Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Finzly, a developer of payments technology for financial institutions, says it is preparing to support stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The move is aimed at helping financial institutions remain relevant as programmable money becomes more common, the company says. Programmable money is a digital form of currency that can be programmed to execute specific actions based on predefined conditions.
A recent poll by Finzly of 723 payment leaders from the financial-services industry revealed that 48% of respondents are exploring use cases involving programmable money. In addition, 44% of respondents expressed concern that if their financial institution doesn’t support stablecoins or tokenized deposits within the next 18 months, they will fall behind the competition. Finzly conducted the poll during a webinar last month.
“Every customer and prospect we’ve talked to is exploring stablecoins in some fashion, and a few are already in market with capabilities,” Dean Nolan, Finzly’s head of payment strategy, says by email. “We see support for programmable money (stablecoins, tokenized deposits, CBDCs) becoming a core part of [financial institutions] and fintech payment offerings in the near future.”
Use cases for stablecoin payments and tokenized deposits include faster and lower-cost cross-border payments, especially within emerging markets. Using stablecoins and tokenized deposits for cross-border payment can reduce remittance costs by an average of 4.5% globally, the Charlotte, N.C.-based fintech says. Data from the United States Treasury Department shows that stablecoins were involved in 50% of cross-border digital transactions in 2024.
“In 2024, there were an estimated $5.7 trillion of stablecoin payments made globally,” Nolan says. “As they continue to evolve, stablecoins are positioned to materially change a number of money-movement use cases, including international and [business-to-business] payments. Financial institutions that have customers performing those types of payments need to start ramping up their stablecoin capabilities now or they risk losing those transactions and potentially those customers.”
Stablecoins in circulation are valued at $250 billion, up from $120 billion 18 months ago. This value is forecast to reach $400 billion by year’s end, and $2 trillion by 2028, according to McKinsey & Co. The average daily transaction volume for stablecoins in 2024 was $7 billion, up 8% year over year, according to CoinLaw, a media outlet that tracks the stablecoin industry. Stablecoins are now accepted for payment in more than 70 countries, according to CoinLaw.
“We see stablecoins becoming a core part of payment offerings that will fundamentally change a few payments use cases in the near term and then evolve to be an option for other use cases as they mature,” Nolan says.
In related news, Ripple Labs Inc., an enterprise blockchain and crypto-solutions provider, has agreed to acquire stablecoin platform provider Rail for $200 million. San Francisco-based Ripple recently applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank charter to support its stablecoin, RLUSD, which it introduced in December.
“Stablecoins are quickly becoming a cornerstone of modern finance, and with Rail, we are uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of innovation and adoption of stablecoins and blockchain in global payments,” says Ripple president Monica Long, in a statement.
