In 2024, stablecoins processed trillions in payments worldwide. Using stablecoins has helped businesses send money, settle payments, and reach customers in places where traditional banking might be less accessible.

Below, you’ll learn how different stablecoin types affect risk, how regulation and reserve transparency shape adoption, and what it takes to integrate stablecoins responsibly.

What’s in this article?

• Why use stablecoins in your business?
  
• How do different stablecoin types affect risk management?
  
• How do regulations and transparency influence your choices?
  
• How can you safely start and grow your stablecoin strategy?
  
• How can businesses stay compliant when using stablecoins?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

Why use stablecoins in your business?

Built on blockchain but pegged to familiar currencies such as the US dollar, stablecoins combine the stability of traditional finance with the speed and reach of digital money. They’re quickly becoming a widespread tool in global finance.

Here are the benefits of incorporating stablecoins into your strategy:

• Wide reach: Stablecoins can make sales easier in markets where traditional banking falls short. Among businesses that work with Stripe, customers who pay with stablecoins are twice as likely to be new buyers compared to those who use other payment methods.

• Fast, cheap cross-border payments: Traditional international transfers can take days and drain margins due to high foreign exchange (FX) fees. Stablecoins settle in minutes at minimal cost and are especially advantageous for businesses that handle large global transaction volumes. Companies that process over $1 million in monthly cross-border payments are 92% more likely than smaller peers to use stablecoins.

• Access and inclusion: Stablecoins let anyone with an internet connection instantly receive or send value. Freelancers and creators in countries with volatile currencies can be paid in dollar-pegged tokens, instead of waiting weeks for a bank transfer in a depreciating local currency. Businesses can attract and retain talent if they offer fast, stable compensation.

While they’re still a small share of overall payments, stablecoins are quickly scaling. Over an 18-month period in 2024 and 2025, stablecoin circulation doubled. This growth suggests stablecoins are becoming mainstream financial infrastructure.

How do different stablecoin types affect risk management?

It’s important to understand how each type of stablecoin maintains its peg. There are three main stablecoin models, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

Here’s what you need to know about each type of stablecoin.

Fiat-backed stablecoins

Fiat-backed stablecoins are generally backed 1:1 by fiat currency or short-term government securities held in reserve. When you hold one, you’re holding a digital claim on a dollar in a bank account or treasury fund. They’re designed to be stable and capital-efficient, but they depend on confidence in the issuer.

Businesses should favor stablecoins that publish audited reserve reports and comply with financial regulations. In practice, many corporate treasuries tend to favor fiat-backed coins because they behave more similarly to cash.

Commodity-backed stablecoins

Some coins are linked to physical commodities such as oil and gold. PAX Gold, for example, is backed by one ounce of gold per token. Commodity-backed coins shift with the price of the asset but aren’t likely to experience dramatic swings. They offer minimal volatility but can’t guarantee a true fixed price.

Crypto-collateralized stablecoins

These use other cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, as backing. Users lock crypto into smart contracts to mint new stablecoins, often overcollateralizing—for instance, $150 of Ether for $100 of the stablecoin—to cushion price fluctuations. This model is transparent and decentralized, but it’s more convoluted and volatile. If collateral values drop too low, automatic liquidations occur.

Algorithmic stablecoins

These attempt to stay pegged through code alone, which expands or contracts supply based on market demand. They’re light on capital and experimental, but the collapse of TerraUSD in 2022 showed how quickly an algorithmic model can unravel when market confidence evaporates. Because of this, purely algorithmic stablecoins are widely considered higher risk than fiat-backed stablecoins.

How do regulations and transparency influence your choices?

Over the next few years, new regulations, stricter audits, and changes in transparency could reshape your payment strategy. It’s important to stay informed about these changes and how they might affect you.

Here’s what to monitor in regulations and reserve transparency.

Clearer rules to boost confidence

In the US, the GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins that will take effect by 2027. This act will require issuers to hold 100% reserves in US dollars or other low-risk assets in a bankruptcy-protected structure and to comply with full Anti-Money Laundering (AML) schemes and sanctions controls. The goal is to make regulated stablecoins safer. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation shares some similarities, and countries such as Japan, Singapore, and the UK are rolling out comparable standards.

Reserve quality as a trust signal

Even with new laws, not all stablecoins are equal. Some issuers disclose detailed, independent audits. Others offer vague attestations or are backed by riskier assets such as oil and crypto. Businesses should prioritize transparent, high-quality reserves and regularly review audit reports.

Regulatory alignment and reputation

A signal that a stablecoin has earned institutional trust is adoption by regulated players. Banks are beginning to support USDC accounts, and major payment providers like Stripe have integrated stablecoins. If you choose coins with industry validation, that can reduce business and legal risk.

Compliance readiness

Regulators have also made it clear that stablecoins must meet AML and sanctions standards, similar to payment channels. Issuers must generally monitor network activity, block illicit addresses, and cooperate with law enforcement. Businesses should layer their own compliance tools, such as blockchain analytics, Know Your Customer (KYC), and transaction screening, to stay prepared for audits.

How can you safely start and grow your stablecoin strategy?

A stablecoin rollout works best when it’s treated like any other financial improvement. Start small, test assumptions, and scale once the systems are ready.

Here’s how to begin and develop your stablecoin progress with limited risk and maximum effect:

• Start with a clear purpose: Pick one business problem that stablecoins can solve, such as speeding up cross-border payouts, cutting FX costs, and expanding payment options. Define success in measurable terms, such as reduced settlement times and lower transfer fees, so you can assess whether the pilot works.

• Educate and coordinate teams: Finance, compliance, and operations all need to understand how stablecoins function and what their responsibilities are. Hold short sessions on topics such as custody security, transaction monitoring, and accounting entries.

• Use credible infrastructure: Partner with regulated providers that already handle accepting or sending stablecoins and institutional custodians for treasury operations. This lets you test benefits without rebuilding core systems or directly managing private keys.

• Run a limited pilot: Process a small set of transactions, document each step, and observe what’s working or breaking. Evaluate network fees, customer or supplier experience, and how easily you can reconcile payments in your accounting software.

• Refine and expand: Once you’ve proven the business case, expand usage in stages—new regions, more partners, or additional use cases such as treasury transfers and payroll. Keep compliance and risk controls in proportion to the scale, and update them as regulations or issuer standards change.

• Stay flexible: Maintain optional paths back to fiat and support multiple stablecoin issuers to avoid overreliance. A good stablecoin strategy will enable businesses to switch networks and partners, or even pause usage if conditions change.

How can businesses stay compliant when using stablecoins?

Integrating stablecoins in day-to-day finance alters how a company manages cash, builds reports, and remains compliant. A clear framework keeps operations fast and controlled.

Here’s how you can stay accountable and transparent when you use stablecoins.

Apply the same governance as you would to cash

Decide when and how long you’ll hold stablecoins, whether it’s to cover the transfer to fiat or to use them as a working capital tool in volatile markets. Treasurers can quickly convert incoming stablecoins to fiat, while others might deliberately hold them as a USD-denominated reserve. Use multisignature wallets or institutional custodians, spending limits, and reconciliation processes that mirror your bank controls.

Plan for liquidity and conversion

Access to reliable liquidity is necessary. Build relationships with over-the-counter desks, exchanges, or banks that can convert stablecoins to fiat on demand. Ask yourself how quickly you can convert large sums back to cash, if needed. Some firms diversify across multiple stablecoins to avoid being locked into a single issuer or network if issues arise.

Maintain transparent reporting

In many jurisdictions, stablecoins are classified as digital assets. Work with your auditors to define consistent policies for recording and valuing holdings, typically at fair market value at the time of each transaction. Maintain detailed translation records and disclose the stablecoins you hold, along with their classification, to avoid surprises in audits.

Treat stablecoin flows with the same rigor as wire transfers

Implement KYC and AML policies for counterparties, and use blockchain analytics to screen wallet addresses. If you start holding funds for others, confirm whether that triggers money transmitter or e-money licensing obligations in your jurisdiction. On the security side, enforce multifactor authentication, cold storage, and role-based wallet access to mitigate theft or human error.

Build a contingency plan

Even with regulated issuers, stablecoins can face technical or legal interruptions. Establish a fallback process, such as conversion to fiat within 24 hours, in the event that a peg breaks or an issuer faces regulatory action. Regularly review reserve disclosures and regulatory updates to ensure you align with relevant regulations.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payment solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world. Businesses can accept stablecoin payments globally that settle as fiat in their Stripe balances.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs and access to 125+ payment methods, including stablecoins and crypto.

• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.

• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.

• Improve payment performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.

• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability.

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.