This year at Stablecon 2025, I had the privilege of delivering the opening keynote on behalf of Fireblocks. We supported the inaugural event as title sponsor because we believe stablecoins are reaching a pivotal moment—and this gathering marked an important step toward shaping the conversations that will define the space.
For us, it was also a moment to take stock of how far the ecosystem has come—and the role Fireblocks continues to play at the center of it.
In 2024 alone, the Fireblocks platform processed over $1.5 trillion in stablecoin transactions. What began as just 20% of our total volumes in 2020 now accounts for over 55%. That shift tells a broader story about where institutional finance is heading—and how fast it’s moving.
Today, between 10–15% of all global USDC and USDT transactions are routed through Fireblocks infrastructure. We power stablecoin operations for many of the world’s most respected issuers, PSPs, banks, and crypto-native firms—companies like Worldpay, ZeroHash, ABN AMRO, B2C2, Bitso, Moonpay, Nuvei, Banking Circle, YellowCard, Conduit, and Bridge.
After five years working alongside these institutions, we’ve seen firsthand what it takes to build a secure, scalable, and sustainable stablecoin business.
Stablecon was the right time to take stock of how far we’ve come—together—and to sharpen our focus on what’s ahead.
Payments in Production: Institutions Are Deploying Stablecoins for Real
At our SPARK customer event last year, Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, shared a perspective that’s stuck with me. He talked about how Tether started as a way to move USD between exchanges—but how stablecoins have since evolved into one of the most important financial technologies of our time. That evolution is now playing out in payments in a very real way.
From our vantage point, we see three use cases gaining significant traction:
- Payouts and onramps—Institutions such as Moonpay, Worldpay, Bridge, and Nuvei are disbursing funds globally to a broad range of clients, from ecommerce marketplaces and gaming platforms to traditional import/export businesses.
- B2B Payments—Companies like Conduit are enabling traditional businesses to move funds across borders faster, more reliably, and at lower cost compared to legacy payment rails.
- Hold USD in volatile economies—In regions experiencing high inflation or unstable currencies, consumers and businesses are turning to stablecoins as a way to preserve value. Services like DolarApp and ChipperCash are enabling this at scale.
This shift isn’t hypothetical. We’re seeing real momentum—over 300 payment companies and banks are now active on the Fireblocks Network, building stablecoin capabilities into live operations.
At Stablecon, this wasn’t just a theme—it was a reality on display. The institutions presenting weren’t talking about pilots. They were showcasing live use cases with measurable business impact.
Our own research proves this — when we asked leaders what’s driving that shift, the answer was clear: growth. According to our State of Stablecoins 2025 report, revenue growth opportunities—not cost savings—is the top motivator for adoption.
Stablecoins are opening doors to new markets, new customers, and entirely new business models. And in many cases, the upside isn’t fully mapped yet. Just imagine what happens when AI agents begin to automate payment flows or create programmable services that didn’t exist before.
Liquidity Is Still a Bottleneck—and It’s Slowing Global Expansion
While regulatory tailwinds are helping clear a path for stablecoin adoption across major markets, a new constraint is emerging: liquidity fragmentation.
At Stablecon, the message from financial institutions and market makers was consistent — stablecoin liquidity is still too shallow or uneven in key corridors. In places like Latin America, Africa, and Australia, order books for USDT and USDC can vary dramatically depending on the exchange, the local currency pair, and the underlying rails. That volatility creates spread risk, delays, and unnecessary slippage—especially for high-volume institutional flows.
What’s missing is consistency in execution.
That’s why we’ve spent the last several years building the Fireblocks Network that connects 2,000+ partners and service providers – banks, fintechs, market makers, and exchanges – so our clients can aggregate liquidity and settle faster with greater efficiency and control.
It’s not enough to have the right stablecoin. You need access, routing flexibility, and optionality built in.
This is how we help institutions operate at scale—even in fragmented environments.
Security Is No Longer a Differentiator—It’s a Prerequisite
In 2024 alone, more than $2 billion was lost to crypto-related hacks. With stablecoin transactions offering little recourse, the cost of failure is high.
The ByBit hack made that painfully clear: attackers no longer just target user wallets—they went after infrastructure. This marks a new phase in how threat actors operate.
After spending the first 20 years of my career in cybersecurity, I can tell you this: great security is about focus. If your partners aren’t treating security as a core competency—with the right expertise, architecture, and operational discipline—you’re taking on more risk than you realize.
At Fireblocks, we’re investing over $35 million annually—across cybersecurity, compliance, personnel, and product development. That includes internal controls, penetration testing, API hardening, and layered governance—not just wallet security.
Security at scale requires an end-to-end strategy. That’s the standard stablecoin infrastructure must now meet—because in today’s market, trust is earned through execution.
Looking Ahead: From Momentum to Market Maturity
Stablecon 2025 was more than a milestone—it was a moment of clarity. We are no longer asking whether stablecoins have real-world value at scale. That question’s been answered.
What comes next depends on execution.
The infrastructure that supports this next chapter—across payments, liquidity, and security—will need to evolve just as quickly as the market itself. We’ve seen what’s possible. The challenge now is turning that momentum into maturity—building stablecoin systems that are not just functional, but foundational.
