APAC's stablecoin future won't be defined by a single token

APAC is moving towards a stablecoin market defined by choice rather than a single dominant currency. More forms of digital money are emerging around different currencies and markets, reflecting the region's varied financial systems and payment needs. That leaves businesses operating across borders navigating which stablecoin fits which leg of a transaction, without adding unnecessary complexity.

On the flip side, this doesn't mean businesses need to choose one stablecoin and build around it. Different stablecoins can serve different roles, from providing liquidity to supporting domestic settlement. The challenge, and opportunity, lies in making those different forms of digital money work together seamlessly. 

APAC's monetary diversity is part of the opportunity

APAC has never operated as a single financial market. The region brings together different economies at different stages of development, each with its own currency, financial infrastructure, and regulatory framework.

Money already moves between them constantly, but the infrastructure supporting it remains largely organised around national currencies and banking systems. A payment from Singapore to Japan, for example, may need to navigate different currencies, banking relationships, payment rails, and regulatory requirements before it reaches its destination. And cross-border payments can still be slow: only 54.6% of payments above US$100,000 met the one-hour benchmark, according to the IMF. Stablecoin transactions can, by comparison, settle onchain within seconds. 

That difference in settlement speed points to one of the reasons stablecoins are gaining traction in cross-border payments. Asia accounts for around 60% of global stablecoin payment volume, equivalent to roughly US$245 billion. Stablecoins can add a faster settlement layer to existing financial infrastructure and help move value between them markets without requiring changes to the underlying currencies or banking systems.

How different stablecoins work for different needs

Stablecoins can be added to existing financial flows without requiring businesses to replace their banking infrastructure. A regional business can continue to fund a transaction through its bank account, while using stablecoins to move value across borders before the supplier ultimately receives local currency through its existing financial infrastructure.

A single transaction doesn't necessarily need to rely on one form of digital money from beginning to end. Take our earlier example of a payment from Singapore to Japan. The business might fund the transaction in SGD, route the cross-border leg through a highly liquid USD stablecoin, and ultimately settle in JPY. Each form of digital money earns its place at a different point in the transaction.

Data from the Bank for International Settlements supports the broader picture. More than 70% of fiat-to-stablecoin conversions originate from non-USD currencies, suggesting that stablecoins are already being used within wider cross-currency flows. This points to a market where businesses are not simply converting into digital dollars, but using stablecoins as part of broader international payment activity. US stablecoins have built deep liquidity and real network effects, while local-currency stablecoins bring tighter alignment with domestic settlement. There's room for both, because they can solve different parts of the same transaction.

Interoperability as the "passport" for digital money

Dollar-pegged stablecoins still account for roughly 99% of the global market, while local-currency versions make up less than 1%. Yet Asian markets are building frameworks for domestic stablecoins to develop, creating a more diverse stablecoin landscape alongside today's dominant dollar-based market. 

That creates a technical and commercial challenge: how can businesses move between USD and local-currency stablecoins within the same payment flow? Different stablecoins will serve different markets, currencies, and use cases. Their value, however, depends on businesses being able to move between them without having to rebuild their payment architecture for every new corridor.

Interoperability can act as a "passport" for digital money, allowing value to move across stablecoins, currencies, chains, and payment networks. The underlying infrastructure handles the routing and compliance checks, so the business just sees one payment flow, even when several stablecoins are doing the work underneath it.

The goal, then, isn't to decide whether USD or non-USD stablecoins should win but how to make different forms of digital money work together.

APAC's stablecoin market is built for different needs

APAC is unlikely to settle on a single stablecoin for every market and use case. Its currencies, regulatory structures and commercial relationships are too varied for one model to serve them all equally well.

That diversity becomes an advantage once businesses stop asking which stablecoin should win and start using each one for what it's actually good at.

The next phase of stablecoin adoption will be less about choosing a winner and more about building the interoperable infrastructure that connects them.