Bank of Italy: Stablecoin Remittances Show No Clear Edge

The Bank of Italy ran an experiment moving 200 USDC transfers across 10 bidirectional corridors linking Italy with Brazil, Argentina, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Researchers compared end-to-end costs and settlement times against conventional remittance services.

Total costs for the stablecoin transfers ranged from about 0.3% to nearly 9% depending on the corridor. Where local instant payment systems were available, transfers often settled in under 20 minutes. In corridors without instant rails, settlement typically took one to two business days.

The report found exchange fees and currency conversion accounted for most expenses. Blockchain network fees were a small share of total costs. Using a global average remittance cost of 6.65% as a benchmark, stablecoin transfers were cheaper than that average in most corridors tested. When compared with a specific digital payments provider, stablecoin transfers were less expensive in three of seven directly comparable corridors.

Researchers noted that the quality of domestic payment infrastructure influenced settlement speed and competitiveness. The study states: “If stablecoins could be spent directly in the real economy, for goods and services, rents, or school fees, without reconversion into local fiat currency, the economic advantages of stablecoin-based transfers would be substantially higher.”

The report identified regulatory design as a factor affecting remittance efficiency. Prohibitionist rules did not eliminate demand for stablecoins and tended to push users toward offshore platforms and unregulated channels. Highly restrictive frameworks increased operational complexity for retail users and raised frictions around on- and off-ramps. The report references the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework and the United States’ GENIUS Act as recent regulatory developments affecting stablecoin use.

As background, the stablecoin market was about $307 billion, up roughly 16% over the past year. The authors noted that policy choices and investment in instant payment systems and clearer fiat on-ramps will influence whether stablecoins become a consistently cheaper or faster option for cross-border remittances.