Stablecoins as Infrastructure
- Investors and firms are reframing stablecoins as payment rails and financial infrastructure rather than purely DeFi tokens. - Bessemer calls stablecoins a “global-by-default financial infrastructure layer,” while Tether, Rain and MoneyGram add stablecoin services. - That shift directs fintech data work toward transaction monitoring, fraud detection, liquidity forecasting and AML-style analytics. ( )
Stablecoins are being pitched less as crypto chips and more as payment plumbing for moving dollars around the world. (bvp.com) A stablecoin is a digital token designed to hold a steady price, usually $1, so users can send value on blockchain networks without the price swings of Bitcoin or Ether. Bessemer Venture Partners wrote on April 22 that fiat-backed stablecoin supply topped $273 billion in March 2026. (bvp.com) Bessemer said adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached $10.9 trillion in 2025, up 91% from a year earlier, while real-world payments volume doubled to $400 billion. It said about 60% of that real-world volume was business-to-business payments. (bvp.com) The firm argued that two pieces changed the market in 2025: a federal framework for payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act and better on-ramps and off-ramps that let users move between bank money and tokens. Bessemer called stablecoins a “new global money layer” built for low-cost, borderless, 24/7 transfers. (bvp.com) Payment companies are now building products around that pitch. On April 14, Tether launched tether.wallet, a self-custodial app for sending and holding USD₮, gold-backed tokens and Bitcoin, and said it was extending its financial infrastructure directly to users. (tether.io) Rain, a card-issuing startup, said on April 30, 2025 that it joined Visa’s pilot for USDC settlement and moved settlement for its Visa cards to USDC. Rain said that lets it settle seven days a week, 365 days a year, outside traditional banking hours. (rain.xyz) MoneyGram said on April 22 that its app’s stablecoin balance, already live in Colombia, is expanding to El Salvador through a renewed partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation. The service uses Circle’s USDC on Stellar and is expected to expand to more Central and South American markets this year. (prnewswire.com) That product shift changes the data work around stablecoins. A system used for everyday payments needs transaction monitoring, fraud checks, sanctions screening, anti-money-laundering controls and cash-management forecasts, not just token price charts. (rain.xyz) (bvp.com) Regulators are watching the same trend from the other side. A Federal Reserve note published April 8 said stablecoins grew about 50% by market value in 2025 and warned that wider payment use could tighten links between traditional finance and digital-asset markets. (federalreserve.gov) The new pitch is simple: if stablecoins become rails instead of trades, the winners will need to look less like token issuers and more like payments networks. (bvp.com) (federalreserve.gov)
