The International Monetary Fund has just released its latest working paper “𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨: 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝑬𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔” and the numbers should make every major bank, sovereign wealth fund and cross-border treasury desk take notice.
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 2024 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬:
▪️$2 trillion in global stablecoin transactions.
▪️Regional volumes: North America $633bn, Asia & Pacific $519bn, Europe $334bn, Africa & Middle East $200bn, Latin America & Caribbean $156bn.
▪️Relative to GDP: Latin America 7.7%, Africa & Middle East 6.7%, Asia & Pacific 0.4%, Europe 0.4%, North America 0.4%.
▪️Over 70% of flows involve self-custodial wallets, not just exchanges, meaning institutional adoption strategies need to consider on-chain liquidity pools, not only CEX partners.
▪️USDT dominates in emerging markets; USDC is preferred in developed economies.
▪️Binance is the leading on-ramp in EMs, while Coinbase has stronger off-ramp flows in the U.S.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲:
Stablecoins are no longer just a niche settlement layer for crypto trading, they are functioning as a parallel, dollar-denominated payment and liquidity network that operates 24/7, across geographies, and outside of traditional correspondent banking.
For 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 & 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬, this creates:
▪️Opportunities to issue, custody, and redeem stablecoins for clients, leveraging regulated frameworks.
▪️A role in bridging fiat and stablecoin liquidity with integrated treasury and FX products.
▪️The ability to tap high-growth remittance, trade settlement, and cross-border payment corridors, especially in regions underserved by SWIFT.
For 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 & 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬:
▪️Portfolio diversification - stablecoin-denominated liquidity pools as part of working capital management.
▪️Yield strategies - using tokenized treasuries, repo, and money market funds as stablecoin-backed assets.
▪️Direct market access - participating in on-chain FX, commodities, and tokenized real-world asset (RWA) markets with instant settlement.
𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 & 𝐔𝐀𝐄 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞:
With $200bn in annual stablecoin flows (6.7% of GDP), mostly international, the region is uniquely positioned to become a regulated dollar liquidity hub for Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia.
Central Bank of The UAE, ADGM, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] and DIFC licensing regimes give banks and VASPs here a first-mover advantage to:
▪️Anchor regulated issuance/redemption for global stablecoins.
▪️Structure institutional stablecoin funds and liquidity facilities.
▪️Capture remittance and trade finance flows shifting away from legacy rails.
For institutions, it’s no longer if stablecoins will integrate, but whether you’ll be a price maker or taker in the on-chain capital market.
https://lnkd.in/dKprHhRZ.
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