crypto bills during what’s being dubbed “Crypto Week,” including a landmark proposal for stablecoin regulation that could soon land on President Trump’s desk for approval. This regulatory progress is pushing banks and financial institutions to consider their role in the stablecoin ecosystem.

🌍 Governments and Central Banks Watching Closely

Lambert also noted that governments and central banks around the world are closely monitoring stablecoin development. Their goal is to curb dollar dominance in their domestic economies while fostering innovation. He expects a wide variety of digital currency models to emerge globally—both public and private.



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