Businesses or platforms paying out to recipients (workers, sellers, creators, agents) in tokens such as stablecoins.
Pilot1Live (limited)4Live (scaled)1
Why tokenise?
Draft analysis · not yet reviewed by the editor · updated 12 Oct 2026. The flows below are simplified for general understanding. Real implementations vary a great deal and are often far more complex.
Platforms and businesses pay millions of suppliers, gig workers, creators and families abroad. Today each payout travels through banks and local partners that need money parked in advance, take days and charge a lot for small sums. Paying out in stablecoins can land money in minutes, at any hour, without pre-funding every country. But most recipients still need local cash at the end, so the cost and compliance of that last step decide whether it is really cheaper.
Improves an existing processMass payouts and remittances already work through banks, card networks and money transfer firms. Stablecoins change the middle of the journey: the payer's provider sends dollar tokens across a public blockchain to a provider in the recipient's country, which pays out in local currency, or the recipient keeps the tokens in a wallet. Live in the register: Circle's Payments Network and Ripple Payments (both carrying payouts between licensed firms), Western Union's USDPT for settling with its agents, and MoneyGram's USDC app in Colombia. Visa's stablecoin payouts to wallets were a US pilot in late 2025 and are not yet in the register; Stripe's records here cover accepting stablecoin payments, not paying out.
The problem today
Sending small sums abroad is still expensive. The global average cost of sending $200 was 6.62% in Q3 2024, twice the 3% goal, and banks charged 13.64% on average. Digital-only transfer firms were already far cheaper.6.62% global average; banks 13.64%; digital-only money transfer firms 3.87% (Q3 2024)[1]
Payout firms keep money pre-funded in local accounts so recipients can be paid on time, which is costly and ties up cash.[2]
Recipients want their money fast. In a Visa survey, 57% of creators named instant access as their main reason for choosing digital payment methods; Visa pitches stablecoin payouts as arriving in minutes, not days.57% of creators cite instant access as their top motivation (Visa 2025 creator survey)[3]
In some countries recipients face a weakening currency and limited access to dollar accounts. The Colombian peso fell almost 12% against the dollar in a few months of 2025, one reason MoneyGram chose Colombia for a USDC app.[4]
Stablecoins are still a tiny part of the market: less than 0.2% of cross-border payments in 2025, according to an FSB official.Under 0.2% of cross-border payments in 2025, against about $200 trillion of cross-border payments in 2024[5]
Today vs tokenised (simplified)
End to end:one to several days→minutes, if the off-ramp is fast · The blockchain leg takes seconds; converting to local cash at the end can take longer and costs money.
Todayend to end: one to several days
Platform or businessSends a payout file to its bank or payout provider, before the cut-offhours
Payout providerKeeps money pre-funded in each destination country so it can pay locallyongoingremoved
Banks in the chainMove the money across borders through correspondent banks and convert the currencyone to several daysremoved
Local bank or agentScreens the payment and credits the recipient's account, card or cash pick-uphours to a day
RecipientReceives local currency, after fees and an exchange-rate marginon arrival
Tokenisedend to end: minutes, if the off-ramp is fast
Platform or businessFunds the payout in ordinary money or stablecoins, at any hourminutes
Payer's providerChecks the recipient and the payment against anti-money-laundering and sanctions rulesminutes
Public blockchainMoves the stablecoins to the recipient's provider or walletseconds to minutes
Recipient's provider (the "off-ramp")Converts to local currency and pays into a bank account, local instant payment system or cash pointseconds to hours
The sending firm can pay the receiving firm directly in stablecoins, which then pays out locally through systems such as PIX in Brazil or SPEI in Mexico, instead of passing through a chain of correspondent banks.
EvidencedMeaningfulAvailable now
Needs counterparties on the ledger
Circle Payments Network (CPN): On Circle's payments network a sending payment firm pays the receiving firm directly in USDC on a public blockchain, and the receiver pays out in local currency, for example via PIX in Brazil or SPEI in Mexico. Circle says it coordinates the payment but does not hold funds, so no correspondent bank chain sits between the two institutions. No fee or speed figures are given.[6]
If a payout firm can send stablecoins to a country the moment a payout is due, it needs less money sitting idle in local accounts. Corpay says this removed costly pre-funding for its Asia-Pacific payouts; it is a single customer statement in a vendor release.
EvidencedMeaningfulAvailable now
Needs counterparties on the ledgerNeeds cash on the ledgerNeeds regulatory change
Ripple Payments cross-border settlement: In Ripple's March 2026 release, payments firm Corpay says it uses the RLUSD stablecoin through Ripple Payments to fund and settle positions in Asia-Pacific, removing the need for costly pre-funding of local accounts. This is a customer statement in a vendor release; no amounts are given.[2]
Payouts can reach a recipient's wallet or local account in minutes rather than days. Operators claim this but none in the register has published payout times.
Theory · high confidenceMeaningfulAvailable now
Needs counterparties on the ledgerNeeds cash on the ledgerNeeds connected ledgers
Stablecoins move regardless of banking hours and holidays, so a firm can settle with its agents or partners at weekends. Western Union launched USDPT for near-instant 24/7 transfers between it and its agents.
Theory · high confidenceMeaningfulAvailable now
Needs cash on the ledgerNeeds counterparties on the ledger
Fewer hops and less pre-funding should make small payouts cheaper. The BIS sees anecdotal evidence of lower costs in some corridors but warns this is not guaranteed once blockchain fees and conversion are counted, and digital-only transfer firms already charge under 4%. No operator in the register publishes payout fees.
Recipients in countries with unstable currencies can keep their payout as digital dollars and convert only when they spend, as MoneyGram offers in Colombia. This is an access gain for the recipient; it also raises consumer-protection and capital-flight concerns.
Theory · low confidenceMarginalAvailable now
Needs counterparties on the ledgerNeeds cash on the ledgerNeeds smart contracts
Where it is now
6 tracked deployments, 5 live. 2 of 6 benefits evidenced in production.
Pilot1Live (limited)4Live (scaled)1
The full potential
Payouts are one of the most natural uses of stablecoins, because the payer's pain (pre-funding, slow corridors, high fees on small sums) sits exactly where tokens help. Volumes are growing fast from a small base. Whether recipients end up better off depends on the last mile: a cheap, licensed way to turn tokens into local money, or a reason to keep them.
Licensed off-ramps in each destination country that convert to local currency cheaply and quickly
Compliance that works at scale: identity checks on recipients, screening of wallets and sanctions, and the travel rule between providers
Currency exchange liquidity for local currencies, not just dollar and euro tokens
Clear rules on stablecoins in receiving countries, including any capital controls
Recipients able to hold or spend tokens safely, with consumer protection if things go wrong
Who it suits
Fintech or technology firm, Non-financial company, Bank · effort: medium · value depends on counterparties joining
Payout firms need licences and local payout partners in each market
Platforms can usually use a provider (Circle's network, Ripple, card networks) rather than handle stablecoins themselves
Recipient onboarding and identity checks for wallet payouts
Limits and open questions
The off-ramp is the hard part. Most recipients need local currency, so a local licensed firm must convert and pay out; speed and cost there are unpublished for most corridors.[6]
Compliance does not go away. Public blockchains are pseudonymous, and unhosted wallets sit outside identity checks, which is why the BIS calls stablecoins a go-to tool for illicit use. Providers must screen recipients and wallets themselves.[8]
Lower cost is not guaranteed. Blockchain fees and conversion at each end can eat the savings, and the BIS describes cost gains as anecdotal.[8]
Currency exchange is still needed and sits largely outside the payments reforms; an FSB official notes cross-border payments rely heavily on FX markets.[5]
Different stablecoins are claims on different issuers and can trade at slightly different values, so a dollar token is not always worth exactly a dollar.[8]
Evidence is mostly self-reported. Western Union has disclosed no USDPT supply or volume, MoneyGram no user numbers, and Ripple's and Circle's totals mix payouts with other payments.[7]