Stablecoins as the New Rails for Global Payments: Mastercard, dLocal, Utila, Polygon and Bitso

Stablecoins as the new rails for global payments: cross-border corridors, MPC custody and real use cases

Can stablecoins replace correspondent banking and SWIFT as global payment rails? In this MERGE Madrid panel moderated by Mastercard, dLocal, Utila, Polygon and Bitso Business unpack the real problem stablecoins solve, the corridors gaining traction (USD-MXN, Nigeria, Colombia, Brazil) and the challenges of regulation, liquidity and education in emerging markets.

What you'll learn

• The problem stablecoins solve: why correspondent banking with prefunded accounts in multiple currencies is capital-inefficient, slow and expensive
• Global access to the best money: how stablecoins democratize dollar access in markets with devalued currencies like Argentina or across Africa
• MPC custody for enterprises: Utila's role with multi-party computation and key sharding to keep security without sacrificing speed
• Local-currency stablecoins: COPM (MTO on Polygon), BRL1 (Avenia) and Bitso's Mexican peso stablecoin unlocking new corridors
• USD-MXN corridor: the $60B/year largest global corridor, with Bitso Business moving 10% via stablecoins

Session summary

The real problem. Correspondent banking via SWIFT forces companies to hold idle prefunded capital in multi-currency accounts to operate cross-border payments, with per-account fees and long timelines. Stablecoins enable instant FX on blockchain, eliminating idle balances and enabling 24/7 settlement.

Use cases by geography. In Nigeria, 1 in 7 people has a crypto wallet and dLocal observes massive retail adoption in remittances. In LATAM, local-currency stablecoins are scaling fast: COPM (Colombian peso) issued by MTO on Polygon grew from $15-20M monthly to over $200M. The USD-MXN corridor —the world's largest at $60B annually— already moves 10% of flow via Bitso Business in stablecoins.

Technical infrastructure. Polygon focuses on speed, cost and interoperability via AggLayer. Utila offers institutional custody with multi-party computation (key sharding), eliminating the classic friction-vs-security trade-off. dLocal acts as an on/off-ramp gateway in emerging markets for large merchants, and Bitso Business covers end-to-end FX and last mile in LATAM.

Challenges: regulation, liquidity and education. Clear regulation —like the GENIUS Act in the US— accelerates adoption; LATAM still lacks robust frameworks. Deep liquidity for large onchain FX operations remains a bottleneck. And merchant-side education —Ubers, Googles, Netflixes— is critical for stablecoins to scale beyond crypto-native users.

Watch the full session

Watch the full panel on MERGE's YouTube channel, with Mastercard, dLocal, Utila, Polygon and Bitso Business debating the real role of stablecoins in global payments.

FAQs

What problem do stablecoins solve in global payments?
They eliminate the need for prefunded capital in correspondent accounts across multiple currencies, enable instant FX and 24/7 settlement, cutting fees and timelines from the traditional SWIFT model.

Which corridors work best for stablecoins?
USD-MXN (the world's largest at $60B annually, with Bitso Business moving 10% in stablecoins), Nigeria, Colombia (COPM on Polygon) and Brazil (BRL1 from Avenia) are the most active today.

What is multi-party computation (MPC) custody?
It's Utila's technology that splits private keys among several parties, giving institutional control over funds with maximum security and without the typical multisig friction.

What are the main challenges to scale stablecoins?
Clear regulation (like the GENIUS Act), deep onchain liquidity for large FX operations and merchant-side education so traditional companies adopt stablecoins beyond the crypto-native ecosystem.