In its latest working paper, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) argues that well-designed, fully-reserved stablecoins can meaningfully improve the speed, cost and inclusiveness of global payments, particularly for cross-border and remittance corridors that today rely on layered correspondent banking arrangements.
The paper notes that traditional cross-border payments still cost end users an average of ~6% and can take multiple business days to complete. By contrast, on-chain stablecoin transfers settle in seconds and, when integrated with compliant fiat on/off-ramps, can bring costs down toward the G20 target of below 1%.
IMF economists caution, however, that the benefits only materialise when three conditions are met: transparent, high-quality reserves audited in near real time; enforceable redemption rights at par; and interoperability with domestic payment systems and future central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The report also highlights emerging-market risks, including currency substitution ('crypto-isation'), capital flow volatility and monetary policy transmission challenges. It recommends coordinated licensing regimes, robust reserve rules and mandatory data reporting as the minimum global baseline.
ZeroLink notes that these findings are consistent with the group's own operating experience across 180+ payment corridors, where compliant stablecoin settlement is used alongside licensed banking rails to shorten value-chain length and reduce FX friction for enterprise clients.
