The “invisible penetration” of stablecoins: a financial revolution that ordinary people have not yet noticed

Written by: Thejaswini M A

Compiled by: Block unicorn

Foreword

Yes, stablecoins are hot right now. Circle's stock price has soared. The GENIUS Act is advancing in Congress. But these are not the point.

The real changes are hiding in plain sight. Stripe just acquired a crypto wallet company, Shopify made stablecoin payments the default option, and Amazon and Walmart are reportedly building their own stablecoins.

When the world's largest retailers begin to bypass traditional banks to save billions of dollars in fees, it's not just the popularity of cryptocurrency.

It means that the entire payment system is being subverted by companies we have long trusted. There are four clear signs that cryptocurrency is being commercialized.

1/ Privy is more important than you think

Stripe’s acquisition of Privy is not just another run-of-the-mill deal in the crypto space.

Why? Because they bought the final piece of the digital payments puzzle.

Earlier this year: Stripe acquired Bridge (stablecoin infrastructure) for $1.1 billion.

Bridge is the infrastructure that makes stablecoins work for businesses like regular money. Their API seamlessly converts between USD and stablecoins, so businesses can make instant global payments without having to deal with crypto wallets or the complexities of blockchain technology. Bridge is the bridge between traditional banking and the new digital dollar economy.

This week: Stripe acquired Privy (crypto wallet integration).

Privy connects wallets to familiar interfaces like email addresses without requiring users to touch complex private keys or mnemonics. For Stripe's massive user base, this means access to crypto payments without having to learn crypto.

What am I seeing? A complete crypto payment ecosystem from wallet to settlement.

The acquisition demonstrates Stripe's commitment to making stablecoin payments as easy as traditional card processing. Companies that already use Stripe (processing over $1 trillion per year) can now offer crypto payments without building new infrastructure or asking customers to download a wallet app.

This is important because Stripe provides payment processing services to millions of businesses around the world.

Stripe's reach is staggering: according to Chargeflow, 1.4 million active websites and 90% of adults have used Stripe for transactions. On Black Friday alone, the company processed over 465 million transactions.

When they integrate stablecoin support, it’s not just one company that’s adopting crypto, it’s driving adoption across the entire ecosystem.

Privy powers 75 million accounts across more than 1,000 development teams. Stripe is essentially betting that crypto payments will become as common as credit cards.

2/ When e-commerce is disrupted by its own platform

Shopify just announced a move that might scare traditional payment processors. USDC payments are rolling out to millions of merchants, and stablecoin payments will become the "default option" unless sellers choose to opt out.

What happens next?

The partnership with Coinbase and deployment on Base will create a complete payment system that handles everything from wallet creation to settlement. Customers can pay with USDC and get 1% cashback, while merchants can enjoy faster settlement and lower fees than traditional credit cards.

What does this mean?

Shopify powers millions of online stores around the world - 2.6 million merchants in more than 150 countries, from individual entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies.

Image source: storeleads.app

When they can accept USDC payments with a single tap and get a 1% cashback reward, I want to call it a "revolution" and I'll tell you why.

Traditional payment processing charges retailers 2% to 3% per transaction, while stablecoin payments cost only a few cents.

Take a $100 purchase as an example:

• Traditional payments: $2-3 in fees.

• USDC on Base: ~$0.05 in fees.

Multiply that across Shopify’s ecosystem and you’re looking at billions of dollars in savings.

What this means for you as a customer: These savings don’t disappear into corporate profits. Retailers can either pocket the difference (thus becoming more competitive) or pass the savings directly to consumers by lowering prices.

Shopify has already made an attractive offer. They’re offering 1% cashback in local currency to consumers who pay with USDC. So instead of paying extra for convenience, you’re rewarded for using a cheaper payment method.

Once Shopify’s merchants start saving over 90% on payment processing, other e-commerce platforms will face a dilemma: adopt stablecoins or watch their merchants migrate to platforms that support stablecoins.

3/ When retail giants build their own stablecoins

According to the Wall Street Journal, both Amazon and Walmart are “considering issuing their own dollar-backed stablecoins for consumers.” Again, we’re talking about scale…very large.

• Amazon: $638 billion in annual revenue, $447 billion in e-commerce sales.

• Walmart: over $100 billion in annual e-commerce sales.

If either of these two companies launch their own stablecoin payment system, they could immediately divert billions of dollars in cash flow away from their banking partners.

What does this mean for customers?

• Faster checkouts - Instant settlement instead of T+2 processing.

• Lower prices - Retailers can pass on savings from waived processing fees.

• Seamless international purchasing - No processing fees or delays.

Once customers at Amazon or Walmart experience buying an item for $98 instead of $100 because there is no payment processing markup, they will expect every other retailer to offer the same deal. Suddenly, every business needs to integrate stablecoins or risk losing customers to competitors that can offer the same product for 2% to 3% less.

Network effects become unstoppable: customers demand cost savings, retailers need to reduce costs to remain competitive, and traditional payment processors watch their business models die.

4/ The ultimate irony: the banks themselves

The largest financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, are exploring the creation of a consortium-backed stablecoin, The Wall Street Journal reported in May. The four largest U.S. banks are teaming up to build the crypto infrastructure they have denied for years.

Now, JPMorgan Chase — whose CEO Jamie Dimon has been a Bitcoin critic for years — has just filed a trademark for “JPMD,” covering digital asset trading, exchange, transfer, clearing, and payment processing.

The bank that processes $1.5 trillion a year through its private JPM Coin is now building crypto services for the public.

You know why this matters. Not because the largest banks in the U.S. love technology, but because they see their payments monopoly coming to an end and want to take control of that transition.

Banks make billions from payment processing fees. Stablecoins threaten to eliminate those fees entirely (apparently we’re on our way).

Their options? Build crypto infrastructure or become irrelevant. Yes, you could call it “capitulation.”

Our Take

All of these corporate stablecoin announcements didn’t happen in a vacuum. Corporates have been waiting for regulatory clarity before committing billions of dollars to building stablecoin infrastructure. The GENIUS Act provides that clarity, which is why we’re suddenly seeing these headlines.

Regulatory momentum paves the way for mainstream adoption of stablecoins, removing the uncertainty that has limited corporate involvement in other crypto assets.

But I want to talk about the scale of reality. The data on stablecoin commercialization reveals why traditional companies are starting to pay attention. In May 2025 alone, stablecoin transaction volumes reached $4 trillion, with an annual cumulative total of $34 trillion.

Visa's annual transaction volume is about $15.7 trillion, and PayPal's is about $1.7 trillion. This shows the importance and growing influence of stablecoins in the global payment field.

Image source: Visa

B2B cross-border payments using stablecoins reach $3 billion per month, while traditional bank card payments are only $1.1 billion. The speed and cost advantages of blockchain settlement are driving enterprise adoption to surpass consumer adoption.

18% of medium-sized U.S. small businesses are aware of cryptocurrencies and currently use stablecoins for business needs, up from 8% in 2024. This adoption is for practical purposes rather than speculative investment.

When Shopify (with millions of merchants), Amazon ($638 billion in revenue), and Walmart (over $100 billion in e-commerce) start driving stablecoin adoption, the numbers will quickly become staggering.

Even if only 10% of these businesses’ total transaction volume shifted to stablecoins, annual stablecoin usage would increase by more than $75 billion.

Once a critical mass of merchants accept stablecoins, consumers will demand them. Merchants must offer stablecoins or lose business. We are witnessing the early stages of a payment system migration that could reshape global commerce over the next 5 years.

The craziest part? Most people won’t even notice it happening. They’ll just be curious about why their online purchases are suddenly faster and cheaper.

Whether this represents the final victory for cryptocurrency or a transition to something entirely different is up in the air. But all of this suggests that cryptocurrency’s real impact may come from evolution, and from becoming so deeply embedded in existing systems that its presence becomes unnoticeable.