The post Remittance apps give way to stablecoins as a tool for cross-border payments appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Remittance apps are showing a slowing trend in 2024, while stablecoins expanded their supply to new records. As crypto ownership grows, remittance gateways may lose their positions. Remittance app downloads have slowed down in 2024 after several years of peak activity. They expanded in the past five years, but the latest trends show a reversal of usage. Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, believes the shift may benefit stablecoin usage. Acquiring stablecoins is possible through decentralized trading and, in some cases, may not require an initial bank account. Stablecoin transfers are much faster and have virtually negligible fees and no commissions. The trend of using stablecoins for cross-border purposes has been noticed in the past few years but accelerated during the bull market of 2024. Most of the stablecoin activity is driven by retail remittances, with a smaller share of wholesale cross-border transfers. Interest in crypto-based remittances may increase in the coming months, as the election of Donald Trump has brought back talks of a remittance tax. Stablecoins are still traceable, but the exact destination and spending may remain difficult to trace. In the past, projects like Ripple aimed for a share of the remittance market. This time, Ripple hosts RLUSD, a newly minted stablecoin with minimal transaction costs. Solana has also led to an increase in USDC usage. The balance of stablecoins may shift as the Euro Area decreases reliance on USDT and focuses on compliant coins and tokens like USDC. Remittance market expands, but stablecoins catch up The remittances market is expected to expand by 3.93% in 2025, retaining a similar pace to its 2024 growth. On the other hand, stablecoins doubled their supply and increased their activity much more dramatically in the past year, both on centralized and decentralized exchanges. The biggest remittance flows…