Stablecoins were built for trading crypto. Now they are quietly becoming how people actually pay for things, send money home, and move cash across borders. Joining me is Alvin Kan, Chief Operating Officer of Bitget Wallet. Alvin, welcome to Wall Street to Mena. Stablecoins started as a trading tool for crypto users. What actually changed to turn them into something people use for everyday payments?
Thanks for inviting me. I think there are many reasons, but the two big ones are these. First, stablecoins have become almost like a shortcut to having access to dollars. In emerging markets around the world, getting dollar access is not as easy. If you are able to use a USD stablecoin card for online purchases or while travelling, it is so much easier than navigating traditional banking. Second, having stablecoins on the blockchain means they are global from day one. I was just in Latin America last week — there is no way I could have downloaded a local e-wallet and registered to pay for things locally. But using a stablecoin wallet, I was able to do all of that because it is global from the moment you open it.
When someone in one country sends a stablecoin to family in another, why is that faster or cheaper than a bank transfer?
Simple. Blockchain works 24 hours, seven days a week. It settles automatically and works around the clock. Banks operate five days a week during working hours, and settlement is manual. Combine 24/7 availability, instant settlement, and very low fees — when I send you something from my blockchain address to your blockchain address, the gas fee is extremely low compared to a bank transfer. A Swift transfer today is roughly $30. An ACH transfer might be $0.30 or more. Stablecoins are just a lot faster and cheaper.
Bitget Wallet serves over 100 million users globally. How many are now using stablecoins for payments versus just holding crypto?
Bitget Wallet has been around for eight years, and trading has always been the dominant use case. But we have seen a real shift, especially in the last year. Last month was the first month we saw payment transactions actually exceed trading transactions on a daily basis. That is growing. If you look at where the fastest-growing segments are for us, it is emerging markets — where people need access to stablecoins and digital dollars most.
Are stablecoins for remittances real or still mostly hype?
Not hype anymore. Look beyond crypto projects. Revolut and many of the new banks in the non-crypto world are already using stablecoins in many of their payment corridors. That is already happening. And for crypto wallets like Bitget Wallet, we have features that let people remit money overseas — whether transferring crypto to fiat in a bank account, or receiving a monthly salary from an employer in the US or Europe while living in Africa. That is happening today.
Banks and traditional payment networks are now getting into stablecoins themselves. Does that validate what crypto wallets have been doing, or does it threaten to push them out?
It definitely validates. Crypto has been around since the birth of Bitcoin more than a decade ago. Banks and institutions coming into the picture in the last few years has validated that stablecoins and blockchain are here to stay. If you look at the evolution of fintech — from digital banks, to mobile banking and neobanks like Revolut — we are now in what I call fintech phase three. The rails that money moves along are on-chain. This is a disruptive technology because it settles automatically, instantly, 24 hours a day.
What is the biggest thing still stopping an everyday person from using a stablecoin to pay for something?
I started my blockchain journey about five or six years ago. At the start it can be a little intimidating — what is a stablecoin, what is blockchain, what is Ethereum? The main thing is education and familiarity. The technology itself has been abstracted significantly over the last few years. The user experience is actually quite easy now. But familiarity with the concept is what people still need to build.
People still associate stablecoins with crypto crashes and scandals. What actually convinces someone it is safe to hold their savings in one?
Banks have failed as well. If you go to emerging markets — I was just in Brazil and Argentina — you hear that these kinds of crashes do not only happen in crypto. They happen to traditional banks and financial institutions too. So the idea of having custody of your own assets is actually a great assurance to many people around the world, not a red flag. We do need to educate people about what self-custody means. But the benefits that on-chain finance brings — cheaper remittances, faster payments, access to financial services many people have never had — those benefits are enough to push people to try something new.
That is an amazing way of putting it. Alvin, thank you so much for being with us on the show today.
Thank you.
