Unbanked

“Unbanked” – A cartoon that illustrates how stablecoins are evolving into payment rails that will make money more ‘programmable.

Stablecoins started out as a way to hold US dollars on-chain between crypto trades. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, which can swing in price, stablecoins are meant to stay at $1 = 1 coin, making them useful for payments, savings, and trading without worrying about volatility.

By 2024, people and businesses sent over $27 trillion using stablecoins, more than double what Visa processed globally.

That’s like the entire U.S. economy (GDP ~$27T) moving through digital dollars on blockchains. In the words of Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer, Human Rights Foundation, “for many people in emerging markets, stablecoins aren’t just a tech trend—they’re a lifeline.

They’re how you get paid, save in dollars, and send money home when the banks don’t work.” We are now starting to see stablecoins starting to eat away at the traditional bank’s most profitable lines of business in developed countries, for example treasury management and custody.

Stablecoins also enable programmable money by allowing developers to embed rules, conditions, and logic directly into transactions—automating payments, compliance, and financial workflows without intermediaries.

As a result, traditional web2 fintech’s are acquiring stablecoin companies (e.g. Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge for $1BN) and new entrant stablecoin startups like Ethena Labs have attracted over $130M in capital from investors including traditional finance leader, Franklin Templeton.