Stablecoins and Payments: the New Global Financial Infrastructure

Stablecoins and payments: the new global financial infrastructure?

Overview

Are we at the start of a new global payments infrastructure based on stablecoins? In this MERGE Madrid panel, Parfin, Taurus, AT21 and BBVA debate the rise of stablecoins, the “reverse race” between banks and fintechs, the role of MiCA and the Genius Act, interoperability between different forms of digital money, the digital euro and Latin America's experience.

What you'll learn

• Stablecoins as asset and as infrastructure: why the distinction matters
• Banks vs fintechs: the “reverse race” toward financial services
• Swift and consortia: from messaging to on-chain settlement
• Interoperability: connecting stablecoins, CBDCs and tokenized deposits
• The digital euro: why it raises questions for retail and how it would coexist with stablecoins
• LatAm's experience: Brazil, Pix and stablecoins in international trade

Session summary

The rise of stablecoins: it discusses studies forecasting a strong explosion of stablecoins in cross-border payments toward 2030 (driven by the Genius Act), Swift's development of its own blockchain and the first European banking consortium to issue an electronic money token (EMT) with Spanish participation.

Asset vs infrastructure: AT21 distinguishes the stablecoin as an asset (already adopted, especially in LatAm) from the stablecoin as infrastructure, and describes a “reverse race” in which fintechs move toward banking licenses while banks, slower due to size and regulation, move toward digital assets.

Banks and technology: BBVA shares the bank's experience in digital assets (custody and trading in Switzerland, Turkey and Spain, and a stablecoin in development), stressing that the biggest challenge is not only technological but cultural and about internal training.

Settlement and interoperability: Parfin and Taurus explain how Swift would move from messaging to on-chain settlement, the complexity of exchanging different currencies and forms of money (stablecoins, CBDCs, tokenized deposits), the irreversibility of blockchain transactions and the importance of an interoperability layer and of custody for banks.

LatAm's experience: it highlights that in Brazil and the region stablecoins are already used for cross-border payments and international trade (with large daily volumes), that major banks and fintechs offer crypto and that the next step is tokenizing all kinds of assets.

The digital euro: it debates that a retail digital euro raises questions (little citizen demand, holding limits), though it would make sense at a wholesale or sovereignty level; the panel agrees that, whether or not it exists, it will coexist with stablecoins in an increasingly varied payments ecosystem.

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, with Parfin, Taurus, AT21 and BBVA on stablecoins and payments.

FAQs

Will stablecoins be the new global payments infrastructure?
According to the panel, it is not guaranteed it will be exactly stablecoins, but payments infrastructure will evolve with blockchain technology.

What is the difference between stablecoin as asset and as infrastructure?
As an asset it is already adopted (especially in LatAm); as infrastructure it is starting to transform global payment networks.

Will the digital euro replace stablecoins?
According to the panel, no; it is designed to coexist with them, with questions about its usefulness for retail users.

Is this investment advice?
No. This content is informational and summarizes what was presented in the panel; it does not constitute investment or legal advice. Consult a professional for your specific situation.