Asia-Pacific consumers open to using stablecoins for everyday transactions

ALMOST half of consumers in the Asia-Pacific are open to using stablecoins in the next five years, with weak understanding and trust being the main barriers to wider use, a study by Visa showed.

According to Visa’s Consumer 360 study, which surveyed 14,250 consumers aged 18 to 65 across 14 Asia-Pacific markets including the Philippines, 46% of the respondents said they are likely to use stablecoins within the next five years, compared with 16% who have used them in the past 12 months, it said in a press release.

“We’re seeing a meaningful shift in how consumers across Asia-Pacific think about stablecoins,” said Nischint Sanghavi, head of Digital Currencies for Asia-Pacific at Visa.

“Consumers are beginning to see how stablecoins could support the ways they already spend and move money, particularly through online purchases, travel and cross-border transfers. The opportunity now is to turn that interest into trusted and familiar payment experiences that work at scale.”

Stablecoins are pegged to a fiat currency or commodity to give it a stable value, unlike other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which have volatile prices as they are not backed by assets.

Respondents said they are interested in using stablecoins for everyday online purchases, travel spending, and overseas shopping, which Visa said shows potential for usage beyond investment or crypto trading.

Cross-border money movement is another area of potential, it said, with 49% saying they believe stablecoins could become a common way to move money across borders within five years.

“This points to possible relevance for remittances, international transfers and other payment needs,” Visa said.

However, the study showed a gap between emerging use cases and understanding, as only 49% of consumers who are aware of stablecoins believe they can be used only to buy and sell other cryptocurrencies.

Across Asia-Pacific, the strongest market in terms of stablecoin awareness were Hong Kong (84%), India (80%), and Thailand (77%), the study showed.

Meanwhile, respondents in Vietnam (67%) and India (67%) showed the strongest intent to use stablecoins within the next five years.

“These findings highlight the importance of making stablecoins available through secure payment experiences consumers already recognize and trust,” Visa said. “Visa is already working with banks, regulated financial institutions and payment partners to connect stablecoin capabilities with familiar ways to pay and move money.”

However, the study also showed that low understanding and trust of stablecoins are holding consumers back.

Despite 66% of consumers across Asia-Pacific being aware of stablecoins, only 6% demonstrate an accurate understanding of how stablecoins work, while misconceptions remain as 41% said they believe stablecoins always increase in value.

Among those who are aware of stablecoins but have never used them, 38% said it was because of concerns about fraud or scams, while 36% pointed to a lack of understanding, according to Visa.

“Consumers show the strongest preference for regulated institutions, with government or central bank-linked entities (27%) and banks or regulated financial institutions (26%) ranking as the most trusted providers.”

Visa said stablecoin adoption across Asia-Pacific will depend not only on awareness but on whether stablecoins can be made understandable, secure, and useful for everyday payment contexts, showing the need for trusted and familiar ways to access stablecoins.

It said it is working with banks, regulated financial institutions and payment partners to bring greater security, compliance and usability to stablecoin-enabled experiences.

“This research confirms what we’ve been building toward,” Mr. Nischint said. “Consumers want stablecoins to feel like a natural part of the payments they already trust, not a separate system. Our role is to connect emerging stablecoin technology with the secure, familiar payment experiences consumers rely on every day.” — Aaron Michael C. Sy