Stablecoins are evolving into essential payment infrastructure in the digital economy, moving beyond their initial role for crypto traders. Insights from the recent Consensus conference highlight Wall Street's growing interest in stablecoins.
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In today’s newsletter, Sam Boboev from Fintech Wrap Up explains how stablecoins are becoming the payment rails in the digital economy.
Then, in “Ask an Expert,” we cover the highlights for advisors from last week’s Consensus conference in Miami — the key theme: Wall Street Comes to Consensus.
Stablecoins began as a narrow solution for crypto traders who needed a reliable way to move between volatile assets without exiting the market, but that original use case no longer defines their role in the financial system today.
What is happening now is a structural shift in how stablecoins are used, who is using them, and where they sit within the broader financial stack.
Over the past decade, stablecoins have moved through three distinct phases. In the early years, they functioned primarily as liquidity tools for trading, enabling faster movement of capital across exchanges. As decentralized finance expanded, they became core collateral instruments, supporting lending, borrowing, and yield generation strategies across crypto-native ecosystems. Today, however, they are entering a third phase, where their primary role is no longer tied to crypto markets but to real-world financial operations, particularly in payments and treasury management.
This transition matters because it fundamentally changes the economic purpose of stablecoins. They are no longer just facilitating activity within crypto; they are increasingly being used to move money across borders, between institutions, and within corporate financial workflows.
The reason behind this shift is not difficult to understand when viewed through the lens of operational efficiency. Traditional cross-border payments rely on correspondent banking networks that introduce multiple layers of intermediaries, each adding cost, delay, and complexity to the transaction. Settlement can take several days, visibility is limited, and liquidity often becomes fragmented across jurisdictions.
Stablecoins compress much of this complexity into a single, programmable layer. Transactions can settle in near real time, operate continuously without regard to banking hours, and move value across borders without the need for multiple correspondent relationships. For finance teams managing global operations, this is not a marginal improvement but a meaningful change in how liquidity can be deployed and controlled.
What is particularly important is that this shift is being driven by institutions rather than retail users. Stablecoin activity is increasingly concentrated in business-to-business flows, where companies are using them for cross-border supplier payments, internal treasury transfers, and liquidity management across different markets. This signals that stablecoins are being adopted not as speculative instruments but as tools for operational finance.
Stablecoins are transitioning from a tool for crypto traders to a fundamental payment system in the digital economy.
The key theme at the Consensus conference was 'Wall Street Comes to Consensus,' highlighting increased institutional interest in crypto.
Sam Boboev is a contributor from Fintech Wrap Up, providing insights on the evolving role of stablecoins in finance.
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At the same time, the structure of the market itself is evolving. Early growth in stablecoins was fueled by relatively unregulated liquidity, where speed of adoption often took precedence over transparency and compliance. That dynamic is now reversing as institutional participation increases. Financial institutions require clear reserve backing, auditable structures, and regulatory alignment before integrating any new asset into their operations.
As a result, there is a visible shift toward regulated and fully compliant stablecoins that can meet these standards and integrate more seamlessly with existing banking infrastructure. This is leading to a degree of consolidation in the market, where trust, transparency, and regulatory positioning are becoming as important as scale.
This also reframes how stablecoins should be understood from a competitive perspective. They are often grouped with other crypto assets, but their real point of comparison lies elsewhere. Stablecoins are increasingly competing with traditional financial infrastructure such as correspondent banking networks, card payment systems, and foreign exchange mechanisms, particularly in areas where speed, cost efficiency, and programmability create a clear advantage.
That does not imply that existing systems will be displaced entirely, but it does suggest that stablecoins will begin to capture specific segments of financial activity where their structural advantages are most evident. Over time, this can lead to a redistribution of value across the financial ecosystem rather than a complete replacement of legacy systems.
The strategic implication is that the value of stablecoins will not be determined solely by their market capitalization or transaction volume, but by how deeply they are embedded into real financial workflows. The most meaningful opportunities lie in their integration into treasury operations, cross-border payment systems, capital markets infrastructure, and custody solutions, where they can act as a connective layer between different parts of the financial stack.
What follows from this is a broader pattern that has been seen repeatedly in financial innovation. New infrastructure often emerges in less regulated environments, scales rapidly due to its efficiency, and is then reshaped by institutional adoption and regulatory frameworks. Stablecoins are now entering this latter phase, where their future will be defined less by experimentation and more by integration and standardization.
The next stage of development will depend on how effectively stablecoins can be incorporated into existing financial systems without disrupting the trust, compliance, and stability that those systems require. Banks, fintech companies, and payment providers will play a central role in determining how this integration unfolds and which models gain traction at scale.
Stablecoins are no longer a peripheral development within crypto markets. They are becoming part of the infrastructure through which money moves, and their impact will be defined by how they reshape the underlying mechanics of global finance rather than by their origins in the crypto ecosystem.
Consensus, by CoinDesk, last week was quite the event, with 15,000 registered attendees across 110+ countries, 300+ media outlets, 180+ sponsors, and extraordinary speakers. I had the opportunity to interact with multiple thought leaders and advisors during my time onsite, and below I recap several observations.
Q. What stood out this year amidst the rooms filled with advisors?
The shift wasn’t in the topics — it was who was in the room. Where past years centered on client curiosity about crypto, this year’s conversations were led by representatives from some of Wall Street’s largest institutions. The message was clear: demand is real, ETF launches have validated it, and the pressure to deliver more products is growing.
“It used to be an asymmetric risk to have crypto in a portfolio. Now the asymmetric risk is not having it.”
Q. What barriers are the big players working through?
Two themes dominated: education and custody.
Advisor education: Major institutions are running large-scale internal programs to bring tens of thousands of advisors up to speed on digital assets — what the products are, where they fit in a portfolio, and which clients are appropriate.
Custody: Ensuring client assets are secure, protected, and liquid for trading remains a key concern. Institutional-grade custody infrastructure is a prerequisite before broader rollout.
Q. How are different institutions approaching this?
Panelists noted that large institutions are roughly five years into this journey — and the path forward differs by firm.
The “vertical first” approach: One major bank’s digital assets division is going deep before going wide — building expertise and governance in a focused vertical before integrating crypto across the full portfolio conversation. The process requires CIO-level buy-in and spans compliance, risk, and financial crimes teams.
The “bring everyone along” approach: Others are focused on broad internal alignment — getting all stakeholders, from risk committees to individual advisors, on the same page before expanding client access. The emphasis is on suitability: which clients are ready, how to allocate alongside traditional assets, and how to handle RIA relationships.
The takeaway for advisors
The institutions that shape how most Americans invest are now actively building toward crypto access for their clients. The question has moved from “if” to “how” — and the answer increasingly involves advisor education, institutional custody, and portfolio integration frameworks. The groundwork being laid today will determine how quickly mainstream access arrives.
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