The rise of stablecoins—digital currencies pegged to fiat or other assets—has unlocked new efficiency in international payments.
In 2024, the stablecoin supply grew by roughly 28% year-over-year, and total on-chain stablecoin volume reached approximately $27.6 trillion. Leading tokens like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) have market caps around $143 billion and $58 billion, respectively.
Major financial firms are also entering this market. Standard Chartered launched a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, and companies like PayPal, Bank of America, and Stripe have announced or begun issuing their own dollar-pegged tokens.
APIs: The Infrastructure Behind Stablecoin Use
APIs are critical for embedding stablecoins into payment systems. A stablecoin payments API provides developers with standardised endpoints for token operations—minting, transferring, burning, and settling—without requiring them to write blockchain logic from scratch.
In practice, fintech firms use these APIs to build new payment rails. For example, Due offers an API spanning 80+ markets. Its interface ties local payment methods (ACH, SEPA, PIX, etc.) to on-chain stablecoins. A business calling this API can accept a local bank transfer (for example, a SEPA payment in euros) and automatically convert it to USD Coin on-chain—or do the reverse—pay out local currency from a stablecoin balance. This hides blockchain complexity behind simple web calls, allowing developers to integrate stablecoin flows into e-commerce or banking apps easily.
Real-World Use in Retail and E-Commerce
These platforms are powering real-world use cases in commerce and enterprise finance. In retail and e-commerce, merchants see immediate benefits. Stablecoin payments have no chargebacks and settle almost instantly (24/7), improving cash flow.
Developers can plug in tokenised-dollar payment methods alongside credit cards. Payment networks are moving in this direction: Mastercard and Visa have announced support for stablecoin transactions, enabling customers to spend digital dollars at checkout while merchants receive settled funds immediately.
Transforming Business-to-Business Transfers
In business-to-business transfers, the gains are even larger. Paying an overseas supplier often involves 4–6 correspondent banks and can take up to two weeks. By contrast, a stablecoin API can condense that into a single transaction.
One example describes converting euros to a stablecoin, sending it across borders, and converting to pesos – all in 5–10 minutes. Industry data confirms that B2B is already the largest use case: one payments infrastructure provider reports roughly $15 billion per year in stablecoin transactions, about half of which are business-to-business transfers. Other firms cite on the order of $10–12 billion annually in corporate treasury and payroll flows.
Visa and the Push for Blockchain-Based Settlements
Major network players are taking notice. Visa is collaborating with crypto-fintech firms to pilot stablecoin remittances. Visa’s cross-border payments chief has called stablecoins a “significant opportunity” to cut costs and enable continuous, 24/7 settlement.
In proof-of-concept tests, Visa has settled transactions via stablecoins around the clock, automatically reconciling issuer and acquirer accounts without the delays of traditional banking cutoffs. This effectively extends Visa’s 14,000+ financial-institution network to blockchain rails, combining existing bank relationships with tokenised settlements.
Regulatory and Compliance Considerations
As stablecoin APIs spread, regulators are ensuring they meet traditional financial standards. Globally, authorities insist that stablecoin systems uphold the same safeguards as bank payments. For example, a 2023 BIS report warned that no stablecoin arrangement currently meets all regulatory requirements, and emphasised that stablecoins must operate under the “same business, same risks” principle as existing systems.
In practical terms, this means every API-mediated stablecoin transfer must comply with existing anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) and KYC regulations, just as a traditional wire or ACH transfer would. Financial institutions thus need to apply their normal compliance checks (sanctions screening, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring) to stablecoin flows routed through these APIs. Many fintech providers embed these compliance controls into their API platforms, ensuring that banks and businesses using the API remain compliant.
Legislative Action Across the US, EU and UK
Concrete rules are now emerging. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets law (MiCA) classifies fiat-pegged tokens as regulated “e-money tokens.” The EU law requires issuers to be authorised in the EU and hold each token 1:1 backed by safe assets such as bank deposits or short-term government debt.
The UK is proposing similar measures: the FCA’s draft rules would treat qualifying stablecoins as money-like instruments with full reserve backing. The proposal mandates one-to-one collateralization and same-day redemption rights.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Congress passed the bipartisan “Genius Act” stablecoin bill in July 2025. This legislation creates a federal framework for USD stablecoins, requiring backing by liquid reserves and mandatory public disclosure of those holdings.
Outlook: A Seamless, Regulated Future for Stablecoin Payments
In summary, stablecoin payment APIs are reshaping cross-border finance by merging blockchain speed with familiar payment rails. They let businesses trigger complex, multi-currency transfers through simple web calls – what once took lengthy banking processes can now happen in seconds.
Early implementations—from retail checkout systems to global payroll—demonstrate how tokenised dollars and euros can move value instantly and cheaply. At the same time, regulators are tightening oversight to ensure that these new rails have safeguards equivalent to those of legacy systems. If authorities continue integrating stablecoins into the mainstream framework, API-driven stablecoin payments could become a seamless part of the global financial infrastructure, driving efficiency in international commerce.
