Stablecoins have become one of the key topics in discussions about the future of money and payment systems in recent years. These are digital tokens whose value is tied to some stable asset, most often the US dollar or euro, and their application is increasingly being observed beyond the narrow crypto ecosystem.
Banks, card companies, fintech firms, and regulatory institutions are seriously considering how this technology could fit into or even transform the existing financial infrastructure. This was one of the central themes of the Money Motion conference, where the role of stablecoins was discussed through a presentation by a representative of card giant Visa and a panel discussion on the future of the digital euro.
Stablecoins as a New Payment Infrastructure
In a presentation titled ‘Stablecoin Shift: Redefining Money Movement’, Alexandra Soroko, Senior Director of Growth Products and Partnerships at Visa, emphasized that innovations in fintech have so far been most visible on the user side, in applications and improved user experience. However, the infrastructure in the background, or the backend that these applications use, has largely remained the same and based on existing payment system technology.
According to her, stablecoins offer a completely different approach as they enable a globally interoperable system that operates on blockchain infrastructure. Over the past five years, this sector has seen strong growth, and the total market value of stablecoins has increased multiple times.
Visa views stablecoins, as Soroko emphasized, not just as another payment method but as a potentially new payment infrastructure. Therefore, the company is actively exploring ways to integrate them into existing systems.
Currently, the most visible example is the so-called stablecoin cards. These cards are linked to crypto wallets, and when making a payment, the user and merchant hardly notice that the source of funds is a stablecoin stored in a digital wallet. From the merchant’s and user’s perspective, the experience is almost identical to standard card payments, making them one of the most practical ways to integrate stablecoins into the existing frontend of financial services.
However, the true potential is still being explored at the backend level. Visa is currently analyzing how stablecoins could be used for settlement between banks and merchants, or as infrastructure for faster and more efficient transaction clearing. Concurrently, possibilities for their application in the operations of commercial and investment banks are also being explored.
Soroko concluded that financial institutions will increasingly need to strategically position themselves towards this technology, stating that in the future, every business entity will need to have its own strategy related to stablecoins.
Stablecoins, Tokenized Deposits, or CBDC?
The role of stablecoins in the European monetary system was also discussed in the panel ‘Digitalised Euro: Stablecoin, Tokenised Deposit or CBDC?’. Participants included Martin Bruncko, founder and CEO of Schuman Financial, Jürgen Schaaf, advisor in the Directorate General for Market Infrastructure and Payments at the ECB, and Ronald Oliveira, global director of banking at Hard Yaka Venture.
Bruncko expressed strong enthusiasm for blockchain technology, comparing it to the internet. While content is transmitted via the internet, he said, value is transmitted via blockchain. He sees the future of digital money more in stablecoins than in central bank digital currencies (CBDC), although he welcomes, as he stated, the decreasing resistance of European institutions to stablecoin projects.
The discussion also raised the question of why the US currently dominates the stablecoin market compared to Europe. Regulation is mentioned as one possible reason, but Bruncko believes it is not the only factor. Stablecoins have so far mainly been used within the crypto market, while the European regulation Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) clearly defines which stablecoins users in the European Union can use.
In his opinion, the private industry should play a key role in developing solutions, as the public sector alone can hardly stimulate innovation. Bruncko speaks from his own experience working in the Slovak government, emphasizing that stronger involvement of the private sector is essential for Europe’s competitiveness.
On the other hand, Schaaf explained that the ECB got involved in the development of the digital euro precisely because the private sector did not offer an adequate solution, while European users largely depend on foreign platforms.
Oliveira believes that the American approach, where the market decides which solution will prevail, allows for faster development of innovations. At the same time, he believes that Europe does not have to choose just one solution. In his opinion, the digital euro, stablecoins, and tokenized bank deposits can coexist, creating a diverse ecosystem of digital money.
Schaaf further clarified the difference between the various models. The digital euro as a CBDC represents a direct obligation of the central bank, while euro stablecoins are tokens backed by deposits in euros, which introduces an additional intermediary layer. The digital euro, he emphasized, would also have the status of legal tender, meaning that merchants would have to accept it. One of the potential advantages of this system would also be lower fees for merchants compared to today’s card payments.
