According to reports, Apple, Google, Airbnb, and Musk's X are in preliminary talks with crypto companies to integrate stablecoins into their payment systems to reduce fees and simplify global payment processes. This news follows the successful IPO of stablecoin issuer Circle, whose stock price surged 40% after an initial rise on its first day, indicating that stablecoins are rapidly penetrating traditional finance and tech giants.

I believe stablecoins could become one of the important methods for global payments in the future, but it is unlikely to become the default method in the short term.

The likelihood of stablecoins becoming the default method for global payments: Stablecoins have advantages such as relatively stable prices, low transaction costs, and fast settlement speeds. In 2024, stablecoins facilitated over $27.6 trillion in transactions, surpassing the combined total of Visa and Mastercard. As regulation gradually improves, with Hong Kong becoming the world's first financial center to comprehensively regulate stablecoins, and the U.S. moving forward with related legislation, the development environment for stablecoins will become more favorable. Additionally, more financial institutions and companies are participating in the stablecoin market, and tech giants like Apple and Google plan to integrate them into their payment systems, all of which will help with the popularization of stablecoins. However, stablecoins face challenges such as regulatory uncertainty and technological risks, and the global payment system is large and complex, with traditional payment methods dominating. User habits are difficult to change quickly, making it challenging for stablecoins to become the default payment method in the short term.

The tech platform most likely to implement it first: Apple is more likely to be the first to implement it. Apple has relevant actions planned for 2024, having opened the NFC function on iPhones, and Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, stated that the feature for tap payments using USDC on iPhones will be launched soon. In contrast, Google has plans to collaborate with Aleo on stablecoins, but they are still in internal testing. Airbnb only began discussions with Worldpay in early 2025, making slow progress. X is discussing the possibility of implementing stablecoin transactions with Stripe but has not disclosed more specific information.

Changes in the way cryptocurrencies are used for daily transactions: After stablecoins are integrated into payment systems, using cryptocurrencies for everyday payments will become more convenient for users and can be widely applied in daily scenarios such as shopping, accommodation, and advertising settlements.