Payments Will Eclipse Trading In Crypto's Next Cycle

The story of cryptocurrency has been told through the lens of volatile price charts and speculative tokens for the better part of the last decade. Market cap milestones, memecoin rallies, and 10-second liquidation candles dominated the headlines. But that is now shifting toward real-world uses.

Stablecoins alone now represent a $250 billion asset class. The stablecoin ecosystem processes more on-chain volume each month than the entire remittance industry moves through traditional money transfer channels. Legislators are responding in kind by introducing clear regulations that treat stablecoins not as unregulated tokens but as licensed e-money, complete with reserve audits, redemption rights, and real-time compliance checks. 

As regulators, established financial institutions, and consumers all agree that moving money should be cheaper and faster, the next adoption curve becomes obvious: payments will play a much bigger role in crypto's next cycle.

Regulators Give Payment Rails the Green Light

For too long, regulatory uncertainty kept crypto from mainstream adoption. Institutions and builders were hesitant to invest significant capital into an ecosystem with unclear rules. That landscape is changing as policymakers converge on a common playbook for fiat-backed tokens (stablecoins).

The recent passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. Senate provides the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins, mandating full reserves and robust compliance. In Europe, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation imposes similarly strict standards. Singapore's Single-Currency Stablecoin Framework and Hong Kong's new licensing law set similar requirements.

DeFi lending and perpetual-swap venues are still under fragmented oversight, which keeps institutional treasuries on the sidelines. By contrast, in the world's largest financial hubs, stablecoins now benefit from clear, dependable regulations. With this clarity, developers can focus on building products and plan longer-term strategies with more confidence than was possible under regulatory uncertainty.

TradFi Quietly Builds on Crypto Behind the Scenes

When a major P2P payments firm announces 0.99 percent crypto transaction fees, the message is not "crypto is coming" but "crypto is already working in the kitchen." PayPal's (NASDAQ:PYPL) system automatically converts crypto payments (such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), or USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC)) into fiat currency or its stablecoin PayPal USD (CRYPTO: PYUSD), so merchants can accept digital assets without needing blockchain expertise. 

Stripe is running the same playbook for B2B payments. Its stablecoin checkout, which is in the public preview phase, supports several major blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana. 

What's notable is that all of these launches keep crypto branding minimal. For users, it's still the same "Pay Now" button — with blockchain technology working invisibly in the background, much like the cloud servers or encrypted protocols that reshaped earlier fintech revolutions.

Platforms Focused on Speculation Are Missing Out

For crypto to reach its potential, the industry needs to shift its focus. Most exchanges still treat users as part-time day traders: complex order books, memecoin banners, 50-row fee tables. That paradigm ignores the growth segment — everyday people who want to send remittances, manage inflation risk, or pay suppliers abroad at lower cost. When those users sign up, they often face onboarding flows requiring them to deposit crypto first, instead of familiar bank-transfer or bill-pay options — leading many to abandon the process..

According to the World Bank, migrant workers sent $860 billion in remittances in 2023 at an average of a 6% fee. If crypto platforms could match PayPal’s backend settlement costs of 0.99 percent for consumer remittances, or Stripe's 1.5 percent, the market potential could rival or even surpass spot-trading revenues. Platforms that insist on a speculative UI will see traditional payment firms scoop up the next wave of customers.

Building the Financial Utilities for a Trillion-Dollar Market

As payments become crypto's standout use case, reliability has to be its calling card. To compete, platforms must aim for the kind of near-perfect uptime that defines traditional finance. On-ramps need deep partnerships with local banks so customers can deposit funds in their own currency, and every screen must default to a mobile-first design that translates balances into familiar local prices.

Behind the interface, the unglamorous work of building trust matters most. Independent security audits, stringent data-protection reviews, and regular "pull-the-plug" recovery drills are no longer optional — they are the expected standard. This focus on infrastructure is no longer a niche concern; the groundwork is already being laid across the industry, with a recent Fireblocks survey finding that 86% of financial institutions now report having stablecoin-ready infrastructure.

This readiness reflects the significant market potential for stablecoins. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently suggested that the stablecoin market could swell into a $3.7 trillion industry. Yet that growth can only rest on sturdy, well-regulated payment rails — the basic tools powering today's digital economy.

Ultimately, the platforms most likely to succeed in the next decade will not be those chasing speculative cycles, but those providing dependable, compliant financial utilities for businesses and consumers worldwide.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.